I have been a busy little bug today. I’ve written some java, went to a meeting where I learned all about compilers and debuggers, wrote some javascript and CSS, wrote some e-mails, answered a lot of questions, read an article on how to start MySQL at boot in OS X, found a cool Flash-based search engine, and ate a salad. Yeah, it’s tough being me.
Month: March 2003
AntiBloggies and Old Friends
My pal Dawson and his wife, Annie have joined the blogging ranks! Dawson worked the tech support lines at AOL with me for a while and wrote one of the best tech support knowledge-base tools I’ve ever seen. I don’t even remember what it was called, but I used it to store modem strings for at least a year after he left the company, preciously guarding my archived copy in case something happened to my network drive. He’s a funny guy, and if his wife’s current post is any indication, she’s just as funny.
And the AntiBloggies are back! I sponsored the worst hair category last year. This year, I’m sponsoring the Best Amazon Wishlist category. Why? Because I’d like to see some good ones. Mostly, it looks like people post wishlist links on their blogs as a form of donation. I’ve been tempted to post mine so my family can see it when they’re birthday shopping. But, I usually just e-mail it to them (ok, if you want to see it, it’s here). What’s the prize for winning this category? Duh, it’s something off the winning wishlist (under \$25 – I am not a rich man).
Chili To Make You Smile
As bad as the first batch of chili was, the second was much better. We were all out of veggies, so I couldn’t put my usual green peppers in the new batch. I ended up making very traditional ground beef/kidney bean chili with healthy portions of ground green and red chili my friend brought back from her trip to New Mexico. Instead of green peppers, I added a small can of diced green chilis. It was the best idea ever, I swear. The chili ended up having a nice but not over-powering kick to it and the ground green chili gave it a lovely earthy flavor that gave it a lot of body.
My best idea though is Jen’s fault. If you remember, I took Jen to the Eiffel Tower Cafe for Valentine’s Day. We had the French Onion soup. If you don’t know (and who knows, you might not), the theory behind French Onion soup is you have this big oven-safe bowl, fill it with soup, put a piece of bread on the top, cover the bread in cheese and then bake the bowl until the cheese is nice and toasted. I thought to myself, hey, this could work with chili!! Take a piece of Texas Toast, toast it, drop it on a bowl of chili, cover it in cheddar and jack and pop it in the oven. Heaven, right? Exactly. We had the fam over last night for the grand experiment and it went over like gangbuster. The weak-lipped commented on the spices, but overall enjoyed the experience immensely. It was a lot of fun, and made the chili something other than just plain old chili.
Ewww, What IS That?
I am so embarrassed. I had this great idea for chili – flash fry tiny cubes of steak and pork, then put them in chili. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, I tried it today. I spent three hours standing at the counter, chopping, frying, stirring, mixing and simmering. I just tried it. I think it’s the first chili in the world that can be labeled as biological warfare. Three spoonfuls and my stomach is roiling. It doesn’t taste too bad. It’s a little too spicy. The aftertaste tips it off… there’s something seriously wrong with that stuff. I have no idea what turned it. Maybe I didn’t cook the meat long enough. Maybe one of the veggies was bad. Maybe using those three tablespoons of chili oil in the wok I used to fry up the meat.
Whatever it is, it’s awful. Since my family is coming over tomorrow, I should make a “normal” batch of chili with ground beef tomato sauce, kidney beans etc. I don’t know if I can get over the disappointent.