As I sit here nursing what could be called a mind numbing, brain busting, and painful hangover I made the decision to stay in bed until it goes away. Unfortunately since I cut my alcohol intake by 75% for the last six months I’m now what is commonly known as a "cheap date".  A few glasses of wine and all of a sudden I’ve got a serious glow on and no longer have the ability to stop drinking.  After last night I now know what my new tolerance level for Sangria is.  It’s a sneaky drink that crept up behind me when I wasn’t looking and BAM, trashed.

Being in a semi-intoxicated state I decided I should help my better-half make dinner.  I was assigned the task of cooking up a batch of skillet cornbread which is my specialty.  I have numerous recipes for cornbread but did I use one of them?  Of course not.  I decided to adlib a little.  As you can see the batter looks as it should even though I had to read the recipe a number of times due to my alcohol induced focusing problem.

I added a few new ingredients to the recipe which included a cup of crushed corn and heaping tablespoons of jalapeño and red onion powder.  I diligently checked the skillet periodically and things seemed to be progressing as expected.

I did the tried and true toothpick test and removed the skillet  from the oven. I was happy with the result, it looked great and smelled even better.  I patiently waited a few minutes, had another glass of Sangria, and then sliced it up.

Being a caring and meticulous chef I never present my food to others until I’ve tried it myself.  I cut a large slice, slathered it with butter, and pigged out.  It wasn’t until I swallowed the second bite that the heat caught my attention. Within a few minutes my head was sweating, my lips were on fire, and I felt myself sobering up rather quickly. It was so freaking hot. I guess Chef’s Tip #1 for anyone deciding to have a piece of this cornbread is to cover it with jam of some sort to help knock down the heat.  I guess I’ll file this new recipe away and save it for my friends who wish to be sobered up in a hurry.

The morning is slipping away and it’s time for me to get my lazy ass up and do something.  I was planning on doing a serious detailing of my car today but I’m having trouble motivating myself.  I need two large hot cups of coffee, a few pieces of crispy fried bacon, two Tylenol, and one more big slice of that cornbread.  If that doesn’t cure me nothing will.

I should be back to my semi-normal condition sometime tomorrow. Hopefully I’ve been made a little smarter with my new understanding of Sangria and the pitfalls of drinking it like fruit juice.