Sagre Near Guardia Sanframondi

So, I was browsing some Benevento and Sannio links this afternoon and I came across Sannio Turismo. They're dedicated to promoting food & wine and "agritourismo" in Benevento. Not that big a deal, but what really caught my attention was this group of four sagre or food festivals:

That's four food festivals, all within a small area, and all on the same weekend: Food and Wine, Truffles, Porcini Mushrooms, and Caciocavallo Cheese.

Having missed these by one week this year I poked around a little more and from what I can tell they seem to be on the third weekend of September every year.

So what are they like? Here's a video from the Porcini Festival in 2009:

If they have them the same weekend in 2013, that will be September 19 through 22, 2013. Who wants to go?

Sweet & Spicy Pickled Peppers

Sweet And Spicy Pickled Peppers

Recipe by Traditional

Ingredients

• 2 lb Hot Peppers
• 1 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 1/2 cup White Vinegar (5%)
• 1 1/2 cup Water
• 1 3/4 Tbs. Kosher Salt
• Pickling Spices To Taste

Cooking Directions

1. Prepare 6 half pint canning jars according to the manufacturer's directions







Slice Into Rings

2. Wash the peppers, discarding any that are soft or damaged. Stem and seed the peppers. Cut them into rings.
3. Combine the sugar, vinegar, water, salt and optional spices (I used a few whole black peppercorns, 3 crumbled bay leaves, and a broken up 2" stick of cinnamon) in a medium non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil.



Bring to a Boil

4. Add the pepper rings, return to a boil, and remove from heat.



Fill Jars

5. Using tongs, fill the jars with the pepper rings, pressing them down. I got 5 half pints from 2 pounds of Calabrese peppers.



Top Off

6. Ladle hot pickling liquid into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.
7. Seal the jars according to the manufacturer's directions and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
8. Cool the jars, wipe clean, label, and store in a cool dark place for at least a week before eating. Store any jars that do not seal in the refrigerator.

Gardening 2012: Summer Wrapup

Today's Goodies: Peppers, Carrots, Swiss Chard

It's the first day of Autumn so I thought I'd look back over the produce page and add up what we got from our 80 square feet of garden space this year.

• 19.5 lb of Tomatoes
• 17 lb of Eggplant
• 15.5 lb Zucchini
• 4 lb Peppers (so far - there's a lot still on the plants that sontinues to ripen)
• All Thyme, Parsley, and Basil we need

We also harvested about 6 servings (maybe 3 lb. or so) of Cima di Rapa and have lots of Swiss Chard that will keep producing well into winter. There's even 2 eggplants still producing. We have about 60 carrots we'll be pulling as well as new plantings of beets, Cima di Rapa, spinach and radishes. And there are loads more peppers. We're going to pickle a couple pounds this weekend.

The big mistake this year was underestimating just how hot and dry summer was going to be. We could easily have had 100 lbs of San Marzano Tomatoes if I had put in the drip irrigation system last spring. By the time I finally installed it the tomato plants were already badly stressed and beginning to succumb to (I think) fusarium wilt. Next year we'll have the drip system in place and we'll plant more than one variety.

We like eggplant a lot but next year I think we'll go with maybe three plants. We'll also grow a mix of sweet and hot peppers and stick with no more that 2 or 3 zucchini.

I've learned you can start beets indoors so next year we'll give that a try. We'll also plant way more peas. They're easy to grow, delicious, and simple to freeze.

The Alley - Future Home of Spring Peas

I think we can take advantage of a narrow strip of ground on east side of the alley behind our house. It's about a foot wide and I can use the 40 feet of it that's "ours" as a long narrow row. The old chain link fence on top of the retaining wall will support the plants.