The temperature has finally dropped here in South Texas. It’s not really cold, but it is just a little chilly…or, said another way, “chile pequeno.” Melissa and the kids found more of these little gems around the property today and harvested what they could.
We’re searching for creating things to do with chile pequins. If you have some ideas, leave a comment below.
A very special thanks to Bill Hancock, Joe Tramonte, Patrick McMillin, and my Dad for their tremendous help raising the trusses for our outdoor kitchen.
Bill showed his building and engineering prowess many times throughout the day, not the least of which was balancing atop an 8-foot ladder while swinging from the trusses.
At the end of the day, we got the remaining seven trusses up…and even put up the center cross-beam.
Could not have done it without their help. Thanks again so very much, my friends!
Another of our nightly walk finds…Amaranth. At least we’re pretty sure it’s an Amaranth. Not the Giant Orange kind, but some variety. This little grain is like Quinoa, and it’s growing wild all over the property. Food…growing wild…all around us. Makes me think of the verse that God knows what we have need of before we even ask…and, oh by the way, He’s already provided for that need.
Just a couple of shots of a beautiful sunset.
Blurry, I know, but Melissa saw this beautiful black and yellow butterfly on one of our nightly walks. He was just sitting there, relaxing on some foliage, begging to be photographed – from a distance.
Need to get my camera out, setup a tripod, and capture some of these with better fidelity. But until then, here’s a shot of our Tequila plants. OK, so they’re actually Agave, but what fun is that?
Saw this on one of our walks the other night. It made Melissa think of that scene in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn tells Sam to get some Kingsfoil to help heal Frodo’s wounds. Not sure whether this would do the same, but it does look pretty. Much prettier live than in the photo, though.
The picture doesn’t do them justice, but here are some fall flowers blooming in one of the front pastures. Continuously amazed at the beauty all around us on our property.
We went foraging the other day, and came across these cute little red berries. Not realizing what they were at first, Melissa picked one and tasted it…and immediately spit it out. They’re hot little suckers, and we have them growing wild all over the property.
In doing a little research into Chili Pequins, we learned a couple of things. First, the “original” Texas hot sauce was made from Chili Pequins and vinegar. Folks would pack the peppers into a bottle and add vinegar. They’d keep refilling the vinegar until the following fall, when new peppers would be available.
Second, we learned that they’re called bird peppers because birds love them. Seems that birds don’t process capsaicin the same way humans do, and so it doesn’t affect them the way it does us. Also, the Chili Pequin seeds need scarification – usually via a bird’s digestive tract – in order to germinate.
Saw scores of these little guys jumping feverishly away from me as I was mowing in the back yard the other day. Looks like one of them found safety on the ledge of the house.
