ottawa foodies

This might be an odd question, but I just purchased Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen and before even opening it when to Little Latin America Grocery and Video to stock up on some stables. While the sales clerk seemed to think I was insane for not knowing what I wanted but willing to buy whatever she told me to, she was very helpful. Anyways I came home with a bunch of neat little things, yet I can't remember for the life of me what she called these two peppers... Can anyone venture a guess? I apologize for the poor picture quality.

dried guajillo and ancho chile peppers

OK, very cool topic. I love Rick Bayless. Those COULD be ancho chilies...

Yup, one on right is ancho

dried guajillo(commonly called cascabel in Texas try to find guajillio in south Texas or ask a local and they won't know what your talking about) and dried ancho. The first could also be a New Mexico chili as well.

Awesome thanks everyone.

On a similar note, has anyone ever considered growing their own peppers? I've seen neat looking habanero plants at Laporte and was wondering if they would be able to survive the winter indoor...

I know my jalapenos are taking a beating form earwigs this year. They love the new leaves. Not sure if they will grow if they keep getting munched by the earwigs.

Yan,

A lot of folks successfully overwinter peppers.

In my experience, odds of success can be improved by putting the plant through a "reverse hardening off process". If you are not familiar with hardening off, you can read more about it here: faq.gardenweb.com . The example relates to plants going into the garden but it equally applies to potted plants.

For more info, you may want to check out these forum threads: search.gardenweb.com

HotFood

Thanks HF.

So this afternoon I decided to launch myself into Bayless' Mexican Kitchen. I made Spicy Tomato-Sauced Enchiladas with Jalapenos and age cheese with poarched chicken and goat cheese and Mexican rice supper with chorizo, succhini and corn as a side. Let me tell you, it was amazing! I've never tasted mexican food like this, all the flavors stood out perfectly, rather than being mixed and confused like most mexican fare around here...