Earth Pot

Note to self:  Never eat anything that is served in a flower pot.  Today I had lunch with my husband at a fairly new little Vietnamese place near my office.  As I perused the menu I saw an option called "Earth Pot" and my husband pointed one out as the waiter walked by.  Intrigued by the beauty of this little clay dish, I decided that the food inside must be just as lovely.  I eagerly ordered it with some chicken and vegetables.  A pretty safe choice, right?  WRONG!!  After bite #1 I thought I might need to call the fire department.  As my mouth throbbed and I struggled to keep my eyes inside my face, I watched my husband happily eating his.  Now I had a dilemma....do I keep eating it and hope that once it cools a bit the spices magically disappear or should I shove it aside and starve with a little frownie face.  Well, I decided to eat what I could, albeit very slowly, and all the time thinking about how nice a little plant would look on my windowsill growing out of that beautiful dish.  Once I'd had enough, I decided to box the rest up to take home to my little 11 year old spice loving princess.  Surely, she'll tell me whether it's truly spicy or she'll laugh at me and call me a wimp. Problem #2....apparently spicy earth pot food is not only spicy in your mouth....it's still spicy in your stomach and then in your intestines and then.........well, you get where I'm going....... I'm now thinking that an ice bath might not be such a bad thing.  That and I feel like I have a rather large bowling ball in my stomach which is not helping me to get any work done.  Next time I'll stick with my original plan.......pho!