Hot Sauce

My boys (how I refer to the students in my house) love hot sauce. So do the other staff that work in the house with me. And I really have no problem with it. Well, that was until Saturday.

I had made a chicken soup and tried to flavor it nicely, getting it as hot as possible so that I could still eat it, though I know the boys will like it at least 5 times hotter. As soon as we sat down to eat, the housefather gets up to get his hot sauce: 100% Pain. For some reason, it hit me hard that time. The food has not even been tasted and yet they are changing the flavor! Almost everyone put some in the soup and commented on the zing and "pain" they felt because of it. Even Eric, sitting next to me, had little bits of sweat on his face. I began to wonder why I should even flavor the soup when they are going to do it themselves. And how can you eat food that always has the same flavor: hot sauce. There are other tastes in this world. It was a low blow to the time I had spent in the kitchen.

So how did I feel when the dare comes up to see how long the students will last with some on their lips? Terrified. I had made dessert! It was chocolate! They had BETTER not do that until after they had dessert. I was already worried about their taste buds being a bit numb after the hot sauce soup. Much to my relief, Barry was smart enough not to start the challenge (which was fun to observe) until after the dessert was eaten. Yet I still walked away from that meal offended.

What am I supposed to do now? I know they all, house staff included, love hot sauce and I don't want to take it away from them altogether. Is it worth it to talk with Barry about reserving the flavor-destroyer for only certain meals? For now all I can say is I hate hot sauce even more than I did before.