Has Salsa Ever Beaten You Into Submission?

Last Wednesday, I got around to making the fresh salsa that I had been dreaming about for like 5 days. The corn on the cobs were cooking and I was using a hand held chopper to finely mince the garlic, onion, and hot pepper. The chopper wasn’t doing such a great job so I carefully propped the mixer up so that it wouldn’t tip over and reached into my cabinet for a different cutting attachment. The alternate attachment sliced my thumb open. I ran to the bathroom to wash my wound, apply Neosporin, and bandage my wound when I heard the mixer tip over and fall onto the floor. Surprisingly, the mess wasn’t too bad – most of the minced mixture remained in the cup. I cleaned up the minimal mess and finished mincing. The corn was done but still hot so I was carefully holding the cobs and shaving the kernels off (the last thing I needed was another bloody wound). I was shaving the third cob when the plate flew off the counter and landed directly on my big toe, at which point I cried and admitted defeat. I cleaned up all the corn, sampled the corn and minced mixture and realized the hot pepper was REALLY hot. I could feel my mouth and lips burning. I washed my hands and face like 10 times and then called it a night and went to bed early, with my tail between my legs. At 10pm, I had 2 injuries (and a burned mouth) and no salsa. The next day, I chopped all the tomatoes and after sitting overnight, it was actually a darned good batch of salsa. I guess the hot pepper just needed some time to mellow.

The bruise on my toe and the cut on my thumb remain as painful reminders of the night a batch of salsa beat me into submission…