A few times each growing season I used to do a pepper-thing for my non-chilehead friends. I would usually serve this while waiting for a pot of shrimp or crabs to boil. I would roast some garlic, put them in small bowls. Then, I added some good extra virgin olive oil into each bowl. I would then put a different variety of sliced peppers in each bowl with the garlic and oil. I warmed the bowls in the oven till the peppers get just a LITTLE BIT tender. Most of my friends are not too crazy about really hot peppers so, I did this with the tamer ones. I know the olive oil and garlic detract from the pure pepper flavor but, they loved to sample all of them. Very rarely was there any left over. Especially if we served them with small skinny loaves of hot homemade French-bread to be smeared with the garlic and dipped in the garlic/pepper oil. Sometimes I would use fresh-yanked roasted shallots instead of garlic.

Two adults here, as well. Wasted food is the most expensive food you purchase, so I do careful meal plans to help reduce that "forgotten" something-'er-other, especially in the crisper drawer. I dehydrate, freeze, or vacuum seal with a FoodSaver for longer storage. Instead of waiting for the celery go go limp, I'll dehydrate a portion of it. Works great in soups, casseroles, etc. I also dry the celery leaves. Can't get all those mushrooms used? Slice and dehydrate them. I make entire soup mixes with a wide variety of dehydrated foods. We eat dehydrated zucchini as a substitute for potato chips. Hard cheese keeps longer in FoodSaver bags. When grapes are on sale, I'll stock up and freeze them in FoodSaver bags. I like the green bags for bananas, as well as freezing or dehydrating bananas when I can get a deal on them. FoodSaver canisters are great for leaf lettuce and fruit in the refrigerator. They keep much longer when vacuum-sealed. When potatoes are buy a 5# bag - get one free, I make them into mashed potatoes and freeze them in dollops and vacuum seal the dollops in FoodSaver bags. Otherwise, we'd never be able to use 5#, let alone 10#... I also cook and mash sweet potatoes and dehydrate them on the fruit roll-up trays. When crispy-dry, I run them through the blender and make sweet potato powder. Reconstitutes to make mashed sweet potatoes by adding hot water. I do the same thing with tomatoes for tomato powder. Reconstitute it with water for making pizza sauce, etc. It's amazing how many tomatoes you can get in a quart jar when you dehydrate them, and even MORE when you make tomato powder. Ripe fruit can be made into fruit roll-ups. You can dehyarate yogurt. I even dehydrate lean cooked meat cut into 1/2-inch cubes. After they are dry, I package it in FoodSaver bags and stick it in the freezer. Make sure your refrigerator is 40°F, or colder, and your freezer is 0°F or colder. Food degrades faster when those temperatures are warmer. -Grainlady

I am getting close to 50 and the biggest change I've noticed is my feet. I keep them well moisturized and do my nails same as always, but the foot itself looks bonier and thinner-skinned and just old. My toes even look longer. I wear sandals 9 months a year so this is hitting me where it hurts. I have had good luck with my skin, which I attribute to wearing SPF 15 every day since age 24 and not smoking. I just started to get a line between my eyebrows this year, even though I am a big scowl-er due and squint-er due to poor vision. I do wish I paid more attention to my manicure, but I don't. I buff smooth every Sunday night and leave it at that unless I am going to a special event. I think updating eyeglasses and shoes is important for me to feel my best. I am hunting for new frames now and always on the lookout for comfy shoes that don't read "old". Some funky/casual styles that gals with smaller feet can get away with look like orthopedic shoes on my size 10s. Others' responses remind me that I need to drink more water and sweat sometimes. My DDs are makeup hobbyists and they really like TooFaced, but it hadn't occurred to me to try it. Hearing that the lipstick lasts may send me rummaging through their stashes--pale lips are my genetics and I hate them!

As long as they were not overly ripe when picked, I've had them last easily a month in the refrigerator. I prefer not to leave them that long, so I tend to chop or slice up the ones I'm going to use for jelly and then freeze them if I can't make jelly right away, but you could hold them in the fridge for quite a way. Seven to ten days should be fine. Just remember when you can them, that the same rules apply when using refrigerated peppers for canning as when using freshly harvested peppers---so any that are too soft or overly ripe should not be used for canning. I've done it the way George does it some years, but this year I just picked all the peppers that were ready and am canning them today and tomorrow before I start my Thanksgiving cooking. One year, long long ago, my uncle told me he was bringing me his excess peppers at Christmas. He showed up with plants he'll pulled up by the roots before he left his place to come to my parents' house. That was my first exposure to harvesting peppers from a plant hanging upside down in the garage. I was astonished at how long they lasted, and some years since then, I've done the same thing with tomato plants.