I am super excited today to share with you all that MY FIRST KIMCHI PEPPER HAS RIPENED!!!

Oh yeah, go ahead and check out the seasoning on that pan. You'd better believe that baby fries eggs like a dream...

A while ago, I showed you guys how I make kimchi at home. It is actually not particularly difficult. Well, except for the waiting part. It is a fermented food that takes time to work its magic.

Just making it on my own was not good enough, however! I want to eventually grow the ingredients it takes to make kimchi! I started off with the Korean kimchi peppers! Well, those little peppers have grown quite a bit and I am happy to say that the first one has ripened and I was able to pick it!

Shown with an ink pen to give you an idea of size. Of course, I wanted to use a ruler, but my crafty children make rulers disappear almost as quickly as scissors... Also shown with its buddy, the 'unripe-pepper-that-I-accidentally-knocked-of-the-plant,' because green contrasts red so nicely.

Anyway, after taking lots of photos of this bad boy, I decided I had better taste the pepper so I could let all of you know what it tastes like! Yeah, I may have been getting hungry for lunch... so what?

The first bite tasted just like a sweet pepper. I started thinking perhaps I had made a mistake. Started frantically going through the list of pepper varieties I have planted in my head. What kind of pepper was this?! I took another bite, complete with seeds. Hmmmm.... same tasty flavor, but with a little kick to it. Interesting. Better take another bite.
Ahh the heat is coming now! It still tastes fantastic, but with more spice!

Well, I may have accidentally eaten the whole darn pepper. It was GOOD! The point of growing these peppers was so that I could dry them and grind them into powder to use in kimchi.... but I DO have a pound of kimchi pepper already in my cabinet that I ordered online... and I really want to eat more of these delicious peppers...

Did I do the smart thing and save those seeds to make more pepper plants?! NO! I ate them all like a pig! Ugh! Next time I will for sure save some seeds!

I hate to say it folks, but I don't know if any of these are going to make it into the kimchi. It depends on my willpower, I suppose.

An idea that occurred to me is that perhaps they would be good if put RAW into the fermenting kimchi. I wonder what difference that would make? Who says they have to be dried? I bet the raw pepper rings would look super pretty in there. You know what? I think I'll have to try it.

I have loads more green kimchi peppers coming on and should be ready before long! Super excited about them!

I planted quite a few varieties of pepper, and these are the first to produce for me, even the plants that are in terrible need of transplanting! I am quite impressed with these plants, the hardiness of the plant and the production so far, not to mention the fantastic TASTE!! These will definitely be on my permanent 'grow-list'.

Thanks for reading guys! I hope you all have a lovely day!! ♥