Red Pepper Relish

It was very quiet at Spring Lake this morning. It's been awhile since we've gone there. Spike needs practice being around different people and dogs so today worked out well since it wasn't crazy busy. He is eager to meet other dogs but doesn't really know how to play so usually a meet and greet is all he needs. 

Because it's been hotter than usual, things are looking pretty dusty and tired. I looked for something tiny, but even the spiders and wildflowers had disappeared. I'm adding a picture of some tiny homes in a piece of dead bark on a tree. These beetles take advantage of the drought and move into trees that are already struggling. They are killing lots of trees in the forests which then add more fuel to the already dry hills. Cal Fire is doing what it can to clear firebreaks and cut down timber, but it's a massive job since forest management policies have up to now been to let things grow. We could have learned from the native Americans who let small fires burn to clear out underbrush and prevent the larger conflagrations which climate change has brought about here since 2017.
We are hoping the one that burned through here two years ago will protect us in this fire season.

By the time we got home it was lunch time and then I had to tackle the plate full of shisheto peppers turning red on a plate. John got carried away and planted more of these than we could eat so I decided to make some sweet hot pepper relish. They seem to get hotter when they turn red, so I added some anaheim and green bell peppers to tone it down., then simmered them in apple cider vinegar and sugar. Even with onion and garlic, I only got two pints out of the batch, but that may be all the pepper relish we can eat. The peppers left in the dish are drying nicely and might be strung on a string soon.

And there went the rest of the afternoon. I'm hatching a plan for Susan's quilt and ordered some fabric for color inspiration but it won't get here until next week . My brother found himself with unused airline miles so he is flying up for a quick visit on Thursday, It's always good to see him and quite fun to cook with him as well.

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