Fried

You never know what's going to do well in a garden. You can plant varieties you trust, tend them faithfully, and still end up with failure. This year we only planted one Jalapeño pepper plant. It was doing fine until a rabbit came along and ate it down to a stalk. Bummer! Why, oh why, did we only plant one? I should have pulled it out by its roots and planted something else in its place, but - time being what it is - I never got around to it. So imagine my surprise today when I found that plant was two feet tall and loaded with peppers. Like I said, you never know what's going to do well in a garden ... even when you're sure.

I picked a bunch of peppers and brought them inside. I cored them and stuffed them with cream cheese. Dipped them in raw egg, rolled them in flour, and tossed them in the mini-deep fryer. Mmmm ... Jalapeño Poppers fresh from the garden. And fried green tomatoes, and onion rings. Yeah the world tastes just a little better deep fried in a vat of oil.

There are some other surprises in this year's garden too: romaine lettuce that turned into collard greens, cantaloupes that became cucumbers, and a patch of okra that seems to be thriving. I should have done up some fried okra too, but I forgot it was even out there. The okra is all the way at the end of the last row; I never made it out that far. That's OK ... I can always fry again tomorrow.