Evolution of Jalapeno Bacon

From this...

to this...

 

and finally, to this.

I Got Your Bacon Right Here...

I have threatening to do this for about a year and finally...i did it!! Cured for eleven days and applewood smoked for six hours.

Bone Garden Cantina

If you're ever in Atlanta, you must visit Bone Garden Cantina. Great food (even without the fantastic Caramel Habanero ice cream), great drinks (spicy 'ritas) and great service (ask for Dominique). Oh, I almost forgot, the Dia de Los Muertos decor is great!!

Holiday Quaffing

So, rockinaseaofchaos and I were sitting on the patio, smoking (tobacco) pipes and enjoying holiday beverages on a school night. The first bevvie isn't a holiday offering per se, but was perfect. New York's Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout is a craft brewed Imperial Stout brewed with vanilla beans. Dark and delicious and 10% ABV. It's not available in Texas but I brought a bottle back from South Carolina. The second selection was a bottle of Anchor Christmas, an annual offering that is usually not a big deal. The difference is that this bottle was from 2004 and had been tucked away in my garage fridge for seven years. It poured an impressive head and had that great piney aroma the beer is famous for. It was great to see (and taste) that a well crafted beer can thrive after an extended period of rest.

Botan Rice Candy

When I was growing up in Santa Monica CA in the 70's, my family used to go to downtown LA and visit Little Tokyo. It is a Japanese community with a temple, shops and traditional Japanese restaurants. One of the highlights of those visits was going to the Japanese toy stores. They had tons of cars, wind-up robots that shot out sparks and cool origami paper. They also carried Botan Rice Candy.
Botan is a slightly sticky, orange-flavored candy with two wrappers. The outside wrapper is plastic but the inside wrapper is made from clear rice paper. It looks like plastic but dissolves in your mouth. Each box used to come with a tiny plastic toy (like a car or plane) but now come with stickers. During our recent trip to DisneyWorld, my family and I visited the Mitsukoshi Department Store in the Japanese Pavilion at EPCOT. After looking around for a bit, I saw that they had Botan and bought a couple of boxes. The candy was a hit with the girls once they got past the weird texture of the rice paper. They pretty much finished both boxes on the spot. I can get Botan in Austin but it felt a little different buying it at Mitsukoshi.

Just For the Record...

I have NO intention of boycotting tequila.