Garden Bounty

The deer ate all the tomatoes this season but I had an abundance of cayenne peppers (as usual) so I dry them and put them up for use all year long.

 First wash the peppers and dry with a clean towel.  Then I allow them to dehydrate on a paper plate in my kitchen.

Once they are COMPLETELY DRY I remove the stems.  They pop off quite easily but I wear gloves for this step because they are HOT and can irritate my eyes if I touch them after handling the peppers (you have been warned).  Discard the stems.  

Place the whole peppers in the grinder and whirl away.  This part has the tendency to aggravate my asthma with the fine pepper particulate!  (Say that 3 times fast!) 

Here is what they look like after having been ground.  Notice the seeds!

I place them in an old, clean spice container and store them in a cool dry space.  These adds nice kick to pizza, soups and stews.