Yeeeooowwwww!

Tonight we gathered together as a family to celebrate the birthdays of my older brother (Russ) and his wife (Lisa). It began as a typical Ridges meal - kids running around playing, adults in the kitchen preparing food, chatting and sampling the menu in it's various stages of completion. We were all having a fabulous time.

Enter Russ: the brother who likes to challenge our palates at every opportunity. Now, normally I pass on Russ' fine quisine (which, by the way, over the years has included rattle snake, dear legs, foreign crap from trips he's been on that he doesn't even know what it is, and his favorite - the craziest, spiciest hot sauce he can find) but tonight, since it was his birthday and all, I decided to humor him.

Russ: "Here Rach, dip your turkey in this stuff. Its not that hot..."

Me: "How bad can it be?" So, I tried it.

Russ: "Don't be a wimp - dip the whole thing in!"

Wanting to prove myself at least as tough as my brother, I dipped a generous dip and chowed down. BIG MISTAKE! Russ, Brian (brother-in-law) and I were the only ones stupid enough to go for it. I know I'm not a big spicy food fan, but HOLY COW, that stuff was HOT! I couldn't breathe, I could feel the searing pain from my lips, up my sinuses, and down my throat. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and I literally still have blisters on the roof of my mouth from one little bite! At least I wasn't alone.

Russ made the big mistake of rubbing the tears from his eyes while he still had a bit of the sauce on his fingers. This photo doesn't show it very well, but he immediately developed a big red welt under his eye.

Happy Birthday Russ, even if you're stinking old - I'm glad you're still immature enough to try Big Dave's Ultimate Insanity on your meat. Just don't be offering Abby any of your "Special Ketchup" anytime soon.

No, Abby didn't really try any, she just thought our reactions were really funny and wanted me to take a picture of her "HOT HOT face" too.
Editor's note: Both Russ and Brian warned me that if I thought the sauce was painful going in, I was in for it tomorrow when it decides to make its way out. Should I be scared? Because I am. A little.