So what do you all think of...

... the new song that's playing in the background on this ole blog?

Don't worry, I won't leave it up too long. I promise, you betcha! *wink*

Some of you may find one of my food recipes tasty: Bananas wrapped in bacon slices with chocolate sauce poured over the top!

I made it. Seriously. It tasted good. Seriously good.

Here's the post from my food blog --which, by the way, is now more popular than the blog you are reading now!


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Bacon Wrapped Bananas with Chocolate Sauce



And doesn't that just sound AWESOMELY delicious? I know it does "it" for me! Seriously, what dish can't be improved by adding bacon?

I got the idea for this from a yoga teacher in New Zealand who has a cool food blog called Couscous & Consciousness. In one of her posts she asked folks about what trio or trios of food combination go well together. One of the ones I mentioned was bacon wrapped chocolate that gets battered and deep-fried. She thought it sounded ok but suggested some with bananas to go along with the bacon and chocolate.

Hence, this beauty of a recipe was born!

I made it last night, we all loved it. And that includes BIL who has a very fussy palate. In fact, he licked the plate clean!

Dingo Dave's Original Bacon Wrapped Bananas with Chocolate sauce with thanks to Couscous & Consciousness for inspiration.

What you need:

For the bananas and bacon:
One banana per person
1 to 3 slices of bacon per banana depending on size of slice

For the chocolate sauce:
175 grams of dark chocolate --that's 6.141592654 or pi+3 ounces
2 heaping tbsp butter
1/3 cup cream
1/4 cup cream port (or regular port, or a sherry variety)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/8 tsp cayenne powder (I usually double or triple this, but that's for when it's just me)

What you do:

Put everything for the chocolate sauce in a small, thick-bottomed saucepan. Your saucepan should now look like this:




Put the saucepan on the lowest heat possible and stir or whisk it while it heats. Make sure nothing sticks to the bottom and that it's well mixed. This should only take a couple of minutes.

Turn the heat off and cover it.

Now to assemble the bacon and bananas. Ummmmmm, this is pretty simple, just wrap the bacon around the bananas. If you need to secure the bacon with toothpicks the go for it.




Then cook them till the bacon is done to your liking. Be gentle when turning them as you don't want to bananas to break apart.




Remove the toothpicks if you used them and liberally ladle the sauce on top!

Notice how I used one dark plate and one light plate so that the color balance in the photo is way off? Yeah, I did that on purpose. Maybe.

And the obligatory closeup:




Use a sharp knife and a fork for eating. Why a sharp knife? So that you don't mush down the banana as you cut a piece.

You'll have lots of leftover sauce, I'm sure you'll think of some use for it.

Oh, next time I'm going to roll the bananas in brown sugar before wrapping the bacon around them!

Love blogging of the ultra hot chili beer tasting! *updated*

I am just about to crack the top of the brew now!

update 12 01 PM It's very well pressurized.


update 1204 pm cracked the top. Huge hiss. Smell of chilis instantly permeated the room!


update 1205 pm Carefully pouring. Very fizzy. No head though. STRONG smell of chili!


update 1206 pm the lager has a very reddish tinge to it.

update 1208 pm first taste! hair tingles. eyes water. tongue shrivels. warmth better than a shot of whiskey wpreads throughout my gut.


update 1210 pm *beeeeeeelllllchhhhhh* Holy crap that's strong stuff! Anyone wanna come down and visit to taste some of my homebrewed chili beers?

update 1212 pm 3 sips and my scalp has the serious chili sweats going on. Wifey-Poo says just a whiff of it hurts her sinuses.


update 1214 pm Just took a large swig of it. I *think* I may be getting used to it. Gotta remember this when it's hot weather. What a great way it'd be to cool off.


update 1217 pm Ok, finished with the first 10 ounce glass... only 20 more ounces to go! Ooooo, tummy just love sit, NOT! Wifey-Poo says that if I make myself sick then she ain't cleaning it up (this time).


update 1219 pm Mmmmmm, nice, warm, tingly feeling in my tummy now. Good brew!


update 1221 pm Did you know that birds do not have receptors that react to capsaicin the way mammals do? Just another way the chili plants spread their seeds; bird poop!


update 1224 pm Everytime I take a swig of the brew, my nose tingles. Gee, wonder why? And just why does it seem so warm in here today?

update 1226 pm For some reason my nose is running. Quick, enter it in a race!


update 1228 pm Why is there a lot of pressure in my ears and why do sounds seem muffled all of a suddn?


update 1230 pm *belch* Ahhh, a tsp of sour cream soothed the boiling cauldron that is my tummy.


update 1234 pm I am now 2/3 of the way through the 750 mil bottle of F*CK*NGLY H*T chili beer.

update 1235 pm Just poured the last third. bubbles are continously rising from the dark depths of the glass.


update 1238 pm Is it any surprise to you that afte Santa visited me down under that THIS happened?


update 1243 pm Why is my face feeling puffy? Was it something I drank?


update 1245 pm Holy CRAP! The last few dregs (them cloudy bits of honebrew) are disgustlingly HOOTTTT!



updat4 1246 pm It's a good thing my tonsils were removed when I was young, otherwise they'd be seared now! And I'm feeling oooooooh so warm and tingly inside!


update4 1248 pm *blech* Ahhhh, me feels much better now.



update 1250 pm One tiny amount left in the glass... it smells like haz-mat. Fortunately, it doesn't taste like haz-mat.


update 1255 pm Done AND done! I certainly don't envy my lower intestine tomorrow morning.

I certainly hope you've enjoyed reading this, I know I enjoyed (sorta) drinking it.


update 108 pm My god... It's full of stars...

Countdown... *updated*

24 minutes and counting till I crack open the last of my chili beers and consume it.

Update: 21 minutes to go. I SWEAR I've seen the chili jiggle and shack in that last bottle...

http://alaskandavedownunder.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-exactly-19-hours-from-right-now.html

Update @ 11:45 am 15 mins to go. Bottle feels good and pressurised. Chili is wriggling nicely. Should be very very potent. I'll keep you posted, no worries.

update @ 11:52 am The scoville heat unit of the chilli I used is around 100,000. It was fresh and I pierced it before adding to the homebrew bottle for it's secondary fermentation. That was 7 months ago.


udate @ 1157 am. No one else in the house seems to give a damn. BIL is facebooking, MIL is watching Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver, the cat is asleep, and Wifey-Poo is writing. Just me and the chillis, I guess.

In exactly 19 hours from RIGHT NOW...

... local Adelaide time, I will be live tweeting and live blogging an event.

Remember this teaser from last post?

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Next up: A teaser.

This coming Friday, July 30th, at noon local Adelaide time I will be live tweeting and live blogging an event. For those of you who have no idea about international time zones, I'll give you some handy times.

If you are in Alaska, the event will occur at 6:30 PM, Thursday July 29th.

If you are on the US East coast, the event time will be 10:30 PM, Thursday July 29th.

If you are in France, it'll be 4:30 AM, Friday July 30th.

If you are in Sydney, check in at noon-thirty on the 30th, no worries.

Beer will be involved. And maybe yoghurt. Probably a toilet.

The event should last no longer than 30 minutes. 45 max.

Any guesses?

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Before I let you know what the Event is I need to tell you that we have a new neighbor. And she's young, nubile and very hot lookin'! So don't tell Wifey-Poo, ok?

The other day she gave me one of those over-the-shoulder-come-hither looks that I'm sure all you cranky old guys are used to getting from young girls. Or is it just me?

Fortunately, I had the camera with me at the time!

Here she is, me new girlyfriend!




Well, I guess Wifey-Poo doesn't have anything to be worried about after all.

Next up: What is The Event!

It involves beer, of course. Specifically, homebrew. More specifically, a homebrew that was made 7 and 1/2 months ago!

Remember this post from mid december 2009?

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Variety is the Spice of Life


Yes, it is. Why would you want to do the same boring, mundane thing every single day and then on the weekends do the same boring, mundane thing that you've done every weekend for the last 20 years?

Do something different! Change something! Spice up your life!

Heck, if I'd been content to drive the same truck every day, punch the same clock, receive a really good paycheck with awesome benefits, ride the bike on the same roads/trails as the previous 1231 weekends, teach the same stuff four times a week in the evenings; well, gosh.

I certainly wouldn't be in Australia if I wanted to do the same thing day in and day out.

And I certainly wouldn't have an outdoor pool. I hear they aren't too common up in Fairbanks for some reason.

And I certainly would still be working!

You owe it to yourself to TRY SOMETHING NEW!

Variety is the SPICE of life. And if you don't like spices in your life then you are probably only popular at a Star Trek Trivial Pursuit convention. Jus' sayin'.

Speaking of spices... I happened upon a couple of really nice chilli peppers the other day.

I have tentatively identified them as a sub-species of Capsicum annuum. I do believe they are the cayenne variety.

These puppies are 20 times hotter than a jalapeno and 10 times hotter than tabasco sauce. However, they are only 1/5th the hotness of the thai peppers I grow (got 9 really awesome thai chilli plants this year). But hey, they are still good.

Lookie here if'ns ya don't beeleave me:




To do what I planned to do with them (GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!), I first needed to snip the stems.

BTW, Mundial kitchen shears are da bomb! Hand crafted in Madrid, doncha know.


And I also needed to pierce them full of holes:






You'll notice I don't wear rubber gloves when handling chillis. It's cus I'm not a wuss. Besides, I've got so many callouses from, ah, um, er, other activities that I don't have to worry about and juice stinging.

But what am I planning on doing with these chillis? Weeeeeeelllllllllll, since you asked...

This is a 750 ml bottle ready for BEER! 750 mls is twice the size of wussie US beers, BTW. These are BIG chillis!

They barely even fit!




One with, one without.

Soon to be both "with".

And after a nice lager has been added to do it's secondary fermentation in the bottle




I'll let you know how they taste in about a week from now.

Hey, take a chance! Ya never know!

******************************************************************

Yes, I have ONE, count it twice, ONE of the chilli beers left. And that beer has been soaking up all the chili heat goodness for a long time now! In fact, just the other day I say the chili twitch and the bottle moved.

Tomorrow at noon I will be opening it and consuming it. And I will tell you all about it LIVE as it happens!

So tune in exactly 19 hours from RIGHT NOW to this blog and to my tweeter account! I'll be updating every few minutes so just click the refresh button to get the latest.

Hallucinations?

Sickness?

Giddiness?

Transcendental experiences?

Finding out if there's an afterlife?

Who knows what'll happen!

Just be here. Friday. July 30th. Noon. Adelaide, South Oz time.

Just How Stupid Am I?

Oh ho! Yes, I heard that collective laugh from way up north all the way down here! Gots good hearing, dontcha know.

So, like, just how stupid am I? Am I stupid enough to ask you (and all the lurkers) for advice? Well, DUH! Of course, silly. Butt the importance of the title of this post with relations to my stupidity is WHAT I will ask you about.

If you have your speakers on, then you'll've probably guessed it may have something to do with a certain fermented beverage that I'm kinda fond of.

Do any of you remember my posts back in December of '09? No Karl, that's 2009. Specifically, the posts relating to my chilli beers.

Here, let me refresh your mammaries...

Just how the heck did I make this toxic brew?

It can be rather tasty.

And just what does it do to you?

And of course I had to invite a kindly old elf of my acquaintance to partake in some before his big night.

Fortunately, he was able to recover in time to make his yearly rounds.

I'm sure by now not only are you wondering why the h*ll I'm bringing this subject up but that you've torn your speakers into little, itty-bitty pieces and buried them alive --Quick! What movie was that line from?

The movie line I'm referring to is the "...should be torn into little, itty-bitty pieces and buried alive..." Wouldn't want to confuse you anymore than I already have. *wink*

So, why am I bringing this up? I'll tell you. Actually, I'll type it and you can read it.

I was doing some housecleaning today *gasp* and I found a full bottle tucked into a corner of the brew room.

It.

Had.

A.

BIG.

Chilli.

In.

It.

That's right! My last bottle of chilli beer. Bottled 6 months ago. With a six inch chilli pepper in it. Bubbling and fermenting away ALL. SUMMER. LONG. Keep in mind it can rather warm down here; in case you didn't know.




My question to you, dear gentle readers, is this: Should I drink it? And if I do drink it should I live-tweet the drinking or should I live-blog the drinking?

Your opinion really does matter to me so please feel free to use the comments to give me your answers, ta.

BTW Wifey-Poo thinks I should use it for stripping paint. I disagree as it'd probably dissolve whatever is under the paint too, also.

When I Make A Pizza...

I REALLY make a PIZZA!

Oh, the song you are listened to is one of them old hippy songs. The title is --you may have guessed this-- Everybody's Making It Big But Me by Dr Hook and the Medicine Show.

If you get tired of it, just have a squizz at the left sidebar and, ummmmm, well, gee, uh, you'll figure it out.

Back to the pizza!

When I make pizza, I make PIZZA.

Deep-dish

Thick-crust

Toppings piled HIGH

I gotta tell ya, I could only eat two (count em, 2) slices and have one (count it, one) beer last night at dinner before I. Was. Stuffed!







And to my interweb bud over in Sydney... Frances; what is your screen size?

How to save $2500 in one year!

Oops, sorry. Now you probably think I'm trying to spam y'all. Nope, I'm not. I (we) actually saved $2500 last year by doing one simple thing:

I started homebrewing! And the household saved $2500 dollars. It's not cus we are a bunch of drunks, but when you each have a beer with dinner and one afterwards... well you'd be amazed at how much it adds up over a year.

Go ahead, try it yourselves.

*ahem*

Next topic: South Oz summer heat!

This from the Bureau of Meteorology today:

Adelaide Forecast
IDS10034
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
South Australia

Adelaide Forecast
Issued at 4:00 pm CDT on Saturday 9 January 2010

Warning Summary
The SES has issued an Extreme Heat Warning for South Australia.
Fire Weather Warning.

Forecast for Saturday evening
Dry and hot. Winds becoming moderate southeasterly during the evening. A
moderate early evening sea breeze.

Precis Clear.

Forecast for Sunday
Dry, very hot and sunny. Light to moderate southeast to northeast winds with a
light afternoon sea breeze.

Precis Dry. Sunny.
City: Min 27 Max 43
Elizabeth: Min 22 Max 43
Mount Barker: Min 17 Max 41
Noarlunga: Min 23 Max 41

UV Alert: 9:10 am to 5:30 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 12 [Extreme]
Fire Danger: Severe [50-74] (Mount Lofty Ranges Fire Ban District)

Monday Windy. Dry. Mostly sunny. Min 30 Max 43

Those 43's mean 110 in the shade officially (they ALWAYS guess low) which means it'll be around 115 to 118 in the shade here at the ole homestead.

Oh, that splashing sound you'll be hearing all weekend? Just guess what it is...

Next topic: No one has even tried!

I put this picture up:


and no one even tried to figure out what kind of critter it is. So I'll now give you a bit more of a hint --in the form of another picture, of course.






Do you know why I like koalas? Do you? It's cus they get to do this all day long:

Can anyone tell me what kind of gum tree s/he is sitting in?

Ishmael asked me about the taste of emu a few weeks back. Sadly, I haven't had a chance to get any... But I did TRY!:


No, I. did. not. do. that! I took the picture back at the end of November and I'm guessing this bloke got this in a fight for fornicatin' rights.

I did, however, find out that an emu drumstick weighs 7 pounds! Mmmmmmmmmmm...

Here's a picture to illustrate just how great my timing is




And here we find a sheila sparrow a helluva lot braver than a certain ADQ'er is:

Goan, ask me how I know she's a she.

These blokes look like they are planning something...



No idea what it could be though...

Variety is the Spice of Life

Yes, it is. Why would you want to do the same boring, mundane thing every single day and then on the weekends do the same boring, mundane thing that you've done every weekend for the last 20 years?

Do something different! Change something! Spice up your life!

Heck, if I'd been content to drive the same truck every day, punch the same clock, receive a really good paycheck with awesome benefits, ride the bike on the same roads/trails as the previous 1231 weekends, teach the same stuff four times a week in the evenings; well, gosh.

I certainly wouldn't be in Australia if I wanted to do the same thing day in and day out.

And I certainly wouldn't have an outdoor pool. I hear they aren't too common up in Fairbanks for some reason.

And I certainly would still be working!

You owe it to yourself to TRY SOMETHING NEW!

Variety is the SPICE of life. And if you don't like spices in your life then you are probably only popular at a Star Trek Trivial Pursuit convention. Jus' sayin'.

Speaking of spices... I happened upon a couple of really nice chilli peppers the other day.

I have tentatively identified them as a sub-species of Capsicum annuum. I do believe they are the cayenne variety.

These puppies are 20 times hotter than a jalapeno and 10 times hotter than tabasco sauce. However, they are only 1/5th the hotness of the thai peppers I grow (got 9 really awesome thai chilli plants this year). But hey, they are still good.

Lookie here if'ns ya don't beeleave me:




To do what I planned to do with them (GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER!), I first needed to snip the stems.

BTW, Mundial kitchen shears are da bomb! Hand crafted in Madrid, doncha know.


And I also needed to pierce them full of holes:






You'll notice I don't wear rubber gloves when handling chillis. It's cus I'm not a wuss. Besides, I've got so many callouses from, ah, um, er, other activities that I don't have to worry about and juice stinging.

But what am I planning on doing with these chillis? Weeeeeeelllllllllll, since you asked...

This is a 750 ml bottle ready for BEER! 750 mls is twice the size of wussie US beers, BTW. These are BIG chillis!

They barely even fit!




One with, one without.

Soon to be both "with".

And after a nice lager has been added to do it's secondary fermentation in the bottle




I'll let you know how they taste in about a week from now.

Hey, take a chance! Ya never know!

Homemade Kangaroo, Venison, Caribou, or Moose Sausages

This sausage was made with roo meat, but any game meat from the title should be very tasty with this. I decided to make it cus we got some venison sausage the other day and the flavour reminded me of reindeer sausage from back in Alaska.

Naturally, I just had to come up with my own seasonings!

Note: This will be appearing on my food blog soon complete with pictures of the process.

I do have to brag a bit though, not only am I two for two for picking stage winners so far in this years' TDF, but I am also an expert koala spotter.

I even have proof! Not only did I spot 10 of them out bushwalking last week, but some were quite distant.

This fella is actually quite a ways away:



Here's how far away:



Does this help you find the bugga?




Then a very pretty lady roo came bounding through the scrub and stopped right next to us.




She didn't stay for long, and I actually got a picture of her bounding away:




Annnnnnnnd that brings us to our recipe today: Dave's Caseless Roo Sausage!

One of the nice things about roo (and most game meat) is that it's very lean. This means that it won't shrink on the barby nor will it drip fat down and flame up and burn itself. Very kind of it, dontcha think?

Here's what you need:

2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1 tsp mustard powder
2 tbsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup port wine
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp powdered sage
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) roo mince (ground roo or any other ground game meat)
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1 food smoker
1 grill


What you do:

Chuck it all into a large bowl --except the smoker and the grill-- and mix it all together. Just squeeze it through your fingers with your hands for a couple of minutes and it'll all be combined nicely.

Form the mix into sausages. Patties or links, your choice.

Put them in the smoker for 30 to 40 mins. Try to keep the heat low and the smoke heavy.

Let them sit on a plate and cool and "age" for a few hours after smoking.

Crank on the grill and cook em!

Very tasty!

My TDF stage winner for tonight's stage 3 is... The Manx Missle.

I Am In Serious Need of HELP!

... although most of you figured that out a loooooooong time ago.

Am I right? Or am I right? Right? Right!

Quick, what movie was the above line from?

The help I need is figuring out some of this newfangled modern slang that even folks only 10 years younger than me are using. No, not down here in Oz. Heck, aussies have been using the same slang for yonks now so they aren't gonna change.

No, I'm talking about y'all in the USofA.

What the heck is Beer Pong? And how come I never heard of it in college? We could seriously party at good ole UAF (stands for U Are F*cked) and I never heard of it. So what is it? What are the rules?

Does anyone still play quarters?

Why play a drinking game anyways? Do you really need an excuse?

What is the deal with the spelling of the word "the" becoming "teh" in certain instances? How is it pronounced? What does it mean? When is it ok to use it?

...

AND YOU KIDS STAY OFF MY LAWN AND OUTTA MY POOL! *grumble, grumble*


Seriously though: what is beer pong and what's with "teh"?

Please help, pretty please?

As a bribe, I'll offer up some cool pics of aussie wildlife! Cus I'm nice.

I'll start with a dog. Not any ole dog, but the biggest dog I've ever seen --and I've seen some huge ones. Saw this bloke when WP and I were down at the Saturday Willunga Market picking up some freshly made venison sausage. I'm sure someone out there knows what kind he is (I know cus I asked the keepers of this beast).




He was also the friendliest, most well behaved, one and a half year old dog I've met.


I'm now very good at koala spotting. My neck doesn't like staring upwards for an hour straight while hiking and my toes, feet, and ankles really want me to watch where I'm walking.



This one is tired out from sleeping all day.

Don't laugh, it's comfy.



And what would a post be without some birdie pics?






Don't see the emus around too much, but these are wild ones.

Oh, dahhhhhling! I just left the salon and don't I look gorgeous? The fluffed, brushed, blond feathers along with the wonderful eye shadow make me look a treat!

I've Upgraded My Tool

Yes, it's true. I had to get a new tool. My old tool was getting droopy and floppy, and it just, well, couldn't get the job done anymore. Besides, I used it for things it just wasn't designed for...

Now don'tch'all goes thinkin' that I'm vain --well, actually, I am but that's not the point-- cuz this was Wifey-Poo's (WP) idea. In fact, she just couldn't walk past the long, gleaming, stainless-steel shaft as we were at "one of those" shops.

Hey, she insisted!

Not only is this new tool stainless steel, but it also has these nifty rubber grips on it so you can handle it deftly. And it's HUGE! This puppy is 471 mm long! Now I realise that one or two of you in the USA have a hard time figuring things out with base ten (like the number of digits on your hands), so I'll go ahead and convert that into a unit you may be familiar with...

My new tool is one-quarter of a fathom long! Yessiree! HUGE! LONG! And studly! Ha!

Obviously, WP insisted we try it as soon as we got home. I can safely say that she absolutely LOVES it! I won't go into details here, but I gotta tell ya that this baby will do ANYTHING. It's even large and stiff enough to open beer bottles!

How many guys can say that they can open beer bottle with their tool and please their woman afterwards? And I ain't talkin' wussy twist-off ones either! Ahem. I'll just gloat some more now!

There is one slight drawback though... I've got to do a bit of clothing alteration. I mean, if this baby flopped out in public I'd be mobbed!

Hey, do you guys wanna see it? Huh? How about it? *wink* *nudge*

I realise that the following pictures may not be work safe, but that sorta depends upon where you work. And if you are blogging from work --which we all know NONE of you would dare do!

Here we go!

CLOSEUP PICS OF DAVE'S AWESOME NEW TOOL!

H
E
R
E

C
O
M
E

T
H
E

P
I
C
T
U
R
E
S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get ready...

Just look at how big and shiny this baby is! Guaranteed to satisfy anyone!

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And just look at the size compared to a whisk and a beer!

That's a 750 ml bottle, not a wussy half-size US beer bottle!


Let's zoom in for a closeup!



And it opens bottles!!!!!




This baby is soooo strong and solid I think I could lift a turkey with it. Although why you'd want to put a turkey on the grill is beyond me... And there's no way this'd fit in a normal grill apron pouch, hence some alterations are needed.

And if anyone is wondering about the beer I was opening, here it is:




PS I've just read the portion of this post BEFORE the pictures and I think that perhaps, just maybe, some of my more perverted readers MAY have gotten the wrong impression of what I was writing about. If you are one of them, then GOOD ON YA MATE!