Post-Thanksgiving Confessions of a Failed Pepper-Stuffer

I. Cannot. Breathe. [hack hack] I declare this to be my older brother's fault. I was fine until after I talked to him on the phone yesterday morning. I find that decidely suspicious. I'm sure he secretly sent his germs that were causing his problems through the phone to me so he would not be alone in his misery. For this, trust me, I will make him pay at a time when he is least expecting it. HA.

Being able to breathe last night was accomplished with Theraflu that my son kindly went and got for me (really. I would never threaten my own son. much.). Since I don't like taking Theraflu during the day because it knocks me out, this morning I took Dayquil (also courtesy of aforementioned son) - and it didn't even touch whateverthehell it is I've got. Now I'm trying Sudafed I found on a back shelf ... it expired in April (hey, at least it's April of this year) and I really don't care. Thankfully my nose has stopped running quite so much and I'm only having to blow every 15 minutes or so instead of every 2 like I was doing earlier.

I bow in humble adoration admiration and [sneeze][hack] reverence (ok fine, I also dropped my kleenex - aka toiler paper - on the floor and had to pick it up before the cat got to it and shredded it into a zillion fluffy linty little pieces, but I bow nonetheless) to my cousin for the damned ...oops ...er... absolutely wonderfully delicious and addicting Derby Peppers that she made for mom's birthday this past April. We gobbled those things up like pigs at the trough. Had I realized at the time how much work it took to make those - and the equally tasty Salmon Puffs that she also brought - I would have at least made everyone (myself included) stop for a moment to pay homage before stuffing more in our mouths.

All of this is my way of confessing that I absolutely suck at pepper stuffing. I never knew that about myself before. I un-covered this new truth because I brillantly volunteered to make them to take to my (younger) brother's for Thanksgiving ... thinking we could scarf up the delicious little appetizers and I might just bask in a smidgeon of kitchen-goddessness-glow. Well, that plan went down the tubes quickly.

It seemed easy enough, it really did. Get the peppadew peppers. Check. Get the dried Spanish chorizo. Check. Get the (aged) Cotija cheese. Check Check. Well, perhaps only one check - I searched the entire cheese wrapper and nowhere did it reference "aged" or "fresh" so I really don't know which it was. It just said Cotija queso so we went with that. Drain peppers. Check Check. (This was going really well so far. A fact that lulled me into a false sense of security, so I was still blissfully ignorant and was firm in my belief that I could pull this off - I assume now that part of my lack of touch with reality was a combination of the late hour [sneeze] and the absolutely lovely pineapple-infused tequila my son had given me earlier. At least that's my excuse :)

I put a thin slice of cheese in the bottom of the pepper as instructed - not a problem. Slice chorizo into little 1/4" thick slices a little shorter than the peppers. That wasn't too bad. I can cut fairly successfully (though my older brother might argue that point since he has used my knives before :).

Stuff a slice or two of chorizo into pepper. Okie dokie, got that. Stuff thin slivers of cheese into the spaces around the chorizo to hold the chorizo in place.

Hmmmmm. Ok, slicing the cheese ...that part went pretty okay. A little crumbly if I cut them too thin, but still, not bad.

Stuffing the cheese slivers into the pepper beside the chorizo - there I hit a huge snag. At that point everything quit cooperating, and after fighting with the cheese and peppers (well, it was 10:30pm so honestly I didn't fight too long) I threw in the towel (into the flour, which created a lovely cloud, then mixed with crumbled cheese and other cooking debris ...well, I'm sure you get the idea). The peppers, cheese and chorizo got tossed into baggies and then into the 'frig to be dealt with at some as-yet-undisclosed later date (possibly when they've grown mold and I can throw them out without feeling too guilty).

When I opened the 'frig door this morning I could hear them snickering. Little do they know I have a gun. :)

The cat (Bennet) is happy that I'm home today, sneezes and all. He's particularly delighted that I have finally figured out that all I need to do to make both him and I happy while I'm at the computer is move my keyboard up onto the desktop then put the small throw pillow between my lap and the keyboard shelf so he has an appropriately comfy spot to curl upside down, and he is kind enough to allow me to pet him while I type (the first clue was the nip to wrist when I wasn't petting).

This is definitely preferrable to him sitting on the desktop in front of the monitor and me then having to peer around him at the screen to try to see what is going on. He's busy purring right now. Hope he will allow me to get up and get lunch soon as I'm getting hungry and I hear leftovers calling my name. Oh wait...or is that the peppers... are they planning an ambush??!?