RING OF FIRE, RING OF FIRE

There are times when one has to soberly face stark reality. Grasp the bull by the horns, admit frailty, and deal with the truth. Which is that my judgement may be lopsided, once in a while. Especially after smoking several pipes at the cigar bar. The phrase that comes to mind is "what the heck was I thinking", followed almost immediately afterwards by "boy was I ever stupid!"
No, I did not go home with a floozie who stank of seegers.
Didn't even flirt with a large-breasted woman.
Behaved entirely like a gentleman.

I went home with "dos, con todo".
Preceded by "por favor".
Muchas gracias.

Two bacon-wrapped hotdogs, with the works: mayo, mustard, ketchup, grilled onions, and chiles jalapeños en escabeche. Which I took home, because I do not like to eat on the street surrounded by drunken yobbos. Not being either of those qualifiers, their company cannot thrill.

When I got to the apartment, I realized that I had been an extremely temperate man all evening, having dawdled over two whisky-waters for many hours. Yes, several pipes -- but those were taken calm and slow. Nothing excessive there. And I hadn't even oogled the large breasted woman. With the ruby-hued lipstick, smiling eyes, and pretty purple cocktail dress. Which was just a wee bit too short, and showed off ALL of her very curvy thighs.
Pantyhose holds everything together, I assume.
Didn't even pay her any attention.
I am a pipe-smoker.

Once I put the two tinfoil wrapped bacon-dogs on the kitchen counter, that temperance went right out the window. I felt that they needed something extra, and the exact ticket was in the refrigerator.
[What more suitable for the Chinese New Year Season than something festive and orange? It's a good luck colour that suggests happiness. And it was abundantly in evidence last night as marching bands, grammar schools, and floats sponsored by commercial entities wound their way down Kearny Street in the annual extravaganza hosted by Southwest Airlines.
I was otherwise engaged, but I was well aware of the colour appropriate for the event.
That shade of brilliant orange is one of the most beautiful things to meet the eye. ]

Mezzetta brand pickled Habaneros.

I decided not to slice them. The last time I sliced chilies, I accidentally rubbed my eye-lids. You can imagine the result. So, no slicing, lest things go wrong.
It's a question of common sense, really.


MEZZETTA BRAND
HABANERO PEPPERS

Ingredients: Chiles Habaneros, agua, vinagre, sal, cloruro de calcio, bisulfato de sodio, agregado como establizadore do color, FD&C amarillo #5, curcuma.

Serving size: About 4 peppers (30g)
Refrigerate after opening / Refrigerese despues de abrir


Delicious in any language.
Temperance means only one serving.
Restraint is my watchword, so I limited myself to precisely one.

Earlier in the day I had eaten bittermelon stirfried with chicken and blackbean sauce for dinner, which always requires about five or six tablespoons of Sriracha for the perfect taste. This was after a mid-day snack of Doritos salsa verde flavored tortilla chips™ , which I had dipped in actual fresh salsa verde. Delicious! But it was small, I did not eat even half the bag. A mere taste, so as not to ruin my appetite.

Temperance. Restraint. And common sense.

Whole peppers. Two of them. On each dog.


Did I mention that I had smoked several pipes yesterday while at the cigar bar? That fact is crucial to an understanding of the mental processes. Nicotine is a stimulant, you see, and present in higher doses in flue-cured tobaccos and Burley than in Oriental mixtures. I alternated back and forth between a very nice aged flake (flue-cured) and Old Joe Kranz (Burley and Red Virginia).
I also had two or three glasses of coffee ice to cleanse my palate.
I may have been a wee bit over-confident.
Overstimulated, in any case.
Six bowls full.


The hot dogs tasted fine.


I've been up since five AM. On my sixth tall glass of yoghurt whipped into a soothing beverage with milk, sugar, and water. I have felt porcelain twice already this morning. And I'll be back.



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