Greetings from Minnesota!

Our seventh Tongues of Fire Hot Luck was held on August 3rd , 2008 and was deemed a fiery success by all who attended!The event was hosted by Dean and Karleen Schmiedt.

The site was their back yard on the banks of the Mississippi river near Fort Ripley, Minnesota, with the breeze and shade to keep all who attended comfortable. The guests, numbering around 50, came early afternoon.

The weather initially threatened to put a damper on the event but improved as the crowd began to gather; it was the outside event hoped for. The house was decorated inside and out with chili pepper lights, big chili balloons and a bright bouquet of flowers with chili peppers as accent. Guests lined their hot luck contributions on tables marked in heat ranges from "wimpy to meltdown". Dishes included (but are only a few of the total) Spicy Peanut Chicken, Beef Enchiladas with Green Sauce, Texas Caviar, Pulled Pork with Red Pepper Sandwiches, Corn on the Cob (hand picked and delivered fresh from Wilmot, South Dakota), Jalapeno Corn Bread, Slap Yo' Momma's Bottom Potato Salad and Habenero Rainbow Sherbet Dessert to name a few. All of the dishes sported some type of pepper and most ranged in the medium heat zone.

Outside, we had beverages and three tasting tables spotlighting award winning and spectacular products donated for this event. Each donating company's products, advertising materials and addresses were together so folks could find the product to purchase. We sampled with tortilla chips, fajita chicken chunks, soft pretzel squares and cucumber chunks to offer a variety of sampling experiences.

Your jams and jellies got rave reviews! The cherry pepper jelly and the hot pepper jelly as well as the Tomato Chipotle were all GONE! I never even got to try the cherry pepper and that was the one I really want to try. Darn! I loved the tomato chipotle and did use the fajita chicken to sample with. YUM.

Of course, we made the recipe for Red Savina Bread for the brave of heart. Everyone who rose to the challenge put their names in a bowl for a chance at the official Tongues of Fire VII t shirts that we had made for this event. In addition, drawings for door prizes that included the products sampled and chili pepper spice mix canisters were a huge hit. Everyone went home a winner!

A special addition to this years' TOF included a birthday tribute to our daughter, Kelly (who turned 25 on the 31st of July) and our friend Mark (who turned 38 that day). Dean constructed a fireworks set piece that said "Happy BD" with a birthday cake on top in lances, fountains and whistles that delighted the crowd and the birthday honorees. Birthday cake (Hershey's chocolate, of course, since Kelly works for the Hershey company) and the birthday song completed the tribute.

The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting, sampling and reconnecting with friends, family, brave souls who came to see what this was all about. It was the best of all of our Tongues of Fire. Our guests have all requested a repeat performance.

Many thanks for your contribution of product and other donations. We did our best to showcase what you sent and hope you will consider our request if we do this again next year"....

Karleen and Dean Schmiedt