Oct 05
You know those dried red pepper flakes that they put on the table in Italian restaurants? I’ve always thought they were kind of flavorless and not very hot. Anyway, for some reason or other I bought a jar and tonight I put about a teaspoon into the quickie sausage-tomato-mushroom pasta sauce I was making. Now my tongue is on fire.
My ear is also still stuffed up. I feel like I have concrete in my left ear. It’s making me insane! Insane-r. More insane. And now my nose is running because of the hot pepper. Argh.
More wine.
7 Responses to “Hot”
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October 6th, 2008 at 5:43 am
The ones in the restaurants ARE milder, I think, maybe on purpose – but they’re also not stored properly so they lose a lot of their flavor.
Maybe the loosening in your sinuses will help your ear?
October 6th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Progress in contented adulthood is measurable by how quickly one has absorbed the lesson that “more wine” is almost always a remedy and a consolation, indeed.
October 6th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Sudafed helps open my ears when they’re stopped up by sinus hoohaw. Here’s my other ‘sure cure’ for sinus and ear woe.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and toss in 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, minced. Stir for 45 seconds and add half a teaspoon of those hot red pepper flakes, half a teaspoon of black pepper and half a teaspoon of thyme or italian seasoning. Now add a can of condensed beef or chicken broth, and half-a-can of wine. Stir well, bring the broth to the boil. Turn off the heat, add one beaten egg, stir well to break up ‘flowers’. Now enjoy this as hot as you can stand it, the hot spicy broth will open up sinus and ear-holes that have been blocked. Since I always have the ingredients handy this Sopa de Ajo, or garlic soup, is my sure-cure head clearing remedy when I’m sickly. Have several kleenex handy.
I sometimes toss in croutons, or dip hunks of baguette if I planned ahead for this for dinner. I eat it when I’m not sick. It’s ‘on my diet’ since it’s got a lot of protein, low fat, low calorie – lo carbs – without the bread.
Hope you get to feeling better.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Ooh, that sounds good, and I have most of the ingredients. I think I’ll try it out. Thanks!
I also couldn’t stand it any more and just took some cold stuff with antihistamine and decongestant, mostly because the stuffed-up feeling has progressed to my sinuses. I think it’s allergies — they seem to really be bothering me this year. Probably all the extra rain we’ve been having made all kinds of mold spores proliferate as well as pollen from all the extra stuff growing, and then the weather has been cooler so I’ve been spending more time outside.
October 6th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Thank you, Carl! I’m writing this one down!
I was named for my grandfather Carl…it’s one of my favorite men’s names, though not terribly ‘fashionable.’
Thanks!
Andrea, my ear seems to have unplugged itself, but I’m now set for next time, thanks to your blog.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Okay, I improvised with bullion, and though it was good and spicy it wasn’t as substantial as I’m sure the straight recipe is. Looks like I’ll be going to the store tomorrow. (And I think I’ll put in white wine instead of red — the red tends to give the egg bits a disconcerting lavender color.)
October 7th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Yeah, I use chardonnay-in-a-box and Campbell’s condensed beef broth when I have all my druthers. I also add more red & black pepper than I listed here, but we don’t need any spontaneous combustion as you get used to the stuff.