Chile me this

Now that it’s fall, the time has come to dry your chiles. Literally.

I was inspired by this patio I saw while cruising an unfamiliar neighborhood, and it struck me as so unusual, I had to take a picture (photo above). Come to find out, silly me, that drying chiles outdoors is not so unusual after all.

Used mostly for food, drying chiles for the winter season has been in style for centuries. They are handy in countless culinary uses, even as ground spices or sauces. What might be surprising to learn is that they are also used for industrial purposes like coloring (natural dyes) and home furnishings.

Ristras, are the decorative strings of dried chiles one might see adorning Southwestern homes (those are not so unusual to me). Because of their bright red color, the chiles can stand out as bold, organic statements on a boring adobe wall.

Other than décor and food, chiles (also known as peppers, by the way) are vegetables that are cause for celebration! There are annual festivals like the Hatch Chile Festival in Hatch, N.M., which occurs over Labor Day weekend, or the Chile Pepper Food Festival in Bowers, Penn.

Lastly, one of the best uses, admittedly, is to make embarrassing videos of your siblings eating hot chiles to post on YouTube.