Chili Peppers

New  Mexico is known for their Chili Peppers. Here are a few of the ones I grew this summer (as well as a couple of okra that I grew, (green veggie at the top of the first photo) The long skinny red peppers are cayenne peppers.

 The second photo is a green jalapeño pepper, New Mexico's pepper, the state fruit, with a red one in the third photo. Actually the same pepper. They are green to start with then turn red but can be picked at either stage for eating. It depends on the color and how much water, fertilizer, and the type of soil it was grown in how hot (not from the heat used to cook it) the pepper will be.

This photo shows a green jalapeño and one that is a starting to dry out a little beyond the picking stage. I will be keeping most of mine for seed to raise them next year as I don't care to cook with the fresh ones. The juice from fresh peppers can burn your skin and a lot of people use plastic gloves when working with them. Some people can even have asthma attacks if in an area where they are ground into dry chili  powder for cooking with. I have been know to start choking just from running hot water into a pan where I heated enchiladas sauce. As always the question here in New Mexico is 'Green or Red?' It isn't about Christmas. They are asking if you want green or red chili sauce on your Mexican food.