Latest Entries
Video of Volcanic Eruption Photos Taken From the International Space Station
Video of an animation of the volcano eruption at Sarychev Peak, Kuril Islands, Russia, created from 29 still frames taken by astronauts aboard the ISS:
Weekend of Fire Salsa Contest Finalists Announced and YOUR Chance to Pick the Winner!
As mentioned a few months ago, Jungle Jim's Weekend of Fire Salsa Contest would be underway and eventually be narrowed down to four finalists. Well, the time has come to announce the finalists! Here is one of the contest organizers and fellow chilehead, Buddah, giving all the details:
Weekend of Fire Salsa Contest Winners & a FREE Jar of Salsa to YOU!
This salsa contest started a few months back and now I am proud to announce the final 4 salsas judged to compete at the Weekend of Fire at Jungle Jim's International Market on August 1-2. When I say compete, what I mean is that YOU the chilehead will get to cast your vote to decide the ultimate winner in this competition to be declared the top overall salsa and reap the rewards that come with it. More on the rewards in a moment, but let me explain how YOU get to decide the fate in this salsa challenge.
Anyone going to the Weekend of Fire will get to sample all four salsas. You will have a ballot to vote, and if you mention that you heard it here, you will get a FREE jar of the salsa you vote on as long as supplies last. This is only for the first day, Saturday August 1st, because on Sunday the 2nd, we will announce the winner.
I would like to thank all the wonderful companies who participated in Jungle Jim's 1st Salsa Contest. Not everyone can win, but I found out how many great salsas are out there to be had. As you will see by the winning salsas below, it doesn't matter what region of the country you are in, a good salsa can come from anywhere and be made by anyone. When we do this again next year, we might have even stiffer competition and a lot more salsas to consume. I do not think I have ever had so much salsa in a two month period than for this contest. It was worth it, though. Thanks goes out to Jungle Jim's for letting me organize this for you and to my judges - Scott Roberts, Joe Bowen, and Joe and Linda Levinson - who did an awesome job deciphering who had the best salsa. A special shout-out to Bret Vitek who was the brains in making this possible. Thanks Bwana!
Here are the finalists in no particular order:
- Big Orson's 'Citizen Cajun' Hot Mango Habanero Salsa (Georgia)
- Marco's Not Yet Famous Medium Roasted Vegetable Salsa (Maryland)
- Chuck Evan's Montezuma Brand Smokey Chipotle Lime & Garlic Salsa (Ohio)
- Santa Fe Seasons' Grilled Garden Salsa (New Mexico)
These skilled salsa makers will have 5 cases (60 jars) of salsa purchased from them by Jungle Jim's International Market for the show. The public will decide who wins the grand prize. What is the grand prize you ask?
Review - Cheater 5 Sauces and Salsa
With the amazing and baffling assortment of hot sauces polluting the marketplace, manufacturers must have some unique angle to differentiate yourself from the pack. How 'bout a surfing theme for your company? Well that's exactly what the Cheater 5 Surfin' Salsa Company has done (and according to their website, some of their founders are "extreme sports enthusiasts" who actively participate in "surfing, motocross, skateboarding, wakeboarding, snowboarding, and skiing"). But can their products - which are Shreddin' Serrano Salsa, Killer Caribbean Hot Sauce and Totally Tubular Salsa Taquera - be just as distinctive?
World's Biggest Alarm Clock
Personally, I think this "alarm clock" would get annoying real fast. I would actually have a different use for this.;-)
Sortable Columns Added to the Spicy Food Reviews Page
I've made a minor addition to the Spicy Food Reviews page by adding sortable columns. Now you can sort the reviews either alphabetically or by rating. I hope it makes the page more useful, so please let me know what you think.
Link
India Plans Grenades Made From the World's Hottest Chile Peppers
India is planning to use the bhut jolokia pepper - the world's hottest chile - in a variety of uses. Courtesy of BBC News:
India plans hot chilli grenades
"Indian defence scientists are planning to put one of the world's hottest chilli powders into hand grenades.
They say the devices will be used to control rioters and in counter-insurgency operations.
Researchers say the idea is to replace explosives in small hand grenades with a certain variety of red chilli to immobilise people without killing them..."
Review - Superchile Fire! Salsa
Those who know me well know that I love a big, hearty, chunky salsa. Yeah, I eat and enjoy salsas of nearly every consistency and level of ingredient processing. But when it comes to your good old fashioned Mexican salsa, nothing to me beats a thick, ultra-chunky blend of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. Although they obviously didn't have me personally in mind, Superchile has aimed for people like myself who at the end of the day will eschew the drippy, wimpy salsas in favor of a dense one chock full of fresh veggies. I've given their Fire! Salsa a try, and because of its superb texture and taste, it has since grown on me and become one of my favorite salsas...
Is America Going to Have a Lost Decade like Japan Did in the 1990s?
Reason.tv has put together a short video explaining how Japan went through an economic slump in the 1990s - the "lost decade" - and how America might parallel it by going through with the current stimulus package, which includes massive bailouts of large businesses (something Japan also did in an attempt to jumpstart their economy).
Taco Tweets And Free Taco Bell Treats
Taco Bell to Celebrate Why Pay More™ Menu with National "Taco Tweets" Tour to Reward Fans with Free Food
IRVINE, CALIF., June 22, 2009 – Taco Bell's industry-leading 79, 89 and 99 cent Why Pay More Value Menu is back to kick off a summer of savings for today's cash-strapped customers. Since its debut last year, the Why Pay More menu has provided people with unparalleled taste and selection at an unbeatable price. To celebrate this and remind America that every cent counts, Taco Bell will conduct a road trip as it heads to the midsummer classic, the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game®, feeding fans along the journey from Los Angeles to St. Louis and back...
How to Have an Unsuccessful Blog
Enough with vying for success. I know what you really want deep down - a blog that fails! Who cares about gaining and retaining an audience? That is SO 2008. Being utterly and completely disastrous with your blog endeavors is the new hotness. Follow all of these wonderfully ineffective tips, and no one will care about your site or ever visit it...
Free Chile Pepper Stock Photos
While taking some "stock" photos of hot peppers for various future usage, I thought, "why not share these with everybody?" So I have. Here are 40 free pics of chile peppers in different configurations on a cutting board. Keep in mind that I'm not a professional photographer, so these pepper photos may not be perfect in quality...
WHIPLASH Launches Line Of Hot Sauces
Garden State thrash metal band WHIPLASH have teamed up with From Mild to Wild Hot Sauce Shop to concoct the first-ever thrash metal hot sauce lineup. Three varieties of culinary cachophony are offered by the band: Last Nail In The Coffin, Power and Pain, and Swallow The Slaughter The band proudly proclaims, "This moderate hot sauce should appeal to anyone with taste buds - It's been a favorite of ours for a long time and we're thrilled to be providing it under this label. Get 'em while...
Review - Mossy Bayou Foods Who Dat? Hot Sauce and Bayou Blend Seasoning
Here's a couple of new things in the stable from Mossy Bayou Foods - the bright, pea-green Who Dat? Hot Sauce and the Bayou Blend Seasoning. Are either worthy of your attention? Read on to find out...
Review - Just Simply Good Stuff Seasonings, Part 1
Few things can perk up the "same old same old" like a good seasoning or rub, and one of the top meat enhancers I've used in recent memory is the Just Simply Good Stuff lineup of spice mixes. They were kind enough to send me some seasonings, and in this review I'll cover their Original Rub, Original Rub Smoky Jalapeno, and Smoky Mesquite Salt, which are all terrific in their own right and come with my highest recommendation...
One of My Hidden Talents
I've never been one to toot my own horn (I let others do that for me), but occasionally I'll break that pattern. I am unbeatable at the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. If you don't know what that is, it is where to you attempt to link anyone in Hollywood - living or deceased - to movie (or TV) roles starring Kevin Bacon within six steps. To throw out an example, Viggo Mortensen appeared in the 1998 remake of Psycho with Rance Howard, who in turn starred in Frost/Nixon with our hero, Kevin Bacon. Easy. Two steps. During long car trips I've been known to enthrall my fellow passengers for hours with my knowledge of all things Bacon in playing this game, even without the aid of online tools such as the IMDB.
To help you in your own personal quest in training yourself to be a Kevin Bacon master, here's a list Kevin Bacon movies for you to study. Then one day you may be able to take on me for the ultimate Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon face-off.
Cooking with Dave Dewitt - Traditional New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburgers
The "Pope of Peppers", Dave Dewitt, and writer and editor Gwyneth Doland grill up some delicious-looking cheeseburgers with freshly roasted New Mexico chile peppers. A simple but effective way to get your burgers southwest-style!
Cool Chile Pepper Plant Growth Blog
Since I'm not growing any chile pepper plants this year, I've got to vicariously experience it through others. I'm enjoying a lot of the gardening photos and stories over at The Hot Pepper forums, but one online destination I feel is really noteworthy is the Aji Chombo blog. It's one person's detailed growth journal as they grow several different varieties of peppers. Check it out!
Link: Aji Chombo
More Scoville Scale Updates
I've put up some more Scoville Heat Units ratings for various sauces on the
Scoville Scale. If you know any sauces or chile peppers that are missing from the chart, by all means let me know about them and and I'll get them added. Thanks!
Link: Scoville Scale Chart for Hot Chile Peppers and Hot Sauces.
Red Sox Slugger David Ortiz Introduces Big Papi Line of Hot Sauces
Courtesy of the Boston Globe:
There is a difference among hot sauce fanatics between the tasters and the masochists. For the tasters, hot sauce exists to coax flavor from food and elongate the sensation of taste. The masochists, by contrast, seek to push the limits of tolerance. They're in it for the fix and, of course, the bragging rights.
David Ortiz, the amiable if presently downtrodden Red Sox slugger and self-described "grill-man," is a taster. Inspired by a well-documented affection for spicy Dominican food and backyard barbecues, Ortiz's new line of Louisiana-style hot sauce, Big Papi En Fuego, is for chili connoisseurs (en fuego is Spanish for "on fire"). Now in supermarkets, four preservative-free levels include Original En Fuego, Monster Double En Fuego, Off the Wall Triple En Fuego, and Grand Slam En Fuego, the fieriest...
Bhut Jolokia - World's Hottest Pepper Shirts
For you or the chilehead in your life...Bhut Jolokia t-shirts! Available in two color offerings - 1. black and dark colors, or 2. white, gray, or light blue - these sweet t-shirts will show the world you mean business with the king of the chiles. Each one is slightly different (the white/light color style has a surprise on the back!) but both feature the text "World's Hottest Pepper. 1,000,000+ Scoville Heat Units" underneath a picture of the ghost chili.
Check them out at http://www.cafepress.com/chilepedia.
