Pepper-Palooza

So today I went to the Farmer's Market alone- ok well, not alone exactly as there were tons of people there, but without anyone accompanying me specifically. This was dangerous for several reasons. 1) I hadn't been in a couple of weeks so I was itching to buy things 2) I had no one there, namely my husband, to ask me "what are you going to do with that" or "do you really need that many of those?" and 3) We are going out of town in 3 days so I really shouldn't have been buying anything to begin with.

Ignoring all logic and leaving my sensible hubby behind to work on the bathroom remodel, I set off to enjoy my morning. And enjoy it I did. I spent about 3 times as long as we usually spend at the market, I happily bought my green beans, I talked with a lovely old man who very honestly told me that his tomatoes would not make the best sauce (to thank him for his honesty, I bought an onion from him), and I visited my mother-in-law at the bank, oh-and I bought 11 red bell peppers. WHAT?! Why would anyone do that? What could you possibly do with that many peppers?

Allow me to explain. I came upon these bins of peppers in the last area of the farmers market. There were red ones and green ones and even a few yellow ones...and they were only 50 cents a piece!! For red peppers? That is unheard of. And they were big and perfect and beautiful and I absolutely had to have some. So I started searching through the bins and I put a few in my bag. And just as I was getting ready to walk away with a reasonable number (3), a man opened up a new bin and dumped out a bunch of even better looking ones! And so, ignoring the voice in head which was quite sensibly telling me that I didn't need any more, I continued to fill my bag with three more. So now we're at 6. Then I remembered I had 50 cents in my pocket, change from a prior purchase, and I thought- what's one more? So I bought 7 red peppers....for $3.50. When I buy them at Costco, I get 6 in a bag and it's $6 and they are small. See below:

As I walked away with my peppers, I began to think about what exactly I was going to do with them. I decided I would freeze them. Can you freeze peppers? I have no idea. Did I do the sensible thing and pull out my smartphone and google "freezing bell peppers" before I bought 11 of them? No. And yes, I did say 11, because the fact of the matter is that after I had gotten in my car and started to drive home, some invisible force possessed me to pull into a new parking lot, park my car, walk back to the pepper place...and buy 4 more peppers!! What?! How did that happen? Like I said, I was pepper possessed. I can't explain it. In any event, I finally escaped and made it home with 11 peppers.

Let me tell you a little something about bell peppers...I LOVE THEM. They are by far my favorite vegetable. And while I embrace all colors, red is definitely my favorite. I love everything about them. Their color, their shape, the way they taste....I put them in pretty much everything I made that involves vegetables. I roast them. I eat them raw and plain, without any dip, sometimes without even cutting them- like an apple...and yes, people think that is weird...but whatever. Peppers were even the subject of a series of photographs for my high school photography class. So, as you can tell (unless you're quite daft and have yet to pick up on it),  I have a strong affinity for peppers. And I now had 11 of them sitting on my kitchen counter. So I decided it probably time to figure out what to do with them.

I began by doing some internet research on how to freeze peppers and was greeted with some good news. Peppers freeze easily, they freeze well, and they last a long time!

Simply wash the peppers, then slice or dice them...however you usually use them- I did some of both...

Next, either spread them out on a pan to let them freeze before bagging them or put them directly into ziploc bags. The pan method may sound all well and good, but if you don't have a pan that fits in your freezer (like me), the immediate bagging method will most likely prevail!

That's all there is too it! hmmm, maybe I should have bought more ;)

I leave you with some pics of the children- they wanted to enjoy pepper-palooza too! (One pepper was sacrificed in the taking of these photos)

-Poco, the evil pepper king, presiding over his minions:

Bow down to the king:

Marcus did not enjoy the peppers as much, probably because they were forced upon him:

Tucky loved his pepper:

Then Abner stole it:

And I caught him:

But he decided he didn't care and dug in anyways:

*This post is dedicated to my bff Katharine, whose "I'm A Pepper" t-shirt may or may not have indirectly been inspiring my love for peppers since we were 11*

Enjoy!
--Lindsay--