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My friend Tina gave me this wonderful dried chili pepper strand. Tina is from Abruzzi, Italy. She grew up making these strands and cooking with the dried chilies. She and her husband grow the peppers and then string them.

Tina gave me chilies to make my own strand. With the abundance of colorful peppers available in Farmers Markets this time of year, you may want to buy chilies and make your own. Be sure to buy the narrow chilies, cayenne, work well. The thicker peppers will rot so get the narrow chilies.

Take a heavy needle and sturdy thread and pierce the needle straight through the top of the chili just under the cap. String the peppers and finish with a loop to hang the chili strand.

Hang the strand in a warm, dry place to dry. Enjoy using the chilies. Tina adds them to just about everything from roast chicken to pasta sauce.

Last night I chopped a dried chili and added it to pasta with shrimp, tomatoes, and fresh oregano. The chilies gave it a nice "punch".

Thanks Tina for teaching me something new.