Sunday Scribblings - "Spicy"

I love spicy foods, unless they are so hot I can't taste any of the food flavors. Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce would go in everything I ate and brought a little zing into every dish. Dave not liking alot of spice in his food slowly phased out the zing in the cooking. I will sneak it in sauces and soups he has made, if he is not looking, in minuscule amounts. I eventually lost interest in the taste of most foods as my allergies slowly damaged my sinus's. What I thought were 8 months of winter allergies turned out to be a viral infection, left untreated.

It is being treated now, but my taste buds will only acknowledge strong flavors and my smell is mostly gone. My taste and smell may come back in time but the doctor is talking surgery and I am not. When I got used to losing abilities with my ALS, the loss of my smell and taste just did not bother me so much. I miss my husband's smell and the taste of his kisses but I don't miss my dog's breath or other unpleasant odors. Eating too much is not an issue anymore but it is amazing how much your memory of certain foods and textures can fool you into tasting. My other senses were kicked up a notch to meet the challenge.

Strong flavors (spicy) I can taste and if they are hot enough to make my nose run, I can catch the Jasmine hanging in the air from outside. I am hopeful I will get my taste and smell back, eventually. It's been over a year, but now I will eat almost anything Dave puts in front of me and I can say no thank you to popcorn and sweets. Not to mention I've become a cheap date because it seems silly to pay for an expensive meal if you can't even taste it.

Dave and I don't eat lunch very often but instead we now have become addicted to chips and salsa breaks. It's been a few months and now a nice routine. I can't dip a chip on my own, so it has become an intimate, spicy nooner for us. He buys "Scoops" a tortilla chip shaped like a bowl and he pops every other one in my mouth. I sit awaiting my turn like a baby bird as we chat about our day. He even likes the spicy version of salsa now. So I'm thinking this temporary sinus condition isn't all that bad if it has brought a little extra spice into our lives. :)

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