You Wrote ------ "Ed Calvert" <lordcalvert@worldnet.att.net> Subject: [CH] Joe... Have to agree that it is my belief also, that a large portion of Chers enjoy the "Spice" of Life, the chile pepper at vastly different levels. I agree 100%. I make a pretty "lively" chili with a lot of ingredients in it. It is fairly hot (ask any of the folks who were at the SoCal. Hotluck a couple of months back) However it is not so hot that one cannot taste a lot of different flavors that complement each other and give a "roundness" to the whole. It is not a traditional chili, it contains beans (dried, cooked from scratch) and other items that some chili fanatics feel are anathema. However I like it, and most everyone who has ever tried it over the 20 years or so I have been fixing it, like it too. This is one field where personal preference counts. Who cares if some C-H.ers can eat a Hab without breaking out into a sweat. If that is what they like, it is their choice. I don't thing anyone should be intimated or shamed into trying to eat something that is so hot they are uncomfortable. I am reminded of a chile-eating contest I witnessed in Guaymas, Mexico about 15 years ago. A vacationing fisherman from Arizona died of a heart attack after eating about a dozen very hot chiles. He got very red in the face and started gasping for breath before he collapsed. His buddies thought it was funny until they realized he was not breathing. That was not so funny. Granted, this is a rare event, but -- Andie Paysinger & the PENDRAGON Basenjis,Teafer,Cheesy,Singer & Player asenji@earthlink.net So. Calif. USA "In the face of adversity, be patient, in the face of a basenji, be prudent, be canny, be on your guard!" http://home.earthlink.net/~asenji/