I am not the only one who bought bell pepper plants from a reputable green house this season, and ended up with something completely different. I have spoken to more people who ended up with banana peppers or other peppers instead of bell peppers. I'm starting to wonder if these green houses get their seeds from the same sources.
Either way, I am taking advantage of these surprise Anaheim peppers. I also cooked dinner for the first time in a several weeks (yep, Hubby did the grilling etc. or we ate sandwiches) of canning. It felt great to get a good few days of a break, get the kitchen back in order, and take a breath. Not to mention wash the laundry, sweep and mop floors, and pay bills.
I made a crockpot pumpkin chili. Sounds complicated or not very tasty, but it was probably the best chili we've had. I used pumpkin puree from the freezer (last year's harvest), I used my homemade jalapeno salt to season the meat when I cooked it, and I used 3 freshly picked Anaheim peppers in place of bell peppers. Oh my! So good. Chalking this meal up, as a new "first" time experience for us this year.
The recipe does not use chunked pumpkin, just the pumpkin puree. I used a recipe found on YouTube (Drew Cooks). It's basically a regular chili, but with the pumpkin (we did not serve it inside a pumpkin like he does in his video, ha ha!). The Anaheim in our chili really added some good flavor. I guess the peppers were a blessing in disguise.
The rain is keeping me from getting tomatoes picked, but the green beans are done for the season. Plants will be yanked when the rain quits, as well as some other plants. The bell peppers are still producing, but small. The evening temperature is starting to change. The hot banana peppers produced very late, and they are small. Same with the few jalapeno plants we planted very late as well.
Meanwhile, basil is in the dehydrator. Pesto should be next if I can swing it into my kitchen-ness.
Anaheim Saga © September 2026 by Kristina at Pioneer Woman at Heart
Comments