[CH] Chile-Head Staffers in Hospital Emergency Rooms

Dan McFeeley (mcfeeley@keynet.net)
Wed, 24 Sep 2003 11:02:25 -0500 

Hello fellow chile-heads --

In my working abode, I do emergency room psychiatric
intake.  Most of us hospital workers are foodies, either
ordering out or bringing in recipes of our own.  I usually
bring in chile concoctions of my own which I divide 
between the emergency room and the mental health unit,
which is where I noticed a divide between the two departments.
The emergency room staff love the hot stuff, can't get enough
of it.  My co-workers on the mental health unit like hot food, 
but don't show nearly the level of enthusiasm as the E.R. staff.

My hypothesis is that it's the stress level that does it.  Here's a
quote from the latest _Emergency Physician's Monthly_, written
by Dr. Mark Plaster in his "Night Shift" column:

     . . . I, like most emergency physicians, have a
     very low threshold for boredom.  Give me an
     ED full of life threatening trauma and I'm in my
     element.  I'll go home tired, but invigorated.  
     But let me spend a long nightshift with nothing
     but sniffles and back aches and I'll be suicidally
     depressed.

I worked with Dr. Plaster for a time but didn't get a chance
to see if he had the same love for hot food that everyone else
in our E.R. seems to have.  I'm willing to bet that he does.  If
he ever comes back to visit, I'll have to be ready with something
really good.

I'm wondering if there are other hospital workers on this list
who may have observed the same thing.  Are there more lovers
of hot food working in emergency rooms than other hospital
departments?  I'd be very interested to hear from other people
on this list if this is something that is common to all emergency
room departments.

Here's the recipe for what I brought in last night.  It's a kind
of roll up, doesn't have a name, but it goes over well.

1 can refried beans
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1 clove garlic
hot sauce for flavor and heat
chopped olives
chopped green onions
soft tortillas

Blend beans, cream cheese, garlic, and hot sauce.
I like to use a combination of Fontera hot sauce,
either toasted arbol or chipotle, combined with 
Desert Pepper XXX habanero.  Adjust heat level
according to taste.  :-)  Once it's well blended, add
chopped green onions and olives.  Spread on a soft
tortilla, roll it up and then cut into serving size.  Chill.

It's a simple recipe, easy to prepare, and well liked by
everyone in our E.R.  

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Dan McFeeley
mcfeeley@keynet.net