2010 March » Stop, Drop and Blog

Hot Review, Literally: Firehouse Nuts

Mar 232010

As I write this, my mouth is on fire. Fire. I love spicy things. While pregnant, I only wanted jalapenos and buffalo sauce. On everything. But Firehouse Nuts are hotter than hot. Stop giggling at the name and stick with me.

I was given two bags of Firehouse Nuts from a friend of mine who loves to gift us fire related things. I ate the first bag a few months ago and have just decided to brave the second bag. While these were originally intended for TheBrothers, I can assure you that I would likely be a neglectful mother if I let them even touch these peanuts.

The ingredients don’t seem too terrible. Mention of paprika, spices and vinegar. Not too hot, right? What they don’t say is what is written on the front: smoked Habanero flavored peanuts. That’s an important thing to know. These aren’t just kind of spicy like a warm winter chili. These aren’t spicy like the salsa at your favorite restaurant. These are hot. Hot like that green hot sauce that your friend (or my dad) dares you to eat and then laughs when you gasp for air. Hot like fire in your mouth that can’t extinguished with coffee, milk, bread or any combination thereof.

But I keep eating them.

They have a good flavor. It’s just intense. I could see giving these as a gift to my Dad (another crazy spicy food lover) or as a firehouse gift, gag or otherwise. (The tin is decorated with fire trucks and could actually make a great fire gift.) I could see serving these with regular peanuts mixed in or on a table with a bunch of other peanuts… and a warning. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t give these to my kids. Or my grandmother. Or FireDad. He sweats when he eats spicy food and he might cause a flash flood with the temperature of these things.

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[Disclosure: I received these for free as a gift from a friend without promise of review. I reviewed these because they fit the niche of our blog.]

Fire Sirens in My Backyard

fire life, Living Life 7 Responses »

Mar 222010

We have a mockingbird. And it’s not LittleBrother, though he does repeat any and everything that anyone happens to say. Ever. So, I guess we have a mockingbird inside and outside. This post, however, is about the mockingbird outside.

He/she/it/they is/are living in the pine tree at the corner of our yard. I didn’t know about their nest until yesterday evening. I have experience with mockingbirds as my parents have had two sets on The Farm, nesting behind their house for the past few years. I slept at my parents with the windows open once last year and woke up with a bird frantically cycling through multiple bird songs and random sounds. Over and over and over and over. By 9:15, I wanted to shoot the thing, ala Failure to Launch. I didn’t. I can’t even shoot a water gun. Wouldn’t have worked.

Last night, my mom and I were sitting on my deck, talking over some coffee. I heard a siren. I listened closely because that’s what fire spouses do. Nothing. We went back to talking. The siren sounded again. Just the two woo-woos that you normally pick up on first. I stopped talking again. Nothing. A few seconds later, the siren went off again. In the pine tree. Followed by the awful sound that is the mockingbird’s actual bird call. I twitched as my mom said, “You have a mockingbird!”

Great.

I didn’t even know that mockingbirds could imitate sirens. This is not a good thing. Every time I hear a siren in the background of a song on the radio, I think I’m being pulled over. When my children are playing with one of their many fire trucks, most with obnoxious sound effects, I think that there’s an emergency on a nearby street. Now when I’m outside, free from noisy-tech toys, I’m going to think that a fire truck is about to careen through the pine tree. Except that it’s not.

As I read more about the mockingbird, I’m further annoyed.

They sing a long succession of notes, and phrases, which will be repeated several times, and then changed. The call phrases can be imitations of songs of other birds. Other sounds are a raspy chijjjand a harsh chewk. The male sings in the spring, and both birds will sing in the fall. They will often sing long into the night.

Long into the night? (Quote: What the [heck] kind of Devil bird chirps at night?!) Sirens and long successions of notes and phrases? And eventually more than one? To make it all the more awesome, they dive bomb anyone who comes near their nest, humans included. Sounds fun. (Speaking of sounds, you can listen to a long phrase at this link. No sirens though.)

Whatever the case, I find it somewhat amusing that a mockingbird with a specialty for fire siren sounds has decided to nest in the yard of a firefighter and his family. I would say it was fitting or appropriate if it didn’t make me so twitchy. I will, however, try to catch a photo of the noisy offender in the near future. With or without water gun in hand.