beer brewing debacle #1

http://jackson-angus.blogspot.com/2009/05/brewhouseharrisducharm.html

Brad's wife Christal stole my thunder and put the story on their blog first. And she spelled my name wrong.

Anyway, read the post in the link and you can see a bunch of grown men with college degrees and professional jobs act like 8 year olds. The blood was mine as a carboy basically exploded in my hands. No stitches or anything, my hand were really pruny (and my blood was likely significantly thinned by the alcohol content) so I did bleed quite a bit. Luckily Brad's wife is a registered nurse so she patched me up quickly so I could get back to work.

Don't be alarmed if you don't know what the hell she is talking about from time to time. She's Austraylyarn, or something like that based on the phonetic spelling of how she pronounces it. They just recently moved back to the US after living in Aussie / Tasmania for about 7 years.

updates and stuff

So, I realize I probably owe some people a bunch of pictures.

Since my last post (the ice one) we've had quite a few adventures and hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get into some details.

In the meantime, I've been to 2 bachelor parties, 3 weddings (participated in 2), still working on the house, and trying to decide what I want to do when I grow up.

My hetero-life mate Brad and I are considering opening a micro-brewery / self-brew establishment here in Fayetteville. Only problem is that we don't know how to brew beer!!! But, we're learning.

Jen is working really hard right now and has over 270 clients, she's my retirement policy.

Last weekend we spent the day on Beaver Lake with our friends that have a really nice 32' party boat. We plan on doing a lot of that this summer and bringing a tan with us when we go to Mexico in August.

Here's a link to my flickr page for some pictures of Dave and Courtney's rehearsal dinner / church and some other random pictures around Eureka Springs plus a whole lot of other pictures of events and friends. If you can't access it I may have to add you because I have the security enabled. Just email me. http://www.flickr.com/photos/26372516@N08/

In the meantime, here's a picture of me (left) the aforementioned Brad (blue shirt) and his brother Matt partying in Matt's ski boat on last Friday, June 19. Yeah, I know, who parties in a boat in a driveway? Well, I guess the answer is obvious plus we were slammed on some Belgian Tripple that we had just finished brewing and the boat has Sirius so we were listening to Hair Nation. Hopefully, I'll be doing some wakeboarding and tubing with Matt / Brad this summer as well. Enjoy!

Working from home. I could get used to this

Pajamas. Unshaven. Unshowered. Laptops X 2, ipod w/ beastie boys-- > High Plains Drifter
gettin' my numberz on dawg.

All this snow weather has me depressed so here's some happier, sunny pictures:

Steel Creek in 2006.


The Clinton Library July of 2007. Hot as balls that day. @100 degrees.



Pops at the "Shablet" (Shack / Cabin / Chalet)


Fishing at Kyle's Landing on the Buffalo, getting my usual luck on this river. CRAP!



Opening day at Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fall 2008. Over 70,000 on hand to watch us squeak by Western Illinois. That's okay, brighter days are ahead in the Bobby Petrino era.



Mmmm, Pat's smoked chicken at the tailgate. He can smoke some mean meat.



Hey Ladies! Courtney, Elizabeth (our very own CA transplant), Jen, and Jenn.


Justin and Dave, locked into a mean game of washers.

What's its all about in the South in the fall. SEC football, tailgates, cold beer, and good friends.



Here you go. Enjoy.

Ice Storm 2009

So, I haven't been exactly diligent in updating the ole' blog but that's just because I'm on a computer all day 5 days a week. As it happens, right now we are in the middle of the biggest ice storm here in a decade and the plant where I work is on day 3 without power so I don't really have anything else going on. Fortunately, Jen and I do have power where we live. Right now in Northwest Arkansas there are over 100,000 homes without electricity. David, Courtney, their 3 dogs, and our friend Sam stayed here last night and we made a big pot of chili and just lazed around.

The top left picture is a view of our street on Tuesday. The picture directly left is about a block away on Wednesday, notice that the streets are actually pretty clear. Up top is our front yard, and our tree that eventually lost about half of its larger branches. We are really sad about that because the ornamental cherries make really pretty flowers in the spring. Hopefully it will survive. What's amazing is that the icing really could have been much worse had the temperature been about 5 degrees colder on Monday & Tuesday.

David and Courtney live right on the edge of one of the historic districts in Fayetteville and their neighborhood suffered extensive damage due to the abundance of really large and beautiful hardwoods (also very old) in the area. I'll try to remember to get some of Courtney's pictures and post them on here as well. They were lucky that their house didn't sustain any damage but Courtney car had limb fall on it and their backyard (about 1/2 acre) looks like a bomb went off.

The below picture is a weeping willow.



One of my neighbor's very pretty oak trees, splintered like twigs.



On the road to Embassy Suites in Rogers where Jen's boss set up a temporary office / living quarters for the firms employees that lost power. Hard to tell in the picture, but every tree is broken in some place or on the ground.



Jen left her briefcase in her trunk and I had to beat the ice off with a hammer handle to get it out.



One more shot a couple blocks away!!!




Bye!

Madeira Chicken: Courtesy of Uncle Mark!!

<--- Marc, in an Ozark Cafe apron no less.

This recipe is awesome. Not for the calorie conscious, come on you losers! Live a little!

Also, if you want off the "auto notification of new post list" just email and I'll consider your request in the order received before summarily denying your right not to be spammed by my stream of consciousness blogging/intarwebz grafitteezz. Ha Ha! I win, you lose!

MADEIRA CHICKEN

3-4 SHALLOTS

1 LB CRIMINI MUSHROOMS

4 LARGE HALF CHICKEN BREASTS

KOSHER SALT

BLACK PEPPER

1.5 CUPS MADEIRA WINE

BUTTER (OR BUTTER AND OLIVE OIL MIX)

HEAVY CREAM (1 PT.)

FRESH PARSLEY

IN A LARGE SKILLET SAUTE FINELY CHOPPED SHALLOTS TILL TRANSLUCENT AND ADD SLICED MUSHROOMS

TAKE CHICKEN BREASTS, CLEAN AND DRY AND PLACE IN FLOUR WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND SHAKE TILL DUSTED.

WHEN MUSHROOMS ARE WELL ALONG ADD CHICKEN BREASTS TO SKILLET AND SAUTE TO BROWN THEM. YOU MAY NEED TO ADD MORE BUTTER OR OIL, KEEP HEAT MEDIUM TO MEDIUM LOW TO KEEP THE CHICKEN FROM STICKING TO THE PAN. WHEN BROWNED ON BOTH SIDES MIXTURE SHOULD BE HOT AND BUBBLY.

NOW POUR IN MADEIRA WINE TO FLAMBE AND IGNITE WITH A BUTANE LIGHTER OR LARGE MATCH BEING CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOURSELF!

WHEN THE FLAME IS OUT ADD YOUR HEAVY CREAM AND ALLOW TO HEAT UP AGAIN.

ALLOW TO REDUCE SLOWLY TO FINISH CHICKEN. TASTE PERIODICALLY AND ADD SALT, PEPPER OR EVEN MORE MADEIRA TO TASTE. ALLOW SAUCE TO THICKEN WITHOUT BREAKING AND IF NECESSARY ADD SOME HALF AND HALF TO EXPAND IF GETTING TO THICK. SAUCE WILL HAVE A SWEET SMOKEY FLAVOR MUCH LIKE THE WINE ITSELF.

WHEN CHICKEN IS DONE ALLOW TO REST BRIEFLY AND SERVE ON EITHER ANGEL HAIR PASTA, RICE OR MASHED POTATOES. SPRINKLE CHOPPED PARSLEY ON TOP BEFORE SERVING.

APARAGUS IS THE PERFECT VEGETABLE FOR THIS MEAL

PARBOIL ASPARAGUS TILL BARELY COOKED, WATCH FOR COLOR CHANGE IN THE WATER AND THEN QUICKLY REMOVE AS IT SHOULD STILL HAVE A CRUNCH TO IT. NOW IN A SAUTE PAN ADD ABOUT A TBLS OR SO OF BUTTER AND MELT. ADD DRAINED PAR-BOILED ASPARAGUS AND SAUTE ON HIGH HEAT BY ROLLING THE ASPARAGUS IN THE MELTED BUTTER, ADD SALT AND BLACK PEPPER AND CONTINUE TO ROLL ASPARAGUS NO MORE THAN ABOUT 45 SECONDS, REMOVE AND SERVE IMMEDIATELY AS A SIDE DISH.

Funny pictures and funny people.

So, what's been going on lately? Que paso...?

Well, Jen and I have been working on the home improvement project that never ends in an effort to sell our house and move. We've already bumped the list date twice and it just seems like we'll never be done. Weekend after weekend of this crap....I've missed so many opportunities to get on the river or lake that I can scarcely keep track of them all. Next summer, I resolve, to be outside every other weekend. Weather permitting.

Resolution 2. I need a scanner, pronto.

Okay, now on to some funny pics of funny people:

We'll start with this picture of Jen from our honeymoon, which, is funny to me because she is trying to back-out of going up in the seaplane in the background for a glacier tour. Sissy. We went, it was cool, the pilots were slightly wacko.















Next:
I have no idea who this is, but he looks like a cool guy to hang out with.















This picture probably deserves a blog entry of its very own, but I'm just glad no one died or went to jail that night. Yes, it is in fact, a chevy cavalier made into a racecar.
















Mitch + Beer = Violence. I'm pretty sure John Nash has an unfinished theorem on the matter. I guess if I had to live in Denver and freeze my "boyz" off 8.5 months a year, I'd be more prone to violence as well.















Mix Master, Mix Faster.
Dave, from Justin and Jenny's wedding reception:















Yeah, get some, I just took a whiz on a civil war battlefield in Missouri.















and STFU about my beer gut or your lawn is next.

The night before my wedding, partying at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs. I don't know how we didn't get kicked out.



The End, for now: