ArcaMax

Pansies

When I was a little girl my mother still gardened. The first flowers to go in the ground were the pansies. We had a round garden bed out in the front of the house. The pansies went in there. Little clumps of flowers with their pretty little ‘faces’. Lots of colors. My mom wanted color variety. The garden bed was located in an area that got about half sun, half shade.

I remember feeling so guilty when one of us would kick a ball and it bounced into the pansy bed. We’d flatten the clump of the pansies with our carelessness. My mother never yelled about that. To this day, I wonder why. Pansies are pretty forgiving though. They just grow more blooms and keep on going. I guess she knew that.

Pansies became a favorite flower of mine; mostly because they reminded me of my mother. Moss roses too, but that’s another column.

I never had much luck with pansies. I just didn’t understand their nature. When I was a young gardener I’d put pansies in my garden in early Spring and smile. By July they were dead or so gangly and sad looking that I could not stand to look at them anymore and I’d pull them out and put something else in. I thought it was my fault; that I was a lousy gardener.

Now I know that’s just the nature of pansies. They are a cooler weather flower. By the time the July sun rolls around they are finished for the season.

I put my pansies in my garden yesterday. Purple and blue faces looking back at me. I smiled as I thought of my mother.

This time I won’t feel so badly when I take them out and put in something else for summer. My pansies will have done their job and I’m not such a bad gardener after all.

Roasted Red Pepper Chili (SUPER EASY)

Okay, so I opened my pantry and saw a jar of roasted red pepper strips. I thought… I could make a new chili with these! So here you have it. This is chili #7 for Plan Z. Very popular!

Serves 5 to 7 (1.5 cups per servings)

2 lbs of ground sirloin
1 bell pepper, diced (you can use your choice of yellow, orange, red or green)
1 large onion, diced – approx. 2 cups
2 Tbl of chili powder – your choice
1 tsp of garlic powder
2 tsp of ground cumin
2 – 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes (undrained). You choose if you want them with chilies, oregano and garlic, or even fire roasted.
1 – 16 oz jar of roasted red peppers packed in water (in jar). Rinse them in a colander and drain
¼ - ½ tsp of cracked red pepper flakes (The kind people use on pizza. If you want your chili really mild, leave these out)
3 cups of water
½ tsp of grated sea salt (or to taste)
1 lime (optional garnish)

Spray a soup pot with olive oil spray. Put in the ground sirloin and begin to break it up. Cook on medium-high, stirring often and breaking it up, until it’s half done. Then add the onions and bell pepper. Cook until the beef is completely done and the veggies are moistened. (The beef won’t be pink in the middle anymore).

Add everything else except the lime.

Turn to a simmer and let bubble for a minimum of 15 minutes. The longer it simmers (up to an hour) the more melded the flavors will become but it will also cook off some of the liquid. That’s why the servings number is a variable.

Garnish with a lime wedge (optional). Some like to squeeze the lime over their chili.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola