Don't Let Us Near Crushed Red Pepper

Mitch picked the rest of the peppers in our garden - the kind that makes crushed red peppers, which is what we did. Well, I should say it's what Mitch did; he did all the work. So tonight I was making beef stroganoff for dinner and a "tasty suggestion" in the recipe recommended adding crushed red peppers. So I did. Mitch offered to get the crushed peppers out of the cupboard for me. Unfortunately, he touched the crushed red peppers and then itched his nose. And that's were the hilariousness ensued.

Mitch's nose started to burn and he couldn't figure out why. So, he rubbed it some more and he rubbed his eyes. Pretty soon he was moaning, leaning over the sink, and washing his hands and face. I grabbed the eye drops and tried to hold back my laughter. It really was hilarious. But then his face got really red and his face started getting puffy! I got a little worried. (He told me later he almost thought he'd have to go to the hospital.) Luckily the soap and water helped and he started feeling better soon.

After that dramatic spell it was time to eat dinner. I test-tasted the stroganoff and warned Mitch that, "I might have gone a little overboard with the peppers." We both ate a few bites and pretty soon our noses started running and our faces turned red. Mitch said, "I'd open my mouth but it'd just create a backdraft." Ha,ha. Seriously though, it felt like our mouths really were on fire. We both started laughing; in fact, I was laughing so hard I couldn't eat and I had tears rolling down my face. We finally added more sour cream to our stroganoff to try and simmer down the spiciness. Mitch said it was the spiciest dinner he's ever had! He also said he thought I was trying to kill him. Ha,ha. The whole thing was hilarious.

After we finally choked it down (the extra sour cream really didn't help that much), we cleaned up dinner and Mitch tried to save the extra stroganoff. I made him throw it away, justifying wasting the food by saying that, "we'll argue over who has to eat it." Ha,ha. We ate a few pieces of chocolate to get our mouths to stop burning. Mitch said it made the burn go away, but his mouth was still "stinging." Oops. Lesson learned: don't touch your face after you touch crushed red peppers, a little crushed red peppers goes a long way, and don't let Mitch or I near the crushed red peppers!