Today, its nearly 80 degrees and very humid here. As to old veggies, most are still fine, provided that there are no bad spots present. About the only vegetable you don't want to use that is old, is a cucumber, as they need to be as fresh as possible to keep them crisp. Your usually cooking all of yours so the freshness isn't as important. Marnated peppers cannot be canned using any oils, so a vinegar brine is useful there.

> I realize that I could have frozen them, but I kept thinking I was going to get to them the next day or so.

Ann, this happens to me all the time!

I have often picked, for one reason or another, peppers or tomatoes that aren't quite ripe, and had them ripen on the counter over a week or more, and used them.

I use any veggies that have not started to spoil. I even have used hot peppers when they JUST started to get bit of "wrinkly" on their skins. I don't use any discoloured portions or anything that has gone mushy.

Peppers in particular seem to hold their own reasonably well and I would, personally, use both the examples you cite. I wouldn't expect them to taste QUITE as perfect as vine-ripened, but a marinated pepper has a lot of the marinade flavour anyway, and I think they'd still be very yummy.

Just my 2 cents.

Zabby

OK, good to hear both of you would use them.

ksrogers - well, I harvested because of the predicted freeze, but it still has not come. This is the latest freeze in a long long time (perhaps a record, I'm not sure). However, last weekend I pulled *everything* out of the garden. It just isn't as good when the temps are around 40, not nice and warm. The tomatoes aren't as tasty, it's time to be done with it.

As for the marinated peppers, this is a recipe that we have discussed several times on this forum. It does have oil but it is a tested and approved recipe. And is really quite yummy. I intend these marinated peppers to substitute for the marinated red peppers that I usually buy. Put in pasta, on pizza, in salads, etc.

Zabby, good to hear I'm not the only one who plans more than I can get to!

Thanks,
Ann

I don't see any problem as long as the peppers are visually OK. Peppers can keep quite a long time. I've probably kept them on the back porch that long.

Carol

> However, last weekend I pulled *everything* out of the garden. It just isn't as good when the temps are around 40, not nice and warm. The tomatoes aren't as tasty, it's time to be done with it.

Ann, me too, except for a few cherry toms that still tasted OK. All the others still looked OK and were still producing, but after weeks of cool temps including many nights of ALMOST frost, the taste was just bleach. Life is too short to eat bad tomatoes. Time to focus on stuff that is in glorious season NOW.... ;-)

Zabby