![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Eeeinteresting. Also, a favor.
Dec. 19th, 2009 12:22 amLast weekend I went a-shoppin' with a friend, and while we were out she said she was hungry and expressed interest in stopping at a little grocer she knew of that sold a lot of home-cooked food. I idled in the car with the babies while she ran in to get something to eat, and she came out with a big dish full of stuffed bell peppers and very kindly offered me one.
Indeed, they looked mighty tasty, but as we all know, it's a trap. Because when I eat bell peppers, this is what happens:
1) First, my cheeks suddenly become very very thick
2) I turn red
3) The rest of my face begins to swell up like a big ol' ugly balloon
4) I start having breathing problems.
Now, so far #4 hasn't reached the point where a benadryl and my inhaler is insufficient to keep me alive. However, I very much avoid bell peppers on the theory that that's probably not always going to be true.
The last bell pepper incident I had was at my local Trader Joe's. They have a little tiki-hut-style demo booth in the back, and they put out one or two items for you to try. Free snacks, yay! On that particular occasion they had two items they were demo'ing: roasted red bell peppers, and carrot ginger soup. I knew I was not interested in the peppers and so ignored them, but I picked up the box for the soup and read the ingredients and it had no peppers in it so I took a little sample cup of the soup and a spoon and wandered off to do my shopping. I put that first spoonful in my mouth and immediately tasted bell pepper and spit it back out again. I didn't chew it and I didn't eat it, but nonetheless I immediately had an asthma attack. In less than a minute I had also developed a blister on my lip where the pepper had so briefly touched it. Turns out TJs decided to demo the roasted red peppers IN the carrot ginger soup, but didn't bother posting that. )-:
Not a spoiler: I survived.
The experience, however, was what convinced me that I really needed to not eat or touch bell peppers. And I've been very careful about it ever since. So when my friend got in the car with her pack of peppers and offered me one, I politely declined and thought that should be good. Not quite, though: just the smell of the peppers brought on an instant adrenalin/panic reaction, presumably because my brain now firmly associates that smell with danger. Definitely unpleasant when your body is shouting at you: run away, something here wants to kill you!
So, while I love you all dearly and I have no objection to you eating all the bell peppers you'd like as long as you don't try to feed them to me, I guess I also have to ask that you not bring them around either. )-:
A bummer, as peppers are oh so very pretty to look at -- I've long regretted never casting some in bronze while I had access to the facility and the spare time to do it.
Indeed, they looked mighty tasty, but as we all know, it's a trap. Because when I eat bell peppers, this is what happens:
1) First, my cheeks suddenly become very very thick
2) I turn red
3) The rest of my face begins to swell up like a big ol' ugly balloon
4) I start having breathing problems.
Now, so far #4 hasn't reached the point where a benadryl and my inhaler is insufficient to keep me alive. However, I very much avoid bell peppers on the theory that that's probably not always going to be true.
The last bell pepper incident I had was at my local Trader Joe's. They have a little tiki-hut-style demo booth in the back, and they put out one or two items for you to try. Free snacks, yay! On that particular occasion they had two items they were demo'ing: roasted red bell peppers, and carrot ginger soup. I knew I was not interested in the peppers and so ignored them, but I picked up the box for the soup and read the ingredients and it had no peppers in it so I took a little sample cup of the soup and a spoon and wandered off to do my shopping. I put that first spoonful in my mouth and immediately tasted bell pepper and spit it back out again. I didn't chew it and I didn't eat it, but nonetheless I immediately had an asthma attack. In less than a minute I had also developed a blister on my lip where the pepper had so briefly touched it. Turns out TJs decided to demo the roasted red peppers IN the carrot ginger soup, but didn't bother posting that. )-:
Not a spoiler: I survived.
The experience, however, was what convinced me that I really needed to not eat or touch bell peppers. And I've been very careful about it ever since. So when my friend got in the car with her pack of peppers and offered me one, I politely declined and thought that should be good. Not quite, though: just the smell of the peppers brought on an instant adrenalin/panic reaction, presumably because my brain now firmly associates that smell with danger. Definitely unpleasant when your body is shouting at you: run away, something here wants to kill you!
So, while I love you all dearly and I have no objection to you eating all the bell peppers you'd like as long as you don't try to feed them to me, I guess I also have to ask that you not bring them around either. )-:
A bummer, as peppers are oh so very pretty to look at -- I've long regretted never casting some in bronze while I had access to the facility and the spare time to do it.
