Lest one would think that our homesteading duties are through until spring, I must correct.  Now granted, if I had had the prolific garden I thought I would have had I would have long before now canned a year’s worth of peppers, but as life would have it, I did not.  And down to the last two jars is no laughing matter.  So when my dear friend, Lisa, handed over boxes of produce that Whole Foods did not deem sellable (Gee, they look like they’ll cook up just fine to me!), I practically ran from her kitchen laughing maniacally all the way to mine.  Homesteading personalities can be a bit peculiar and they do tend to show themselves in times of seeming triumph.  A box of peppers and mushroom and other goodies awaited the knife.

Save for the balmy outdoor temperature of precisely zero, my kitchen looked like summer.  Homesteaders must be thrifty.  It is the only way.  And if one should find items on sale that look great still, do grab them.

I chose to freeze these beauties.  Cut in half then finish pulling apart.  Remove the seed ball, seeds, pith, et cetera and chop into fine chunks.  When your hand gets tired and you find yourself rather bored just cut them in half, seed them and throw them in freezer bags.  Now, I have always taught you to freeze them on cookie sheets first, always.  They come apart easily and cleanly.  But should you find yourself with a  very small, very full freezer then just bag two chopped peppers in each sandwich bag and pile the halves into a gallon bag.  You will have to pry them apart but then they are quite easy to cut up frozen with kitchen shears.  Do what you can, you may have a ton of mushrooms to do next!

A full freezer equals a happy new year.  I wish you all that and much, much more.