Hazards of Vegetarian Cooking
I shouldn't say vegetarian cooking because the same thing would have happened if I had thrown in some diced chicken or shrimp. I've discovered how remarkably easy it is to throw a bunch of leftover vegetables with some olive oil and spices in a skillet and stir-fry them for a few minutes to make a quick dinner. Add some leftover rice or boil some pasta, and voilà! I know it's stupid that I didn't realize the possibility for variation with this technique, but I've always microwaved vegetables separately in bowls or mugs in the past. I'm not very good at flavor yet, but I'm very good putting in chopped-up little peppers I've nicknamed dragon berries and then obliviously stirring for several minutes while the oil-laden steam opens the pores of my face and sinks in. Ow.
Happily, it wasn't nearly so bad for me as it was the time before last when J. cut up nine fresh jalapeño peppers for his salsa without gloves. He was up late from the pain and tried everything from aloe vera gel to Cool Whip. But everything made it worse. It took a couple days for the oils to dissipate.
I was relieved that my own face took only an hour or so to stop burning once I figured out what had happened. My upper lip and sinuses started burning around the time I finished cooking. The fire died down and flared again about three times and were joined by a patch under my eye and part of my forehead. When I sat down to eat my dragon berry-laced veggies and rice, I had to keep stopping to mop the sweat with a cloth between the spice in my mouth and the flames heating my face. But also happily, nothing except my lip turned red or unsightly, and even that didn't last very long.
The only lingering problem is my contacts. Strangely, the spicy steam didn't seem to bother them, but when I tried to put them in today, they burned my eyes for a couple seconds. Okay, no big deal, I'll just open a new pair of contacts. I'd been wearing the others for a month-and-a-half anyway. Well, the new ones burned too. The expiration date on the contacts is still good, and I'm at a loss to explain it. Tomorrow I will try a different bottle of contact solution. Though I've never had contact solution burn before. It just gets a little weak when it's old. My only guess now is a little bit of oil got in my eyes and reacts badly with the fresh contact solution on the contact.
So from now on when I cook with spicy peppers, I will do backbends while I stir-fry. It's good that I started yoga again.
Happily, it wasn't nearly so bad for me as it was the time before last when J. cut up nine fresh jalapeño peppers for his salsa without gloves. He was up late from the pain and tried everything from aloe vera gel to Cool Whip. But everything made it worse. It took a couple days for the oils to dissipate.
I was relieved that my own face took only an hour or so to stop burning once I figured out what had happened. My upper lip and sinuses started burning around the time I finished cooking. The fire died down and flared again about three times and were joined by a patch under my eye and part of my forehead. When I sat down to eat my dragon berry-laced veggies and rice, I had to keep stopping to mop the sweat with a cloth between the spice in my mouth and the flames heating my face. But also happily, nothing except my lip turned red or unsightly, and even that didn't last very long.
The only lingering problem is my contacts. Strangely, the spicy steam didn't seem to bother them, but when I tried to put them in today, they burned my eyes for a couple seconds. Okay, no big deal, I'll just open a new pair of contacts. I'd been wearing the others for a month-and-a-half anyway. Well, the new ones burned too. The expiration date on the contacts is still good, and I'm at a loss to explain it. Tomorrow I will try a different bottle of contact solution. Though I've never had contact solution burn before. It just gets a little weak when it's old. My only guess now is a little bit of oil got in my eyes and reacts badly with the fresh contact solution on the contact.
So from now on when I cook with spicy peppers, I will do backbends while I stir-fry. It's good that I started yoga again.