Recently in Deep Thoughts Category

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