Whew! 'Sounds like it's just as hot and humid in OK as it is here in southeast MS! I worked outside last night until it was so dark I couldn't see - a cloud cover had moved in, and the temps were much cooler. I finally got the new passis planted that I hadn't planted yet, specifically, p. mucronata (2), p. umbilicata (2), p. 'Amethyst', p. amethystina'Minas Gervais', and p. eichlerianna. I went to Walmart right after supper, got 2 giant bags of potting soil, and used this potting soil mixed with the native soil and some chicken manure in the raised bed boxes that are no longer useful in my garden, which I moved from my garden to places next to my new fence. I've got something planted and/or growing in front of just about every square inch of my picket fence! The gulf frits are continuing to lay more eggs on my passis, so I should reach the 'no vines left' stage again this year by early fall. I'm still not finding any palamedes swallowtail eggs or cats - I'm only seeing males, and the female I released the other day hasn't shown up. I hope she's alright! I'm raising lots of pipevine, giant, and spicebush swallowtails, and gulf frits, also cecropias - the red-spotted purples and buckeyes have all pupated, so they should be emerging soon. It's been a good year, but I wish I could see and raise question marks and viceroys again like I used to. The heat is the big thing now, but then it IS mid-July! Sherry

This is hubby again. @FLSandytoes: I use a Kuchenpot that's just over 2.5L. It's a German brand, but it's nothing fancy and I think we got it at TJ Maxx. I use 1/2 cup of popcorn and the popped volume fills it perfectly. I cook it on a Miele induction cooktop at "7" until I hear 2 seconds between pops. I do not have anything under the pot between it and the cooktop. There is paint on our cooktop to mark the element locations, and it does not show any signs of wear after ~3 years of popping alongside regular cooking (which, at 1-2 hot meals a day probably adds up to a lot more moving around than popcorn). I usually do the shaking twice: once at the very beginning, and then once a minute or so into the cycle, but before any pops have started. The purpose of the first shakes are to evenly spread the kernels so they're all exposed to the oil. I'm not really sure if the second set of shakes is necessary, but they give a very pleasing sound of sizzling in the oil, and in theory they help turn the kernels so all sides of them are exposed to the hot oil. One other thing to mention is that I usually take off the lid when it gets about 3/4 full. I do this because the pot almost exactly fits the volume of popped corn I'm cooking, and the lid gets wet with moisture during cooking. If the popcorn pushes up against the lid, the top kernels can get soggy. Once the pot is 3/4 full, there is enough weight to keep almost all the newly popping kernels from popping out of the pot. I would never be able to do this with gas or electric, because a kernel or two still occasionally pops over, and I'd be too worried about the kernel catching fire. With the induction, I've never been worried as the only hot parts are the bottom of the pot and the area directly underneath it on the cooktop, neither of which is accessible to an occasional flying kernel.

So I just tried stove top popcorn for the first time, and it was excellent! First I melted the butter on low, sprinkled in salt, then added my kernels and turned the heat up to medium. Some kernels that could have popped a bit more fully (too low heat? too old kernels? needed to vent the pan?) and I wish my salt hadn't turned dark & made the yummy popcorn ugly...but the butter & salt flavor was better than the theater, and I didn't have to drag out a giant, hard-to-clean appliance. Thank you rachelellen! Now back to try another batch. PS - I was wondering earlier this evening if bacon fat (I keep a jar of it frozen to add flavor as needed) would make yummy popcorn or a greasy mess, and a commenter on simplyrecipes.com said it's yummy. So, another option to try!

At the restaurant where I used to work, we had a chile relleno appetizer on the menu. It was not the battered, deep fried dish we are mostly familiar with here, but a lightly roasted (just to remove the skin, while leaving the chile with a bit of crunch)poblano chile, stuffed with room temp cotija cheese and shrimp, dressed with a light vinaigrette and pickled red onions. A very tasty, different salad course. The chef used poblanos as they are generally mild. One day, I had a customer come up to the desk to complain bitterly about how hot the chile was, after her waitress had promised it to be mild. I'd eaten dozens of these, as it was one of my favorite light lunch items and had never had one I would have the least worry suggesting to a blue-haired grandma...but, I went into the kitchen and sampled one. GOOD LORD it was spicy!!! Let me point out that I am the sort who has to be very, very careful about the amounts of chiles I use in my dishes when cooking for friends because if I can taste the heat, most of them cannot eat it without tears. The chef (who was Mexican) and I figured that this particular batch of poblanos must have cross pollinated with some habaneros or something. Moral of the story is....ALWAYS taste your peppers before you serve them!