It was November 18, 1996, I can remember the day like it was yesterday. I had just harvested my entire crop of hot peppers. Grown with great care. I think I picked about 75 peppers.

I had one thing on my mind: to make some hot sauce.

Here was my recipe:

• 68 freshly picked peppers. Anaheim, Cubanele
• 10 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of BBQ sauce
• 6 tablespoon of honey
• 7-11 cups of Water
• Dash of salt
• Half cup of vinegar for freshness

I just copied that from a document I wrote back then. So now we know the total harvest that year was 68 peppers. Quite the bumper crop if you ask me!!

Directions: Chop the ends off the peppers and clean out the inside taking out all the seeds. Place tomato paste into blender with some peppers then add BBQ sauce and some water as needed, blend. Place some more peppers into blender with water and blend till all peppers are a nice smooth liquid. Place your hot sauce into a glass jar and put the honey in, add as much as you prefer. Stir sauce. Place in refrigerator for 3 weeks. Place in another 3 weeks then serve. Stir occasionally as needed.

Frankly at this point it only gets better.

After cutting the peppers up I threw them into the blender.

“Whiirrrrrrrr!”

Check.

“Whiirrrrrrrr!” some more.

Check again.

“Whiirrrrrrrr!” even more!

Finally the peppers are done and we have a nice pesto pace of hot pepper juice. I can’t begin to tell you how impossible it was to breathe.

GASP!!!

I couldn’t. My throat closed tight because of the fumes. I ran towards the door barely making it outside. That’s some seriously thick stuff!

In the end I think I came away with a half dozen bottles of hot sauce. I even made lables and gave a few bottles away.

Then a couple of years later I found a bottle in the back of the fridge. I thought to myself “do I dare try some?” –

Nope, I used it as ant killer in the backyard.