Friday, January 16, 2009

Food Allergies Suck

When I was a kid the only thing I couldn’t eat was raw tomatoes, something I apparently inherited from my dad that was all fine and dandy with me, I didn’t like raw tomatoes anyway. After The Kid was born I found out the hard way that I was allergic to shellfish while peeling shrimp for bisque in culinary school and my hands blew up like balloons and then my throat proceeded to swell up after tasting (not a fun experience at all!) Now, out of the blue I have found myself with an allergy to Cayenne pepper.. I didn’t quite realize what was causing the rash on my wrist after eating the Cowgirl Chocolates since I also suffer from a sulfate allergy, but certain foods have the potential to set off a slight reaction so I avoid them at all costs. I had contacted Marilyn at Cowgirl Chocolates and when she suggested Cayenne, I was 99% positive it was not. It didn’t occur to me until after the second bowl of Chili and racking my brain running through everything I had eaten for the previous ten days. It had to be the cayenne.. And I was totally crushed.. I mean, how else am I supposed to give my chili a kick? My love for Buffalo Chicken Pizza from the restaurant by work..dashed, Ugh.

Now, I’m not one to consume spicy foods all the time, it was an occasional indulgence and I never took it too far since I can’t handle HOT... But my buddy Mary told me that allergies can rear their ugly heads at any time in a person’s life (I suppose this is just another part of getting old)

Living with any kind of allergy is never easy and I suppose I can’t complain too much, oh boo hoo, I can’t have any cayenne pepper and my love of Shrimp and Lobster is now a distant memory (unless I chase it with 2 Benadryl and pass out before the reaction starts, lol) I just have to be a little more creative now when I want a bowl of Chili, as for the Buffalo chicken.. In moderation I think I'll be alright ;)

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good detective work figuring out it was cayenne pepper! It's the kind of thing can be so easily overlooked :)