Tim and I were grocery shopping and we saw this:
We like a little spice. I'm actually more adventurous that way than Tim is, always topping my hamburger with a split jalapeno, but Tim likes a little jolt of heat as well.
We picked up a couple containers of this "medium hot" vegetable broth, and the next day, I got the container of collected leftover vegetables from the freezer, I gathered a carrot, onion, celery, a few mushrooms from the fridge and did some chopping. I added a handful of lentils.
It was snowing outside, and we were both looking forward to our nice bowl of soup with a thick slice of bread for dipping.
The soup was so spicy that neither of us could get past the first mouth full.
"Medium hot"?
It was more like threshold of pain hot.
I ended up wasting that entire crock pot of soup.
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Jaycee wrote about a walk she and her husband took. Suddenly emergency vehicles were rushing into a side street. Her husband wanted to 'have a nosy'. She did not.
I have a husband who also likes to have a nosy. If there is something going on in the neighborhood, he wants to see what it is. Then, there is me, the great oblivious one. One night, my husband came in the driveway and stormed into the house in great temper. Our front yard was filled with police. There were police officers in the bushes at the side of the house. They tried to tell him he couldn't pull the car into the driveway,
to which he responded furiously "I LIVE HERE!"
He pulled in our driveway and stormed into the house angrily.
. "What the hell is going on?" he wanted to know.
Me: (rousing from a book) "Really? Are you joking?"
We had a brief discussion re: 'he was the one who had been outside, why hadn't he asked before coming inside' to which he responded 'how can something like that have been happening outside our very door and you don't even notice????'
*ahem* 'Some people just mind their own business, Tim!'
(Which sounds far more reasonable than 'the book is really good, though, Tim...')
I went to the side door and opened it. Sure enough. I whispered to the nice officer in the bushes, "Um...can I ask what is going on?" and he whispered back that the house next door was being watched. He asked me if I knew the tenant. "No," I whispered.
The shameful admission:
This scenario has played out twice in the 12 years we have lived in this house.
Anyways, I read Jaycee's post, and giggled because I recognized the people in that story.
So I was putting together a new supper in the crock pot (after pitching the too hot soup) and I was referring to a recipe on my phone. There was a ding and I checked the notification. Someone asked what was going on. There was a slew of firetrucks and emergency vehicles between the 400 and 500 block (where I live). "Huh," I thought. "Wonder what that is all about?"
There was a gas leak, turns out.
Lucky I have facebook.
All this excitement and we don't even notice!
ReplyDeleteWell we have our husbands to keep us abreast of the news...
DeleteThat's a bummer about the soup! Am I the only one who wonders why the police didn't give you a heads-up that they were about to take over your shrubbery?
ReplyDeleteOne would think, but the thing is that it was dark, and I was reading in a back room. The rest of the house was dark. They probably didn't even know anyone was home.
ReplyDeleteThe spicy soup sounds amazing. I love hot and spicy food.
ReplyDeleteI do too but....
DeleteFirst, in my old age I have less and less tolerance for spicy heat. You might have heard of "Nashville hot chicken" made popular where I live. I can't go near the stuff.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I grew up in a house where the kitchen was on the front of the house. My parents spent a lot of time at the table by the big kitchen window, ostensibly drinking coffee, but in reality "having a nosy." They never missed anything.
I miss a lot. It never ceases to amaze Tim.
DeleteOn those occasions I make something that turns out too spicy, I've been known to make a second batch omitting all heat and mixing the two together. But that's usually something like hummus or muhammara, not a big pot of soup.
ReplyDeleteThat actually did occur to me. I believe that if I broke that pot of soup up into maybe six smaller containers, I could have used a container of it to each pot of soup to adjust the heat down. Tim's point was that it was made pretty much from freezer leftovers to begin with it just needed gone.
DeleteYes, Pirate always wants to know!!
ReplyDeleteToo hot soup? I cool things off with a tin of tomatoes, coconut milk, yoghurt, milk or cream.....
A friend of mine made chili that was too hot to eat. She added some grape jelly. It works.
DeleteI can tell you that a tin of tomatoes did not help at all. Grape Jelly though! Who would have thunk it? I'll have to keep that little tip in mind.
DeleteI like a little heat but I readily admit it pales in comparison to what others tolerate and even enjoy. My wife can't take any at all. I try not to buy anything advertised as spicy and just add it myself so I can control it. I've never understood so spicy it is painful.
ReplyDeleteI admit I've been a looky loo out my window but I am not one to go outside and ask. I guess I did ask the guy who turned out to work for the secret service is he needed any help since he was looking lost and standing at the intersection in front of my house. But there I was trying to be helpful. It turned out Hillary was just four doors down for a visit.
I have never understood something so hot that it totally eclipses the flavor.
Delete'Looky Loo." That made me laugh. I haven't heard that phrase in quite a while.
I'm the nosey one in our family:)
ReplyDeleteWe love spice in our family, sadly, Jack does not. My husband's tastebuds are dead from years of smoking so he just puts sambal on everything. But to have the soup too hot to eat, I would email Progresso and complain. They'll probably send you a coupon.
That is actually a great idea. I will let you know what happens.
DeleteMy son added too much hot sauce to the leftover soup last night and had to cool it down using milk. It worked for him - becoming a cream soup that wasn't so spicy. I can't eat spicy hot food...
ReplyDeleteI live on a cul de sac so we don't get much excitement, thank goodness!
It is pretty quiet here, actually.
DeleteDoggone it about the soup--my mouth was watering when I saw that photo of the broth and then read about your thick slices of bread--but I appreciate the heads up, Deb! Have to admit I had a chuckle over Tim and the 'nosy' tag--my apartment building is right on my neighborhood's main drag, so we see more than our share of police, fire and most of all, ambulances. When I hear those sirens or see those lights I just gotta know. :^)
ReplyDeleteWe had a guy across the street who drove a hit man to kill a man. That was a shock.
DeleteI really don't like hot stuff!
ReplyDeleteIt's an acquired taste, for sure.
DeleteThanks for the warning about the Progresso broth.. probably would have tried it!!
ReplyDeleteIt might be okay if you simply added like half a cup of it to regular broth, but straight? Eep.
DeleteI am with you. Hubby needs to know what's going on. And they say women are nosy!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny?
DeleteNeither of us can tolerate much spice. I can do a little bit, Sue can’t really tolerate any or a hardly any.
ReplyDeleteDO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!
DeleteIf a product says "spicy" on it, I know it will burn up my mouth. I prefer the flavor of the ingredients to painful spice. I'm like you; I'm always the last to know.
ReplyDeleteLast to know vs last to notice....that is about the same.
DeleteI like to know what is going on. We live on a busy road and the police cars and ambulances are often speeding along. I often take to facebook to see if there is any info. Rarely find anything out. A couple of years ago there was also an air ambulance helicopter landed nearby. I texted a friend to see if she knew anything. Her partner came round the next morning to tell me that she had died in unpleasant circumstances. I felt so bad in so many ways!
ReplyDeleteHow awful. I had a friend who was very sick, lived far away. She was a creative soul, and Tim and I traveled some way to see her, taking her fresh strawberries and a jar of fireflies. She was a creative soul. I kept in touch by writing and sending cheering gifts to her. I went to an estate sale and it was just filled with the sorts of artistic treasures that Lorrie would have loved. I called her that evening when I got home and we chatted briefly. I said, "Oh, I wish that you could have been with me. You would have died at the sight of all that artwork. She listened politely and someone took the phone from her to ask me to call back another time, that she was very tired. She was DYING Frances. She died a few hours later. My choice of words haunted me for months. I felt so awful.
DeleteOne thing about living in a very small community is that it's usually impossible not to know what is going on although I have managed pretty well for the 30 years I've lived in this house.
ReplyDeleteImpossible for me as well, as long as I have Tim.
DeleteGood grief! I guess I'll avoid that soup. You sure do have a lot of stuff happening in your neighborhood. How funny that the police were surveilling from your bushes though.
ReplyDelete