Every hot sauce fiend knows the woeful tale of having to pitch out old condiments from their refrigerators. It’s often that they don’t necessarily hate the bottles and jars of hot sauces, salsas, barbecue sauces, dips and other miscellaneous marinades, mustards and moles; it’s just that they’re trying to clear room for newer products, and even sometimes to create space for things like milk, butter and eggs!

My co-horts in spicy fare Brian and Marilyn Meagher have twice blogged about it here and here, and even brought up the topic during our first Bloggers Roundtable audio discussion from 2010. I figured after thinking about diving into this subject matter for months, I would finally make the plunge now.

I estimate that I have anywhere from 30 to 50 bottles of sauce and salsas in my fridge at any given moment. A bunch of these products I use regularly, and others are open because I’m somewhere in the process of reviewing them for my blog, the Hot Sauce Weekly podcast, or for an appearance onThe BBQ Central Radio Show. It’s impossible to include all of these into my regular daily diet. For a few of these it’s difficult to use them because they’re intended for a specific purpose (for instance, an Asian-style sauce that I would only use on sushi – a food I’ll only eat every couple of months). Others, well…I didn’t care for them so much and I’m storing them in the icebox to give away to someone else at a later date.

My refrigerator is cleaned out approximately every two months. Below is what the most recent purging of the condiments has produced:

Here’s an explanation on just a smattering of them:

Intensity Academy Chai Chipotle Chip – Both me and my son Kevin had our own bottles of this unique ketchup. Nice taste, but Kevin didn’t go through his bottle fast enough as he is moody and picky when it comes to ketchup (he’s more of a mustard fan).

The Hippy Seed Company Yellow 7 Turkey Slap Sauce – for a super-hot sauce, this Australian-made elixir passed the muster, yet it simply got passed over for other sauces more often than not.

Louisiana Brand Original Wing and Mustard Wing Sauces – Sub-par chicken coaters. I tried ‘em once and never took them out of the icebox again until now.

Legends Smokey Bourbon BBQ Sauce – somehow it got pushed back in the dark, dank crevices of my fridge and I didn’t re-discover it until it had gotten old.

Tom’s Roid Rippin’ Tapestry Hot Sauce – I love this sauce! The reason I’m getting rid of this old bottle is because I’ve twice gotten fresher, newer sauces from Tom, including a slightly re-formulated version of Tapestry at the Second Annual Pepper at the Beach that I liked even more than this original edition.

Peppahead Brand Devil’s Dew Red Savina Hot Sauce – Larry Noggle has produced some fine stuff in the past, but this wasn’t one of them.

Island Girl Marinade and Pepper Sauces – way too tart for my palette. A girl I dated this past Winter had these bottles in her refrigerator for a while. I should have let her keep them.

The Cleaned-Out Fridge

Here is my refrigerator in all it’s cleaned-out and re-organized glory. Of course I’ve historically kept the majority of my condiments in the door…

…they always seen to spread to the inner shelves…

Pictured are the top two shelves. Milk, juice, tea, and fresh fruits & veggies are below the bottom of the photo. You might notice the enormous amount of Taco Bell sauce packets in the little drawer; Kevin loves to use many of these nasty little buggers whenever we have ANY type of Mexican for dinner.

What’s next? To clean out the kitchen cupboards and spice racks to reduce the number of seasonings, rubs and mixes I have…

What about you?

Do you suffer from the same hot sauce addiction that I do? Has the sheer amount of sauces taken over the inside of your refrigerator? Has your spouse thought about or actually bought you a second place to keep your sauces? Comment below and let us know!

Read more of Scott’s coverage of the fiery foods and BBQ world at ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Who’s in control of your life? If not you, then who? Does control of your life belong to you? The previous questions, hopefully, caused you to question ownership of your life. Most likely you realize that even though it sometimes doesn’t seem like it, YOU are in control of your life.

If you still say to yourself that you aren’t in control of your life, then you have given the control to others. Why would you give control to others? Perhaps you didn’t give it away, but instead, it was taken from you. Or, maybe you were afraid of the responsibility you must assume in order to have control. It’s possible you were just perplexed over what to do with the power.

I know I haven’t come close to listing all of the reasons why a person might give-up control of her/his life. Sometimes, a person is just overwhelmed and allows someone else to take control. Another interesting way in which we can lose control of our lives is by giving too much of our time to others. If that happens, we end up with no time for our own lives. And, consider how many give-up control of their own life by following the dream of another. I was once told by a fellow teacher, who had been teaching for twenty years, that he didn’t like teaching and only became a teacher because his parents wanted him to.

No matter what the reason for your feelings regarding not having control over your life, ultimately, you are responsible for being “in control” of your life. If you think the mortgage company is in control, then you have sacrificed controlling your life for controlling your “stuff.” For example, if you buy cars, houses, entertainment, etc. that are more than you can afford, then paying the bills takes control of you life. Or, you might sacrifice your time to the point where your life is no longer yours. Ultimately, control of your life is yours to “give away.”

Perhaps, you are thinking about other lives while doing some creative thinking regarding their control. Maybe you’ve come up with some examples where you’re confident the people in them don’t have a choice regarding who controls their lives. For example, who controls a prisoner’s life. Well, a prisoner is controlled by the penal system. But, what part of the prisoner is controlled? Are the prisoner’s thoughts, choices, decisions, etc. controlled by the penal system? Generally, no! Excluding a few exceptions, prisoners have control over their lives – they just don’t have as much freedom as most who aren’t prisoners.

To read more about “who’s in control of your life?” please click here…

The last several weeks, while working on a variety of projects that are simply taking up a lot of “sit-in-front-of-monitor-and-type” time, I’ve been listening to the growing collection of music from a gone-too-soon musician and vocalist named Stevie Ray Vaughan. There’s something about his music that speaks to dedication, hard work, and creativity that just fuels me, not unlike a bunch of the other music that graces my studio each week. One question still remains, and after a significant Internet search I have to ask – who hates Stevie Ray Vaughan and why?

I’ve found posts that include all of the words included above, but – save one post on a blog that details Stevie as “extremely overrated” in fact, let’s share his detailed posting and you make the call on validity yourself:

I know a lot of you guitar bangers will hate me for saying this but, SRV was extremely overrated. His music is incredibly overplayed. His solo tunes sound very trivial, stock and not particularly visceral (at least as far as blues/rock is concerned) either. Sorry, I honestly feel this way. I was sick of hearing his stuff on the radio 15 years ago and I just don’t think he was all that great. Okay, so he could rip through a Hendrix tune live and was a virtuoso musician and all of that. Virtuoso guitarists are a dime a dozen, that didn’t necessarily make the guy a great songwriter in the first place and in my humble opinion he definitely wasn’t. He might have turned into one later on, but his music just doesn’t do it for me. He sounded and looked like some smarmy walking cliche from Texas trying to convince everybody that he was so authentic, that he really had it in him and was pouring his soul out and all of that. This while he was probably in some dark dressing room backstage shooting black tar heroin into his veins. Please. If I want to hear real blues I will put on some Muddy Waters.

Now several things about this comment allow me to pick on it but “virtuoso guitarists are a dime a dozen?” His later reference to doing black tar heroin – well – I know that it takes a better man than I to quit drugs and alcohol when surrounded by them daily in an industry that is STILL full of dead heroes, singers and the like.

My point isn’t to make a hero of Stevie, but to showcase that while he’s enabled many people to pick up a guitar (or in my daughter’s case, her Toy Story Pan Flute) and start playing, or infuse an afternoon of non-stop work to get a series of projects done, Stevie Ray Vaughan provides zeal that was taken way too soon – and I want to know why you hate it.

So here’s your Internet-based opportunity Stevie Ray Vaughan Haters Wordwide. Let’s hear (and please do include something in the way of salient detail, otherwise you’re just as reckless as our friend “Guitar Virtuosos for a Dime” above. Why do you hate Stevie Ray Vaughan?

While you’re hating, thinking and typing, enjoy (or fuel your seething grind with) this interview with the focal point of your deep-rooted hatred.

An interview with Stevie Ray Vaughan in The UK

My favorite cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Life By the Drop”

My Favorite (great entrepreneur no less) Guitar Instructor providing the Demo push of “Life by the Drop”

How on EARTH is it February already? January has come and gone and things-a-plenty are quickly springing to action here at The 2GuysTalking Podcast Network!

- A New Sponsor/Partner Relationship: StreetScape Magazine: There can be no denying that video is coming a real and heavy player in the game of all-things-Internet. StreetScape Magazine hasn’t just been providing an interesting, eye-catching physical magazine, they’ve also launched StreetScape Television. It’s a true mosaic for historic St. Charles and St. Louis business that is a true up-and-comer. Something that we’ve been talking about for a long time here at 2GuysTalking, has been the inclusion of more video to help bridge the gap, and bring even more great  content to our existing listener base – with another great bonus – the inclusion of our (now 3rd) video-based podcast on the network. It’s something that’s going to really be a step-up to grow not only our own digital footprint, but to make a ramp to StreetScape’s video output via our network. They’ll be an outstanding sponsor for us this season and provide us with connections, details and more content so that everyone wins.

- Our Newsletter: Our “It’s Already Christmas” Contest provided us the ability to get true, salient results and netted 17 listeners great feature film Blu-ray/DVD combos and (one of you – Gwen from North Bergen, NY) $100 cash! What we also got out of it was 1800+ people interested in receiving our new 2GuysTalking Podcast Network Newsletter, that provides salient details about everything we’ve got going on here at 2GuysTalking. Are you interested in receiving it? Be sure to check out our contact page at The 2GuysTalking Podcast website and let us know that you’re interested! It’s the perfect way to get your weekly update and status fix on all-things 2GuysTalking!

- 3 Great New Podcasts: One of the most exciting pieces of 2GuysTalking is the diversity exhibited inside the listing of podcasts. From Entertainment, to Songwriting, to Politics of All Kinds – it’s all been there. We’re incredibly proud to announce the inclusion of 3 new podcasts that will truly take the diversity element at 2GuysTalking to the next level. First up is: The Black Tribbles Podcast. The Black Tribbles Podcast – not so strangely – features geeks – BLACK geeks, specifically from Pennsylvania, and bring a whole new niche flavor and audience to the land of 2GuysTalking. Check out their complete, and growing archive of programs that are available at their always-growing archive page over at The 2GuysTalking Website now. Our second new podcast is something that we concepted about a year ago, and got Sprint’s RelayMo to sponsor – called The Interpreter ToolBox Podcast – which is a true fusion of New Media, Sign Language, Business Experience and Life. The Interpreter ToolBox Podcast is also a tether to our newest sponsor mentioned above – StreetScape Magazine/Television, and will have a regularly-occurring segment there as well. While the components are a truly rare mix, the final result crosses and bridges cultures, shares stores and conveys the captured perspective that is truly original. Check out the previous editions of The Interpreter ToolBox Podcast online now and contact them to get YOUR business, organization or effort featured today! Our third and final new program coming mid-February is the inclusion of the evolution of STREETScape Magazine – as it exits it’s digital cocoon and becomes StreetScape TV – which will officially be the 4th video podcast (The Travel Planner Podcast, The Firecast with Scott Roberts, The Interpreter ToolBox Podcast) appearing on The 2GuysTalking Podcast Network. Video is all the rage, and – along with our own Interpreter ToolBox Podcast (and sister segment inside the actually StreetScape TV segments), we’re continually growing video at 2GuysTalking into something large, ever-present and as always one-of-a-kind.

And so 2012 launches with one of the largest, most innovative BANGS in 2GuysTalking history! Tell us YOUR thoughts about the programming we have planned and look for even more, larger, trailblazing projects from the land of 2GuysTalking at 2012 continues!

Just like the hot sauce field, and perhaps even more so, barbecue sauces number in the tens of thousands and can be baffling to sort through. Everyone from food conglomerates to chefs to backyard grillers to competition teams have thrown down the metaphorical gauntlets and offer their own product for home consumption.

The subject of this review comes from a BBQ competition team that calls themselves Rooftop Barbeque. As their website explains, “[Our name] comes from the book of Acts, in chapter 10. Peter, the apostle, was sitting on a rooftop while people were cooking dinner below him. He fell asleep and saw a vision in his dreams with a large sheet coming down from heaven filled with all kinds of unclean animals.

And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

So now we can eat pork… mmmm, pork.”

I love it! Now I’m going to tell you if I love their product, Rooftop BBQ Sauce, as well….

Ingredients:
Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Brown Sugar, Molasses, Sugar, Mustard (Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt, Turmeric, Xanthan Gum), Butter (Sweet Cream, Natural Flavoring), Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Dehydrated Garlic, Honey, Chipotle Powder, Cider Vinegar, Dehydrated Onion, Vanilla, Spices, Natural Flavoring

Aroma:
4.5 out of 5. Sweet and sparsely tangy.

Appearance and Texture:
5 out of 5. A beautiful brown tint. What’s even more admirable about Rooftop BBQ Competition Style Sauce is that it’s the perfect consistency to me – dense and sticky – before it’s cooked and caramelized on the surface of the meat. A good many of you grillers and smokers tolerate and even love thinner sauces, claiming that it will thicken up upon prolonged contact with heat (sort of true), but give me something with extra heft and stickiness! Rooftop BBQ passes with flying colors in this department.

Taste Straight Up:
5 out of 5. A rich and sweet coalescence of tomatoes, brown sugar, molasses and onions are what I’m able to detect immediately. There is a lot of complexity at play, thanks to the mustard, honey, garlic and vanilla. I only felt a moderate teasing of smokiness yet the heat from the chipotles was quite noticeable.

Out of any regional comparisons, this may be a cross between a Kansas City-style sauce and a meat topper from Texas – bold, sweet, a wee bit o’ tang, and peppery.

Taste on Food:
5 out of 5. I decided to try this out on a batch of grilled chicken, applying a generous coating of Rooftop BBQ Sauce to each side. Dear Lord, this was bone suckin’ good! Even my two boys, who at times (as kids can be) are pickier and hard-to-please as all get out, loved this stuff! When a product gets rave reviews from both children and those who prefer bolder, spicier, more complex tastes like myself, you know a sauce maker has hit paydirt!

Next up was a rack of St. Louis-style spare ribs, previously rubbed down in a bit of Fat Kid Sauces BBQ Goodness Rub and smoked over apple wood chips. Flat out amazing! My taste buds were dancing with glee so much that although my stomach eventually got full, my mouth wanted to eat another 10 ribs.

Rooftop BBQ Sauce would be good on anything: hot dogs, brisket, burgers, smoked sausage, meatballs, as a dip for chicken tenders, and even…yes…steak! If you desire an all-purpose sauce that’s also beautifully rich and full of flavor, you couldn’t find any sauce better than this.

Heat:
2 out of 5. A lick of this and you’ll agree that Rooftop BBQ Competition Style Sauce does pack some substantial, slow burn. Maybe it’s not enough flamage for hardcore chileheads looking to set their tongues ablaze, but if you like a touch of spice this would be perfect for you. The heat does dissipate a lot when applied to food.

Label:
5 out of 5. Great graphics here! This would really catch my attention if it were sitting on a grocery store shelf. What’s gimmicky but still cool about is that the actual paper label is cut to the shape of the wood slats adorning the background image.

Overall Rating:

Just a scant few months ago, I applauded Draper’s BBQ Smokin’ Sauce as being very close to BBQ heaven, and at the time had become my favorite new ‘que sauce of the year. While Draper’s is still fantastic and worthy of your hard-earned food dollars, Rooftop BBQ has measurably surpassed it.

Obtain your own slice of BBQ paradise by dashing over to the Rooftop BBQ website and picking up a generous 20 oz. bottle or three for $7.00 a piece plus shipping. This brilliantly formulated sauce comes with my highest recommendation.

Read more of Scott’s coverage of the fiery foods and BBQ world at ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Which franchise is better – Star Wars by George Lucas or Star Trek by Gene Rodenberry?  Not only does the GalaxyCast team try to answer the question, but so do Carrie Fisher and William Shatner.  Shatner and Fisher have been “barbing” each other over the topic for months now.  This time we get in our “jabs”.  Then we  discuss an episode of “The Clone Wars” titled Slaves of the Republic.  Join the GalaxyCast crew as Bob, Gary, Dan and David review Episode 12 of Season 4 of “The Clone Wars”.  Listen to Episode #74 of the GalaxyCast!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!

Well, now that the excitement and freshness of the New Year has worn off a little, reality sinks in…we’re still in the middle of winter. With daily temperatures in the 20′s and 30′s, just a quick walk outside will remind you of that. Throw in a cloudy day and a stiff breeze (think wind chill factor) and it really hits home.

As a child I always liked winter. Snow days to make snowmen and snow angels, plus the added bonus of no school if there was enough of the white stuff. I remember playing outside in the frigid cold of Ohio for hours, and not coming inside until my lips turned blue or my gloves got wet, unless I had to go to the bathroom. Winter was fun! Having snowball fights with the neighbors and building snow forts was what winter was all about.

The past few years living in St. Louis, I’ve noticed that we don’t seem to get as much snow as we used to. Not that I mind that much. Oh sure, I would like to see some for the kids to play in and experience, but now that I am an “adult”, snow means traffic jams and scraping ice off windshields. If I am not on a ski slope somewhere, I really don’t want to see much snow. Another thing I’ve noticed about getting older is my tolerance of the cold. It used to be I could handle any temperature. I survived the Blizzard of ’76 in Toledo, Ohio and remember sub-zero temps for weeks, along with 3 feet of snow and snow drifts as tall as our 2 story house.

Now if it’s below 32 degrees I make a dash for the safety of my car and the blast of heat from my dashboard (which can’t come fast enough). In addition, I now must confess that I sleep with my socks on in the winter to keep my feet warm! Back in the day, it was my boxers and nothing else. What has happened? Has my skin gotten thinner? I have gained many pounds since high school so you would think that my extra padding would help in this area but it doesn’t seem to. I guess this is one of the mystery’s of life. Oh well, time to get another cup of coffee…I wonder how many days until spring training begins?

Abraham Lincoln wrote: ”Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Can we make up our minds to be happy? Is it only a simple decision I make that results in me being happy?

Let’s try this idea of becoming happy by deciding to be happy. As I wrote the previous sentence, I was unhappy. As I write this sentence, I’m still unhappy. But, I haven’t consciously made up my mind, yet, to be happy!

Before “I make up my mind to be happy,” let’s first consider what making up my mind means. The title of this post uses the word decide instead of making up my mind. From my point of view, “making up my mind” and “deciding” are synonymous. With that in mind, let’s now see if I can decide to be happy.

OK, I have now declared in my mind that I want to be happy. My mind is made up, I’m now happy. The decision has been reached that I am happy!

Am I happy? Well, yes, I do feel happy. At least, I feel much happier than I did when I started writing this. Why? Is my happiness simply the result of being able to only think one thought at a time? Perhaps! I think an unhappy thought and I’m unhappy; I think a happy thought and I’m happy. Wow, that sounds soooo… simple!

To read more about happiness and personal decision, please click here…

I get a kick out of when old standbys get a new lease on life. Just last month, I discovered a new company called Born to Hula Hot Sauces begetting a promising line of condiments that while they offered something with their own spin, they still retained the classic flavor profiles of sauces you already know and love.

Gringo Valley carries that spirit with their Original 10 Pepper Salsa, a complex coalescing of various chiles (ten, hence the name) that form the base for what deep down is a reliable and utilitarian salsa. This Ohio outfit prides themselves in not only producing a delicious food item, but also one that is gluten-free, contains all-natural ingredients, and has no additives or preservatives.

Ingredients:
Roma tomatoes, banana peppers, spanish onions, tomato paste, yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, orange bell, green bell, jalapeno, anaheim, cherry peppers, fresno chili peppers, cayenne, habanero, distilled vinegar, salt, garlic, parsley, spices

Aroma:
3.5 out of 5. Really nice and inviting, with a luxurious blend of chile peppers, tomatoes and a hint of onions.

Appearance and Texture:
5 out of 5. Incredible! THIS is how I love my salsa textured: thick, generously hefty, delightfully chunky, but not containing ingredients that are too large in size. It pours magnificently, scoops up easily with a chip and clings to food without having a watery mess dribble down the sides of your meal onto your plate.

The 10 peppers in this salsa – Orange Bell, Red Bell, Yellow Bell, Green Bell, Anaheim, Banana, Jalapeno, Cherry, Red Chili, Cayenne and Habanero (wait – isn’t that 11?) – provide a multitude of gorgeous colors that make this mouth-watering to gaze upon.

Taste Straight Up:
4 out of 5. There’s nothing that will shock or surprise you. Gringo Valley Original 10 Pepper Salsa is a consummate condiment and dip that is traditional and classic. Fresh tomato flavor abounds here. This possesses a wide-ranging palette of juicy chile peppers that’s hard to pinpoint from bite to bite, with soft, supporting roles from onions, garlic and spices. One chomp might expose some more pungent chiles while others feature sweeter, coolers peppers. The roller coaster taste and heat isn’t all that drastic, though. It’s still relatively consistent, but be forewarned that depending on the amount of salsa you scoop up, the level of fire can change.

Although this next point should not be misconstrued as a negative in any way, I’m not sure what Gringo Valley sees in including the high number of peppers that it does in this salsa mixture. I wonder if they would be able to accomplish the same taste with a fewer number of chiles? (As a side note, Gringo Valley also makes a 7 Pepper Mild Salsa.) Well, as long as the end result is a good one (and it definitely is in this case, in my opinion), then Gringo Valley could use 20 chile peppers if they wanted to.

Taste On Food:
4.5 out of 5. Gringo Valley really shines with a simple bag of tortilla chips. If you don’t expect anything exotic or life-changing out of this, it’s hard to find a better all-purpose, basic salsa with which to munch on for a game-time snack. If you’re like me, you’ll plow through a half a jar in no time.

For breakfast I often I love to fry up diced potatoes top perfection and top it with shredded cheese. To add some pepper-induced flavor and spice, I’ll spoon on generous portions of salsa or a thick hot sauce. This time out a coated my meal with a heavy dose of 10 Pepper Salsa. I’d be hard pressed to find a better pepper and tomato mix to go with my plate of potatoes. I scarfed it down and wanted more.

Heat:
This packs considerable burn for a “generic” salsa, registering at a 2 or 2.5 out of 5. Translated, this would be mildly warm for chileheads or spicy for heat-seeking newbies.

Label:
3 out of 5. Not bad, with a large photo of several dozen peppers laid out on a table. I would have preferred that the brand name and the name of the salsa be a bit larger and more prominent.

Overall Rating

Both the the Original 10 Pepper Salsa and the Mild 7 Pepper Salsa can be obtained at the Gringo Valley website.

Read more of Scott’s coverage of the fiery foods and BBQ world at ScottRobertsWeb.com.

Were you excited about the release of Knights of the Old Republic?  Not sure if you should buy the game and need more info?  The GalaxyCast team will give you the info you need so you can make an educated decision on this game!  Then we  discuss an episode of “The Clone Wars” titled Kidnapped.  Join the GalaxyCast crew as Bob, Gary, Dan and David review Episode 11 of Season 4 of “The Clone Wars”.  Listen to Episode #73 of the GalaxyCast!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!