For the Love of All Things Spicy

I don't know where you are on your "spicy" tolerance, but if every meal I had made my mouth burn and my nose run, I would be in heaven! I remember eating raw peppers in the kitchen as a child and while adults around me, consuming the same exact peppers, reached for relief, I was un-phased. For as long as I remember, what others found to be spicy, I found to be mild. So don't ever ask me if the salsa is spicy or not- you will probably not agree with my answer (I've been disagreed with so much on this issue, that I no longer answer the question).

I think I may have met my match.

Last weekend, Jeremy and I ventured into Hopdoddy, our absolute favorite burger place. They currently have a featured burger - the Ghostland Burgatory. We thought, hey what the heck! You only live once! Let's try it. When the cashier asked us to sign a waiver, we felt a slight hesitation, a lack of confidence, but since we already agreed to purchase it and didn't know what the other was thinking, we went ahead and got it, against our better judgment. (The minutes waiting for it to arrive were torturous, reminded me of waiting in line at Disney World for a ride I really didn't want to ride, but because of my people pleasing side, I had convinced myself to ride it... for instance: here)

So this burger not only has ghost peppers (debated as being the world's hottest pepper) on it PLUS a ghost pepper sauce, but it also is covered with jalapenos, serranos, and habeneros. Um, yeah. We will just say that it was the spiciest thing I have ever put into my mouth. ever.

The difference between my husband's approach and mine perfectly illustrates our contrasting personalities -

My planned, calculated approach was this:
I decide to take a bite of the spicy, a bite of the mild, eat a few fries, repeat. 

Jeremy's go-with-the-flow, relaxed, lack of plan was this:
Devour the whole thing without thinking, just get through it.

I literally look up and see him look at me with a very concerned face, seconds later he's up and walking off, unresponsive. I kept saying, "are you okay? are you okay?" as he walked briskly toward the bathroom. Then I awkwardly waited for him to come back, knowing it would be totally weird if I went to "check" on him in the bathroom. The way he described it was as if his body was on the brink of shock. He was fine after eating the other burger and a vanilla milkshake, which diffused most of the heat.

So we both got through the burger and lived to tell the tale. Would he recommend the burger? No way. Would I? I haven't even decided. For my amigos who love spiciness as much as I do, I've already texted them that they must try it, and that I have to be there for it. I'm guessing most people who read this will be resolved to never try it, but there will be a few who share in my obsession with spicy food and will go for it.

Go for it, my friends, go for it.