I have been gardening for two decades or more. My parents gardened too. But, I guess I come from a family of wimps, for no one I know has ever grown anything but bell peppers. Last year, for whatever reason, I became intrigued with all the many varieties of peppers that are available. So, I ordered several: a heatless jalapeno (Felicity), Anaheim, Marconi, and Texas A&M. I was hoping to get peppers with just a little heat, but to my mind, none have any heat all. But, they are very tasty and I am hooked!

So, I have been reading catalogs online. Sooo many varieties! I hardly know where to begin.

Here are my burning questions:
What's the difference between them when it comes to cooking? I read about "frying peppers" and "roasting peppers", hot wax, banana, ancho, cubanelle, shishito, pimento, paprika. Can you use any kind for any purpose interchangeably? And, recipes say "chiles". So, what kind of pepper is that? I understand about the difference in heat, but I don't understand the differences for cooking purposes.
I doubt I would want to grow any of the very hot ones, but I do enjoy some heat: maybe as hot as a Jalapeno, but not much more. None that I grew this year have any heat at all that I can detect. Recommendations?