Hot Mama!!

Day 2: High School Inland Trip

       Today was another very fun day! We got up again early this morning and had a fry jack and egg breakfast at the place we were staying. Then we drove back though Belmopan to get to Spanish Lookout in the Cayo district where we toured the Hot Mama factory where they make hot sauce. I learned that the difference in the pepper color is due to it’s maturity. As peppers grow they gain more of the chemical capsiacin, and therefore the more mature peppers will be hotter. Peppers start out green and then as they mature they turn into a bright red color. Therefore, the red peppers are hotter than green ones! At the end of the tour they let us try a few of their products. I bought some pepper jelly which makes an amazing dip mixed with cream cheese! I can’t wait to get home and try to make some!

     After the hot sauce factory we went and had lunch before touring Western Dairy’s. At the dairy they have an average intake of 15000 pounds of milk from dairy farms in the area. They then process the milk by pasteurizing it (which means heating it to a certain temperature and then cooling it quickly which I taught in Integrated Science 1 at SPHS) and then homogenizing it (which mixes it so that it is the same throughout which I taught in Physical Science at THS). After the milk is homogenized it has 40 days until it will spoil. In addition to milk, I learned how they make other products such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. And of course, I got some ice cream from the dairy! (In case you’re wondering Dad it was Chocolate Chip)
     Possibly the highlight of the day was the students crevice competition. If you do not know, crevice is raw shrimp, conch, octopus or fish that is sterilized with lime juice and then mixed with vegetables (onions, tomatoes and cilantro). The boys and girls competed to see who could make the best! We went to the market in San Ignacio where the students bought vegetables, spices and shrimp for the cook-off! The girls ended up winning because they had sliced the shrimp before adding lime juice, but the boys added carrots which made it fantastic as well!

All in all, today was a fantastic day! Time for me to go listen to the kids sing Karaoke at the place we are staying at!

Until next time,

AAA