Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Aji limon update

I guess that this weekend will be the last harvest for this year. It's my aji limon that finally is mature.

First I thought that they would turn red. Then I thought they were going to be yellow. But now I can say that they are somewhere between orange and red.

Great tasting pods with a nice heat! I think I will eat a few the coming weekend!

More pictures here, if you want to follow them all the way from flowers :-)
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1242

Wishing you all a nice Friday and weekend!

Hot regards,
   Mats

Chiltepin

Friday afternoon, and I think what I will have as a snack when I get home!

My chiltepin did not produce many pods, but the few pods that are on the plant are proud ones :-) Take a look at this beauty! "Soon to be in my stomach!"

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1245

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
Regards,
   Mats

Aji limon - finally

I thought this variety would turn red, but it turns to a very nice orange colour. The flesh is thick and the taste is great! The heat is moderate. All one can expect from a very nice Capsicum baccatum!

This one is the first one to turn orange. Still waiting for plenty of pods to mature. Exciting!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Late harvest

After chasing aphids for most of the year, it's nice to be able to pick some pods.

Here are some orange baccatum. Sharp heat and nice taste.

And here are some Florida Bird Peppers drying. They have a dry heat. I guess they are like chewing on gunpowder :-)

And here are some Chuquisac. Mild baccatum with a nice taste.

Well, dinner is served :-)

Hot regards,
  Mats

Florida bird pepper

The growing season is definitely going to an end. My Florida Bird Pepper has had a fantastic late season, so I will very soon pick all the pods.

This is how it looked a couple of days ago. Aren't the peppers fantastic?

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1239

Regards,
   Mats

Trying to stop aphids ...

As you may remember - a while ago I was completely desperate about getting rid of all the aphids. I don't want to use any strong stuff, since we eat all the peppers. So I found this ecologic "stopset", and thought it could be worth giving it a try.

It consists of very sticky plastic sheets that you place in/near your plants. They are supposed to be coated with a material that attracts the aphids.

I've now used it for a couple of weeks, and the result has so far not been impressive. The good thing is that it at least seems to attract flies.

This is how it looked when I just had installed it. Not pretty at all :-)

So, considering the results, I can not say that I recommend it... Well, never ever give up :-)

Regards,
  Mats

Ice cream

Another ice cream recipe from my friend Anders. This time it's time for "Fresh Mint and Jalapeño ice cream". Sounds good to me :-)

http://www.icecreamnation.org/2011/10/fresh-mint-jalapeno-ice-cream/

Hot regards,
  Mats

Florida bird pepper

The weather is still unbelievable warm for the season, so I still have three pots out on the balcony.

This Florida bird pepper is one of my favorites from this year, so I keep it inside. Finally it has started to get ripe pods.

As you may see, it is still flowering.

it's a beauty!

It's so dense, so it's hard to get a good shot of a single pod.

The heat of the pods is explosive. Very hot in other words! It fools you in the beginning. Hmmm, not so hot I thought when I sampled one. Two seconds later, my mouth was on fire :-) 

Have a great Sunday everyone!

   Mats

A small chuquisac harvest

I'm definitely not spoiled to harvesting chiles this year. But today we had two ripe Chuquisac pods.

Two nice pods. They were mild but with very nice taste.

Now I hope that the warm weather for the season continues, so the rest of the pods will turn yellow.

More chuquisac pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1238

Hot regards,
   Mats

What Went Wrong?

I'm cleaning up and removing old files on the computer, and just found this old favorite. I think it is so good so I want to share it with you. :-)

---

This is the story of four people: Everybody,
Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done, and
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry, because it was
Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that
Somebody would do it.

But nobody asked Anybody.

It ended up that the job wasn’t done, and
Everybody blamed Everybody, when actually
Nobody asked Anybody.

---

Regards,

  Mats

Rocoto paste

I did not grow any pubescens this year, so I was extra happy when I found this one! Good stuff!

I think it could more or less be used on anything!

Regards,
  Mats

More orange baccatum

I'm home with Carl today, since he has caught the flu. So I could go out on the balcony to pick some fresh peppers.

Three of them are still out there because of all the aphids. We don't want the mess inside.

The nights are getting cooler and I think it's down to 8-9 degrees C and I would expect the aphids to go away. I think that the plants would be shocked if I bring them inside now, so I will simply leave them out there.

Usually I never keep the plants out so late in the season, but what strikes me is that the pods do not seem to mature the same way they usually do. This is my orange baccatum, and they matures over a more green colour than earlier in the season.

Pods picked today:

Pods picked over a week ago. You see that these ones have a deeper orange colour.

There is nothing wrong with the heat. I believe they are even hotter than the ones that mature earlier in the season. I wonder why. One reason I can think of is that the capsaicin is used to protect the chiles, and they think that they need better protection because of the cooler climate. Any other ideas?

Wishing you a great week!
   Mats

Pickled malaguetas

My malaguetas didn't make it this season. But we found this nice bottle the other day.

The malagueta taste is great, and they mix perfectly well with the vinegar.

Hot regards,
   Mats

Jelly and powder

I got these two delicacies from my friend whose chile plants I took care of for a week.

This is great! In case you haven't tried it, I think it's a nice jelly! Wonderful with cheese on crackers or crisps.

And this is another favorite. I use pimenton in many dishes, but especially in meatballs and mashed potato. So by now Carl knows that I'm not making typical Swedish meatballs, but he gets so surprised if they lack the heat.

Anyway, not only the content is good. Also the cans are nice. Unintentionally I'm working on a collection. You can check it out here. http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2011/04/it-was-never-my-intention.html

Wishing you all a nice weekend!
   Mats

Another favorite - orange baccatum

This little fellow is saving my season :-) Without it I would not have much to harvest. But this one is productive. Very nice one. With good heat and nice taste.

I think that I will pick the ones that are ripe during the weekend, so the plant can focus on the immature ones. The outdoor growing season is definitely going to an end..

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1241

Regards,
  Mats

In the mix...

Time flies when you're having fun. So I'm really behind with publishing some pictures. This wonderful mix ended up in our stomachs last weekend.

Thank you Patrik for saving us :-)

Hot regards,
   Mats

Aji limon

This seems to be a nice Capsicum baccatum!

Still only immature pods, but they look great. Thick and heavy. I think I might stuff them with feta cheese and bake in the oven when they are ready. My mouth waters when I think about it :-)

I will get back later with more pictures when they hopefully turn red. This one is also left on the balcony, so I hope it won't be too long...

More pictures here: http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1242


Regards,
  Mats

Florida bird pepper

Well, this is nice. Maybe the plants get stressed by the chilly nights, but finally some pods are turning red :-)

I haven't tasted them yet, but they look good! I'm sure they will be fine either dried, fresh or in an oil.

It is really windy, so it doesn't help to use a tripod, but anyway, here are the sharpest pictures I took today. 

There are plenty of flowers on the way. Too bad they won't be setting fruit. Unless I move it inside soon. But before that I need to get rid of the aphids...

Hot regards,
   Mats

Autumn colours

Time flies. I took this picture last Sunday. I love the autumn colours and just wanted to share this with you. Even though it's not a Capsicum...

Regards,
   Mats

Moving out (again)

We couldn't stand all the aphids, so I moved them out to the balcony again. And now I will keep them there. No way I'm taking these aphid-loaded plants inside again.

That's sad. I was really hoping for saving a couple of plants for the winter. But I don't see how I will be able to get rid of all the aphids. It's better to start from scratch next year (again).

Well, it was a beautiful day anyway, and I'm not complaining. Here I am enjoying a beer in the sunshine :-)

Have a nice weekend!
   Mats

Dinner guests - the beginning of the chaos

The nights are still pretty warm. Just above 10 C. But tonight I decided to move some of the plants inside. In general there are not many pods on the plants, but I want to do what I can so they can mature.

It's good to have the blog. I see from last year that I moved the plants indoors on the 10th of September last year. Almost the same date in other words. I had so many more plants last year.... http://chilesinstockholm.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-have-i-done.html

I will probably throw away at least two of the plants now. There are six pots left on the balcony, but I will play the role as judge tomorrow. It's hard after almost a year's struggle, and then just throw it away.

Anyway, let's talk about more fun things :-) The one to the right is absolutely fantastic. It's my Florida bird pepper. Hundreds of fruits and flowers! It has been standing in the corner of the balcony, so I hadn't noticed that.

The one next to it, is a tepin. Not so many fruits, but quite a bunch anyway. They usually take a lot of time to mature, so I hope it will like it inside.

The others are some frutescens and chinense.

So, compared to last year, I think it will be quite OK from a plant perspective. But still. They take lots of space, and I'm sure it will be a challenging period ahead :-)

More pictures later.

Regards,
  Mats

Thanks Mia & Patrik

Thanks Mia! The Gojis are now in soil :-) I have a plastic bag over the pot, so I hope they will make it!

And thanks Patrik for the chiles! If you have the time, please tell what the varieties are.

(The one on the lower row to the right is a fresh goji berry.)

Have a great week!
    Mats

Thank you all my friends :-)

What a nice day at Bergianska!

Clear blue sky and 20 degrees Centigrade!

Party people having coffee and cakes!

It's not Halloween yet, but Carl has found a pumpkin! Do not touch!

Tres amigos :-)

Mia and me.

Two hot guys. Patrik & Rune.

Kaili doing some great artwork.

So thank you all my friends for making this a great day!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Girino

These wax like pods are beautiful. It's almost like the light slips on them, making it hard to get focus.

This is a Brazilian Capsicum chinense. The name is in Portuguese, meaning tadpole. Grodyngel in Swedish. So now I have learned a new Portuguese word :-)

Five years ago, I grew this variety, and it gave a great harvest. This year, I will not get many pods, but I'm happy for the ones that are there :-) If you want to see more pictures, you can have a look here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=224

From the balcony in Stockholm :-)
   Mats

Chiltepin

Inspired by the nice weather I went out to the balcony to get a picture of one of my favorite varieties. Chiltepin. It's a Capsicum annuum

I have grown some other similar varieties. Tepin and chilipiquin. More pictures to be found here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=145
and here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=1203

I'm going out to Bergianska today to meet my friends from the chile pepper association. The annual autumn party. http://www.bergianska.se/index_program.php?vidare=aktuellt_hostfest11.html

Wishing you a nice Sunday! And maybe see you there :-)
Mats

Spicy chick peas

Friday evening and back on the balcony. Currently a heatwave in Stockholm, so now when I'm writing this at nine PM it's 18C. Amazing.

I made some spicy chick peas today. I put the dry chick peas in water last night, so they were completely soaked. In other words - let them soak in water for approximately 24 hours.

Then I took my favorite chile powder, mixed it with olive oil and salt. Here you have to use your own judgement what is suitable for you and your surrounding :-)

Mix the chick peas with the oil mixture and put on a baking sheet.

Heat the oven to 175C, and let the chick peas cook for about an hour. Stir occasionally.

It's perfect with a glass of vinho verde or orange juice or whatever you prefer on a Friday afternoon.

Wishing you all a nice weekend!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Thinking about redesigning the chile pepper database

As the evenings get darker, I'm thinking about doing some work with the Chile Pepper Database.

I need to fix some small bugs, and some other things. I know myself, and that will most probably lead me to major changes in the code behind it.

So, my question to you is - do you have any ideas about the layout, or if you think any functionality is missing? In that case, please comment here. All ideas are worth sharing :-) But it does not necessarily mean that they will be implemented.

Thanks!
   Mats

A monster on the balcony?

Well, I don't know what to say. This one just keeps on growing and growing. I think it's well over three metres now.

I forgot the most important info. It's my basella alba, or malabar spinach.

I think it's a plant with a purpose. Or ambition and vision. It's probably trying to get up to the neighbor above us. But what it's really trying to accomplish - I don't know yet. Have a look at it. It goes both to the left and right along the railing.



In other words. We still haven't eaten it. And the question is still if we dare :-)

Today I learned - Höstfest på Bergianska!

In Swenglish... Don't miss the Höstfest (harvest fiesta) at Bergianska. Sunday 4th of September 11-16.

More information here: http://www.bergianska.se/index_program.php?vidare=aktuellt_hostfest11.html

I'm sure you will find some chile pepper friends there :-)

Hot regards,
   Mats

Cumari almonds

Sunday afternoon. Sunshine. Last third of August.

What could be better than some spicy almonds on the balcony with rose wine :-)

For your inspiration. Heat up a pan with some oil. Add the chile powder. In this case I used cumari from last year. Add the almonds and let them fry on medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. I like them when they get "blackened".
Let them cool down on some paper. Put them in a bowl and add some salt.
Ready!

The perfect snack! It can be as hot or mild as you like!

Have a great week!
   Mats

You know you're a chilehead when .....

... you go on a cruise to Tallinn, and everyone buys loads of alcohol and cigarettes, and you call out - WOW! A habanero hot sauce!!! - in the taxfree shop of the ship :-)

I just tasted it, and it had the typical habanero flavor, with a very distinct heat!

A couple of pictures from Tallinn.

I wonder if this dragon sampled some habanero sauce :-)

Have a great remaining of the week!
   Mats

Habanero sauce

This is a classic!

Simply fantastic taste and heat!

Mucho mas habanero!

Hot regards,
  Mats

Girino

This is an old "friend" of mine. I grew it a couple of years ago, and had a fantastic harvest.

It won't be the same this year. But I like this variety a lot. It's a nice Capsicum chinense.

More pictures here:
http://petterssononline.com/habanero/peppers.php?action=variety&id=224

Hot regards,
  Mats