Afternoon inspection

 First bloom on impatiens plant

 Slow-growing coleus

One of the better-looking basil plants

Time to pinch

Bite-sized recipe for bite-sized peppers

"For fun finger food, my wife, Kim, and I like to grow the small bell pepper 'Jingle Bells,' stuff the fruits with kalamata olives, blue cheese, and crushed garlic, and serve them raw or broiled for 5 minutes in the oven. The bite-size peppers work well with the intense flavors of these ingredients."

Source: Blanchard, Chris. "DELICIOUS Sweet Peppers." Organic Gardening (08973792) 47.3 (2000): 48. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 30 May 2013.

First fruit! It has been hiding

 Can you see the green pepper?

It's on the right

Cinnamon basil and regular basil

When to Season

When to season: For the most flavor, follow these tips for when to add seasonings in food preparation:

1. Add dried herbs at the beginning of cooking and fresh herbs at the end.

2. In slow-cooking foods like soups, add herbs in the final 45-60 minutes.

3. In quick-cooking foods like vegetables, add herbs at the start of cooking.

4. For chilled foods (e.g., salads, dips, yogurt, cheeses, fruit juices), add seasonings several hours before serving. Add herbed vinegars to salads or soups.

5. Since they quickly release flavor, add ground spices near the end of cooking.

6. Add whole spices and bay leaves early to slow-cooking dishes like soups and stews. For easy removal, tie in cheesecloth or place in a tea ball or coffee filter before adding to foods.

7. Rub herb and spice mixtures (e.g., thyme, marjoram and basil or garlic powder and red and black pepper) on top of tender meats, fish or poultry before cooking.

Source: Rubin, Karen Wilk. "Seasonings greetings: do you know the difference between herbs and spices? Do they have health benefits? And how should they be used in cooking?" FoodService Director 15 Dec. 2004: 27. Agriculture Collection. Web. 28 May 2013.

Bunch in Larger Pot and New Bloom from Smaller Pot

New Bloom

Pepper Trail

Pepper Trail is a fun book about the world-wide history of peppers  Some like it hot; I prefer sweet peppers.

"Until quite recently, only very pungent chillies, like those cultivated in India, were grown and used in Thailand. In fact, there is no Thai word for sweet pepper.…Paprika is also the name by which all peppers are known in the Balkans. Pungent Hungarian paprika is prepared from a long cayenne type pepper they call ‘spice paprika’ … while Spanish and Moroccan paprikas are prepared from a milder, tomato-shaped pepper."

Andrews, Jean. Pepper Trail : History & Recipes from Around the World.

College Station, TX, USA: University of North Texas Press, 1999. p 93.

Copyright © 1999. University of North Texas Press

Ghirardelli Story Excerpt

People love chocolate, but how many people know that the country's second oldest chocolate company is Ghirardelli? Founded in June 1852, it has been operating for more than one hundred and fifty years now; only Baker's Chocolate, founded in 1780 in Massachusetts, is older.

…

But just be sure to say Ghirardelli with a hard G as in ghost or spaghetti, and leave the J sound to gin and gypsy.

Lawrence, Sidney. "The Ghirardelli story." California History 81.2 (2002): 90+. US History Collection. Web. 24 May 2013.

Adventures in food science: white beans as fat substitue in oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies

It's unclear what the precise recipe was for these experimental cookies.

Acceptability of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies prepared using pureed white beans as a fat ingredient substitute

The purpose of this study was to determine the palatability and overall acceptability of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies prepared using pureed Great Northern beans as a replacement for 25%, 50%, and 75% of the fat ingredient, and to compare their sensory attributes with those of cookies made with a traditional type and amount of fat. Great Northern beans were used specifically because their light color would be unlikely to affect the color of the cookies.

…

The current results also suggest that using pureed legumes as a fat substitute results in an acceptable cookie even when legumes are substituted for a substantial amount of the fat ingredient.

…

* Our findings could be used by dietitians as they provide food preparation recommendations to clients. Pureed legumes could be suggested as a readily available, low-cost fat replacer.
* School nutrition managers could also use these results as they modify cookie recipes to reduce fat content. Legumes are often available to US Department of Agriculture feeding programs as a food commodity item and pureed legumes could be substituted for some of the fat in cookie recipes.
* Further research should be done to validate these results and determine the acceptability of legumes as a fat substitute in other types of cookies.
* Because of their nutritional profile, low cost, safety, and availability, legumes should also be investigated as a fat substitute in other baked goods such as cakes, quick breads, and muffins.

BINGHAM, MELODY, and LINDA L. RANKIN. "Acceptability of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies prepared using pureed white beans as a fat ingredient substitute." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 100.7 (2000): 831. Culinary Arts Collection. Web. 24 May 2013.