A fun and informative site: Chili Pepper Madness

Hola, amigos! Found a great site that has recommendations on using our favorite vegetable as well as tons of recipes (experiences with various chiles too) and photos – well, don’t look at this site if you’re too far from a food source. You’ll just get hungrier and hungrier. Mucho hambre.

Here it is: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com

Mike and Patty Hultquist have a super resource for all chileheads. (They spell it ‘chili,’ with a double ‘i’, but my editor says that’s actually the chili you eat from a bowl. ‘Chile’ with an ‘e’ is preferred when writing about growing, cooking, or comparing flavors.)

And you can even get a free e-book with their top ten recipes if you’ll trade them your email address and sign up for their emails all about the hot stuff.

It’s a good site to check out on a cold winter night. Stay warm!
Hasta luego, Diego

Some adventures in 2019?

Maybe you’re tired of the same old flavors in your chili, or just would like a change of pace for your cooking, or a different family outing.

How about planning some ‘hot trips’ for next year? (lo siento – sorry)

I was disappointed that there weren’t more sites already updated on the internet, but I did find several excursions that sounded interesting:

Hops n’ Hot Sauce Festival
Saturday, January 12, 2019 starting at 11:00 AM
Held indoors at the Spindle Top Brewery in Houston, it’s also billed as family-friendly with an area set aside for the kids, a DJ playing the hits all day, live entertainment and a Hot Pepper Eating Contest.
https://www.eventbrite.com › Things to do in Houston, TX › Festival › Food & Drink

Zestfest in Irving, Texas has been going strong for 17 years, with an estimated 15,000 people now showing up every year for the spicy foods, celebrity chefs and live music. January 25-27, 2019

Home

The Pepper Festival & Hot Sauce Expo
Clear out in Auburn, California (about 30 minutes from Sacramento) you’d probably combine this hot stuff fun day with a family vacation as well. Held September 14 in 2019, there’ll be live bands all day at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, with lots of food and fun events as well. Part of the proceeds will go to children’s charities, so it’s supporting a good cause too. And – surprise – there’s going to be a Bounce House for the grown-ups! Arriba!
https://thepepperfestival.com/

I’ll keep you posted when I spot some other fun places and events revolving around our favorite vegetable – chile!

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone! Su amigo, Diego

Hay nieve!

It’s snow, amigos! First we had el aguanieve, which was sleet, or rain mixed with snow.

Then we had copos muchos (many snowflakes).

Finally, it snowed steadily for a couple of hours, giving us un chubasco (an intense snow shower).

But I’m happy to report we have no ventisqueros (snowdrifts) or una ventisca (a blizzard).

Whew. We have enough snow for this chile wrangler already. Hasta luego! Diego

Art for thought

Here’s something fun – a Chile Pepper Identification poster as wall art. They all look delicious!

Click here for Redbubble Ltd, the company offering the poster https://www.redbubble.com/people/dreambarks/works/24312219-chili-pepper-identification?finish=semi_gloss&p=poster&size=small&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=g.pla+notset&country_code=US&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiLy7gMHD3gIVjo2zCh0c7ARaEAQYAyABEgKYafD_BwE

And just for a note of serendipity: note the ceramic white squirrel beside the lamp on the webpage showing the poster in a room. Coincidence? Quien sabe’ ?

Hasta luego – Diego