Hot Stuff!

     I just returned from the Fiery Foods Festival in Albuquerque.  It was an interesting mix of serious culinary creativity and carnival side show.  While most of the exhibitors were local, I also met people from Georgia, Michigan, Missouri and Colorado who were there to sell their wares.  I even met a man on the plane who befriended me and gave me an insider's understanding of the convention.  Tim MacDonald was flying out to help staff the booth for Garden Fresh chips and salsa, a company his brother-in-law owns and operates in Michigan.



     There was also another Tim that I got to know.  It was his last name that initially caught my eye.  Tim Ziegler's ancestors arrived in Philadelphia three centuries earlier and migrated west.  That's how he eventually ended up in Denver.  Chef Tim knows spices and is the Culinary Master of a extensive line of proprietary blends that he has developed for restaurants and other food professionals.  He also has a nifty handle bar moustache, too.

     Many of the exhibitors were also the owners who left lucrative careers for the love and lure of heat.  Some enjoy the science of it all, others just get a kick out of seeing people sweat.  I saw men drenched in sweat and women with tears in their eyes.  Would you accept something to eat from a person who looks like this?