Produced by Nick Hines / @nickolaushines   –   Vinepair

Order your next margarita with extra spice. The extra kick may just add a few years onto your life.

A spicy food study published in January found that “consumption of hot red chili peppers was associated with a 13 percent reduction in the instantaneous hazard of death.” Those are the exact words in the abstract of the paper, and when scientists claim they know how to reduce your risk of “instantaneous hazard of death,” you should probably take notice. And by take notice, I mean start spicing up your cocktails.

The study analyzed the frequency of hot red chili pepper consumption of 16,179 people who were 18 or older between 1988 and 1994. Then, almost 19 years later, the researchers took a second look at the data set. Nearly 5,000 people from the study had died. Of the pepper eaters, 21.6 percent died. Of the non pepper eaters, 33.6 percent died.

Those researchers weren’t the only ones curious about the spice of life. According to the BBC, another study in China found similar results for spicy pepper eaters.

The “why” isn’t as clear as the reduction in the instantaneous hazard of death. A lot of factors can get in the way when it comes to measuring someone’s health, but researchers believe that capsaicin, the compound in peppers that makes it spicy, increases blood flow and possibly even makes your gut bacteria healthier.

Not all spice is created equal, however. Horseradish, the ingredient that commonly makes Bloody Mary’s spicy, gets its heat from a different compound called allyl isothiocynate. There isn’t a study that shows the two have the same effects, so for now, stick to the jalapeño and serrano in your margaritas (or a spicy blackberry margarita for something a little different).

Jalapeño Margarita

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces of tequila (or mezcal if you like your spice with smoke)
• 6 slices of jalapeño with the seeds
• 1 ounce of agave nectar
• Juice from 1/2 a lime

Directions:

Add all of the ingredients except for three slices of jalapeño into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds. Strain into a salted glass with ice. Garnish with lime and the remaining jalapeño slices.

The Houston Fajita Festival is a celebration of Mexican culture, food, drinks and entertainment.  Go hungry with family and friends to enjoy a day filled with a variety of delicious fajita choices!  Texas cookers and grill masters will have everything from beef to seafood.

You can’t have tacos and delicious fajitas without Jalapenos!  So once again we are bringing back the spicy competition!  Texas Tito’s will be providing pickled jalapenos for the contest and be the exclusive pickled jalapeno sponsor of the 2nd Annual Houston Fajita Festival.

Tito’s will also be supplying pickled cucumbers for the michelada mix and pickled cucumbers and jalapenos for the michelada contest garnish.  Tito’s pickled jalapenos will also be used in the ChillZone, VIP and eating areas.

Location: Houston Toro’s Soccer Lifestyle Park

Date: July 22nd, 2017

By Samantha Darby    –   Romper

When it comes to eating during pregnancy, most parents are curious about how their favorite dishes (mm, hot wings) can affect their amniotic fluid and your baby chugging that fluid all day long. But what about you? Does pregnancy change your food preferences? There’s research that shows a correlations between what you eat with your child’s food preferences later in life, but after nine months of craving chili dogs and bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios, are you destined to never enjoy an actual green vegetable again? Will that hatred of cilantro and jalapeños carry over into the postpartum period, ruining your Taco Tuesdays forever? Do your cravings actually even exist?

When I was pregnant, I scared myself with how much milk I chugged. Ice cold milk, straight from the gallon while standing in front of the fridge at 3 a.m. was my favorite treat, but I was also extremely vitamin D deficient. There’s a lot of talk about how pregnancy changes your food preferences by making you crave nutrients and vitamins you’re lacking, but is there any truth to it?

According to Psychology Today, although there are a lot of theories about what causes a pregnant woman to crave something or to develop a food preference, researchers still aren’t exactly sure what it could be. It’s suggested that some cravings may be the cause of hormonal changes, some may simply be a craving you had before you were pregnant, some are cultural, and some could be linked to trying to cancel out a food aversion. For example, if meat makes your stomach turn, you may chow down on sweet stuff so that you aren’t privy to any kind of savory scent or taste like meat.

Dr. Seth Plancher, OB-GYN at Garden City OB-GYN in Garden City, New York, tells Romper that he doesn’t think cravings or aversions are related to what your body needs in terms of nutrients. “Food cravings and aversions are a common part of pregnancy and I often find that they change even by trimester. I don’t think they are related to lacking any nutrients, but most likely due to the hormonal changes,” he says. “They are definitely psychological, but most definitely real.”

But does pregnancy change your food preferences long term? Not exactly. An older study from 1992 in the Journal of American Dietetic Association found that 86 percent of moms-to-be in their third trimester developed cravings (sweets were the most commonly craved item) and 66 percent developed aversions to foods they had liked before becoming pregnant (most commonly meat, eggs, and pizza). But during the first year postpartum, fewer cravings and aversions were reported. Plancher also notes that most of his own patients tell him the cravings and aversions disappear once they are no longer pregnant. Because of the hormones? Because they are purely psychological? Nobody’s 100 percent sure.

So although there’s no hard proof that pregnancy can change your food preferences, one thing’s for sure — nobody’s going to think twice about you eating a jar of pickles in a day or chasing a ham sandwich with some pineapple and peanut butter. You do you, girl. Live your life. And eat that food. Unless it’s sushi or beer or raw cookie dough or . . . you know. Just be sure to check with your doctor.

by Amy Brocato Pearson   –   Brookshire’s

French’s has outdone themselves.

First, they were practically the Official Food of Thanksgiving. Now, they’ve turned up the heat.

Literally.

From the French fried onions that have graced the top of green bean casseroles all over America, French’s has now created the Crispy Jalapeño. Let me just tell you, you can eat them right out of the can.

French’s started with freshly picked jalapeños, sliced them and fried them in their secret batter, turning out a crispy, zesty snack full of heat and spice.

These gems are perfect on top of enchiladas or tacos, sprinkled on a taco salad or soup, baked into corn bread, and served on top of queso or spreadable dips. They’re perfect atop a burger or chicken sandwich, on grilled cheese or on top of hot dogs. The options are endless.

– See more at: http://www.brookshires.com/2017/02/20/blog-product-talk-frenchs-crispy-jalapenos/#sthash.IBZ9Wsxu.dpuf

Pickle juice enthusiasts enjoy beverage for taste, health benefits.

• By BOB HANSEN for The Hawk Eye

Pass up that sugary Slurpee and don’t spend money on over-priced energy drinks because there’s a new taste concoction in Burlington. It’s semi-frozen pickle juice — the slushy taste adventure created from the briny liquid left in the bottom of the jar when the last gherkin has been grabbed.

Presently, pickle proponents can purchase the slushy mix only at a local roller skating facility and the concession stand at Notre Dame High School basketball games. However, pickle promoters hope it might find wider acceptance.

The pickle pops first flowered at the local basketball games when a group of concessionaire volunteers noted the pickled cucumbers were enjoying a steady demand from young customers. But after the large gallon jars had been emptied, there still was a considerable amount of salty and vinegary liquid left behind.

The parsimonious pickle pushers were reluctant to dump the brine and began to explore freezing it for sale. Immediately, the experimenters learned the high salt content prevented the mix from becoming solid and a true pickle pop could not be offered. The best they could achieve was a semi-frozen soup.

Nevertheless, the volunteers persisted and offered the slush in individual plastic serving cups. Soon, students and fans were watching the basketball action with their noses buried in small white cups

Karen Marino, who helps out at the Notre Dame concession counter, reported the juice has been offered for sale for at least two years. “I’m not really a pickle person,” she explained, “so I don’t understand the attraction. But they seem to be what the kids want.

“They are so popular that we tried another variation; using cherry juice that we had left over but that is not nearly as good a seller. But pickle pops do well, and we make about $11 out of every jar of liquid that we used to throw out.”

Coulter Fruehling, a student at Notre Dame who often purchases a pickle cup when he attends his school’s ballgames, said the attraction is the strong salt taste.

“You pick up some of the pickle taste but it is mainly the salt that I like and I have a lot of friends that buy it for the same reason,” he said.

At Kenny’s Roller Ranch, owner Tim Barraclough considers the Notre Dame pickle purveyors a pack of late-comers, for he claims he has been offering cups of frozen brine since 2001, when his daughter in North Carolina told him of the treats popularity in that state.

“It has been a regular here for a long time but we don’t make it out of any type of pickle juice. We go for the kosher dill because of the strong garlic taste,” Barraclough said.

Unfrozen pickle juice long has been recognized for its restorative qualities by high endurance athletes. Athletes often will quaff about one-third of a cup for an almost instantaneous relief of muscle cramps. The salt restores an electrolyte balance while the vinegar stops nerve signals from cramped muscles.

Burlington’s George VanHagen, physical therapist assistant at Great River Medical Center, also can attest to the competitive advantages gained from drinking pickle juice. In November, he attended the USA Cycling Summit in Colorado Springs and the brine was the subject for discussion.

Jennifer O’Donnell-Giles told the athletes and medical professionals attending the conference pickle juice has been the rage in the race circuit for the last few seasons. She cited a study at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, that found the juice has a positive impact on the body’s electrolytes and prevents muscle cramps.

But regardless of the causation, athletes are turning to pickle juice as part of their pre-race preparation.

There also are arguments regular shots of pickle juice can have long-term health benefits. It can act as a shield against the dreaded free radicals, promote weight loss and aid the digestive system. A less beneficial — yet enjoyable quality — is it makes a great “dirty martini” when mixed with vodka.

The miracle of pickle juice plays out even in the kitchen, where it is used for cleaning the bottom of copper pots.

It appears there is little pickle juice cannot do, so the skaters and basketball fans downing the ice mix may be on the cutting edge of the next great trend in health drinks.