All I can say is you are asking the right questions.

Apparently the authorities were barking up the wrong tree with tomatoes. Sure, the salmonella were linked by tomatoes, but now it seems it was only tomatoes which also were linked by the peppers. Who knows where it goes from here?

Jim

First of all, my Mama grew up in Mobile but I won't disclose which college football team I root for in Alabama in case you freak out. Second, I'm the forward type and would ask them to disclose where they are located etc. I used to live in Maine and we would go to Farmer's markets with the utmost trust but I see where you are coming from. Now they are talking cilantro might be an issue so I guess unless you home grow forget fresh salsa this summer :) If you offend anyone by asking about their crop, then I would not buy from them. Shady to me..

Spencersmom Roll Tide Roll.... Secondly, i guess i could always ask where they got their produce. hopefully, they'd shoot me straight. guess i could always take jalapenos out of the mix, but pickeled jalapenos are just about my favorite!

"hopefully, they'd shoot me straight."

Or they might just shoot you. :-)

So now it's cilantro is it? Yeah, that could be connected to the tomatoes and chiles. As I said before, where does it go from here? Seems like we're getting near the end of the line.

Jim

WAR EAGLE! ;)

How about a recipe for your sauce? =)

Just vinegar and peppers? Salt? How many parts vinegar to peppers?

Yeah, this salmonela is scary stuff. Glad I grow my own. I'd agree with the advice that you should ask about the garden/farm. If they get upset something is fishy. I talk about my garden so much people at work are sick of hearing about it. They just want good free produce.

-HabBob

HabBob... i call it pepper sauce, but we actually enjoy eating the peppers with our food more than the sauce. i usually grow/buy an assortment of cowhorn, jalapeno, bananna, hot bannana, tabasco, serano, habanero etc... (we don't eat the habeneros unless theyve been in the bottle awhile, they do lose some of their kick after some time and become edible to us.) basically whatever we can get our hands on. slice them all in long strips (except the habanero)and pour boiling vinegar over them. screw the lid on, the jars seal themselves when you hear the lids "pop." after a month or so we just eat them on the side of our dishes. no salt, or spices we like the taste of the pickeled peppers.. (obviously we pour some of the vinegar on turnip greens etc...) i would love to hear some suggetions of extra ingredients if anyone has any...

Sounds great, and best of all simple. =)

Someone posted this a while ago. Sorry I don't remember who it was! I wanna say smokemaster or fieldermeister. Sadly i haven't used this recipe as much as i'd like. I need to grow MORE! =P

"Bread and butter peppers"
1 1/2 to 2 lbs peppers sliced 1/4"
2 medium onions sliced thin
6 ice cubes
1/4 cup coarse (kosher) salt
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

In a large bowl combine peppers, onions, salt, and ice. Let stand 1 hour tossing occasionally.

Fill bowl with water and drain vegetables in a colander. Rinse and drain three times to rinse off all salt. Drain well.

In large pan combine vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a boil. Add the vegetables and when the liquid barely begins to simmer remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature.

Put in jars with enough brine to cover vegetables and store in the fridge. Ready to eat the next day but I (the author) have kept in fridge for many months. Really good-- crunchy- not too sweet-- not too sour.

-HabBob

Thanks for sharing that one! Sounds like a great candidate for super hots, like habs. :) :)

The warning seems to be about raw peppers, so if you are pickling them, you might be okay.
"The contaminated peppers may still be in grocery stores, homes, and restaurants. Until more is known about the likely location of contamination, FDA is advising all persons to avoid consuming raw jalapeño peppers and dishes containing those raw peppers. Consumers should be aware that raw jalapeño peppers are often used in the preparation of fresh salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, and other dishes. Cooked or pickled peppers from jars and cans are not part of this warning."

Here is a link that might be useful: cdc warning

"The contaminated peppers may still be in grocery stores, homes, and restaurants."

That covers just about anywhere food might be, other than in my own garden. Let's just say nobody knows the source. That makes it kind of hard to take appropriate precautions.

There are a couple of things which can be done to make store bought fresh vegetables safe, however. First, simply wash veggies under running water. Second, if you are very concerned, soak the veggies for several minutes in water to which water purification tablets have been added.

Jim

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0amp;ct=result&cd=1&q=vinegar+salmonella&spell=1

it looks like you can kill off all the salmonella with vinegar.

"You can use vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to disinfect your kitchen counters, produce and even your cutting boards. All you need is three percent hydrogen peroxide, the type you buy at the drug store, vinegar (white or apple cider), and two clean sprayers, like the kind you use to mist plants. Fill each sprayer separately, one with peroxide and the other with vinegar (don't mix them together in one bottle - that makes peracetic acid, which isn't safe and can give you a bad chemical burn). Spritz the item you want to disinfect, first with hydrogen peroxide and then with vinegar, then rinse off under running water. University tests show that this technique killed more potentially lethal bacteria, including Salmonella, Shigella, and even E. coli, than chlorine bleach or any commercially available kitchen cleaner."

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2006/04/05/super_disinfectant_spray_using_peroxide_vinegar.htm

apparently 30 minutes of vinegar and lemon juice should kill it off. So bottling it in vinegar should do the trick.

Lemon juice, vinegar and the mixture of lemon juice and vinegar (1:1) were tested for their effectiveness in reducing the counts of inoculated Salmonella typhimurium (approximately 6 and 3 log cfu/g) on carrots. Treatment of carrot samples with lemon juice vinegar alone for different exposure times (0, 15, 30 and 60 min) caused significant reductions ranging between 0.79Â3.95 and 1.57Â3.58 log cfu/g, respectively, while the number of pathogens was reduced to an undetectable level after 30-min treatment by combined used lemon juice vinegar.