Somebody and/or something is changing. Nancy is off filling up on Texas fiber. She left Thursday and will return soon. In the meantime, she made up a crock pot full of chili for me to eat because she knows otherwise it will be Miller Chill and M & M’s.

We had a bowl before she left and were chatting about a friend who makes very hot chili. We have yet to partake, but we gave her a big bag of home grown chili peppers and she said they were suitably hot for her to use in her chili.

Nancy can’t handle the spiciness anymore so I told her I was going to spice up the chili for me. She dug out a can of chili peppers and I dumped them in the crock pot. It simmered all day Friday.

Yum. I added some Louisana hot sauce. More yum.

The chili made my nose run and I coughed a couple times, but it was gooo-oood.

I told my daughter what I had done and she was flabbergasted. She said my taste has changed.

She is right.

I didn’t like spicy food when she was around. Except for horseradish sauce. I’ve always love horseradish sauce, but avoided anything spicy. I’m eating  a lot more spicy food now than ever before. Love Thai, Wasabi, etc.

AARP magazine arrived today.

Lo and behold, I find out there is actually a reason I’m eating more spicy food. Boomers are loving spicy food! Chili Pepper consumption is up from 4.7 lbs in 1998 to 6.3 lbs in 2007 according to the magazine – per person! These stats always amaze me because I may eat a couple pounds of peppers in a year, so somebody is eating my share plus some!

Bold flavors are In! And Boomers are making them more inner!

Our sense of smell is getting whacked and that effects our sense of taste. The demand for hotness is gonna be hot as Boomers age.  Chili peppers are getting on our menu more often – even sharper cheeses like feta or Gorgonzola.

AARP Magazine even pointed to www.fiery-foods.com which they claim is popular with guys over fifty.

Dave DeWitt is some kind of Chili/Spice expert and get this:

The first thing they discovered was that many spices were incredibly antibacterial. For example, garlic, onion, allspice, and oregano were the best all-around microbe killers, killing almost everything. Next were thyme, cinnamon, tarragon, and cumin, which kill about 80 percent of all bacteria. Chile peppers were in the next group, with about a 75 percent kill rate. In the lower ranges of 25 percent were black pepper, ginger, and lime juice.

This stuff is good for you! Who knew? OK, I didn’t know that!

The new corollary of eating in the 21^st century might be: “The healthier you eat, the more you need to spice it up with chile-laden condiments.”

So how cool hot is that!

BTW: I’m only up to the Jalapeno stage, but I’ll be trying some of the hotter chili peppers when I get the chance.  AARP’s site has a pretty cool graphic of the pepper hotness.

About the changes? Either AARP magazine is becoming more relevant or I’m aging into it. I’m thinking it’s both.