Chili Vermont

Tomatillos. I suppose they really should be grown south of the border, at least south of the border of Vermont where i live. But these green tomatoes in a husk reseed themselves prolifically in my vegetable garden. So i let them have their way because i love chili verde. The green sauce and green salsa that you find in Mexican restaurants are made with tomatillos.

In August and September i dice them into homemade salsa. Now i'm cleaning up the vegetable garden in preparation for the first frost and harvesting hundreds of these tomatillos still in their green husks. I store them in my unheated basement, and they will last until this time next year. No canning. No freezing. All i have to do is remember that i have a fresh vegetables downstairs, waiting to jump into the chili pot, roll into goulash or spike into Spanish rice. Any time i would normally cook with tomatoes in the winter, i use tomatilloes instead.

So when i go back to the garden to that profusion of tomatillo vines, and i frown, "Ai-yi-yi! What was i thinking when i didn't weed these out in June?" i just have to change the accent. "Ai-yi-yi-yi. Canta, no llores." I'll sing for my supper--Chili Verde-mont tonight.