This little gem of a book touches on many aspects of the not-so-lowly chili pepper. The author gives a history of chili pepper, then discusses the various types of peppers, talks about growing, harvesting, drying, and storing them, as well as cooking with peppers. She also expounds on the medicinal aspects, dieting with peppers, and using peppers as a pesticide. She even goes on to talk about peppers as a bosom enhancer and more (with some disclaimers, I should add). She also includes warnings about handling peppers and a warning about avoiding inhaling the fumes from cooking peppers. It’s all quite informative and interesting, and with the sprinkling of humor along the way, it is also very entertaining. Several recipes are included, such as chili pesto, chili and garlic bread, chicken breasts with chili, guacamole, and chili con carne. You can wash all those peppers down with chili mulled wine or chili sherry. For dessert you can have pineapple and chili sherbet. You will learn about the heat factor, caused by the amount of capsaicin the pepper contains, and that to quench that fire, water won’t work but milk will. This fascinating book may not entice you to add chili peppers to all your meals, but it certainly is well worth reading! ( )