Cocktail Confessions

Found to season and color an increasing number of dishes in Latin American, Jamaican, and Filipino cuisines, recado rojo, aka ‘achiote paste’, is becoming quite popular.  While it has it’s own distinct and unique flavor, it was primarily used to color foods as a substitute to the more expensive saffron.

Achiote paste or powder is a derivative of ground annatto seeds (aka bixin) that come from the fruit of the Bixa Orellana tree that is found in southeast asia and was brought to the America’s by the Spanish in the 17th century.  The spiny red fruit contains a capsule fulls of seeds, which when dried is a brown and hard.  When combined with other spices, this paste became very popular as an additive in numerous Latin American dishes.

In the states, you may recognize this ingredient in slow cooked pork dishes in Latin and Mexican dishes, often known as ‘al pastor’.  It has a rich, deep red color and often smoky and earthy taste.  It can also be found in the drink, tascalate, (Chiapas, Mex.) and conchinita pibil (spicy pork dish).

Okay, enough of the history lesson and National Geographic discussion.  Why do you care about any of this?  Well, chances are you won’t unless you find yourself playing drunk Jeopardy at a backyard BBQ and want to impress your guests with useless Cliff Clavin trivia.  People always like to know what they are eating, and I always find people think dishes taste better if they come to believe the background on the ingredients is a bit exotic and there is some additional preparation behind your work.

The recipe below is pretty easy to make once you have everything, and I think it is pretty versitile.  You can use it a wet rub when marinating pork, and even with some south of the border fishes (brush it on while grilling).  It can be used in slow cookers as a base broth, or added as a sauce topper to enchiladas, tacos, and what ever else you want.  It accompanies great with grilled pineapple.

There are a few various brands of achiote on the market in both paste and powder forms and can usually be found in Mexican specialty markets or neighborhood grocery stores.  You can also find it online.  However, if you want a fresh and powerful homemade taste, the I offer up the following easy recipe. (Please send me your own recipes and dishes and let me know how it turns out):

Ingredients:

• 5 TBS achiote (annatto) seeds
• 2 Tsp cumin seeds
• 1 TBS black peppercorns
• 8 whole allspice berries
• 1/2 Tsp whole cloves
• 3 habanero peppers, seeded (wear gloves and avoid eye contact)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 TBS coarse salt, (or sea salt, or kosher salt)
• 5 lemons, juiced
• 1 Tsp premium tequila

1. With a clean spice grinder, grind annatto seeds, cumin seeds, peppercorns, allspice berries, and cloves to a fine powder.
2. In a blender or food processor, mix the ground spices, habaneros, orange juice, vinegar, garlic, and salt.  Blend until smooth.  Mix in lemon juice and tequila.

It’s going to be a long day today, that I can tell.

Last night I met some friends and ex-coworkers at a sports bar in the area called Rudy’s, where I got my pint on.  Not a lot, and I didn’t feel hammered in the least.  With that being said, I barely slept a wink last night.  It was freezing cold (I forgot to turn the heater on), and I tossed and turned all night.  At one point, roughly 2:30 am, I just got up and went on the computer for about a half hour.  I probably slept a grand total of three hours last night, so I am sure I’ll be a very chipper person as the day wears on.  All I know is thank goodness it is both Friday and casual day at work.  I’m telling you right now, I don’t have the energy or motivation to do jack squat.

At the gas station, I did spend $3.48 (that includes tax) on the 5-hour Engery drink that is advertised all over.  It promises that I won’t suffer a crash later and I’m holding out until lunch time to use it, so we’ll see.

Anyway, this drink recipe today is inspired by my recent lunches at Chick-Fil-A, where I’ve been having some sweet tea with my lunch.  I also get a lot of searches here on my Seagrams Sweet Tea vodka entry I made some time ago, so I figured, why not another sweet tea based drink?  This is for when you need a little pick me up during the weekend, after doing some gardening chores or detailing the car on a warm afternoon, where the thought of regular ice tea sounds good, but just isn’t enough by itself.

Sweet Tea-tini

• 1 3/4 oz premium vodka
• 1 oz sweet tea (heavily sweetend fresh brewed iced-tea, a staple in the south)
• 1/4 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
• Lemon wedge or lemon rind twist for garnish.

1. Pour ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake well, preferably due a samba dance if you can.
3. Strain into a chilled, sugar rimmed martini glass.
4. Garnish with lemon wedge or twist.
5. Look coyly at neighbor and give ‘em a wink.

One of my closest friends, Albert Ihle, came over this past weekend to help me replant an earthbox he gave me over this past holiday season.  The past few months, this earthbox gift supplied a bountiful and rich bounty of lush and organic lettuce leaves.  With the original four heads that were planted (along with some parsley to boot), Monica and I had tons of green leaves for both salads and sandwiches with left overs to share.  Of course, being organic not only did they taste better and we knew they couldn’t be any fresher from our pickings, but they were chock full of vitamins

However, with the seasons changing from winter into spring, it was time to replant.  Al called me up and asked me what I may be interested in trying to grow this time around, and with the weather going to warm up soon and summer in just a few months away, I opted to go with some fresh chili peppers.  Monica and I enjoy entertaining with large BBQ’s with our friends, and since we also like Mexican dishes, I opted to buy a few jalepenos plants, some anaheim chilis, and cilantro.

It was a perfect 8 am morning roll call when Al showed up this past Saturday and with Bloody Mary’s in hand, we got down to business. What you see in these pictures is a what an earthbox looks like.  Albert and his wife Lisa have been growing many of their own produce for the last three years and we’ve tasted their homemade sweet marinara sauce, had numerous grilled veggies, and of course their own salads.  Click on the links yourself if you want to learn more about this way of planting and growing your own sustainable foods in your garden.

Earthbox example

What’s nice about this episode is that it is a great example of using the portable Zoom H2 recorder out in the field.  I recored approx. 50 minutes of straight audio which I got o edit down for your plreasure, all while learning about earthboxes and plenty of gardening and growing tips.  I also shot some video as well using a Kodak Playsport flash cam at the same time and I’m in the process of editing those for a future posting as well.  So not only can you enjoy this very educational podcast, with a few shots of vodka mixed in by yours truly, you’ll also eventually see some video clips as well.

Bloody Mary’s featured in this episode were made with Snug Harbor mix, winner of the ‘outstanding beverage’ award at the 1998 International Fancy Food Show.  What makes this Bloody Mary mix unique is it’s inclusion and blend of both clam juice and Chesapeake Bay Seasoning.  If you aren’t making a cocktail, try using it as a cooking sauce, maybe even a booster in Mexcian Ceviche.  You can find this online or unique liquor and gifts stores like Home Goods.  The bootles are 25oz in size and retail for approx $8.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (41.1MB)

I submit to you all a local cable advertisement with my Delta Sigma Phi fraternity brother, Lance Peacor (aka Mutha Truckin’ Otis) who has top billing in this commercial.  Way to go Lance!  Shades of Honky Tonk Man?  You decide!

You can check out more of Reno Wrestle Factory by visiting their webpage at: www.myspace.com/renowrestlefactory.

Enjoy the commercial courtesy of YouTube:

I finally bought a Zune 16HD after many month of self debating on whether to buy one, hold out for a new model, or go with a flash camcorder instead.

Well, today Microsoft introduced the Zune 64 GB HD to the world, commanding a retail price of around $350.  And what does 64 GB get you?  About 16,000 songs, 20 hours of HD video, or 25,000 pictures on average.  That quite impressive, but also complete overkill for someone like me who hasn’t used an MP3 player in roughly two years myself, and just recently noted I only have about 100 pictures on my Droid phone…and that’s only because the phone has a camera, otherwise, there would probably be none.  I can’t see myself transferring thousands of pictures to a MP3 player and carrying it around for what?  I tend to email pictures to people, or share via Facebook or Web Shots, and even occasionally on a small USB thumb drive, but to have thousands of digital images on a portable jukebox?  No, not my thing.  I’ll use it strictly for music, podcasts, and the occasional video.

My very first MP3 player only held 256 MB of music which was plenty for listening to music at the gym for about an hour when I work out.  The biggest hassle was after a few weeks, maybe getting tired of a few songs, and changing a few of them out.

My second MP3 player was a Creative Rio which had a 4GB internal hard drive.  It was really cool, with its docking stations/charger/auxiliary output ports, although it’s bulky shape and weight could prove to be a little unwieldy at times.  Even then, I don’t think I even filled it up 25% and had hundreds of songs on it.  I still possess it, although it hasn’t been touched in about 3 or more years.

So why the Zune now?  And why not the 32GB model, or iPod, or some other cheaper third party player?

A few factors come into play:

•  
  • I commute about 30 minutes to work, and 30 minutes back home, 5 days a week.  My car has Sirius/XM radio built into it and I’ve had a yearly subscription for the past two years.  The subscription is roughly $143 a year, and to be quite honest, even though there are over 100 stations, I only listen to about 5 on a regular basis, and even now find them somewhat tedious.  Sirius/XM would like to have you believe they are relatively commercial free, but I’ve noticed a lot more commercials popping up lately, so depending on the channel, there really is no difference from terrestrial radio.  After my contract is over this term, I may cancel it, because I just find it boring.  The shows I really want to listen to come on during the workday, and it’s blocked there anyway, so I basically pay a yearly fee to listen mostly on my commute to shows I don’t particularly care for any longer.
  • I drive a Ford with built in Microsoft Sync technology, so it basically plugs into the auxiliary port for hands free, voice commanded instructions.
  • Comes with a HD radio tuner built in.  I haven’t heard HD radio yet, but I understand it is CD quality audio and there are a few stations in my area have been promoting their alternative side bands.
  •  As much as people swear by MAC and all the flavors of iPod, I can’t get over the fact that Apple has a very strict DRM policy, and songs you purchase from iTunes basically only work on one portable device and can’t really be shared without a ton of hassle.  Not to mention Apple only recognizes their own proprietary format whereas I have a bit more flexibility with the Zune.
  • The Zune will tie into my PC, my car, and my Xbox 360 for a truly shared experience.  I’m a MS guy.
  • I already have tons of music in both MP3 and Wav formats, not to mention my friend Joe recently let me ‘borrow’ his terabyte external drive chock full of music from all genre’s.  Yes, you read right, he has a full terabyte drive full of music.
  • I listen to Podcasts at work.  A lot.  I’d also like to listen to them on my commute and on the job.  I’d rather put them on a device built to handle them than to keep putting them on my Droid phone and the required management there.
  • My wife already owns an older Zune, so I can also raid her library of songs as well.

Finally cost.  With the recent release of firmware update 4.5 and the 64 GB model, the price of the 16 and 32 have dropped.  I was able to find it at WalMart for $169 which BestBuy is obligated to price match.  I am also a BestBuy Rewards Zone member, which means I earn points on every purchase, and I also had an unspent gift card left over from Christmas that I have never used.  So my final cost in the end today was $0, and I still have money left over on the gift card.

I’ll probably use the remaining balance on some future video game, better headphones, or have it go towards a flash camcorder I am still eyeing.

I had went out this past Tuesday night to celebrate a birthday of one of my friends, Jon, at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Forest, CA.

As any true red blooded male will attest, hot wings and beer are a match made in heaven, and quite a favorite bar attraction if the word gets out the wings are good.  Well, anyway, between our small group of guys, we polished off close to 75 wings of various degrees of hotness and flavors.  Included were ‘Asian Zing’, ‘Original Hot’ and ‘BBQ Hot’.  And in addition to the few beers we had, there were a few rounds of Jack & Coke being ordered as well.

Needless to say, my taste buds and eyes always seem to trump the knowledge I have that I may have some G.I. tract issues the next day.

I awoke at 5am in the morning with a mild case of heartburn and acid indigestion.  Over the years I have learned that Mylanta, especially the mint flavor has been a good friend to me in a time of need and discomfort.  The cool coating action has always worked in the past, and it may even be psychosomatic to me, but I swear Mylanta has helped with hangovers in the past as well.

And can I also admit to you, I love the chalky taste?  I swear, if they could make a Mylanta ice cream ‘shake’, I’d most likely drink it.  I know that sounds gross and warped, but hey, that’s what I like so that all that matters.

Anyway, I reached under the counter for the big blue bottle and took a large swig.  It’s minty coolness was refreshing but I noticed that it was a little more watery than I remember it being.  I didn’t think much of it and went back to bed hoping that it would soon works its magic.

Well that magic was more like a hex, for within 30 minutes I was in the restroom with a mild case of diarrhea.  And then a more violent case 30 minutes after that.  Could it be I had food poisoning? Was the chicken bad?  Funny, it didn’t foul the night before.

It was only a bit later when I was more awake did I take a closer look at the blue bottle I had grabbed earlier for relief.  It wasn’t Mylanta.  It was Phillips Milk of Magnesia, a similar looking bottle in the wee hours of the morning. It was the two words obscurely located on the lower right hand side of the label that gave me horrified pause: saline laxative.

Yup, I grabbed the wrong bottle.  For the next seven hours or so I would find myself making numerous unscheduled trips to the public restroom and rubbing my arse raw with industrial grade sandpaper someone out there is passing off as toilet paper to corporations. 

By the end of the day yesterday I had a new outlook on the definition of roto-rooter as I felt I had inadvertently snaked my own lower intestines.  I pined to soak my tushey in the tub.  So, let my error be your lesson: the next time you reach for an antacid or heartburn medication, make sure you have the correct one, lest you wish to spend the day in the loo with a good book.

Since I still have yet to decide on what flash-media camcorder to buy, I am fortunate enough to have my friend Brian lend me his Kodak Playsport this last week for a test drive.  For those that don’t know what flash-corders are, they are basically pocket sized video recorders that instead of using tape or CD media, save the files digitally to internal flash or SD cards.

They generally retail for sub $200 and target people on the go who who want to record video clips or still pictures on the go without lugging around a larger, more professional camera or camcorder.  They aren’t meant to make you the next Cecil Demille, but for those that like to share memories via FaceBook, YouTube, smaller emails and the like.  Features are generally limited and is really meant to do one-touch recording on the fly.  Think social sharing teens, soccer moms, and dads on the hunting trip.  If you understand this, then you should know what to expect and what not to.

The big three are considered to be Kodak, Sony, and Cisco.  All the others are poor imitators, and you get what you pay for, so don’t expect superior quality in both recordings or durability if you go with one of the off-name brands.  Out of the gate, I eliminate all the Cisco ‘Flip’ brands because of the cost factor.  There is nothing that the Cisco ones do any better than the Kodak or Sony models other than cost more.  They may have made it virtually ‘idiot proof’, but with the various Flips, you sacrifice pure 1080p HD recordings and as a reward for stripping down to the most basic features, you actually pay more.  That being said, many people do like their Flips for their simplicity, and no one can argue their marketing machine made a splash as the Flip Mino and new HD Slyde are practically household vernacular…but that doesn’t make them the best.

I’m torn between the lower end Sony Bloggie and new Kodak Playsport.  Both have pros and cons that on paper seem to cancel each other out.  From what I have read the Bloggie has superior video qulaity whereas the Playsport has better audio pickup.  Both have 4 recording settings that are identical, have zoom features, have editing software, have the ability to take 5 megapixel still shots.  Bloggie has a built in USB connection, whereas the Kodak uses a cable.  Kodak is roughly $40 buck cheaper and is has one additional feature that extreme outdoors people may indeed like…it is waterproof up to 10 feet under water making it ideal for the beach, skiing trips, and backyard pool parties.

So now that you get the idea, here are my preliminary findings on the Kodak Playsport:

1) Lowlight conditions do not favor this camera.  We used it once at night in my backyard with the only light source being some tiki torches, bleed over light from the kitchen to the backyard, and some decorative overhead hanging lights.  The Kodak did not fair very well.  I suspect the Sony may not do much better as neither has a flash or floodlight function.  Perhaps too much a battery drain?

2) However filming at dusk seemed to be okay.  The raw format for the Playsport is .MOV files, friendly to Apple and Quicktime applications.  The following video was taken at the San Clemente, CA pier this past Sunday at roughly 6:30pm.  I think the colors turned out pretty well, and the raw playback footage on my PC (prior to YouTube uploading and conversion) was nice, albeit it somewhat shaky (more on that in a second).

3) Now the shakiness.  You’ll note that even with EIS turned on, it stills seems very jerky even though my panning was fairly smooth.  I have heard this from other people as well and that the Sony Bloggie may indeed do a better job at image stabilization.

4) Here is the second video taken just a bit later.  Again, looks good other than a bit shaky:

Miscellaneous stuff: comes with a wrist strap and a very small and somewhat generic manual.  Visiting the Kodak support page, I noticed that a new firmware patch was released in March of this year, shortly after the the Playsport went public.  Too bad I couldn’t find anything at the Kodak webpage that informs users what the firmware upgrade actually does, but here’s to hoping it addresses the EIS and the reported false battery charged readings.  That is, some people are stating that the battery doesn’t seem to charge 100%, or even if the indicator does register that the internal battery is 100%, only minutes after use, the icon shows it’s already 25% spent which may make some users wary how the long the battery life actually is.

The nice thing was that that plugging in the Playsport to my PC via a USB cable, Windows XP detected it immediately and there was no additional software I needed to install.  I was able to go in to the media storage and quickly drag and drop the .MOV files over to my PC.  That was pretty seemless.  I did not have a chance thus far to play with the actual camera for taking still shots, nor did I use the included editing software that is built in to the Playsport to alter my videos.

Now I also created a YuoTube account and uploaded both movie’s there as you see embedded above.  One thing I did note…the raw .MOV files are much sharper than the YouTube videos you see here.  I assume YouTube has some type of conversion and compression process and in the end you may notice a bit more pixelation and muted colors.  That could be because YouTube uses the .FLV format or something else.

As technology constantly evolves, as do widgets and plugins, so must this website if I want to maintain something relevant. 

Thus, as I do on occassion, came a time for a routine patching and maintenance to the site.

For those that are interested, you’re either as geeky if not more geeky than myself, or you are so utterly bored and pathetic at this very moment, you’re desperately still reading this as to fill some void in your life undoubtedly caused by unresolved mommy issues.  If it is indeed the latter, and you’re still reading this without being insulted, then my friend….stop what you are doing right this instant and grab yourself a strong drink.

Maintenance notes:

• Upgraded WordPress to current version 2.9.2 from the previous 2.7.1.  Kinda a big deal, but only to allow other plugins and widgets to operate normally.
• Blubrry Powerpress: Now v1.07.  Still need to incorporate more functionality into this site, but at least I have a place to possibly host future podcasts and video casts and register them properly with iTunes…if that day ever comes.
• NextGen Gallery: Now v1.5.3 that adds additional features and interface for picture galleries, slideshows and the like.
• Tweetable: Now v1.1.8.  This wouldn’t work previously with the 2.7.1 version of WordPress, but will now.  I haven’t activated yet as I need to register the application with Twitter, and place a widget in the margin to accept incoming Tweets.  Oh, and as of right now, you can still follow me on Twitter @alonedisciple.
• YouTube: Registered for a channel under the name ‘jaysonolson33′ that I have uploaded a few videos I plan to embed here if they are not a direct vodcast.
• GoWalla: A mobile social check-in application on my Droid phone that has the ability to also be tied into Twitter.  You can see where I am at if I happen to check in.  Also under ‘jaysonolson33′.
• Google Buzz: Once again, created under the moniker ‘jaysonolson33′, you can find and follow my Buzzes (many with pictures).  I hope the WP plugin ‘Socialable’ adds this soon enough.

I received a pleasant surprise today; I got a call from my good friend Brian who wanted to see if I was up to meeting him for lunch since he was going to be in the area.  Knowing that the only thing I had with me today was a microwaveable cup of soup and a very generic roast beef sandwhich I made myself this morning, there was really no arm twisting involved.

We agreed to meet at Beach Pit BBQ located in Old Town Tustin.  Years ago the location was known as the Tustin Garage, and as the name suggests, was a place for auto and tractor repair.  Its been since retro-fitted and now sports a restauraunt that’s decked out is something akin to Texan and Route 66 decor on the inside.  The menu is a bit limited in choices for they only really serve ribs, pulled pork, sausage, salads, cornbread and sides, but then again, it isn’t meant to be a huge dinner place.

It’s fairly sizeable inside and open.  They have a small bar with a few flat panel televisions that usually are tuned to a sporting events.  It’s basically a beer bar only, with a few domestics in either bottles or cans, but also some craft beers on tap.  Today we both partook in a pint of Karl Strauss amber lager.  I normally would never drink during the work day, and haven’t in many years, but when the boss is away…..Anyway, the lager was very nice and somewhat light tasting with no bitter aftertaste.  It clocks in at 4.2% as well.  For those that are interested, they do indeed serve a standard fare in wine.

My lunch was the special: Grilled cheese sandwhich with pulled pork on Texas toast.  It comes with a side of seasoned fries for $6.95.  It was pretty darn good, and don’t think I didn’t slather on a little spicy BBQ sauce to boot.

Brian had a small platter of ribs, and although they counted five, they were huge.  He only actually ate four.  We also shared a basket of fried dill pickles.  He took the rest home with him with the left over rib.  Now I’ve had better fried dill pickles elsewhere, but these weren’t bad, they were actually just right and hit the spot.  They come served with a side of ranch.

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They have all the traditional BBQ sides, including cole slaw, mac ‘n cheese, baked beans, corn on the cob, potator salad and blueberry cornbread to name a few.  Deserts include ice cream sundae’s and banana pudding.   Additionally they have fried okra bits, sweet potato fries, pulled chicken, and more.

It’s a decent place for lunch with the guys, having a beer after work, or maybe a casual meal with the family.  They have four locations in So. California I’m aware of and its a fine little place.  Now, is it 100% lip licking traditional BBQ?  Not really, there are other venues like Bad to the Bone (SJC) and even Lucille’s I personally think is better, but overall, if you’re looking for a simplistic BBQ experience then Beach Pit is just fine.  I’d give it 3.5/5 stars, and 1/2 of those stars is based on teh decor, otherwise I’d give this place a 3/5.

Holy Kool Aid!

It is widely well known and accepted that billionaire Bruce Wayne began his ascent to the mantle of Gotham City’s vigilante of justice and detective extroidinaire, (aka Batman) after the tragic murder of his parents when he was but a youth.

However, very little is know about Chatsworth, CA’s. own crusader of the night, Clarence Washington.

While enrolled in the liberal studies certificate program at the local community college, part time student and current Papa John’s delivery man, Clarence Washington takes matters into his own hands at night. 

Donning his very own stealth suit (Kobe Bryant’s jersey painted black), and armed with the latest in Radio Shack technology, ‘Blackman’ carves out his own brand of sweet Chuck-D inspired justice nightly (except when there is a delivery to be made or new episodes of Run’s House) and helps keep graffiti artists and unsolicited window washers at bay.

You’re lucky if you can catch a glimpse of this super-tricked out VW and the man behind the crinkled do-it-yourself tint.  However, vigilant observers may catch a glimpse of the Blackmobile frequently parked outside his rented room of his mom’s house in the 300 block of town.