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Due to the early date of the Hotluck, we were again threatened with rain. A couple'a burly weathermen came to the door and said that "if we did not stop saying doze things about the boss being a wimp and such," that we would "regret that we had ever met Dr. Scoville." We promised and gave them a couple of TAM jalapeños to show that we were with dem.
Picture credits this year go to Johnnie & Yolanda Perkins, Bill Lampeter (visiting from the cold East), Reza Moazzami, and Roswitha and Scott.
Before the Burn
This year was shaping up to be a well-attended event, the largest ever. As usual, we started preparations several days before (not counting drying Red Savina™ peppers three years ago). Roswitha started by making the Sorbets and baking The BREAD. Scott started the brisket smoking at midnight Friday.
Suku and Bill helped us to get the tables and chairs in place, and prepare some of the decorations and signs (thanks, guys!).
And it gets rolling... The rain did, indeed hold off. (I hope that the boss never figures out that those were TAM Heatless jalapeños that we gave him.) People started showing up, and wonderful dishes (and, hey, wonderful guests) started filtering in. With so many people, it was hard to keep track of everything, much less try it. The dishes were outstanding, if a little heavy on the wimpy side. (We're REALLY going to have to do something about that next year...!? ). However, the hot dishes held their own. Beside the Demon Rum which is a class of its own for the fifth year running, the hottest items were probably Scott's innocent little English Tea Sandwiches (From Hell).
While Mark's 5-year-old Demon Rum had mellowed, his new batch showed us what it could do.
This year we had over 175 people - thank you to everyone for the fine dishes and a great time. As Roswitha says, "If you did not come, it would not be such a great party." We only seemed to have a few heat-related incidences, and none were irrecoverable - that's why we have cool-down dishes, milk, and sour cream.
Mark, from next door - previously a self-declared wimp - tries a tea sandwich
Besides appreciation to all who came and brought outstanding food, drink, and craziness, we'd like to thank Jim Campbell of the Mild to Wild Pepper & Herb Company for sauces he sent, and for his little piece of THE BREAD - enough to take out a whole town if we were to release it.
A few of the people who showed up:
Is it over, yet?
