A Note of Caution

So I had this great idea tonight...yeah most of my good stories start with a great idea I have at 7:00 at night. I had all these peppers left from all the vegetable deliveries I got every week - I mean how many jalapeno peppers can a person eat every week? - and I had just read an article about blanching and freezing vegetables...so naturally I decided I would blanch and freeze my jalapenos...let me give you a word of caution in case you decide to do this. I would recommend two things, which I didn't use - a lid and gloves. As it turns out, jalapenos are a tad more potent than I gave them credit for.

Approximately 45 seconds after I cut and de-seeded them and threw them in the boiling water, I was coughing and my nose was running just from the steam in the room (I was smart enough to know not to actually breathe in the steam, but it just being in the condo was apparently enough...). So of course I grab a tissue to blow my nose (after washing my hands because again, I was smart enough to know I needed to wash my hands after cutting jalapenos...). About 45 seconds after that my nostrils start burning. So I promptly wash my hands again, but at this point my nose is gushing and burning and I'm coughing and trying to drink water and blow my nose without touching my nose too much, but not being successful...so I decide to wash my face...perhaps not the best idea. About 45 seconds after I do this I now have a face that's burning, a nose that's running, a throat that's coughing and now under my fingernails start burning. At this point I had to take the jalapenos out of the ice water I had put them in after the boiling water and throw them in the freezer and then I proceeded to not touch anything for a good 30 minutes, and wash my hands 2 more times. I figured I was safe to touch things at this point and got myself some ice cream. Well, when I licked the ice cream off one of my fingers, guess what I tasted? Jalapenos! What in the world? Thank God I didn't try to do this with super crazy hot peppers.

So, if one decides to blanch and freeze jalapeno peppers I would recommend using gloves to cut and de-seed, and then putting a lid on the boiling water, and then just for good measure I'd wash your hands with lemon juice (it does seem to be helping - thanks for the tip Leslie!) after all of that before blowing your nose, or licking for fingers or certainly before washing your face! I mean, if you are feeling a burning face you could go my route, but if you are feeling a normal evening I'd say go a different route!