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Thanks to Karen for hosting the Hotluck -- It was absolutely great!
And thanks to the sample suppliers: Mild-to-Wild, D'Oni, Red Lion, Peppers, and CaJohns

The food was just excellent, ranging from mild to flaming! I can't remember exactly all of who brought what, but I do remember Mark's Habanero Salmon Rolls and RisaG's Habanero Humus as being particularly delicious, and the Bloody Mary's made with Chile-Vodka were outrageous!

My Evil Chicken, as hot as it was, disappeared rather quickly.
(Containing generous amounts of Red Savina powder, capciacin, and layered, julienned habaneros on top --  nothing stopped these dedicated chileheads.)

Definitely the hottest was Doug's Evil Cookies.
These had achieved advanced notoriety, as most everyone coming in asked where they were.
They were evil!

There was quite some investigation as to which was hotter: The Cookie or The Bread. After side-by-side sampling, the general conclusion was that they were comparable, but that The Bread had a slightly more delay in heat -- it just kept building, unmercifully. The Cookie, however, was the more dangerous; after all, who could believe that an innocent looking, chocolate-chip cookie could be BAAAAD!

The TV producer (Stuart) said he had heard about sweet and hot, and asked for a demonstration. Obliging, I took a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sprinkled applewood-smoked, Red Savina habanero powder all over the ice cream -- until all trace of white was replaced by dark brown. My enjoyment of the dessert was soon interrupted, however, as first Doug then Mark grabbed spoons and started to horn in -- I mean, really, couldn't they go get their own.

Then Doug got one of his cookies, put some ice cream on top, and then more powder one top of that! I thought this a bit much -- until 2 or 3 more chileheads started making their own! This confection became quite a hit.

The TV should come out in mid-March and verify these events. Incidentally, the TV guys were great and fit right in. Having done prior background work, they were also partaking of El Grande (albeit somewhat cautiously), even of The Cookie.

There was a lot of habaneros eaten that day, and at least one person remarked, anticipating some later difficulties, that she knew what "Ring of Fire" really stands for. (Fortunately, I have no such problem.)