I am pretty much a pro at roasting chilis now and I have never used gloves. My fingers get a little tingly sometimes, but it's no big deal. Usually. Moving on, I did indeed make some amazing looking and smelling green chili mac and cheese which I baked to perfection in a cast-iron skillet topped with bread crumbs. Oh man did it look good.
Marc was getting home late so I dished it up for all the boys and decided I would wait and eat with Marc when he got home. We had a prayer and the boys started eating. Immediately Elijah started complaining that it was too spicy and couldn't eat it. I ignored him. The problem is, Elijah is in an extremely picky phase and complains about almost every meal. Gabriel was more tactful. He said it was so delicious but it was a little bit spicy and could he have more water? I was surprised. These boys eat salsa just fine and had never complained about a dish with mild green chilis in it before but I figured Elijah's comments might have influenced others to think it was spicy too so I just got the kid some more water. Everyone seemed to be slowly picking at their food so I offered an incentive. I can't remember for sure but I think it was strawberries or some kind of fruit and a big slice of French bread to whoever ate their whole serving. Well, that did it. They started eating faster but I was noticing that they kept getting up to refill their water cups and some of them even had tears in their eyes. About half-way through I finally decided to take a big bite to show them they were exaggerating how hot this stuff was. Holy Hannah! My mouth was on fire! I couldn't believe how MUCH of this stuff they had eaten. Those were NOT mild green chilis my friends. Oh no. They were Satan's chilis. Or some kind of giant jalapeno. I'm guessing the fact that I ran out of cheddar and subbed in some pepper-jack cheese didn't help matters either. Goodnight that stuff was hot. Great flavor, but burn-your-tongue-off hot. I felt like a horrible mother for making them eat so much of it so I gave them all a bunch a fruit and two thick slices of French bread.
Don't worry, I paid for my crime. As I was cleaning up I began to notice that my fingers were burning every time I put them in warm water to wash dishes. Taking a shower was excruciating. It took days for the pepper oil to completely wear off of my skin. I also ended up eating almost that whole pan of mac and cheese by myself over the next week. Lunch every day. I have to say, by the end the heat didn't bother me anymore and I actually really enjoyed it. Next time, I'll be a little more cautious with how many chilis I put in and I'll definitely listen to my children better when they tell me something is spicy. Sorry guys. You'll thank me someday when you serve a mission in Mexico or South America. I hear they like it hot down there.
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