In the Spirit of Halloween...

Every year it is tradition for me to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. On Sunday I went to a local pumpkin patch, Brian and Kelly's Happy Holidays, located on Broadway Avenue between Rosemont and Swan to pick out the perfect pumpkin…but I also found some other goodies!

In a previous blog, I posted about chile ristras: beautiful hanging reefs made of dried chiles that are a popular decorative item in Mexican tradition.

The chiles here come from Hatch, New Mexico – the “Chile Capital of the World”.

Hatch is a little over an hour away from Mexico. People in Hatch take their chiles quit seriously. When growing the popular chiles, the land is prepared and planted around spring time. In this picture time line, you can see the growth cycle of a chile.


Hatch always has chile festivals and contests and on Sept. 5 and 6, 2009, they will have their big Hatch Valley Chile Festival.

I find chile ristras to be a very interesting aspect of Mexican culture, as well as the process and cycle chiles go through in order to be used.

Chile ristras come in all shapes and sizes, from small reefs to long strands.


Prices for the chile ristras at the pumpkin patch range from $10.00 to $40.00 for the small peppers and large peppers.

Although pumpkin patches are a staple of American culture, it was easy to see the Hispanic influence all around this pumpkin patch. Red chile ristras were hanging everywhere; the colors are so vibrant and loud, it is worth going even if you’ve already carved your pumpkins!


Chile Pepper Facts:
1.A fresh medium-sized green child pod contains the amount of Vitamin C from 6
oranges
2.Trying to lose weight? Hot chile peppers burn calories by activation a
thermodynamic burn in the body. This speeds up the metabolism.
3.Feeling sick? Chile peppers are in teas and lozenges for treatment of a sore
throat.
4.Oleorsin, the color that comes from the red chile pepper pods, is in items like
lipstick to processed meat.
5.There are 26 known species of chile pepper.



Check out this article, with pictures and video, on Hatch, New Mexico.

The world’s BIGGEST chile ristra?



Want to cook with chiles? Learn how to make Chile Rellenos...