The Sacred Trio

When John and I were first married --almost fifty-three years ago -- and living in a tiny trailer at Camp Geiger Trailer Park (officially designated 'sub-standard housing by the Marine Corps,) John commented one evening that I seemed to fix dinner by starting with a pan of diced onions and peppers and garlic and then deciding what to add.

There was, and still is, some truth in that. So when I was faced with a bunch of peppers that needed to be picked in advance of falling temperatures, I diced up all the bell peppers and a few of the jalapenos (they're very hot) to saute with onions and garlic and package for freezing. ( The poblanos -- the dark green beauties on the left -- John smoked and then I bagged them up for the freezer.)

 When I first began gardening, I followed the directions in a book on freezing vegetables that recommended freezing chopped green peppers raw. This isn't very satisfactory as the peppers become quite watery and if you try to saute them, they just stew in their own juices. I like this solution much better -- a package of this tasty mix and I'm well on my way to a good spaghetti sauce or chili or beef stew or soup or curry or burgoo or . . .