the pepper party was my first rose scholar event, which was a little spooky at first. our group arrived right as it started to rain and a lady bug took refuge in my hair (and later my shirt pocket) until the deluge passed. the first station i went to was inside the horticulture building. (actually, i’m pretty sure it’s called the horticulture building, but don’t quote me on that if i turn out to be wrong.) with help from volunteers i crafted myself a rather fashionable decorative pepper necklace. the tag on the necklace reads: “hug me… i’m a little chile” and instructs the owner to: “1. hang chile this winter. 2. hug family and friends underneath. 3. repeat.” great advice for ithaca residents if you ask me. i also tried chocolate pepper macaroons; they were really good. exploring upstairs i found some bongos and it took all my self-control to stop myself from playing with them.

back outside, different tents had traditional pepper dishes from several countries. i was a big fan of the hungarian pepper goulash and thai egg rolls with spicy pepper sauce–which turned out to be sriracha. i’m coming down with a bit of a cold right now, so i couldn’t really smell very much at first, but as i sampled the spicier dishes my nose started running like a faucet. that prompted an impromptu tissue-hunt back inside, where i found a display case with various peppers and their spiciness rating next to it. i thought ghost peppers were the hottest you could find, but i learned there exists a pepper called the trinidad moruga scorpion that’s almost twice as hot. incidentally, trinidad moruga scorpian is a really intimidating name for a food. there were several educational stations outside as well, but i was having too much fun tasting all the dishes to make it over to them.

we finished things up with some habenero ice cream and a group picture. overall, i’d rate the pepper party ten out of ten, and i would happily recommend it to a top ten friend.