Recently in Deep Thoughts Category

Wordless Wednesday, yer doin' it wrong. Not only am I not on "The List", am using words.

Still here, still kicking, should have stopped by and let ya'll know I was "On Holiday". This means I'm a lazy ass and haven't been cooking much. The boys and I have spent most of our summer in front a computer screen, or plinking cans with a BB gun of some ilk. We're doing okay, school starts next week. We can hardly wait.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

xo, Biggles

ps - Thems is slow, hickory grilled chicken breasts. Slow cause they gots no skin and no bacon. Gotta take it slow, they were so darned juicy!

The membrane has been removed, entire rack rubbed with kosher salt, marinating. Cooker is nearly ready, great smells. What you gots?

xo, Biggles

Editor's Update (next morning):

Fired up the new cooker last night and smoked these babies! Removed membrane, rubbed with Kosher salt, smoked with hickory. Juicy! Click on the picture if you so choose.

Biggles having some fun today, is all.

Blind Melon - No Rain

Ooooo-oo-oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo-oo
All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watching the puddles gather rain

And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
And speak my point of view
But it's not sane, it's not sane

I just want someone to say to me no, oh, oh, oh
I'll always be there when you wake, yea-ah
You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today
So stay with me and I'll have it made

And I don't understand why I sleep all day
And I start to complain that there's no rain
And all I can do is read a book to stay awake
And it rips my life away, but it's a great escape
Escape......escape......escape......

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
You don't like my point of view
You think that I'm insane
It's not sane, It's not sane

I just want someone to say to me no, oh, oh, oh
I'll always be there when you wake, yea-ah
You know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today
So stay with me and I'll have it made

And I'll have it made
And I'll have it made, oh
Lord no no
You know I'm really gonna, really gonna have it made
You know I'll have it made
Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh

What fun! Love you all, Biggles signing off.

xo

The English language and I have been at war since the beginning, it's a love & hate thing. I'm one of those word snobs (I didn't say I was good at it) and really try my best to make sure I use the correct their, they're & there. See my point? I would never say the whether is turning cold early this year or I'm knot going! On the other hand, I don't like rules. So, the outcome can sometimes turn in to a mess. A fun mess, but a mess all the same.

Well, I've had enough! There's a great, huge and quite large faux pas going on right under our noses and it's making me crazy. The poopetrators do it every day. This would be misspelling one, specific, little word. One version is a flavor and one is a bear.

Can anyone guess what this little word might be? I'll count to ten, 1 2 3 4 6 ... .Uh listen folks, the word is smoky. Smoky flavors !!! The word Smokey is either Smokey Bear or a slang term for a police officer. You don't get smokey flavors from your smoker !!! GAHHHHHHHHHHH. (Picture Biggles swatting the air and stamping his boots).

Quidit.

Pissy Man has left the building.

ps - I smoked an 11 pound turkey last night in the new outdoor cooker I'm about to review.

xo, Biggles

Yeah !!! Some of you may remember late last year I was going through some real hell with moisture problems here at the lab, mostly my bedroom. In 1 month I ended up having to gut and scrub my bedroom for mold twice, moisture content out of this world.

This has been an ongoing problem for years, but it has been getting progressively worse. I didn't have the money or the skills to install a French Drain. I made do with dehumidifiers in several rooms of the house with a mobile hygrometer to see how things progressed day and night. Even with the balmy weather and dry winds, I'd have to start the dehumidifier in my bedroom at 3am and shut it down at 6am. In 2 to 3 days, I would collect 1/2 gallon of water. Just so you know, that's a lot. Heavy moisture in, around and under a home is not a good thing, it's bad. Real bad. It'll destroy a foundation before you can raise a child.

After months and months of saving, I finally got enough pennies to have a French Drain installed along with a sump pump. I live on the flat lands and gravity flow is of no help here. Today the most awesome group of guys started digging. I found Manuel's company on google a year ago locally for Richmond California and he's turned out to be the most responsible, skilled and able guy I've met in a long time. The trench is not only dug perfectly & properly, but it's smoothed out as though they were Aztec Gods.

As with previous jobs, I have no doubt that within a few days that Meathenge Labs will be moisture free for years to come. I can finally decorate my bedroom and install clutter as I see fit without worry of moisture that transforms to mold. Ain't it great? Now I can spend more time sleeping, napping and cooking.

Jaripeo Landscape
Manuel Jasso, owner
New lawns, Fences, Trees, Concrete, Drain Systems, Hauling, Retaining Walls, Stump removal, Sprinkler Systems, probably more.
License #876389, References available
510 620 0998 Office

xo, Biggles

Rarely do I post anything that points to something cool or interesting on the web, figure you got that taken care of by now. But this is so great, and I just know you haven't read it already, I had to stop by immediately to give you the scoop.

It's a short story by Terry Bisson and I've only known about it for less than 10 minutes. It's so good (and short, that's good for you Twitter Heads), I couldn't resist

Terry Bisson
They're Made out of Meat.

xo, Biggles

I spent most of today doing chores, many of the to-do items required driving long distances. By 3pm the boys and I were pretty bushed, we reclined to TV, movies and video games. Z had some homework to deal with and settled on the living room floor for a while. After running a load of laundry I came in and found his iphone in his mouth.

He was listening to the Dead Kennedys, mouth open, volume down a bit. I offered that maybe if he turned it up, and put his teeth (gently) on the iphone that it might improve it.

It did! Said it was running through his skull, sounded like a real speaker or earbuds.

So, if you don't have the earbuds to support your music habit on your iphone, put it in your mouth and hold it steady. There's 20 bux saved! Not sure how your friends, family or anyone near you will react when they realize you have an iphone in your mouth. And, not convinced this move would be covered under warranty, so be careful. I have contacted Apple with this method, so maybe it will be approved!

xo, Biggles

Anyone that has read Meathenge for any length of time knows that I love photography or digital capture and food. This has been the case for more than 35 years, a little more. Out of passion and the plea from my friends & family I set up my blog (actually my sister did) so they'd stop getting routine emails from me showing them what I was eating and they were not. This was back in '03, a young blogger was born. It was tough for me to not give people a hard time about their images, I bit my tongue. More often than not though I ended up sticking my comments where they didn't belong. Such is life and I learned my lesson, learned the zen of enjoying people for who they were and what they presented. It's actually pretty peaceful to watch bloggers grow in both craft and voice, I love it.

Earlier today Jlee sent me this Wikipedia entry and I've been getting madder and madder as the minutes roll by. It offends me on every level that I hold sacred, food, photography and respect for the internet. What pushed me over the edge was the fact that the author of this post on WikiP actually published what he did to achieve such a wonderful shot. At this point picture me kicking tin cans around the yard hurling obscenities to the universe.

At first, it was the art, the photography that made my bowels erupt. Bite my tongue, but the blast of light from one direction and the fact the author went out of his way to edit out the shadows? Okay, let's remove any depth or perception. The lone strawberry with red smudges on the plate? This lead me to the store bought sliced bread with uneven toasting and bacon that's clearly been seared to near black death. My eye then went to the "tablecloth"? Why not just toss your wet dream stained bed sheets for luster, would have been more interesting. Not to me of course, but some people pay a lot of money for such things. Where's the mayo? Where's the black pepper and crystals of salt to glisten? Hot sauce? How the hell is one fricken little 'berry going to add nutrition, happy breakfast or for crissakes Chi !!! GAHHHH !!!

Okay, so sure the fact the author published his editations pushed me further, but why you're seeing this here to day is the fact he published this hideous monster on Wikipedia. That sealed the deal, he stepped over the line. This instantly went from a friendly food blogger type of situation to a worldwide encyclopedia entry that states this as truth and love both in the culinary arts and digital capture.

Don't give me, "But the yolk is the perfect color and runny looking". You know damned well this "human" needs to be drawn and quartered. Oh sure, I can hear your response, "Alright smart guy, if you think you can do better, go ahead." Charley Manson could do better, don't mess with Manson pal. In the last 7 years I've never, ever seen a food blogger do this poorly. We rule, you suck and I'm here to testify that I can totally kick your ass. Get this shit off the Wiki and leave us alone, hate doesn't even remotely describe the feelings I'm having at this moment.

Yours truly,

The Good Reverend Doctor Biggles

This post isn't about food, but I couldn't hold it any longer. It's just too wonderful to hold back, am gushing.

Tomorrow I will be attending a best friend's birthday party for his little girl, she's just turned 1. I have 2 boys, 9 & 14, so I've been through the routine. But what do I get a 1 year old for her first birthday !?! I was thinking a box with crinkly paper.

After many thoughts I figured a gun was the best gift of all. I headed off to my local sporting goods store for such an item. What did I find? A Daisy Red Ryder BB rifle gun!

Easy enough, but what they had blew me away. They had a PINK BB GUN !!!!

That's right, they had a pink bb gun rifle. A bb gun for girls! It was an easy sell.

xo, Biggles

Was pretty much cooking for myself last night, Tiny E's consumption of food really doesn't amount to what most of us call a meal. I had time, I had pork chops and if I ruined them it wouldn't ruin anyone's evening. I wondered what it'd be like to put the center cut chops in to the oven at 250 degrees until they reach 190 degrees (pully aparty).

I used a glass casserole dish with a chrome rack installed, this would keep the meat up and out with the heat able to get all around. Marinated with kosher salt, preheat oven to 250 degrees.

2 hours later, at 190 degrees internal temperature I had a real piece of shit for dinner. The loin portion of the chop didn't have enough fat to keep it moist. While I had no temperature spikes, the fat was gone! And, considering the method used, there was no browning, no flavors. It was dry, flat tasting pork that just didn't deliver.

"But Biggles! I see browning !!!" says you. Heh, just because I ruined dinner doesn't mean I didn't have fun. I grabbed the propane torch and browned it myself!

It looks a heck of a lot better than it was. Don't do it.

Biggles

You're correct! "The Swamp" is the answer and the name of their tent where they spent a few seasons before Winchester showed up. In any case, they lived in a tent named The Swamp and I live IN a swamp.

I'm still dealing with high-moisture content in my home and a pretty nasty mold situation. I've got about 90% of it taken care of. I removed the last remaining carpet in the house, it was in the boy's room. 10 years of little boy use and it was more than time. It wasn't good and spent more than a week scrubbing furniture and applying an anti-mold growth formula my boss came up with. I bought another dehumidifier (this makes 2 now) and a hygrometer to give me an idea as to what room needs dire attention at what time. It's been a nightmare to say the least and Tiny E is still suffering.

My only solace has been permitting weather to allow me to grill dinner every night for the last 3 days. The smell of the wood, the hickory, to enjoy the flavors of simple, grilled food. It's all I have at the moment and I simply do not have any time or inspiration for Meathenge at the moment. Know what I mean, Vern? Yeah, it's like that.

Hoist a cool one for us, fry some bacon with love. We'll be back in and online here pretty soon.

xo, Biggles

I dug deep for this one, looked, looked and then searched. I came up with nothing, then searched again. I came home and found it!

It might not come off so quickly as Martian Food, but at third glance seemed to have a lot to do with Penises and Turds. Ick.

Here is my submission, however so late as it might be, Penises and Turds.

I'd send you a direct link to the post, but this is the best I can do for Zoomie of Zoomie's Station's Martian Food Contest posted on Feburary 2nd.

xo, Biggles

Where has Biggles been in over a week? I thought I already mentioned that, Mold Patrol!

Downspouts? I'm doing it wrong. That combined with heavy rains, a clogged fan in the bathroom and 55 gallons of fish water in the dining area, spells moisture. Then? It's mold. And I ain't talking about a little bit, I'm talking gut the room and clean everything with bleach. What sucks most is the fact I did this a month ago.

Why haven't I put in a French Drain system? It's $3200.00 dollars. Oh Biggles, it's just a hole lined with junk, just dig it yourself! No. Have you ever seen an episode of The Simpsons? Picture Homer putting in a drainage system, I shouldn't be doing that on yours or my home. Besides, this includes a sump system that physically pumps the water to the street. I'm in the flatlands, no downhill to head to. On a lighter note, I did find my dehumidifier in the garage and it's working like a charm. In just one night it pulled over a gallon of water out of the air.

So, if anyone has a French Drain system putter inner that they can donate or a 5 quart enamel Dutch Oven, it'd be much appreciated. This is of course, unless Haiti needs it, then send it to them first. They need all the love and support they can get. I, on the other hand, have food and alcohol available to me. I'll be fine.

xo, Biggles

For years Meathenge has attracted a very nice collection of human beings. From readers, enthusiasts, families making food products in their basements and not the last of all inventors who bring their product to market on their own. The latest and greatest would be Rolfe of Craycort who sent me a cast iron replacement for the Weber kettle for review.

Well, this time I wasn't offered free stuff (costs the guy too darned much), but I was so impressed with his creation I wanted to stop by and give you a view in to what's going on in the world of portable cooking pits, The New Frontier.

Gareth Noble of The Settler's Kitchen Company stopped by a few weeks ago and asked, "Hey Biggles, what do you think of this?" I grilled him about smoker temps (can it hold it at 200F?), available work surfaces, cooking in decent winds, fuel types, build quality and types of metals used. Gareth knows his business, knows key points of metal designs and execution. And dangit, a very fine fellow indeed.

It's got a hand-driven spit by jiminy! MmMMM, spit roasted meat. The fire is held in the black portion, more to the left to fire up the smoking chamber. Over this one is able to set fry pans or hang dutch ovens over. You can use pre-burned fireplace sized wood for fuel and the smoking chamber gets hot enough to make bread without a thought. Cook, smoke, grill, bake, rotisserie? Portability? Yup, it's got it.

Check this out, the black portion of the machine slides underneath the powder-coated smoking chamber, bits and pieces are put in the smoking chamber and the shiny legs are used as handles and you can walk out of camp with it using the rear wheels behind you, pulling it! There's tons more cool features and would offer you go visit his web site to check out the details. Nice shootin' there Gareth, good luck.

Gareth Noble
The Settler's Kitchen Company
Westport, CT
203-216-3439

Biggles

Meathenge Labs is up to a nice pot roast in the oven. What do you have?

xo, Biggles

Editor's note: This is a poorly written, almost no real technical specificity, only meant to springboard you in to your own exploration on the subject. But the impact was so impressive, so huge that I have to say for me it's as big as the actual implementation of the world wide web.

First off, I've been digitizing 35mm prints and negs, since 1994. I still consider myself a middle of the road kinda guy when it comes to the "magic" behind the scenes both in hardware and the inner workings of the internets. I can say that I just stumbled head long in to something that really needs bringing to the forefront for us huddled masses.

Have you ever been sitting at your computer, monkeying around in Photoshop or similar, working on your precious images? Getting them just right? Then uploading to your blog or something like Flickr only to view them online and find they've lost their luster? Cute little white babies now have grey skin? The reds don't have the intensity they did only moments ago? I sure have and figured these online photographic web based communities must be compressing them to some degree and they lose their punch. I mean, I have my ICC monitor profile loaded! Heck, have even used a Spyder to calibrate my monitor in the past.

I was wrong. My brother inlaw, Darkleynoone has been voicing this same concern. While in Photoshop, his images are great, but then when he uploads to Flickr, the intensity is gone. Lighter skin tones turn grey, the immense reds are toned down. I've noticed the same thing and gave him my best explanation, "I got no idea. Compression and you lose your color bits?"

I was wrong. It occurred to me this morning that really sounds like a color space issue. I spent some time on google and I was on the right track. Then, I read it. I felt like such an idiot, I'd known it all the time and not realized it. I knew the answer and didn't apply myself. When you're editing your images in Photoshop, it's managing your color space, this would be sRGB if you have it correctly. Your DSLR should be set to sRGB if you have it correctly. But you know what? Your goddam browser is showing you some ilk of RGB. That's right, different programs show you different color profiles. From your image editing software, operating system viewer to your browser, different color profiles even if you have your ICC profile loaded.

After spending all day discussing this with the two brother inlaws I work with Organtitus says, "Firefox prolly has a plug-in for that."

They do! I did a search for the Firefox plugin by typing in color management. It wasn't until I got home that I was able to download it, configure it to my i-mac, and restart firefox and go check out Flickr.

I felt as though I'd been punched in the face, kicked in the groin and tossed to the floor. Just using Firefox on my mac, viewing Flicker, it was just like that. Cracky, KuFlup and a Crunch. The ICC embedded images on Flickr jumped out at me like a 3 legged wolverine on acid and a cup of hot joe.

It's an entirely new world. I'm here to testify!

Of course this is all pretty much fluff here, but supported by web-based fact on solid ground. You'll need to search for WEB BROWSER COLOR MANAGEMENT or some such in google and do some work on your end. But I'm telling you, you're missing 30% + of the web's intensity by NOT doing this for your browser.

Here's a link regarding Web Browser Color Management that helped a lot on my travels forward. The approximation is maybe 90% of the world wide web cruising community knows nothing of this and they carry on just fine. But if you have the discerning eye, this is critical. It's changed my life.

This software and technology was tested on a 2 month old i-mac and a PC running XP sportin' a Viewsonic P810.

xo, Biggles

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to stop by and let you know all is well here at Meathenge Labs. We're hosting today's meal and yes, it will include gravy! I have my little crockpot all set to sit on the table to keep the "sauce" warm. There's nothing sadder than cold gravy.

Hugs, Kisses and Warm Thoughts to you all,

Rev. Biggles

Editor's Note: OoOOoo, drinking booze in Texas, ain't that just the best? JLee & Joe Bob head in for some cool refreshing beverages.

This place doesn't serve food til 6pm. We got here at 5. Decided to drink for an hour. Only a couple other people there, so we got to hog the bartender. Matt, the NICEST bartender in West Texas. (see him at their website) Had a great selection of everything. I had my first Shiner Bock ever. It was frosty goodness. A shot of Macallan 18. Tried some local made pale ale from the tap. Then we ordered food. Hmmm. I had roasted pork, Joe Bob had chicken curry. Maybe it was an off night for the chef, we'll leave it at that. Back to drinking. A tasty cocktail of vodka, citrus, and some thing I can't remember. It left a real good taste in my mouth. I'll go back there, try some other dish next time. Great place to sit and drink for a whole evening.

jlee

The Famous Burro
Marathon, TX
(432) 386-4100

All day it poured, far sooner than was expected.
The sun came out to offer some love, garden grew greener in only a few hours.
One should leave their guarded perch to view and experience what's going on.
It's pretty darned spectacular and to say the least, it's pretty and makes you feel good.

xo, Biggles

Pets, members of the family, many times you love them more than your family. It's the unconditional love, inspiration and attention they crave from you and give back even more that draws you in.

Years ago, I ran across Cookie's web site, I'm mad and I eat. I remember telling someone that I was so excited that I found someone else who was upset, mad and willing to lay down the goodness in food. Time went on and through exchanged comments, emails and meetings and parties and grillings and whatever else it was, we'd found some common ground to have fun on.

It wasn't until I showed up in person more than a few years ago and my boys paid a visit a few years ago that I got to spend some time with the 'sprout. The little dude raced from here to there corralling us all, never stopped. Quiet, yet you could see he had intent and direction. Once he was done, he took watch to make sure we didn't stray, keeping us huddled together. There wasn't a moment he wasn't engaged, happy and not being a yappy little dog like most people believe.

I remember the first time I left, after meeting Sprout, I'd have to ask Cookie who he was. Because, if I was going to have the most awesome dog of all time, I wanted that one.

It was too soon little buddy, rest in peace.

Biggles

Hi Everyone! I know I've been missing in action for more than a long time. Meathenge is not going away, but have been so terribly busy with home and business that I absolutely don't have any time to cook and or post here.

My brother inlaw bought a fancy drawing tablet, he's a college degreed artist an junk. Anyhoo, he's been learning how to use it and has been doing "paint by numbers" to see how things lay. Personally, I don't care how you slice it, this drawing rocks. Not only does it remind me of something from the past, but it's so nicely done that I had to share it with you.

It may not have anything to do with food or what I'm up to, but you can surely see why I chose to post it. What do you think?

xo, Biggles

Yeah, it's like that. I have no idea what the availability is, I just happened to run across it this last Saturday at their store at the Oxbow Market in Napa.

Sliced it, fried it. Sweet pork love.

xo, Biggles

Been spending some time on the net reading what others are up to, mostly it seems to be "The Heat" and or humidity. Or at least it seems that way to me, mostly because it's 66 degrees with fresh ocean breezes here near the bay.

Even though it's a work week, there's plenty of time in the evening to stoke up the smoker for a short little jaunt through smoked fowl land. Today we have smoked game hens from Diablo Foods in Lafayette. I can't remember where they were raised, but it sure as hell has nothing to do with the major players usually available (read: I paid dearly).

Rubbed with butter, salted and trussed up to a 217 degree smoker for a little over an hour (honestly can't remember how long it took). Sure it took an hour to get the fire right, but it was worth the wait. All 3 of us remarked at the juicy tenderness of the breast meat, sorry it wasn't dry and mealy.

Cheers to you and yours on this fine Tuesday evening,

Biggles

Oh yeah, use a knife.

Garlic presses are only a convenience.

xo, Biggles

Editors Note: Yeah, confused? I didn't know how to title this one either. I received this email the other day and was really blown away, I did tear up. We all make jokes, tell "stories" and enjoy the Meaty Lifestyle. But how many of you, and raise your hands, where meat has come in to your life and given you a venue to share the last life & times with a loved one before they pass?

I asked for permission to post this email and to post an image. Please read on and dare to keep a dry eye.

Hey Biggles,

First, I have to say a huge 'Thank You' for telling me about subscribing to Toponia's weekly newsletter for the Fatted Calf a couple years before she and Taylor took the leap and started their operations in Napa. I *so* looked forward to reading her updates and although it wasn't convenient to hit the SF Farmer's Market, I knew that one day, I'd get to taste their their products.
Move ahead to a year ago. The Fatted Calf has been running at the Oxbow Public Market for a while, and my dad, who was living in the Yountville Veterans Home was talking to me about Charcuterie and stoking the fires of meat love. I made a promise to create a nice Cheese Board lunch the next weekend, and so, finally stopped by the Fatted Calf for sausage.
Bailey was working the counter, barely two weeks into her start with the 'Calf. I sampled my way through just about all that was available that week and ended up buying more than a pound of some of the most wonderful sausage I'd had in many, many years. I was sold.
Stopping at the 'Calf on my way to visit my father became a habit very quickly.
Sadly, my father passed away on April 21st. I thought that I might not head over to Napa so much, but then, I got the heads up from Toponia about their first ever, up-n-coming Basic Pig Butchery and Sausage Making class. Lemme tell ya, I grabbed the phone so fast it set records in three states. I thought it would be a nice way to keep fond memories of hanging out with my dad over exceptional food.

The class was wonderful. Taylor, Toponia and the rest of the crew are fine people indeed. I had such a good time, I'm tempted to volunteer for them sometime.

Thanks so much for sharing your love of meat.

Best to you and yours,

-CM

Eidtor's Note: Please take a moment and hoist a cool refreshing beverage to CM and his father, a moment of silence and respect.

Hi Everyone!

Wanted to stop by and say hi to everyone, Hi! While I do have a few posts in the wings awaiting some inspiration, we're not up to much here at Meathenge Labs. Cooking for me these days consists of burgers, a red sauce sphaghetti dinner and calling Mountain Mike's Pizza. Sad, yet true. In any case, the boys and I are doing fine, I'm not driving nearly 500 miles a week (until school starts in a few months).

Here's Tiny E's feet as he's sleeping, right now. Sleepy Summer Mornings, ain't they grand?

xo, Biggles

That's right folks, Meathenge is 6 years old as of 3 weeks ago! A few times over the years I've gone back and have been able to trace my life through Meathenge. The fads, times, people, meeting new friends, learning, being plastered all over the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle's Food Section. I've enjoyed nearly every moment this web site has brought to my life, I wouldn't be the person I am today without it. I mean comon, how often do you get Toponia emailing you in desperation to see if you're available to work the Fatted Calf Stall at the market? A chance to sling some of the West Coast's best charcuterie ever? Pure heaven.

Happy Birthday to Meathenge and thank you everyone for making it a purely enjoyable way of life. You're the best!

A toast to Meathenge! A toast to another 6 years !!! mmMmmM, toast.

xo, Biggles

Wahoo! This is hot off the presses folks, just rolled in a few minutes ago. One of our favorite meat providers for the San Francisco Bay Area is going to be at 2 new farmer's markets this coming weekend. Rain or shine, all year long, you'll be able to get fancy meat at the Danville and Campbell markets. If you're not familiar with the Prather Ranch name, visit their web site and check it out, they good people.

Here's the email I received:

Spring greetings from the PRMC gang. We hope you are enjoying the arrival of asparagus and strawberries as much as we are. This Spring also brings a new arrival from us. Starting this weekend, April 18th and 19th we will be attending the Danville Farmers Market (Saturdays) and the Campbell Farmers Market (Sundays) year round rain or shine. We invite all conscientious carnivores living in either neighborhood to come on by and introduce yourself. The Danville market occurs every Saturday year round in downtown Danville from 9AM to 1PM at the corner of Railroad and Prospect Streets. This market has a quaint small town feel yet hosts some of the best produce and prepared food vendors the bay area farmers markets have to offer. This market is conveniently close to the communities of Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Alamo, Diablo, and Lafayette. It also happens to be located just behind Danville's own Sideboard café which features a now famous Prather Ranch Cheeseburger. Sounds like a nice Saturday to me. The Campbell market is a sight to behold. This market takes place every Sunday year round on Campbell Ave. between Central & 2nd St. and seemingly everybody in the South Bay goes there. This market rivals The Ferry Building in its variety of vendors and overall vastness. Just about anything can be found there...that is now that we are filling it out with tasty meats. This market also serves the surrounding areas of San Jose, Los Gatos, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Saratoga, and Cupertino. Come on down and see what a bustling farmers market really looks like. We at the Prather Ranch Meat Co. sincerely appreciate your support and we hope to honor that by continually striving to provide you with the best tasting meats from animals raised and fed with the most care. Thanks, The PRMC Gang

Cheers!

And I second that emotion, Happy Easter. Am hosting a small gathering today and expect to fire up the grill for a tri-tip, pork sirloin roast, some sirloin pork chops and a few other goodies. Nothing crazy, it's more about the people and spending time together than making something out of the ordinary. Family, wine & meat day.

I've snucked away from posting for Easter since 2006, why? Because I couldn't top what I did for that holiday. I pieced out a few fresh rabbits, marinated them in a Cuban marinade, then smoked the little darlings. "But Biggles, that's no big deal, how come you can't top that one?" Well, my good person, it's because I used neon food coloring to give them the color of Easter Eggs!

Please visit Easter 2006 to read the rest of the story.

xo, Biggles

Hi Everyone,

Oh where do the time go? I miss you guys and think about you on a daily basis. The daily doings here are just that, the same ol'. Big D and I haven't been going out to lunch, so no new local places to review. Weekday versus Weekend meals couldn't possibly be any more repetitive. This isn't to say they're not lip-smackingly delightful, but stuff I've posted here over and over. How many times do you really want to hear about a roast of pork sirloin? I don't mind eating it, that's for sure! We're here and doing just fine, nothing post worthy has slithered past my eye nuts. Eye nuts. Really? Eye nuts? I just made that up, just in case you were wondering.

On Sunday, while going through my images I ran across the above. I never ended up posting it and thought it would be nice for today. I took this last Fall up in Calistoga while visiting a friend. Early Sunday morning, Jeffrey and I got up and headed out to see what kind of light we could hunt & kill.

The conversation meandered to our mutual friend Jack. Jack and I were roommates back in 1985 and it was clear his camera was a tool and nothing more. He's an artist, the camera is only there to capture what his eye sees. At every turn you'd find Jack hanging out of, from just about anything. The entire time the zoom was being pushed in or out while jumping up and down or running. And sure enough, Jack would mention, "I think my camera is broke." Jeffrey responded with a, "NO SHIT !".

I was pondering through those times early Sunday morning while I set my camera. Manual focus, set lens to maybe 20 some odd feet out. Shutter priority to something dreadfully slow. Hung the lens out the window and grabbed this one. And get this, it came out of the camera like that. Go head, click on it for a little larger one. Just like that, POW. I did jack the contrast just a tad, but nothing else. Some day, this sucker is going on my wall.

xo, Biggles

ps - I found a few more that I took that weekend and put them up on my flickr page.

On Saturday night I did another pork roast in the clay cooker, a pork sirloin roast this time. It was perfect in every way. I wanted to do a pulled pork sammich, seemed likely. Needed a sauce that was doable out of the jar, thought I remembered this one doing well.

You can quote me on this one, "This shit sucks."

Combine a cup of ketchup with a cup of sugar then a huge dose of Chinese Five Spice. "This shit sucks."

It's going in the trash.

Biggles

Just hang tight, in a holding pattern for the moment. All is good and well, expect spiffy things.

Whatchu lookin' at Willis?

xo, Biggles

ps - 13 year old son took this a few hours ago

No. A few years ago I planted a little grapefruit tree and a little lime tree. My older lemon tree has produced a few good lemons, but mostly they look like the grapefruit you see before you. See the pith? It's nearly all pith, just so you know. Not sure how it or I did that, but that's okay.

Wanna know why? Well, last night was taco night! They're simple little rigs and I buy all the stuff we need from Omar of Joya de Ceren, it's my nature. While some ingredients vary, there are the staples that each trip produces. One of which being limes.

Yeah well, I unloaded my stash last night and realized I'd forgotten the limes. I looked up at Z standing in the doorway and he had this look of shock and dismay on his face. Omar is only 3 blocks away, but I'd just returned and didn't want to go back out. I didn't think so, but if that little tree had just 1 little lime, just one usable one, that'd do it.

Today my good people, I am sharing with you the very first lime off the little tree and it was perfect in every way. Ain't life grand?

xo, Biggles

Chilebrown called me last night and wanted to know if I wanted to meet up with Cookiecrumb, Cranky and his wife Peggy at the Marin Farmer's market Sunday morning. Yes! It was nice getting out that early (7:30) on a Sunday morning, felt good. I nabbed this shot while coming back on the San Rafael bridge, pretty huh?

Yeah, yeah, whatever Biggles. You've been pretty much gone for the last week and promised a killer pot of beans that I simmered a rack of baby backs in to, where's that? HUH !?!

Um, well a week ago, my hand "cancer" came back. 3 or 4 years ago the tendons in my right hand and wrist swell up and cause excruciating pain, 24 hours a day and there's no way to hold it where it doesn't hurt. Gets worse about midnight, ibuprofen helps. Cain't even hold a pen, let alone write with it. I've been to an MRI, several specialists, so I won't die or nothin'. But posting here and basic daily routines take a back seat.

So, that's what that's all about. Hope to see you all soon!

Biggles

No it ain't! Last week my main flashcard went MIA, missing in action. Sure I have a few more, but there were a few posts on there and wasn't able to do my job here in The Lab. I found it! So, hopefully within a few days I'll get that together with some words and share my Pot of White Beans simmered with Pork Ribs. But until then, thought I would share this high-roast chicken I made the other day. Salt and a 450 degree oven, ain't that somethin'? But Biggles, breast meat is always dry and tasteless. Not this time pally boy, it was moist and full of more chickenny flavor than I had expected.

I bought the chicken last week from Omar at Joya de Ceren here in Richmond. I didn't ask where he got it, but it is surely not from grower you'd find at your local mega mart. Check out that leg and wing meat, it's lean. This bird was able to get about, flapping an' runnin'. And you know what? Raw it smells different, has a smell, rich and gamey. Even the fancy Rosie or Rocky Jr.'s don't have this. And after it's cooked, far more chickenny flavors. And at a $1.39 a pound for entero pollo? Count me in. Thank you Omar!

Okay, so you have a pot of beans recipe comin'. Guess what's in the oven? Just now? Am working on a Roast Chicken Chile Verde, all dedicated to Chilebrown of Mad Meat Genius. We'll see how that turns out, I used no recipe. Since it's cooked in a clay cooker along with a whole chicken, the liquid proportions are WAY down. In fact, I used less than a cup and am thinking maybe no broth could be the way to go. Plus, I cut up everything in a small dice and whizzed the tomatillos. Everything must be cut small to cook in the allotted hour or so that it takes to cook the chicken. I put a foil lined cookie tray on the bottom of the oven, just in case. I think it's going to spew some liquid, it's amazing how much liquid using a clay pot retains.

That's it for now, roger dodge and over and under.

xo, Biggles

Joya de Ceren
12545 San Pablo Ave
Richmond California
(510) 235-5315

Ahhhh, the coming of fall. The sun gets lower in the sky and the crisp breezes begin. The cool, moist smell of the trees' leaves turning along with the absolutely brilliant colors that come with are only available once a year. The summer pace turns to one of the coming winter months as we plan for the holidays. The skies darken far earlier, the food gets heartier (gravy) and the relatives, cards and local parties arrive with wild abandon. Even the political climate is changing! The holidays go and leave us with a nice easy lean in to the new year. Some vow on the resolutions and some breathe a sigh of relief that 2008 is gone forever.

Now it's time to set in for the winter and maybe catch a Sunday ball game with snow falling on the aggressive field of play. Even here we've had the heater on more than a few times and most certainly all night long to keep us all from getting the chivers. Bring on the winter! I have a huge pot of leftover great northern beans in the fridge to keep me warm. Bring. It. On.

Um, dude, it's 75 degrees outside and the grass is bright green and full. wtf?

Take note, just because I mentioned I was wearing slippers the other night to catch the moon doesn't mean I was wearing anything else.

Behold the glory that is The Good Reverend Doctor Biggles !!! All bow (or avert your eyes) and pay homage. It is warm, ask no questions, fire up all grills.

I have spoken.

Biggles

Hi Everbody!

We're still alive here at Meathenge Labs, just recouping after the holidays and basically being lazy as gosh. *-SNORE-*

As many of you know, the last few nights have produced an amazing full moon, just as it first popped up on the Eastern horizon. Per usual, I was 20 minutes late and didn't get the detail I was looking for. Even with a tripod & circular polarizer, feh. Dumb moon picture. It was most spectacular live though, that was amazing and worth the effort. This would be walking out the back door and standing there like a loon with slippers on.

xo, Biggles

Observing children's habits of any kind can be an interesting journey to say the least. Being a parent, I can say I have more than some experience in this arena.

Whether you're a parent or not, you've surely caught yourself saying, "If/When this happens, my child will be this way." Such as, "My girl won't act like that about video games or sugar." This usually comes from someone who either doesn't have children, or is only a year or two in. "We're going to be vegan, no television or refined sugar!"

After many years on this planet I've learned that vegan babies wind up dead. And children that are completely left out of our culture, wind up out of control later on in life for those things that they were kept away from. This happens time and time again, it only takes observation and nothing else.

The best I've been able to do is lead by example and put in front of them the best I can. Let them work out their own path, with moderation. Here we find Tiny E's dinner plate, he wanted the center of the pork chop, some rice and a few beans. Since he didn't want to finish his beans, he offered to eat 2 bananas. I can live with that.

For his effort, he got to have a wine goblet filled with jello he made 2 nights ago.

For me, this is success to the greatest degree. I love my life, and what I've done to it.

xo, Biggles

Yeah baby, happy new year!

Sure for many reasons, but happy for me for a few other reasons. While the holiday's are great and all, it feels better to have all that in the past. Life is tough enough to do day by day, but to add that stuff on top of it can make it traumatic at best.

That being said, we did okay here. No disasters. Later 2008, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

And sorry for being gone for so long, I spent the entire New Years week on the sofa hacking up small furry animals. I didn't get a good night's sleep for over a week and it was getting a bit much. But yesterday it all cleared up and am feeling far better. Thank you Western Medicine, you rock. You know, there's a reason why people all over the world are clambering for it.

What's in store this coming year? What resolutions have I made? I don't know and none. Resolutions are worthless to me. If I want to do something, I do it. I don't need no damned resolution to cloud my ambitions, it's my nature. I do have reviews I'm sorely late on, I'm a naughty reviewer. Sorry to everyone to sent me something to review and it hasn't hit yet.

Where do we go after bacon and smoked pork ribs? I don't know, only the future holds the answer.

Cheers to you all and thank you for your support over the year, it's been GREAT.

xo, Biggles

ps - The photograph to the right there was taken with my old D200 and a far older Manual Focus 50 mm f1.2 lens. That my or may not be of any interest to you, but f1.2 is one wide open aperture. Its light gathering, and lack of depth of field ability is stunning to say the least. Not bad for a 25 year old lens, eh?

Well, I'm pretty well set for the 2 dinners I'm hosting in the coming days, Thursday & Friday. Since the boys are here, it's all about the gravy for tomorrow, that means turkey. Yeah, we had a turkey for Thanksgiving, but that's okay. It's all about the gravy.

For Friday, I have two racks of loin ribs & a tri-tip beef roast destined for the smoker. What else? Does anything after that matter? Pheh.

To each and every one of you, may warm & happy goodness be yours.

Biggles

ps - That's an ornamental pear tree I shot while moving my camera to the right, with an up & down motion at f8, with a circular polarizer. And at a low ISO, it gave me a long enough exposure time to paint it for you. Cause that's what that is, a painting. Get it?

Last night it got down to 28 and the previous night the same. It rarely gets below 40 here in Richmond and deicing a windshield isn't something we do on a regular basis during the winter. I do know better than to dump warm water on it though, we just sat there with the defroster going until it sluffed off. Cool, eh?

And, I'm so boned! I still have a small handful of books I was supposed to review before the coming holiday. Man, Tiny E and I just got the tree last afternoon! GAH !!! Sorry everyone, I'm late.

Biggles

Alright, so I knew I was going to be late in to work this morning because I had to wait for the phone guy. Tiny E showed up sick on Sunday and knew Monday would be at home, okay. Z and I got up and were ready to hit the road at 6:45 and I decided to clean my glasses, like I do every morning.

Ping! Why do I have my glasses in my left hand and a lens in my right?

Sigh, no driving for Biggles this dark and early morning. Fine, I'll just cruise the net. No, the screen was a complete waist of time. Okay, I'll just watch tv! No, even with a 36" tube that didn't work either. Dammit! See, I'm nearly legally blind in my left eye and my right isn't much better, glasses bring me back to 'normal', at least my vision anyway. Do I have a spare? Sure, at work!

The sun came up and wore my prescription sunglasses to go get them, yay. No yay, the prescription is so old I'm nearly typing this by silhouettes of the letters. Grrrrr. And speaking of prescription, the phone number of the place where I buy my specs has been disconnected or is no longer in service. Phlesbsbsbsbsttt !

Mondays, right?

What didn't suck? Last night's supper, that's what. I procured me a top sirloin beef steak from Ted the Rancher (Highland Hills Farm) at the Berkeley Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. Ted's herd is the true organic, grass fed, heritage breed situation. Usually I find grass fed beef not to my liking, the grain does give a distinctive flavor that I adore.

Pulled it from the fridge Sunday, let it sit out for an hour with a kosher salt rub.

The cast iron griddle with grills up, super heated. Rub bacon fat all over steak.

Grill hard until done, a rare medium will do nicely, thank you very much. Wow, and double wow. I really have to admit Ted's top sirloin was absolutely divine. I'm going to do this again soon, I can hardly wait. I apologize for any illnormal writings or editing of the pictures. I had to do it based upon feel and silhouettes, I can't see worth a pinch of moon poo.

Biggles

I can't remember when I started reading Lydia's The Perfect Pantry. It wasn't too terribly long ago, I don't think. Not only does she know what she's talking about, able to lay it down well, but she's fun. So many attempt to write well about what they know, but it's no fun. I like fun, fun is good.

On a regular basis, she's got this thing she does. Readers send in their pantries to share, I'm #45 in that game. I wasn't going to participate because my pantry lacks pretty much everything. But what the heck, eh?

Here's a direct link to Other People's Pantries #45 featuring my wonderful pantry.

Biggles

And then? I did it.

Blam! Just like that.

Last evening I found myself taking out the trash, it's what I do, and saw this. Um, do you have any idea how fast I moved to get my camera? Nope, faster than that. And, I've had this song in my head for a few days, maybe this will help to change muh tunes.

These are exactly the colors that I saw with my eyeballs, zactly.

Everyone knows this tune, pull it up in your head and sing along! Ready? Go!

Desmond has a barrow in the market place
Molly is the singer in a band
Desmond says to Molly girl I like your face
And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand

Obladi oblada life goes on bra
Lala how the life goes on
Obladi oblada life goes on bra
Lala how the life goes on

Desmond takes a trolly to the jewellers store
Buys a twenty carat golden ring
Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing

In a couple of years they have built
A home sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard
Of Desmond and Molly Jones

Happy ever after in the market place
Molly lets the children lend a hand
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face
And in the evening she's a singer with the band

And if you want some fun, take obladi blada

Lyrics by John Lennon & Paul McCartney
Recorded by The Beatles and sung in my head by me

Biggles

Ya know, I took this Sunday evening, last night. Was kinda shocked it came out so crazy vivid, so decided to post it! I had some sort of little poem to delight, and then? AND THEN ??? My goddam internet connection died.

Oh man did that suck, I was quite displeased. I mean, what the hell good is a computer without an internet in it? So, all I have to share at this point is the stunning sunset grabbed with my old D200 with a 70-300 VR.

Happy bloody Monday,

Biggles

Dang, where'd that week go? Yeah, I dunno either. I haven't spent much time in the kitchen, nor at the grill. Sure tore it up last weekend though! Here's Saturday at Chilebrown's celebrating his new sauce, The Good Reverend Dr. Biggles' Bucktooth Revenge BBQ sauce.

Oddly enough, I meant to stop by last Friday too. Creepy E gifted me an older electric skillet and I did up some pork chops! Here's last week's Friday in Meat that you never saw.

And, to make the pot that much sweeter, this just in from a Meathenge fan, Snowbuggie.

The Pig

In England once there lived a big
And wonderfully clever pig.
To everybody it was plain
That Piggy had a massive brain.
He worked out sums inside his head,
There was no book he hadn't read.
He knew what made an airplane fly,
He knew how engines worked and why.
He knew all this, but in the end
One question drove him round the bend:
He simply couldn't puzzle out
What LIFE was really all about.
What was the reason for his birth?
Why was he placed upon this earth?
His giant brain went round and round.
Alas, no answer could be found.
Till suddenly one wondrous night.
All in a flash he saw the light.
He jumped up like a ballet dancer
And yelled, "By gum, I've got the answer!"
"They want my bacon slice by slice
"To sell at a tremendous price!
"They want my tender juicy chops
"To put in all the butcher's shops!
"They want my pork to make a roast"
And that's the part'll cost the most!"
They want my sausages in strings!
"They even want my chitterlings!
"The butcher's shop! The carving knife!
"That is the reason for my life!"
Such thoughts as these are not designed
To give a pig great piece of mind.
Next morning, in comes Farmer Bland,
A pail of pigswill in his hand,
And piggy with a mighty roar,
Bashes the farmer to the floor...
Now comes the rather grizzly bit
So let's not make too much of it,
Except that you must understand
That Piggy did eat Farmer Bland,
He ate him up from head to toe,
Chewing the pieces nice and slow.
It took an hour to reach the feet,
Because there was so much to eat,
And when he finished, Pig, of course,
Felt absolutely no remorse.
Slowly he scratched his brainy head
And with a little smile he said,
"I had a fairly powerful hunch
"That he might have me for his lunch.
"And so, because I feared the worst,
"I thought I'd better eat him first."

The Pig by Roald Dahl

xo, Biggles

Not too terribly long ago one of my camera batteries stopped holding a charge, or couldn't accept one. It pissed me off because the darned thing was only 3 months old. "That's what I get for buying a 3rd party battery," said the Biggles.

I saved it so I could dispose of it properly, I figure there's enough nitwits tossing such things in to our landfill. 2 days out I remembered a trick taught to me by a long since disappeared friend and technical guru. I was fussing with a full height floppy drive, when they only held 360k worth of data, attempting to get the beast to transfer that all important data. It wasn't working. He came over, looked at the drive, closed one eye, looked at me and said, "Pull off the ribbon cable, take this pencil and clean the contacts on the drive with the eraser."

I did the same with my camera battery, charged right up! That was months ago with many charges since. So, the next time your battery doesn't want to cooperate, try cleaning the contacts.

Biggles

I'm no different from many people who grill or smoke their food, often. I've got a pantry filled with chile powders, herbs and spices that all go in to any rub I care to make at any given meal. I've got versions I like better than others and sometimes just like to strip it down to the basics and enjoy the meat & smoke.

Yeah well, when I was at the Fatted Calf Picnic this year Taylor used 1 ingredient for his dry rub and I've been experimenting ever since. Even took some slabs of babybacks to a food blogger picnic a few weekends ago. So far, I'm at 100% approval rating for this ingredient.

Care to come see?

It was just me and Tiny E on Sunday, we had plans. One of which was installing and making right our new 55 gallon fresh water aquarium, the other? Smoking a slab of babybacks in the wood fired pit. That post will be up here soon, but it's what happened after we smoked the ribs that shook us both and forced me to spill my guts here. I just need to get this off my chest.

See, we got the ribs smoked perfectly, Tiny E tends a good fire. I pulled them to rest for about 20 before I cut in. Holy crap they were good, real good. The smoke was gentle, but definitely full of deep tangles worth of flavors. Meat was tender, tasteful & beautiful all at the same time. But I could only eat about 1/3 to 1/2 the rack myself, Tiny E don't eat much so that portion don't count. What to do, what to do.

Give it to neighbors! I sliced up the ribs, so they could eat them right away, nothing impaired, no fuss. Rip the foil open and dig in, that was my mission.

Yeah well, all the neighbors I know were gone, out and just plain not there. All except for, Those Neighbors. Who are they? I got no idea, truly. I've been here 8 years and never once exchanged any verbal communication. OH sure, there was the initial smiling and waving, but they returned a dead stare with a finish of moving on as though I wasn't there. I know who the owner is, and he's got roomates. I can see their good people, exceptionally well built, hunks if you will. Different women coming and going each month. But they communicate with nobody, it's as if we don't exist. K, got it?

After checking out my friendly neighbors, I noticed one of the roomies at Those Neighbors house and his girlfriend were out on the front stoop having a light conversation in the early evening light. It was calm and I figured I'm holding some solid, "Howdee neighbor! I have quality hardwood smoked pork ribs here if'n you'd like to partake" type of greeting. I was on a mission (remember?), after 8 years they were going to know who I am, or was or whatever.

Um, do you own a dog? Do you know someone who owns a dog? Picture this neighbor roomy saying "NO" to me as though I was a dog at the table begging for scraps. By the second "NO" I grabbed my booty, the boy and I left to our warm, happy abode. As we were walking back home Tiny E said to me, "How come they don't want our ribs, Papa?" In a hushed tone I replied, "Because they're vegetarians honey." Tiny E sighed and said under his breath, "That's too bad Papa, that's too bad."

I replied in a Ward Cleaver sort of way, "That's okay honey, in this country we can treat others very badly because of our personal beliefs. It has nothing to do with respect or courtesy, they're making a statement about how they feel about something. Sometimes it doesn't matter if they kill other people, animals or harm them in a very bad way. They feel their views are right and just, so it's okay for them."

Tiny E responded with a quick, "Um, yeah but we got the ribs."

xo, Biggles

I can remember days when I just this high, I Iook back and they were pretty darned fine. All except for ... art. This could be music, drawing, painting and/or dancing. I have 4 internal metronomes all going at once, all at a different rate. When I play the drums or a stringed instrument, both hands do the same thing. If I attempt to split the strummins? My brain splits in half, fall over and I curl up in to a little ball. As I got older, I got smarter and started using rulers to draw, anything. I still have some of those in the garage somewheres. Drawing trees with a ruler is dumb, just in case you wanted to know. By the time I was in high school I'd pretty much given up on this whole art thing, done and over with says me.

Towards the end of high school I discovered cooking and photography, That is to say, I'd been doing those things for years, but realized that as I got older and better, my food and photography didn't suck as much as it used to.

For today's entry, there is no recipe, no procedure you can follow. It's pure art, feel it, study, listen, poke & prod. You have to become one with your beef roast, zen that s.o.b. until you own its soul. MmmMMm, beef soul.

When you've spent many years studying your chosen form of art, you know the rules and your ways as second nature. The best part though? Is when you can break those rules, and have a masterpiece presented. This, my good people is just that. I broke one of the all-time huge rules of cooking roasts, don't put a frozen hunk of meat in the oven.

The argument in regards to wood versus briquette, versus propane, versus electric heat sources in smokers has got to be way older than the one on PC versus MAC, and that's saying something. We know that for grilling, there is an exceptional difference, but does it matter for hot smoking (approximately 200 to 250 degrees F)? It doesn't for cold smoking (90 to 110 degrees F). I've always stood by the age old ways of saying, "Yes nitwit, the fire does make a difference and it's noticeable. Real wood, charcoaled or not, does make a difference."

Over the years I've had quite a few propane lovers extol the virtues of their propane powered rigs. My eyes cross, I hear buzzing in my ears and go back to my old ways of using wood to power my smokers. I never even remotely considered buying in to the procedure, especially after tasting what I pull out of my smoker. Sorry pal, you can't reproduce this, no way, no how.

On Sunday I decided to put my cold smoker to use, finally. Instead of 100 degrees, I jacked it to 212 and hot smoked a slab of baby backs using only an electric hotplate and a smoke generator.

Please click through to read the rest of the story, "Heat source, does it matter?"

Oh Biggles, don't you cook anymore?

Um, no. No I don't, only run the dishwasher once a week or so. Mostly full of cups, flatware and a whisk or two. Been up to other things and food hasn't been a part. Don't sweat it though, I'll be back and am eating well in spite of not cooking.

Guess where I went Saturday morning? The USS Hornet at Alameda Point (old Naval base & home to St. Georges), that's where. I knew the Red Oak was in Richmond, just needed to get off my ass and get down there. But I had no idea that Alameda housed a real aircraft carrier. Much less an aircraft carrier museum!

It ain't cheap though, not like the Red Oak. This one is 14 bux per adult to get in and you must be led about by a docent. No wandering around on your own to stick your nose in here and in there, pull this and open that. Which is fine, it's a dangerous place and you don't want to die er nothin'. Especially when you pay 14 bux to do it. It kinda reminds me of the Winchester Mystery House. A huge place with tiny rooms & even smaller walkways.

If you're interested in visiting, check out the link above. And if you're interested in the history surrounding the Hornet, go for it. I'm not going to pretend as though I'm someone I'm not, this would be an American history buff. I know how to build a fire and cook food over it. History to me is a fire pit filled with pork rib bones and beer cans scattered about.

Here are a few snapshots of the USS Hornet I took along the way. And yes, that's an escalator. It goes from the flight deck down a few levels. I spose the pilots were all woozy from flying and needed a safe way to descend to rest. And the cool exposure was a "mistake". I had my camera all set from a small studio shoot I did Friday morning. It was after this shot I sat down for a bit and reset all the dials, buttons and menu choices.

Biggles

Okay, how many of you know where you live? Raise your hands. How many of you know you live in the San Francisco Bay Area? Raise your hands ... good. How many of you know the SS Red Oak Victory Ship is located at the Richmond Ship Yards and is totally accessible to the general public for adventure? Yeah, I didn't think so.

This is a P.S.A., a Public Service Announcement.

This last Sunday morning at 10:30 am found the Biggles making his way down to Pt. Richmond and then the Richmond Harbor/Ship Yards for a little adventure. I'd been about 3 or 4 years ago and it was time for a little readventure.

"Launched on November 9, 1944 as the SS Red Oak Victory, and commissioned as the USS Red Oak Victory (AK235) in December, 1944, the Red Oak Victory is the only vessel built by the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California that is being restored. The ship saw service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and has the distinction of being the only ship operated by both military and civilian personnel during her career.

In 1996, by an Act of Congress, title to the SS Red Oak Victory was conveyed to the Richmond Museum Association. One of the primary goals of the museum is to preserve, restore and develop the Red Oak Victory into a viable asset that can be used, enjoyed and appreciated by the citizens of Richmond and the surrounding Bay Area communities."

- Lifted from their web site - Photographs are mines

Holee crap this is a beauty of a ship and they've done an amazing job at bringing her back to life. When I arrived back in '04, she was rusty from one end to the other, a photographer's dream. She's all shiny now and still the same dream come true. It's generally a self-guided tour and you have access to nearly every part. You can climb ladders, stairs, anywhere. Plus? I was the only one there wandering about, sticking my nose here, my lens there.

There is no better place to spend 5 dollars in this entire area. You should go. When friends or family come to town, you should go. Bored some weekend, you should go. However, if you have small children or can't safely climb gangways or ladders, you should not go. You have to keep your wits about you and pay attention to the fact you're on a real ship, not at Disneyland. It's so exciting!

Interested in seeing more of her? Check out the rest of my images of Red Oak Victory Ship.

A Grand Day Out, indeed.

xo, Biggles

ps - So I can redeem myself here and include a food related point, they do have pancake breakfasts scheduled on the weekends as a fundraiser. Contact them or visit the ship for details.

Yow, been really busy, can you tell?

Early Saturday morning I found myself making coffee, quiet house, sun not quite up yet. All that could be heard were my feet across the creaky old floor and some clanking of dishes. With the kitchen door open to the outside, crisp bay air was flowing through the house with glee.

Oh boy, I can hardly wait for that first cup!

No half and half, oh well. Chores & coffee, the day was looking up. I set my cup on the butcher block table to the right of the stove. This table houses large jars of wooden and shiny metal implements, salt pig and a scattering of items that either need washing or putting away. On the wall at the back of the table are at least a dozen kitchen knives and 4 sharpening steels, looks cool and very functional. Above, is an open cabinet filled with boxes of cocoa, oatmeal, coffee supplies, all kinds of kitchenny stuff. This, is my command center.

I stand at this table and go for that last glug of coffee. You know the one? The last slam of goodness that signals the next step in the day. The one that sends you in to overdrive, inspiration to get your day on!

GLUG, ... hiccup, burp, COUGH. All at the exact same moment.

Normally, it's not such a big deal. Gross, I'll admit. But with a mouthful of black coffee? That's right, I got a 3.5' cone of black coffee spewed over all. Up in the cabinet, covered the knives & steels and whatever was on the surface of the little table was covered.

If that wasn't bad enough, it began to drip. Yup, drip. So, not only now was everything splattered, but it was now running down the wall, down the blades, down the wooden spatulas and in to the jars and gently soaking in to my kosher salt.

Bring it on Monday, I can totally kick your ass.

Biggles

I know many people who go shopping for food and have a list, I've tried it. Yeah well, my list is usually the one blowing through the parking lot after it falls from an ill placed spot in my front pocket. I've given up long ago at keeping up with the routine and figure if I miss something, I can come back tomorrow.

Yeah, so I was shopping for tonight's dinner at my local Latino market, Joya de Ceren. All I needed was a pound of Molida (ground beef), but the pork caught my eye. And because I've made friends with the butcher, I knew I could get other cuts, like right now. We do loin chops frequently, but what about a roast? Pork loin roast.

I made a few gestures, pigeon Spanish and Carlito was dragging out a full pork loin! I motioned about yay big. Um, that comes to 8.25 pounds in English. Did I have any plans? Nope. Do I now? Nope.

The fruit shown are all gifts from friends. The peaches are from Zoomie at Zoomie Station, large pears from from Cookie of I'm Mad and I Eat, and the cute little juicy pear rigs are from Claire of Clutter Coach.

Anyone got any idears? What you gots?

xo, Biggles

Joya de Ceren
12545 San Pablo Ave
Richmond California
(510) 235-5315

Um, we're in the middle of some kind of summer thing, heat. Oh sure, we're near the bay (a little cooler) and the inland areas are shooting upwards of 109. But our fog is gone since last week and there hasn't been our usual wind storm in the afternoons either. This means we just sit and bake. We don't usually get our warm days and evenings until October, and it's mild even then. Nope, I just checked the thermo meter at about 4pm and it's 86!

Dude, I'm totally sweating. Just sitting here, sweating. I don't get it and I don't like it.

What does one do in such desperation? Cut the legs off yer jeans. Problem solved. This is a Meathenge Approved Tech Note and I approved it personally.

Biggles

ps - Yeah, I have 4 pairs of speakers in the living room. There's 5 more pairs on the property. And yes, Spongebob Squarepants is also Meathenge Approved.

For the last 10 years I've dreamed about making a cold smoker. Bacon, ham, sausage, pork chops, fish & chile peppers oh my! Cold smoking ain't quite as straight forward as hot smoking, plus the equipment is different. This coupled with being dead lazy, I'm only now taking the project on.

The cold smoking thing all came together when Salvage sent me a link to a Cold Smoke Generator on ebay, I bought it that moment. The wheels spun and I posted last week about making a cold smoker out of a 55 gallon drum. I thought I had it made, but I was wrong. The drum was "lined", that means it's bad for food related craft projects. The protective coating keeps organic solvents from attacking the steel, good for them, bad for us. You want an unlined, clean, steel drum for such things and this was not it. And then? Creepy E took the week off so it was going to be 9 days before the new drum could be ordered. I have an attention span of a gnat and I needed satisfaction, needed it like now.
I figured I could use my hot smoker and talked to Salvage about it. Sure, not a problem, but you have to be very careful about Ptomaine and Botulism. See, with a hot smoker you got fats/juices all over the darned place and they're generally cleaned up by a good hot fire. But cold smoking rarely goes above 120 degrees F. This means whatever nasties are there, they incubate. Here's what he has to say on the subject.

Ptomaine is the enemy you can smell. Botulism is the real culprit in this realm. It wants 3 things, the spores, absence of Oxygen, and temperatures between 70 deg and 140 deg F. You are building the Botulism incubator. Hmmmm It is odorless and tasteless. The good thing is that Botulism and Ptomaine do not get along at all. So, if it smells rotten it will only make you very sick. If it smells good it can kill you dead. Heat botulism to 265 deg F and the organism dies, but the poison remains and you still die. So the moral here is to never grow Botulism. Like genital warts, you have to catch it from somewhere.

Saturday morning's ToDo List:
Clean up a few grates, drill a hole for the generator and find some smokable food stuffs.

That's right boys and girls, the Biggles is 44 today! I want everyone to stop by and wish me a happy birthday, then have a cool refreshing beverage in my honor.

xo, Biggles

This is Timber's publication, not mine! It's a PSA, I care that much.

Catahouligan Expresso - July 30, 2008

Greetings folks,

As usual, I'm in a manic rush to get this out to you. So please bear with me and forgive the typos. (The later it gets...the more grammatical ears!)

Please be kind enough to place the announcement of the music this Sunday on your neighborhood chat boards....N&E, RCH Heights (formerly know as "View") and any others I may not know about as of yet. Thanks!

Music: Sunday August 3, 2008 - 10am to 12noon
Catahoula Coffee Company presents: Harry Gray
° Mr. Gray is back and looks to be a regular at Catahoula. Singer/ Solo Guitarist whose background ranges from teacher to musician....and back to being a teacher.
° Important to Note: Mr. Gray will do a "Puff the Magic Dragon" set (From 11am - 11:30am) for kids of all ages to sing along. Kids are encouraged to sit on the coffee bags surrounding Mr. Gray and sing along. (Adults too....if you dare!) Please note the "Puff" set is for kids....there will be no Hookah Pipes at Catahoula. (It's not that kind of set mind you.....)

Blog me up Scotty:
° Check out: www.catahoulcoffee.wordpress.com It's Catahoula Coffee's new blog site, eeeeer Web-bloggy thing. I truly hope it develops into an interactive site about not only Catahoula and its coffee but for the pulse of the community. (OK...It really only about the Coffee!!) Wordpress.com is a wonderful tool to present info to you as well as invite you to add your thoughts and opinions too.
° As you can see, I have just started the blog and I really don't know how to properly set it up. There's a few pounds of fresh roasted coffee for anyone brave enough to help me out. I would like a separate section, other than the main blog page for any new news of coffee, its availability (or lack of), what was roasted or new coffees being delivered.
° Check it out... I hope it works....Sometimes I hate this Internet thing!!! You can (I believe?) submit pics, articles and especially opinions to the site.

Coffee:

° Ethiopian Harar "Horse" DP: **** Limited Micro Roast **** I took this coffee abit darker. A previous roast was lighter, thus much more "Wine-y" with a very full "Fruit-al" cup. Taking the bean darker has soothed the front end (you get the hint of blueberry rather a full frontal snap) and the middle and finish is full, dark and chocolately. It pulls incredible as espresso. $12/pound. Batch is Limited. (Order Now: Ship on Monday)

In Review: The "Horse" is a very primitive coffee. This is a "Dry" processed coffee, hence the "DP". Majority of coffees around the world are processed ("Milled") with what would be best described as a "Lap Pool." Nothing wrong with this method, but "Dry" processed coffee is Old School. Beans are picked, placed on raised African beds to dry and then HAND sorted. (Yeah, I am pulling sticks out of the cooling tray). Yep, you can't get more Old School than that. However, method helps produce a fabulous unique coffee

° Kenya Peaberry: Look for this coffee to take PNG's place in the line up for a while in the near future. Though PNG is a fantastic coffee, it is getting crowded out by the Yemen's, Mocca-Java's and especially the Monsoons.
Speaking of which........
° Monsoon: (Indian Arabica): Yikes. Much like an Ed Wood movie....this coffee has developed an active and, I do say, devoted following. We have even served it as drip to the delight of those who need the extra kick in the morning.
° Butkus Blend:

OOOOOH Yeah.......:
° Aero-Press: Rocks!!! If you haven't tried it....get on in here and blop down two bucks for delicious cup of hula.
Special: Aero-Press - $30.00 (Get a ½lb of coffee free to start you off)
° POS System: I Promise I am working on it....Catahoula Coffee will take Credit/Debit Cards Soon!!!

Thank you for your support!

take care, timber

Catahoula Coffee
12472 San Pablo Avenue
Richmond, CA 94805
(510) 235-0525

berry berry, on the vine
who's the suiciest of them all?

Why of course, you are. Suicy berry!

Not anywhere near every meal is postworthy, nor is it noteworthy. However, if it was memorable and the photographs came out, that just squeaks by my meat-radar. Sure, I was going to try to use, MeatDar. But that sounded really dumb.

All the meat this week was purchased from the Grocer of the Year, Omar of Joya de Ceren, Richmond California. First up we have these fine pork chops. Yeah, they're cut pretty thin, it's the Latin way. So, for 1 adult and 2 boys I bought 5. MmMmmm, 5.

Tucked away in the corner is a load of El Salvadorean rice, cooked in butter and chicken broth. Oh yeah, and some steamed broc. The rice is so plump, so tender and full of flavor even without the butter and broth, it's the best white rice I've ever had. While thin, the pork chops turned out really well. There was enough fat and I didn't cook them very long. Preseasoned with salt is all, SEAR.

#2 this week was a rather large, yet happy tritip beef roast. We arrived home later than usual and didn't have much time to get this one rolling. In fact, we ate about 30 minutes later than usual. That's okay, I jacked the oven to 400 and preheated the cast iron skillet with a trivet underneath.

The fat was still on the roast, thank you Omar! I cross-hatched it with a sharp knife. Poured in extra virgin, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary & lemon zest.

I think it only took about 45 minutes or so to cook to a bare medium rareish. I should have checked it at 35 or 40 minutes. Even so, there was enough pink for me to enjoy. Man, beef can go from perfection to boot in no time flat.

The tritip was just as expected, tender, toothy, rich with beefy flavors and the citrus really drove home the action. The only thing that would have made it better would have been maybe 3 bacon rosettes perched up top. And gravy. Gravy or 'sauce' (the low calorie cousin, wink-wink) would have dotted the i's.

Cheers,
Biggles

Alright, I wanna see some hands. How many of you reading blogs the last week have run across some blogger who has posted a glorious image of something they've culled from their budding garden? And prepared something luscious with it? And eaten it? And told you all about how wonderful it was?

Thought so, and my hand went up as well.

By my own hands, I don't have a garden this year. I mowed it flat with a 6.75 horsepower lawn mower. And I feel GREAT about it! No tending to weeds, fussy watering schedules, no meddling kids with soccer balls, and oh don't get me started on the squirrels. Sunflower seeds this year? No, they ate them all.

I spend my time at the grill or lounging about doing absolutely nothing I don't have to. Heck, I've even got time now to take up smoking cigarettes if I wanted to. Am now reminded of a quote from one of my favorite movies, Tremors. Picture Valentine & Earl out in their backyard (trash & junk everywhere), pulling cold beers out of the wayward toilet, about to rest on an old truck seat. And this is where Val says, "You see, we plan ahead, that way we don't do anything right now." Yeah, just like that. I've always loved that quote.

So, it's a darned good thing I can run back to the far fence and grab a load of the neighbors plums! Oh man, even without the rain, they're juicy, sweet and perfect in every way. I'd make something out of them, but got no fricken ideas. I just eat them, like they are, and they're good.

Biggles

This last weekend I made it in to our local, pretty large, grocery mart. I required a few things that Omar, 2008's shopkeeper of the year award worthy, didn't stock. I perused the isles of said largish mart, and there were products in attendance that were noticeably not there previously. What struck me first was the Bariani Extra Virgin, my favorite green extra virgin. Then, opposite that, on the top shelf I spied a jar of Marmite? Red Mill flour! 3 times the organic produce (Feel Good crap, but even so), the list goes on. I don't care that much, and grab my 3 paper sacks (for $110.00) and skeedaddle.

I was left with this haunting thought, "That store doesn't suck as much as it did a few months ago." I won't be frequenting any more than I did last week, but damn an shit. Ya know? Even way out in El Sobrante, where the demographics meander. Maybe, ever so slowly, things could very well be looking up.

Then Ear Ache wanders in to work with this in tow. A box of Oscar Mayer Fully Cooked Bacon, wtf? I suppose it's kind of a relief, knowing that The Man is still a fucking idiot and has about as much cohesive thought as a near death, bed ridden, 5 legged badger on morphine. But I have my hopes ya know. Or maybe this is their attempt at making a technological advancement up and over from bacon bits. The world may never know.

I can see there's a heading, or direction. But where are they going? Do they even bother to look? This my good people, be some rhetorical questions.

Biggles

No yay. Anti-yay. Last year it never got over 80 here in Richmond. My outdoor kitchen area topped out at 102 around 4pm. At 5:25? The kitchen was 94, what's up with that? Yeah, okay I'm a weenie. But I don't need yet another reason to sit like a lump on the sofa, watching M*A*S*H and pissing vinegar about everything and everyone around me.

Pure & simple, this heat is just plain ol' communism.

Biggles

The catalyst for this post is because our water bill showed up here 10 minutes ago. 5 minutes ago I took this picture of our dry birdy bath and toppled windmill surrounded by long since dried flax. Fueled I was, by the bill.

Eight and a half years ago we moved in to this house, buying was cheaper than renting then. No really, we spent less down on buying a home in the San Francisco East Bay Area than renting a home, crazy eh? We drug along with us our standard appliances and used the existing bathroom fixtures. It was so close that if we'd had to buy a new gas range it'd caused us to use a camp stove instead. Man, we rolled in with fumes in the tank.

Thankfully with some effort the finances stabilized (psychosis still reign supreme) and those water hogging appliances were replaced. On my 40th birthday I bought myself a low-flow toilet, 1.6 gallons a flush. I sorely miss my 1946 model that shot through 7 gallons a flush, it was great. But when you have a family of 4? Do the math, we were using about 460 gallons a day. This usage dropped down a bit and even further with the addition of one of those fancy high efficiency washer machine rigs. Surely the cost of the water versus the cost of the machinery didn't add up immediately, but I knew it was good to help the greater good and lower our usage. Nothing like a little altruism to boost one's ego, hey.

Again we turn another page and we're now a family of 3, water usage is at an all time low at 120 gallons per day. I'm exceptionally pleased with myself. Between the garden and the home, we've reached a pretty darned good consumption rate. Ed Begley Jr. would be so proud. I've been quite fond of him ever since he hit Mork & Mindy way back when. Little did I know he's been a staunch activist for saving resources ever since time began. Apparently, he was arriving on set via bicycle, cool eh? I've said for years, when I make my movie, I'll ask Ed Begley Jr. to play me, it'd be perfect!

Well, as I said the water bill rolled in and we've reduced our consumption to 85 gallons a day. For a family of 3, on a 5,000 square foot lot, I think that's pretty fricken GREAT and am very proud of our work to conserve water.

Biggles - Head Lab Rat

Well, okay it was actually the 29th, Thursday. And since then, this is the first time I've had a usable moment to sit down, and pat myself on the back.
When I started Meathenge, I promised myself Meathenge would be me. No pretending to be someone or something I wasn't. I knew if I spent my efforts on something that wasn't in my veins, it'd be my undoing. While I admit to a few "shit posts" (diatribe, moving towards pointless), I think I've done exceptionally well over the years and am quite pleased with myself.
When Amanda was interviewing me for the article in the Chronicle she asked me what I wanted out of all this. "I want to meet people, make some friends and enjoy myself." And in this, I have gone way past my expectations.
Take a moment, stand back and think how many food blogs can say they've been up and running for 5 years? Then compare that with how many food blogs exist today? I'm special, and handsome. I'm a leo, could you tell.
Meathenge is here to stay another 5 years! Hoist a cool, refreshing beverage in Meathenge's honor this weekend.

Cheers,
Biggles

9:30pm, sun is down and the bedroom window is open. I removed the screen so I could get max flow of nose flavors. Fresh, wet, weeds, grass, bark, oil, traffic, calm, goodness with a touch of who knows.

The flavor from my bedroom window caused me to grab the tripod and the camera to this shot. Yes there are a few details, but suffice it to say I used a much moved flashlight to highlight the windmill against the barn. The barn is half-lit from the neighbor's rear porch light. Other than that, this is out-of-camera action with all the late spring smells that give me the happy shivers.

Grab the one you're with and make fun, it's worth the effort.

xo, Biggles

ps - Color temperature rules.

Yeah, huh. Here in our part of the East Bay, the temperatures rarely go below 40 or above 75, it's just that way. That isn't to say we don't get our heat waves, I remember it hovering over 104 a few times and surely in the 80s. But yesterday, and at least this today, it was 94 in the shade.

My favorite part was when Z came running in saying, "Papa !!! It's 120 degrees outside!"

"Um, the sun was hitting that thermometer there sonny boy. Put it in the shade, ya foo."

Well, when the temperatures are high, the house is stuffy what meal really hits the spot? No, not watermelon, salad or tofu. It's that good ol' roast turkey dinner. I fired up the gas oven for 3 hours and made us some juicy roast turkey, mashed taters & gravy! The plates were licked clean and that was pretty much that. And today for lunch, turkey sammiches!

xo, Biggles

And I will, repeat. Uh, whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis?

I spied with my little eye, this box on the shelf at our local mega grocer. It's a convenience food, all ready to shorten the time in the kitchen and feed the brood on the quick & easy. But, like it's pasta, olive oil and Italian herb. Couldn't I just take pasta, oilive oil and Italian herb and make my own? Or even do a switchy poo and pull out some French herb? Maybe I should just switch gears and whip out some Hawaiian herb and make it all go away.

Aloha, Biggles

Author's note: There is actually a point to this post other than a poorly written rambling rant.

After giving this another thought, nope. This is a poorly written rambling rant without a point.

Quite a few years ago now, maybe 7, I received my first copy of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. I signed myself up for a few years, was feeling full of myself because we'd bought our first home a year before. Life was going to be grand. Aww, I remember it fondly, one of my first issues and it was spring time, a grilling issue and it was all mine.

Jennifer Jeffrey, whom I know very well, recently wrote an article about her love for cooking for others. And, not so whiz-bang excited to do the same for herself. And that's, okay.

The way I see it, I'm going to give you the supreme pleasure of cooking for me! If you're interested, come along and show me your best.

Admittedly, I don't have any food prose for today. But the photographs came out so nicely, I wanted to share them with anyone that might be interested. And yes, had a wonderful time with friends. We spent our time talking about old times (1985 roomates), relaxing and eating Fatted Calf faire. Luckily enough Jeffrey lives in Calistoga and stopped by Oxbow on his way down.

xo, Biggles

ps - If you click on images you should receive a far larger one in return.

click on image for larger

Hooyah !!! I'm totally thinking ahead or at least on time. The soil is nearly ready and looking forward to a garden this year. In the past, I'm usually having these thoughts about midway through July. A little late, even I know that. But with our mild temperatures around here, rarely goes below 40F or above 75F, it worked out "okay".

I'll be heading over to Berkeley Hort here pretty soon, what should I be planting in late February? I gots no fricken idea.

Biggles

Grab your otherin' and let's sing a song ...

Today we're going to get together for one of my favorites and yours, All you Need is Love. Put The Beatles in your mind, close your eyes, embrace and sing along!

Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love. (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).

Yee-hai!
Oh yeah!
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.

Cain't speak for you, but when I hear the word Love coupled with music, I think of Lennon & McCartney. Cheers to you and yours,

Biggles

ps - Life's a garden, dig it.

I don't have a blogroll, I don't maintain the links page I have hidden, and I certainly don't announce any new food blog that pops up. If you've read at any length here at Meathenge, you know this to be true.

But this time it's different. About 3 years ago someone stumbled in to Meathenge and has been here ever since. Keeping things alive both in the comment section and co-hosting many posts. But don't think he's some groupie, oh no sir. He's been in quite a few newspapers, won many a cooking competition and cooked on TV with our local hero, Joey Altman. Who is this rockstar I speak of? That's right, our very own Chilebrown.

Ol' CB snuck off the other night and got himself a blog. Been uploading posts, pictures and laying down some prose. And I have to say, once the guy finds his voice, his flow, he won't remember our names. And now, without further ado ...

Chilebrown and his MAD MEAT GENIUS.

Biggles

This just in, from yesterday afternoon, directly from Jlee. She spotted Ted!

You see, back in September I started a series called Where's Ted? This would be Ted of Highland Hills Farm. Anyway, I realized that time and time again I'd run across either Ted and/or his famous rancher truck (beaten and muddy). Jlee had spied him on occasion, traveling at great rates of speed with hay flying in all directions. OH, it's such great fun to find Ted.

This is where our story takes a dreadful turn. You see, while Jlee did most certainly find Ted, his truck was no wheres to be seen. Ted said he'd sold it, shudder. And you know what? He's not saying what he replaced it with, no sir. Jlee wasn't able to get it out of him. It's a mystery!

Please if you've seen Ted, help solve this mystery. I can't go on much longer not knowing what he's driving, how will I know if I've seen Ted or not? The world needs to know.

Biggles

.

You bad ol' drain. I find myself doing major chores here Thanksgiving morning. Last night's meal needed cleaning up after and the turkey isn't completely defrosted, yet. We've lived here now nearly 8 years and only now you decide to back up on me?

Biggles walks away from the drain, only to turn and say, "Ha !!! I got youuuu! I win! Meathenge Labs isn't hosting this year!" Clog if you want to, you bad ol' drain. You don't bother me!

xo, Biggles

please click on pretty picture for nice larger version

Well, the sore bones in my face and teeth have finally begun to go away and expect to be 100% in another week or so. Sorry for Meathenge resembling a dead slug withering in the August heat during a drought. Shudder.

What you're looking at up there is called a "Living Rock", I don't know the Latin name. It's a succulent and it's blooming!

xo, Biggles

Tiny E was down last week, Z has been pretty much face down since last Sunday. I started down the slope later Monday. About a month ago Z started having some stomach cramps, came and went. Figured it was lactose, then maybe wheat? Now the cramps are coming inbetween food and yesterday he popped a decent fever. Have an appointment was awesome doctor this morning. Eyes are running, coughing up small furry animals, brain dead, that's me!

Food? Any food we have is slowly rotting in the fridge. For dinner was chicken noodle soup and I had nalley's chili. I went all out and put the chili in a bowl this time instead of eating it out of the pot. Ugh! Dishes have been in the sink for usually 2 days before I get to them. COUGH.

xo, Biggles

You, "Hey slackass! Where's the chile verde post?"

Me, "Um, I can't find the pitchers."

You, "Whaddya mean you can't find the pictures, moron."

Me, "I uh, well, like I checked boffe computers and they ain't there."

You, "Find them asshole."

I'll keep looking, I'll bet they're here someplace. I think my computer is too big, too many pockets.

I snapped this shot last night while laying down some corn oil for to sear some pork steak action. The colors on the little screen on the camera were even bright and happy. The only photoshopping I did was jack the contrast a bit. Pretty cool, eh?

Biggles

I absolutely adore fussing with a large pot of something stewy. I don't cook this way using a recipe, more along the lines of ratios. Ya know? Such as, if you have 3 pounds of pork shoulder, then you use about half that in tomatillos. And how many green chile peppers do you use? A lot, about *this* much I'd say.

All ready for a chile verde post? Me too, but maybe tomorrow. Ha ha. Nope, today I just stopped by because I had great fun in blackening the chile peppers. I made this pot of green love last night, after work, after picking up the kids from school. I was a little impatient and didn't feel like roasting the peppers one at a time. See, usually I just toss the suckers on a burner, jack the heat and use my giant tweezers to rotate the little guys. "What to do, what to do?"

Tinker and Tanker knew what to do! They grabbed the fire ring from the wok, tossed on a heavy gauge cooling/baking rack and made a little grill! It was awesome and the picture is pretty too. Ah, the simple things in life make the propeller on my straw hat whirl. And um, if you've been doing this for years, don't point & laugh too hard, eh?

xo, Biggles

it ain't spring, gone
garden brown, no meat here
bright red love stay, juicy sweet

Biggles

Says here today is considered a day of rest, don't have to ask me twice. And since I'll be resting, won't have the time to be roastin' up Rocket J. this afternoon.

Oh beautiful squirrel,
Your meat, my grill. We are one.
Tomorrow, I must eat you.

Biggles

Along with a little vegetable garden some citrus and a fair amount of weeds, I planted a sunflower garden. Here we find a nice happy at about 8:25pm tonight. It was handheld, 800 iso, auto everything with a 70-300mm zoom all the way out. Jacked the levels a tad, then hit the contrast even less. I wish you could see the original. The bokeh was fricken amazing with the light on the right.

xo, Biggles

Last night at sundown I headed out to catch the last few rays of the sun as it slid down over the Richmond skyline (old houses and power lines). The pumpkins and maters are coming along nicely, the latter reaching nearly 6 feet wide and 4.5 feet up. I figured I'd set my sights on the volunteer sunflower plants that found their way through the flax & chile pepper plants.

Sitting my cuttoffs squarly on the hay & dirt, I pulled my knees up to prop the camera and sat for a while. This is when it all changes. You don't have to concentrate on standing, crouching or thinking about falling over. The angle of view can change dramatically, I'm 6 foot 2 inches. At this point the tomato plants are over my head, the coyote brush is now clearly a tree. It's rich, oily perfume falls down I suppose, cause it's pungent down here. The ground is kinda warm from the day's sun. The wind is getting brisk and the little leafs wave back.

When peace starts to creep up from behind, the bright yellow/green finches return to their seed sacks. Slowly I turned, brought the camera to my eye bone and carefully snapped off a few rounds at this little bug dood. When you least expect it, it all comes back. Ain't that cool?

xo, Biggles

Hi Everbody!

I wanted to stop by and apologize for the complete Lack. The boys are now out of school and am looking forward to some actual cooking. And by that I mean, you get to share in our meals.

The garden is alive this year and doing exceptionally well. As you can see the volunteer pumpkins are coming right along. The tomato plants are 4' across, 4' high and climbing, jeez. I have time to water and snap a few shots for fun.

xo, Rev. Dr. Biggles PhM

ps-

The other day we had the post about how badly my lemons suck here at Meathenge Labs. Sure it has a lot to do with my lack of the green thumb and attention to said tree. But even when I was fertilizing it, the lemons took years to turn yellow.

What does one do when such failure is evident? That's right, plant more citrus! A grapefruit tree to be exact.

Cook, cook coook cooooook cook cook, cook. Cook cook cook, cook cook, cook cook. Cook, and then? Seven years later? Egads man, you're kitchen is a MESS !!!

Sunset over Richmond last Thursday. Jacked levels oh so slightly with a little more contrast, nothing more. Handheld with little Canon p&s, auto-setting. Can you see the little star up there?

Each Saturday I gather my meat sack, camera and some change for the meters in Berkeley. They've gone to 1.00 for an hour now, just so you know. Always careful to make sure I have my quarters to park, I've got a secret place.

Berkeley can't possibly be unlike other largish cities in regards to those old parking meters. You know the ones. The ones that look healthy, then procede to take your quarters? Yup, thems be the ones. So of course I always bring a few extra quarters just in case, one never knows.

It was a warm October morning and the boys were with me. The older one watched as I slid in my first quarter only to ge a message on the damned thing, "Error." Indeed and it cost me 25 cents to find out. I wish they had a button on 'em so we could test first.

"Okay boys, back in the truck! We need to pull forward to another meter so Papa can lose another damned quarter."

"But Papa, why not just use a nickel instead? That way you only lose 5 cents."

Well, ain't that just an ice pick in the forehead. If I were you, take an 11 year old's advice and use a nickel or dime first to see if that meter works or not.

Biggles

To say I haven't had time for Meathenge is like saying the Titanic was a pretty boat. And it'd be a lot easier if I didn't sabotage myself along the way. Insert swearing here: ""

My PC at home was getting a little creaky and the operating system needed a boost. Gee, I had no idea Microsoft's OS's could be so buggy! Yeah, so Biggles removed the beast, and I do mean beast. It was a tower case that weighed in at over 30 pounds with no side panel. Off to the local computer chop shop we go! Yeah yeah, formatting and reinstalling windows ain't rocket science, but I'm lazy. And remember, I have no time.

Minutes later we find Biggles in the Toy Store, ideas start to pop in to his red bearded hillbilly mind. (Minds have beards, hahhahahha) The idea was to move the guts to a new, small case and wipe the HD, install freshy fresh OS. "Hmm, well if we're to wipe the HD, might as well install one of those new, fancy 10,000 rpm Raptor SATA drives, right? Right-o!"

Oh the visions of high speed data transfer coupled with a broadband connection just made him giddy.

It wasn't until the following morning ol' Biggles awoke with a start. What the hell had he done? Sure all the data was backed up, you bet. But do you have any idea of the time and effort it takes to put it all back? Tuck it in to all the right places? Reinstall dozens of little applications that make life nice? Let's not even go in to the sheer volume of little serial numbers that need to be found. Akin to the archaeological dig at King Tut's tomb, it is.

Know all those nifty little usb devices that make life so handy? Those little bastards have drivers that need to be loaded as well. Insert swearing here: ""

So, while it's actually Thursday, this was supposed to be a cute little post about how nice the fricken weather was this last Sunday. Some rambling bull about trees blooming and green grass ... greening. "Oh how bloody nice it is to be alive and view such splendor!"

I've changed the date to make it seem as though you missed a posting, cheeky me.

Insert swearing here: ""

Biggles

ambidextrous : am·bi·dex·trous [am-bi-dek-struhs]

1. able to use both hands equally well: an ambidextrous axe handler
2. unusually skillful; facile: an ambidextrous home chef, able to successfully make a roux and brown off a pound of andouille.
3. double-hot-pan dealing; badass.

[Origin: 1640–50; ambidext(e)r + -ous]

—Related forms
am·bi·dex·trous·ly, adverb
am·bi·dex·trous·ness, noun

Alright, so here I was minding my own business, in a flu riddled state. You get the picture, right? Honking up small furry animals, eyebrow bone pains & sinus fire. When Christine of My Plate or Yours tagged me for this meme I wasn't sure when I was going to be able to get to it.

I'm thinking here, thinking back. I believe out of all the memes that've been around, this is the first one I've ever joined in on. Why this time, you axe? Well, me thinks it's time to start posting again. My sinus fire has embered, the eyebrow bone aches have ceased for the moment and to be honest, I miss Meathenge!

1. As amazing as I sound on MH, as brilliant, motivated and larger than life I seem, I would rather hang out at home than travel the country. When the weekend arrives, I'm more than happy to lounge about the house and yard. Maybe start a project I know I'll never finish, use gas powered lawn implements or tear in to something and clean it out. Using a ladder really gives me a thrill, you can get to places that are otherwise out of your reach. Plus looking down in to your neighbor's yard when they aren't looking makes me feel naughty.

2. This isn't new to some of you that know me, but I think it needs official mentioning here. Butter scares me. Well, okay scare isn't quite the right word. I don't like butter on my bread or vegetables or any place I can really smell it. I can bake with it as long as I don't pay too much attention to it. And if I can detect ghee in a dish, I'll wretch and want to rinse my mowf with Everclear.

3. I buy vehicles based upon whether they make me smile when I drive them or not. Safety, quality or durability have nothing to do with it (read: common sense). If I can smoke the tires through 2 or 3 gears, that's good enough for me. I enjoy engines that sound huge when you play with them. This is NOT because they have some huge muffler, no. They must sound huge because they ARE huge. If you see some red bearded hillbilly doing 90mph with the window down in a dusty old Dodge truck, that's me. Flip me off if you like, I enjoy that.

4. I had the side of my house landscaped only because I felt bad that my neighbors were looking at old weeds. Why didn't I do it myself? Because it's hard and they got it done in a few hours.

5. I keep friends for a long time. I work with my friend that I've known since 1972. I spend weekends with a friend from the same era. I keep track of roomates I had in 1985. I met someone in a class I was taking in 1990. He got me a job where he worked, that was 16 1/2 years ago and I'm at the same company today. Neat, eh?

Well, there we are, 5 things about me. I hope you've enjoyed this time together on this wet Thursday morning. Now it's time to go take a nap.

Tootles!

Here I find my conscious choice each day. Which feeds the soul?

"A view out muh bedroom winder"

(Lennon/McCartney)

Happy Saturday !!!

Listen up, yesterday Chilebrown and I headed out for Sacramento to visit Morants Old Fashioned Sausage Kitchen. While I only expected a drive up, raid of their smoker and a quick return home, we ended up with a nice morning spent with some sidetracking. What do I mean by this? Well, you'll have to wait until I can find a computer to sit down to and compose my entry.
But Biggles, you're typing this up, right now. Yeah, well see, this is a laptop mounted over the TV and I have to stand at a funny angle to use it. So, any longer than a few minutes and I'm done with it. I moseyed out to the garage to fire up my PC and it don't even turn on anymore.

Surely Biggles with your mad PC repair skills you should be able to get that sucker up and going. Yeah, I can. But it's 84 degrees, sunny with a cool breeze and I have 35 pounds of fresh sausage to tear in to. Not to mention 5 pounds of first class bacon to fry up. Plus I have a nice pork butt roast in the fridge awaiting my attention for an all day smoking session on Sunday. I'm busy! Besides I still have about 280 pounds of Custom Charcoal to use up.

Whatcha all up to today?

xo Biggles

Today's music is brought to you by Carly Simon and Judy Collins.

Cool! I thought for sure I was the only meat related entry. Apparently not and I win Meatiest Category at this version of Does my blog look good in this?
What is this happening? It's a contest where you are asked to choose a post with the best image out of a specific month. You send this url to the hosting food blog and then at some point they judge it. Cool, eh?

If you take the time to check out the entries, they're pretty darned good. I like the chicken stock ice cube one, neat.

Congratulations to me.

Biggles

Don't look bad for Richmond, eh? A handful of seasons ago I bought and had built this "barn". It's only 10'x12' but it holds the crap from our 20'x20' garage. What this means is, our detached garage is open for my library of cookbooks, records, computers and the boy's xbox gaming area.

How would you like to wake up each morning to this view? I do. And I want to personally thank Cousin Bob and Uncle Eddy for the job. I had planned on painting it for sure. But after so much time, I realized I was never going to get it done.
I'm happy, pleased and well taken care of.

Biggles

My sister Kallisti of Blastmilk gifted me this set of little piggies and a stove the other day. She figured it was time to get some new props for Meathenge, she's right. Said she bought them a while back and enjoyed them long enough, now it's our turn.
I ran home early so I'd have time before dinner to set up and take me a shot. Something new to take pictures of, I couldn't wait. They were all wrapped up in this clear plastic holding thingy and had cardboard props to make it look as though the pigs were in a country kitchen. This is what Furryville is, a country place. You know, out in the country? Pollen, pickup trucks and fruit pies, you know the place. They win the Furryville cooking competition each year, so says the little story book that comes with. I wanna know what they cooked with that 12 burner stove. I would do something with gravy, I think.
They need a little proppin' up, don't ya know. But how can you possibly resist? They gots chile pepper aprons !!! And, of course, they're pigs. No sane person can ever resist a piggy.
Please welcome the Pigby family to Meathenge's prop department, I'm sure they'll have fun wherever they go.

Biggles

Isn't goat beautiful? Look at that marbling, notice the rich pinkness of the flesh. How clean it is, glistenny in the glow of my floods. Kinda tough to see the breed, that'd be cashmere for those who have an interest. These goats are grazed on natural range and irrigated pastures. They've never even remotely seen a feedlot, that makes me feel better right there. No antibiotics, pesticides, GMO's, synthetic hormones (what about natural ones?), herbicides, chemical fertilizers ... you get the idea.
Isn't goat beautiful?

Ted of Highland Hills Farm thinks so.

Or at least that's the unconfirmed rumor I'm starting (keep reading, no really). I just received a comment in one of the posts I did about Tina Nordstrom. And if you've done any googlin' on Tina or Andreas in the last year and a half, Meathenge is either beat out scandcook.com or is at least #2. Not bad, eh? In any case, here's the comment:

We're glad you like the shows -- we do to! You'll be glad to know that Andreas will be back with a third season of "New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad" in September 2006. Let your local PBS station know that you want more! Tina just had a baby, so a second season with Tina is a little further off. We'll let you know when it's confirmed. American Public Television distributors of "New Scandinavian Cooking"

As far as rumors go, this sounds as solid as any. Tina just had a baby and Andreas will do a season, then Tina comes back and does another one. YAY !!!

If you haven't heard of or seen New Scandinavian Cooking with either Tina or Andreas, you're missing out. Rarely do I enjoy a cooking show this much. It's a total package deal, from the passion, cinematography, production, editing and commercials. It's all outstanding.
Have you flipped through Andreas' Kitchen of Light cookbook? The photography is better than most fine art photography books let alone a dumb cookbook. How is this possible?
It was Andreas' first season that inspired me to even remotely consider visiting Norway. Not because I thought Norway sucked, but because the passion this man has for his country and cuisine is that inspiring.
So, while this is an unconfirmed rumor, scandcook still bears Andreas' likeness on their first page and it's too good to let it pass without saying something.
Meathenge Labs will most certainly be hosting a small party to view the season premier of New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viastad.

Xo Xo

Addition made 2/4/2006 at end.

Hooboy, take a close look, maybe click on the image. See if you can find my moldy que gloves there.
While I consider myself to be a year 'round griller and smoker, there can be dry spells. And this dry spell took place during the wettest part of the year, the last few months.
Look, you've only got a few days left to get your menu for Sunday ready. I haven't a clue as to what I'm doing, except for tonight. Tonight it's Cuban Sammiches, I can hardly wait. I knew my grill needed some attention, just didn't know how much. If you haven't checked your grill lately, you may want to do that.
Biggles is here to help.

If you've ever used a film or digital camera, you've heard the news, friends and collegues talk about film versus digital. One doesn't replace the other, they're each good for different situations. I think there was this nagging little bug in the back of our heads that truly thought, some day, when my hair is grey and cars ride 4 feet off the ground, film will no longer be available.
Uh, game over pal, film is dead and Nikon has shut down production of all but 2 film cameras, the F6 and FM10. Oh, and they were nice enough to continue to manufacture a few manual focus lenses for those too. How thoughtful.
One might think that maybe Canon will carry the torch, I doubt it. This is business pal, and if the public ain't buying? The companies aren't going to produce the cameras. And that will be pretty much that.
Here's one more experience that I'll be taking to the grave. The experience of holding a hand-made Nikon camera to my eye, living in my own space and time with the ability to capture life, death and the world around me.
Rest in peace old friend, I will not forget the love.

Biggles

All is semi-evening out here at the labs. On Saturday we hosted a Tourtiere meal, mMmMm Pie. Mama really pulled out the stops and worked through some body pain that caused her grief. I was in charge of grinding the 3 pounds of pork and I completely screwed it up. We've got the Kitchen Aid with the grinder attachment, you bet. I nearly froze the pork, first in a large hunk. This didn't work, so I pieced it up and froze those so they cut like an onion. I also froze the grinder attachment. All it did was turn the meat to a puree, nasty to say the least. So I minced it up using a knife and then the food processor to make it resemble something ground. Tasted fine in the pie for sure.

Sunday was of course, Christmas and we hosted a traditional roasted turkey meal. Other than using water instead of milk in the mashed taters, everything went nearly okay. Yeah yeah, I know. But you see, we eat mashed potatoes a lot here. So, to cut down on the fat I'll use water instead of milk or cream. And this bad habit carried over to a holiday meal, sigh. That being said, gravy came to the rescue and took care of the wateryness.
Listen up, when you're planning to host a meal and are expecting most stores to be closed, there are a few things you need to take note of. Sure you make a list for the store of all the ingredients you'll need for the meal. This is easy and straightforward, all you need is a pencil and paper. But what can make or break you are the staples in your kitchen. Such as flour, garbage bags & broth! Man, try to make your traditional turkey gravy without flour. Luckily Sister was willing to make a quick trip home (she and Meathead live close) for her container of flour. So, Biggles suggests you do an inventory of your kitchen to see what else you'll be needin'.
Here we find ourselves on the Tuesday, looks as though it's about to rain too. Today marks #3 in a series of hosted dinner parties for Meathenge Labs. I'll be picking up a leg of lamb roast that's had the leg bone cut free and replaced. This way when I get home I can untie the lamb, toast the corriander seeds, mince up the garlic & cilantro. Zest me a few lemons and spread over the salt & pepper. Reinsert the bone, tie up & toss in to a 375 oven and we're SET. Phew !!!
What's next? New Years you say? Keeripes, we'll see how that goes. I'm feeling a need for fried chicken.

Hugs

Share the love and have some peace today, Meathenge cares.

Fatted Calf's Lobster Crepinettes with Summer Chanterelle Murshrooms. Image taken with using only 1 hand, thank goodness for tripods eh?

This is my birthday week! Cain't believe I made it another year, so nice. I'm now the ripe old age of 41 and plan to spend this week relaxing, peering about and basically making a nuisance of myself. And this is different from last week, how?

Hugs