The Soup that Bites Back...and other Sunday Adventures

Angie invited guests over for Sunday dinner this week. She invited two families over. Since there would be a fair number of people, we decided to serve a Minestrone soup and Sloppy Joes because we could easily make a lot of both and people would have a choice of what they wanted to eat. Angie prepared the soup in the Crock Pot in the morning so it would simmer while we were at Church. Since I had attended the Spanish services in the morning, and our church falls right during Jacob's nap, I took Jacob home to his crib after our sacrament service so he could get his much needed Z's. Just before Jacob and I returned to the church to pick up the rest of the family I decided to stir the soup and I tried a small bite to see how the flavor was turning out. I was surprised when the soup bit me back--it was spicier than I had expected. I had to hurry out so I didn't try it again. On the way back to the church I decided I must not have stirred very well and perhaps some extra spices were floating on top of the soup where I pulled my sample. When I saw Angie I told her I thought the soup was a bit hot and asked her what spices she had added to the soup. She stated that she had combined a couple of recipes--one asked for 1 teaspoon of chili powder and the other asked for 1 Tablespoon, so she added 1 Tablespoon. She did not add any other spices that would give heat to the soup. At this point our conversation was interrupted by car problems. Over the past several months we have had problems starting our car. When we turn the key the starter would click, but the engine would not turn over. After repeated attempts the car eventually starts. Sometimes it would only take two attempts, sometimes it would take three minutes. Over these months, I made several attempts to isolate the problem with no success. I even took the car to the auto parts store for an electrical systems test--the car passed with flying colors. This day, however, the car did just the opposite--it wouldn't turn off. I stopped as normal, keeping my foot on the brake pedal until I had removed the key and released the clutch. When I released the clutch, the car jerked forward, despite having my foot on the brake pedal and having engaged the emergency brake. I quickly pressed in the clutch and the motor started up again. Our car was possessed! It was running with the key out. I took the car out of gear and opened up the hood. Sure enough, the engine was still turning over, even though I had the keys in my hand. I put the keys back in and turned to the On position--the engine fired up. I turned the keys off and the engine slowed down a bit but kept turning. The starter just would not quit trying to start the car. To reduce the load on the starter I put the key back to On while I looked for a wrench. I finally disconnected the battery and the car continued running. After about 15 seconds the engine finally died. I touched the cable back to the battery and the car immediately started again. I disconnected both cables from the battery, closed the hood, and went inside. It was Sunday, after all, so I thought it best to leave working on the car for another day. Oh yeah, did I mention I had guests coming over shortly? We still had to get everything ready for them. After we came in the house, Angie went straight to the soup and stirred it really well. Then she tried a small bite--the soup bit her back as well. This was not the delicious soup we have made several times before. We couldn't figure out why the soup was so hot--chili powder just doesn't have that much kick. At some point Angie realized she had been foiled by her effort to de-clutter our spice cabinet. She has been working to identify which spices are essentially the same and eliminate unneeded bottles. For example, she has successfully eliminated Italian Spice because it is mostly Oregano, which we now substitute in its place. When making the soup, she pulled the Red Pepper out of the cabinet as a substitue for the Chili Powder. She remembered after tasting the soup that Red Pepper is the same as Cayenne Pepper, which is definitely not a substitute for Chili Powder. Our fire soup was proof that the Red Pepper and Chili Powder are two completely different spices. At this point we only had about an hour left before our guests were supposed to arrive. While Angie prepared the Sloppy Joes, I turned to my trusty sidekick to find a solution for the soup--Google. I searched for "how to remove spicy from food" (this was how Google's automatic phrase completion worded it). The first suggestion I encountered was advice to drink a cup of fire sauce each morning just after waking up--perhaps this won't help the spicy wouldn't go away, but you will build up your tolerance so it is bearable. I didn't think our guests had been following this advice, so I continued searching. I soon encountered information that sugar can be used to reduce the heat--in fact, a pepper's spicyness is measured by the amount of sugar required to neutralize the spice. After a few articles confirmed the same advice, I went to work. I drained out the liquid using a strainer and then replaced it with fresh tomato sauce and water. I considered washing the vegetables, but decided I didn't want to wash away all of the flavor. The soup was still a little hot, so I added as much sugar as I dared without turning the soup into a tomato-vegetable punch. The soup ended up much better than it was, but it was still a little spicier than we would like it. The guests arrived and he rest of dinner seemed to go well. Monday morning I decided to tackle the car. After reconnecting the battery and starting the car a couple of times it became possessed again and wouldn't shut off. I disconnected the battery and the cable on the starter coming from the key switch. When I reconnected the battery the engine immediately started turning over. Success! The starter was the problem. I triumphantly carried the starter to the auto parts store, exchanged it for a new one (of course, they required a bit of money for the privilege of doing business with them), installed the new one in the car, rebuked the demons possessing my car, and then connected the battery. Nothing happened. I put the key in and started it--it started like a charm. I turned the key off and the engine fell silent. I tried it a few more times and everything worked as it should. Sunday was a busy day, but everything seemed to resolve to a fine conclusion. 21 Jan 2010 Update: Tuesday we had the leftover soup for dinner. Wednesday morning Angie told me she had heartburn all night long. She blames the soup for giving her the worst heartburn she has ever felt.