Heat

I planted habanero pepper plants by mistake this summer.  I meant to plant jalapeños. The habaneros are super hot by my standards.   Perhaps the four-pack of peppers was misplaced in a shelf of jalapenos, or perhaps I didn’t read the label properly.  Only two of the four seedlings grew, but each plant is producing dozens of little fruits.  Several pepper websites show photos of many varieties.  I’m linking to Habanero Madness as the habanero description sounds about right and it has great pictures.  http://www.habaneromadness.com/how-hot-is-a-habanero-pepper.html#.Wb3IALpFyUk

Tonight, I grilled a green pepper, chopped it along with half an onion, and sautéed for fifteen minutes in a big sauce pan, then added approximately a gallon of fresh tomatoes.  I added one tiny habanero to this sauce.  I neglected to put on gloves to chop the habanero (bad idea).  My fingers are tingling, and I had a coughing episode when the habanero began to simmer with the other veggies.  I’m writing this blog three rooms away from the kitchen, but the sauce’s smell is nearly as strong here in the office, as it is in the kitchen.

I’m writing about heat tonight.  The heat from this tiny pepper, compares to the heat I felt reading the first letter of reprimand I’ve received from my employer in about 37 years.  My first supervisor at this same institution, wrote a less than complimentary annual evaluation report my first year on the job. I did my best to improve as requested.  The intervening years have gone reasonably well.  This week’s unwelcome kind of heat helps in an odd way, to make it easier to make a retirement decision.  I suspect this is my supervisor’s intent.  I’m vain enough to want to leave on my own terms, and in my own time frame, but I feel the heat from the work kitchen, and am reasonably tired of being burned.