Here we are in January and our jalapeño plant is finishing up its appointed job of ripening its fruit.

Some websites say jalapeño plants can live several years if protected from weather that’s too cold. Other sites are less optimistic about their survival, or the quality of the fruit they produce in their old age. We’re keeping ours in our office, so I guess we’ll see.

Leah was preparing some shrimp for dinner a few days ago. She suggested making cornbread and using some jalapeños in the mix. That sounded good to me.

As I have mentioned before, our jalapeño plant was a gift from our neighbor Deb. They have a nice chili aroma and a nice, mild chili flavor but absolutely no heat at all. So I cut up a few store-bought green pickled jalapeños for a little spice. Unfortunately I didn’t put enough in.

You can see plenty of red here, but not much green. I still thought it was pretty good, but Leah wanted more heat. I guess next time I’ll put more green chilis in.

I have saved some seeds from our jalapeño plant. Between them and our current plant, if it survives, we should get more mild chilis next year. I think I’ll buy another plant or seeds and hope for a spicier jalapeño to mix with the mild ones.

I’m looking forward to that.