Stainless steel Texas-shaped appliance to festively facilitate jalapeño roasting (photo by Kenn Stearns)

Life in Texas makes it difficult to avoid jalapeños. Known by various names such as huachinango, chile gordo, and chipotle (a smoked ripe jalapeño), the heat level of the popular pepper varies from mild to hot. At a young age I quickly learned not to rub my eyes with fingers that had recently touched a jalapeño. As a teenager I learned removing the seeds could make a hot jalapeño mild and that small fresh light green jalapeños were much hotter than larger dark green peppers marinated with carrots. Over the years I’ve savored Jalapeño Poppers, Armadillo Eggs, Dragon Turds, and Texas Torpedoes. To impress special guests my mom loved to serve a clump of Jalapeño Jelly dumped over a brick of cream cheese served with crackers. And now thanks to Lisa and Kenna I have a Texas-shaped appliance for roasting and serving jalapeños, along with a clever tool for removing the veins and seeds. Cold beverage anyone?