EyeGate & Hoecakes

Let me start out with this quick story. I've always read that you should wash your hands very carefully after chopping a hot pepper, and especially be careful to avoid touching your eyes with hands until after they're washed. Well, folks, I now realize firsthand why that caution is out there. I was chopping 2 poblano peppers last night (which aren't even that hot) for some turkey burgers, and I thought that I washed my hands when I was done. Josh cut an onion and yeesh, was this a strong onion. Josh's eyes started burning since he was on the battlefront with the onion, and it was so strong that my eyes started stinging from across the room. Then I made the horrible mistake of rubbing my stinging eyes in search of some relief. Not only did I not get relief from the onion stinging, but I inflicted upon myself the full fury of that poblano juice in my eye. It's hard to describe what it feels like to essentially get squirted in the eye by a hot pepper. Let me just say that amidst all the chaos of Josh's eyes burning from the onion, my eyes stinging from the onion and then getting scorched with pepper juice, the turkey burgers cooking, etc., Howie was in his high chair, screaming at the top of his lungs. I suspect that either the onions had started burning his eyes, or he was extremely disturbed by the sight of his mother bemoaning her life and running around with a hand towel doused in cold water held over her left eye. That was one of the worst feelings in my life, second only to the time that my roommate Kelly and I were dared to eat a habenero pepper in college (which I think is the hottest pepper) and took the dare. That scorching INSIDE your mouth feels slightly worse than in your eye, but now I know that I NEVER want to be pepper-sprayed. Take it from me, who only endured the wrath of a poblano in the eye- pepper spray is an effective deterrant. Josh responded to the screeches of our son and took him outside to cool off his eye sockets, and I stayed inside with the hand towel over my eye, watching the turkey burgers and marveling that your eye could feel like it was on fire. Anyway, eventually our eyes all returned to normal and we could eat in relative peace.

Howie and I had the pleasure of traveling to Savannah with my sister Marnie earlier this week, which was such a blast! One of the many highlights was eating at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons. Anyone who watches Paula Deen's show on Food Network knows that she has one staple and one staple alone in her cooking: BUTTER. I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed in her restaurant, because when butter is your main ingredient, how bad can it be?? Marnie, Howie, and I had a wonderful lunch. Soon after we sat down, a server came with some garlic biscuits along with some HOECAKES. Now those of you who aren't familiar with Southern cuisine need a little lesson at this point. Hoecakes are these fried little cornbread pancakes, and they're fantastic. Josh and I have had many hoecakes at Goolsbys, a local restaurant in Augusta. So anyway, the lady brought out hoecakes, and I gave a piece of one to Howie. Yes, perhaps fried food isn't the best for young babies, but seeing as Howie is a Southerner by birth and we're leaving the South in 2 short weeks, I thought it wise to give Howie some hoecake to see what he thought. He loved it. Throughout the course of our lunch, he ate more and more hoecake. I tried to give him some more traditional baby food as well, but what he wanted the most was the hoecake. I also fed him some of my barbeque sandwich, which he loved. I always knew that he would embrace his Southern roots at some point, and I witnessed it right there in Paula Deen's restaurant. Since then I've seen a longing look in his eye many times as he sits in his high chair- I think he's hoping that the next thing on the menu will be a hoecake.

Have a wonderful day!