Hot Peppers for a Hot Day

This recipe is a family favorite. We love spicy food on a hot day.  Ninety-six is at a concert tonight and doesn't even mind missing it, though, because he says it's better as leftovers the next day. I cannot say I disagree.

Grow.

Harvest.

Prep. Don't forget the gloves. And don't forget to take the gloves off before
you scratch somewhere. This is important. Take my word for it.

Layers.

Bake
.

Enjoy! Be sure to save some room because you'll also have to have a bowl of
  Breyer's Summer Berry Cobbler ice cream. With jimmies.
Not just any jimmies. These jimmies.

Chile Relleno Casserole

1# fresh peppers (hot or sweet or a mix of both)

1-2 large tomatoes

12 oz jack or cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 1/2 c flour

1 c half-and-half

• Preheat oven to 350
• Slice the peppers open and remove the seeds. Set aside.
• Slice the tomatoes and remove the core and seeds. Set aside.
• Grate the cheese. Set aside.
• Place the eggs, flour and half-and-half in the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly until blended and smooth.
• Pour about 1/2 cup of batter in the bottom of a lightly greased 8 x 8 pan. Top with a layer of peppers, cut side up. Generously sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese. Pour 1/3 of remaining batter over cheese. Repeat pepper and cheese layers and pour remaining batter over. Top with tomatoes and remaining cheese. Bake at 350℉ until browned and bubbly and peppers are soft when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. 

The Story of Momo

Let's start with a few stipulations: I am not a crackpot. I am quirky, maybe. And a little bit stiff sometimes. And not unlike lobster, I am an acquired taste. But I am not a crackpot.

Okay then.

How many times did I hear it? With every belly rub I'd give Neko, with every cold cut slice I'd bring C fresh from the deli, Tom would laugh, and say, "If I ever come back, Linda, I want to be one of your cats." Cats live a pretty high life in the Gentile household.

So, I don't know if you all remember the time frame, but Tom died on February 7, 2010. C had been sick for months at that point, and he died some 3 months later, on May 13. It was a Thursday. Imagine my surprise, then, when a friend posted on Facebook that Saturday that, because of allergies, a friend of his was going to have to return her kitten to the shelter if she couldn't find a new home for her. A little white female kitten with smudges of grey on the top of her head and her rump. Her name was Momo, "little peach." She'd come complete with food, carrier, and was up-to-date with her shots and papers. The timing was entirely too serendipitous to resist. While I was ready to be a family of two boys, three cats and no dogs (yet), maybe my blog had other plans for me. We took Momo and remained a family of  22 legs, including mine.

Some time later (okay, months later. Filing is not my forte, okay?) I was filing away her paperwork, and I glanced over the shots ... the physical attributes ... and my eyes fell on her dob: February 8, 2010. "If I ever come back, Linda, I want to be one of your cats."

This incarnation likes sports more than the previous one ...

... but they both love their naps.