Tonight I made chicken strips from scratch, using a recipe I've used several times now - I love it (Eating Well, of course), and so does Graham.  This time, however, I used a new chili powder.  New, as in not the old chili powder from before we were married.  I suppose it makes sense that chili powder would lose some of its potency over time ... needless to say, tonight's chicken strips with the new chili powder were SPI-CY!  Thankfully I caught this in the first batch and was able to remix a new batch of breadcrumbs for the second batch which I set aside for Graham.  So that they weren't too bland, I did add in a few spoonfuls of the spicy batch - wouldn't want his experience to be too blase.

Neither Pat nor I had tasted Graham's batch.  We realized this when we looked over at him and saw a funny look on his face .. he had his tongue out and said, "something in my mouth feels ... interesting."  This said with a very studious face .. and a repeatedly stuck-out tongue.  Right away we tasted the strips, and indeed, there was an after-burn.  We asked him to describe what he was feeling, and he tried several adjectives, and finally settled on, "minty."  I was in heaven.  I love words, descriptions, new concepts without prior opinion ... and I loved to hear my kiddo describe chili'spotency as minty.  Indeed the experience in his mouth was very similar to what he feels when he chews a whole peppermint.

We enjoyed watching him experience the spiciness - he didn't want to stop eating them, or share so that we could confirm again what they tasted like.  He did some in and out breathing a few times, which we noticed was again him experiencing and experimenting with this new flavor.  He decided that cheese does a good job of helping with the "minty-ness," and at one point we caught him frowning and wincing as he almost shoved more cheese in his mouth.  What a fun kid.  I love watching him explore the world!

Sorry it's been so long - here are some images from our life lately ...

Chocolate faces at Caleb's 1st birthday ... 

Mother's Day Tea at Graham's school

Making cupcakes for Daddy's birthday!