Muy Caliente

Hot food has always been a big deal to my mom. She used to heat the serving dishes and even individual plates and bowls in the oven before a family meal. Growing up, Mom would ring a little bell when dinner was ready and everyone was expected to drop what they were doing and come straight away to the table. Mom has been known to start eating immediately without waiting for other people to gather or a prayer of thanks. The woman likes her food hot!

My family, on the other hand, has been trained to enjoy room temperature (or colder) fare. On the rare occasion he receives piping hot food, Dave burns his mouth almost without fail. (He also gets the stray bone without fail, but that's another story.) My kids blow on each fork- or spoonful before it enters their mouths. When my children were babies and teething, I would give them waffles and pancakes straight from the freezer to numb the pain. They still to this day will eat food (fruit, waffles, pancakes, cookies) straight from the freezer. Hot food, not such a big deal.

Needless to say, we are all amazed at Mom's penchant for burning hot food. If I microwave a bowl of soup until it is boiling only around the edges, then stir and deliver to Mom, she will send it back to be reheated. Seriously, it must be boiling all the way through, then delivered post haste. Today I heated a small previously baked potato for Mom's lunch. I cut it open for even heating, then microwaved for two minutes in Mom's antique super strong microwave. (Who else would have a still functioning microwave from the 80's? I tell the kids not to stand in front of it when it's on.) The potato burned my fingers as I loaded in butter . I quickly topped it with grated cheese, threw some salad on the plate, and took it to Mom in the living room.

Nope. Not hot enough.

I told her I had heated it for two minutes. She asked for two minutes more. As I carried what was once a potato, now molten lava, back to Mom, I wondered if this is associated with old age. Are her senses dulling and so she wants her food not just piping, but inferno hot? Sort of like turning up the volume when it gets hard to hear. I dunno. I googled but didn't find anything. Evidently, most 91yos are being spoon- or tube-fed, not sending their food back to the kitchen to be superheated. Go figure.