For Karen

[Jenise]

Karen, I was sorry to see that your favorite show, The Kitchen, is coming to an end next month. I don't watch it but I know what it's like to feel like these TV people are family, and then lose them.

Those peppers I'm sending to you. I had to wait and find a box, which I did and got it all wrapped up and took it to the UPS store with me. It's about the size of half a shoe box. Small. So the UPS girl gets out a tape thingie and measured it in all directions, announcing that it would cost about $16 to send it to you. Well, no thanks to that! So on Saturday I took it to our little country one-man post office only to find them closed on Saturdays. I guess I should have expected that. So yesterday I took it to Bellingham and planned to launch it this morning on my way home (I stayed overnight in town after a wine tasting). Got home, emptied the car, and there it was. My brain wasn't working all that well this morning. So sorry, but I really have good intentions (and no, you can't buy this stuff on Amazon.) It WILL get to you.

Jenise, good grief, that is quite the effort you made. Please keep them or gift them to a friend. I recently started taking medication for acid reflux and am not supposed to indulge in spicy or too many acidic foods right now. I had no idea this was so discomforting, and it put me out of commission for about a month. Not to mention, I was dehydrated and had to go to ER to get myself taken care of. I feel much better now and am on the mend. Thanks for thinking of me.

[Jenise]

Karen, these peppers are preserved in oil (a great reusable ingredient--great for mayo-free potato salads for instance), not brine, and they're mild. So low acid, low heat. I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with GERD, I suffered it myself in the long ago past and would not consider these at all triggering. They have a very unique flavor, and I am sure you'll love them like I do. One of my favorite things is to just scoop some into half an avocado and eat with a spoon. The oil acts like a dressing--no other embellishments needed. So I'm still going to send them. I just have to get to a post office on a day they're open.

Sounds great, thank you. What is the product called?

[Jenise]

Karen, here's the story. It's a local product.

Inspired by his mother Lil’s pickled pepper recipe, Howard Lev started batching preserved Hungarian Goathorn peppers inside a church basement in the early 1990s. In the decades since, Mama Lil’s has upgraded their facilities, but continues to source their peppers, as well as all of their ingredients, from local farms in Yakima Valley, Washington.

Btw after the first fail at sending from the UPS store, it occurred to me to check Amazon. Amazon has some options, but not just the plain $6 12 ounce jar of mild I wanted to send you.

Thanks, Jenise. I am looking forward to it.