Snip- Say, I wonder what a poll of firefighters would turn up regarding love of hot foods? With all of the fuss about genetic pre-disposition towards talents and abilities, I wonder if, say, your kid is mad about hot food, he should become a fireman/woman? <S> "Flame on!" I doubt it. While the percentages of firefighters who like hot foods might be a little higher than the general population, there are also a fair number of outright wimps. One Lieutenant in particular breaks out into an absolute sweat over ketchup! I used to cook at the FD HQ (about 20 people) and would occasionally play "lucky lottery" with the evening meal. It would go something like this- I would hide a large chunk of a single hab in the meal. Whoever wound up with it would get their money refunded for the day. It was pretty funny to see 20 firefighters sitting around the table all looking sideways at everyone else to see who got 'lucky'. The winner would usually jump up with a scream and head for the hose while the rest of us rolled on the floor. Everyone knew the rules ahead of time so this wasn't any kind of evil joke. One meal (tacos- one was LOADED with dried hab) the aforementioned Lt ended up as the lucky winner. For the rest of the evening he remained a bright scarlet with a towel wrapped around his head as he literally poured sweat. After two years of my cooking there was a definite increase in their tolerance for hot & spicy (little choice- no one else would cook). Most even discovered that they liked it! -Jim C taking a deep breath before the busy season starts MWPH