From the mouth of Kevin Stewart

Bubba Stew's BBQ Chicken-n-Tater Soup

2012-01-29T20:46:00.004-07:00

Twern't no pictures taken so if'n ya cant read, call in your best storyteller and sit a spell.

Needed a soup for for the church business meeting. Here's what i did.

First i started with some chicken broth ( about half gal) from another cook a while ago that involved boiled chicken... to that i added half an onion, chopped, and half a bag of baby carrots chopped up a lil bit. We had one of them rotisserie chickens from the grocery sto, so the carcass from that went in to give it smore chicken flavor.

That all cooked up for a good long while with some coarse ground pepper, sea salt, granulated garlic at a low boil. I then strained out all the chunks.

Next i finished seperating the good chunks of meat from the bone and put them back into the strained chicken juice along with the UNCOOKED half onion, and the rest of the UNCOOKED bag of carrots, both chopped.

then i prepped the chicken up, with a simple brine half n half sugar and kosher salt in enough water to cover the new chicken ( about 5 chicken breasts) let that set for a few hours, you could let it go over night, but this is all i had.

Now about an hour or so maybe two... i like to get the potatoes in the mix, this thickens the soup a bit too as they cook and let out their starches, simply peel, and chunk them up into manageable sizes and you are golden.

The chicken goes on the (for me) Weber 22.5" kettle, with about 3/4 full chimney of coals, with a good amount of wood, i wanted a nice HOT smoke on this one, i didnt even temp the fire, just let it get hot, and cook indirect. The wood was a mix of a few different woods, Hickory, California Pepper tree, and a lil bit of apple. The apple went in the chimney of coals the CPT went on the coal grate, (under the coals when dumped out) and the hickory went on top.

As the fire heats up, it's time to get the chix ready for the fire. First ya gotta rinse off the brine, dont need any extra stuff cept the rub that you may choose. that done, pat the birdboobies dry, and install the rub, today it was simply OLD BAY RUB, which is old bay seasoning's foray into the rub world, seems to have a lil more brown sugar than the regular OLD BAY SEASONING. the stuff is good, it works! i actually use it in the Turkey brine recipe that i used a few times this winter.

With the fire ready and the soup almost at a boil again, it's time to get the chicken on, across from the fire, as to cook indirectly, it cooks till it's done.

Chopped up the chicken after it finished, and throw it in the soup, let it cook a lil bit longer, and BAM!! Done, Eat it up!!

It went well with the corn bread Crystal made, and we only brought back 1/3 of it from church, so they musta liked it a lil bit. With that, i'll let ya get to bed, or get cookin, or whatever it is you might do after.

OUT

BubbaStew's BBQ Chickn Wangs

2012-01-02T11:21:00.000-07:00

BubbaStew's BBQ Chickn Wangs

bag o drummets
your fave hot sauce
bouta stick o butter
Patio Daddio's ultimate Turkey brine < < < check out that link GOOOOD STUFF
brown and white ( or natural) sugars

litta bitta orange juice

FIRST!!! ya gotta soak the bird wangs in the brine over night if ya can you might not need to... but i do, that's why i used the electrons to tell ya about it. rinse em off , dry em off (important!!) and coat em in a lil bitta oil, canola oil is what i chose. this will help crisp the skin a bit. do all this afore ya throw em on the weber which should be set up indirect ready to cook bout 350ISH... it's bbq... not the over will NOT be exact, and doesnt need to be.

They went on at 9 and by 930 they

were at 170, time to asauce em up!!

For that i went with roughly a stick of butter UNSALTED a bottle yep the whole thing of the roasted garlic Lousiana pictured, then added a spoon of "natural" sugar, and a spoon of brown sugar, then added a shot of orange juice... let it do it's thing right quick, then added a tsp of flour... then more... and a lil more after that to get it to thicken like i wanted it. let it come to a boil and again let it do it's thang til i had somethin else to do.

sauced wangs, nothing special here toss in the sauce...

BUT then!! i wanted to try for a lil crunch.. so i sprankled some flour on the wangs, and tossed again to thicken it smore...
then back out on the Weber. let em cook fer bout 10 min i reckon, then i tossed again in the sauce, and boy these things smell good!!

these things are nice, they are not that punch in the face spicy that some wings turn out to be, thanks to the sugar added, but rather they'll judo chop you in the throat "lightly". So you still get to taste all the flavor of the chicken, and the complexity of the brine and of course the heat-n-sweet of the wang sauce, with a nice undertone of hickory smokey goodness.

Do yourself a favor, next time you are lookin for wangs skip the premade junk and make your own junk, it might not be better for you, but it'll taste better, i guarantee!

OUT

I've changed my mind...i can do that, it's mine to change

2011-12-30T23:57:00.002-07:00

Sun setting behind the Mimosa

In the last post, i mentioned Grimaldi's as my fave pizza ever....scratch that....like this...~~.fave pizza ever Grimaldi's~~ ....instead of Grimaldi's being my fave, a new local place just opened up. It's been a long time since i mentioned it... PIZZERIA MIMOSA is finally opened, and it is a breath of fresh air, culinarily speaking of course. Fresh, Authentic Neapolitan Pizza, just what this lil town of ours needed, and very welcomed by me and mine.

This story really starts Thursday night, opening night. Now i am one that believes that no matter what.... ya just dont go to a new place on it's first night.... there are bound to be hiccups, but with PM, i felt something different, i wanted to be there opening night, BUT

I wasnt disappointed that i couldnt get a pizza first time out, a lil snafu with a dough shortage (because of a HUGE takeout, and in restaurant demand) led me on to the Gnocchi, which had a fabulous texture, and an extraordinary Gorgonzola cream sauce, as if that wasn't good enough, there's smoked proscuitto and roasted mushrooms, and a bit of arugula.

That came after the salad i got which was simply called a P.L.T. (Pancetta Lettuce Tomato) Using a nice Butter Leaf lettuce, and exceptional croutons... and by exceptional i mean they werent so stinkin hard that they slice your gums to shreds when you eat them, and they werent so soft that they were like bread... these are gooood croutons. < this guy talks a lot about croutons < hey... i like croutons..

Vanilla Gelato

Panna Cotta

Dessert time was next and (again) after a hugely busy night all that was left were two desserts... the Vanilla Gelato, and the Panna Cotta the table chose both, and both were excellent. The Panna Cotta which is a cooked cream dessert with a fresh berry/syrup topping, complemented the dinner nicely, and the berries and cream were delicious together. The vanilla gelato, was superb, smooth and creamy, a great way to finish off a great meal.

A great first night for me was made even better with great service by our waitress Katie..( hope i spelled your name right if you read this < lemme know if i didnt > ) and the ever helpful busboy Nelson!

Great First Night Pizzeria Mimosa

Pizzeria Mimosa Entrance

Now that you are caught up from yesterday lets take a trip inside Pizzera Mimosa. There is a small ...i'd call it a wine shop.... google translate tells me that's ENOTECA in ole Italia. Here there is a fine ( im guessing i dont partake in the alcoholic drink action) selection of italian wines, and spirits, as well as imported pastas and even the flour that they make the pizzas with! Gordon runs this side of the house and was very informative with any questions i had.

Gordon in his domain.

The "wine shop" as I call it....or Enoteca, as it is referred to in ole Italia.

Tonight pizza was on my radar. I was in it to win it, and boy did i ever. I start my new pizza quest with the simplest pizza on the menu at any pizza place. Here it is the Margherita pizza. Which was named for queen Margherita of Italy back in the day served to her in resemblance of the Italian flag, with it's simple Tomato, Sliced Mozzarella, and basil.

Margherita Pizza

mmmmmpizza!

enjoying her pizza Jené dislikes photos...

While i went the simple route Sister Jene got the Eliseo and thoroughly enjoyed it. everyone else got a Margherita with pepperoni and leftovers were scarce. So after cleaning our plates we decided to get dessert since the table next to us twisted our arms into it.... by simply ordering it.... what is it... IT is Pizzeria Mimosa's Nutella Pizza.... there was no time to get a photo of the awesome power of this dessert but imagine a pizza crust covered in nutella, a scoop of vanilla gelato with a dusting of cocoa powder, and sliced almonds... there was 6 of us... that's how many you need for this dessert pizza...dont get it for yourself... that's just fat... share it fatty, the goodness that is the nutella pizza!

I'll leave you tonight with this....i dont know for sure... but i think that this is the only place in town that you'll see this. This is the only place in town that you will get a wood fired pizza made in the traditional way, in this beautiful of a setting. I cannot wait til the spring time and summer as the days get longer sitting outside on the back porch soaking in the gorgeous Huachuca Mountain views that make Pizzeria Mimosa's location so spectacular. I can only imagine that over the next few months that the pizzas will get THAT much better as the oven seasons in with the thousands of pizzas that should flow in and out it's fiery mouth. As the cook staff get the swing of each other and the demand that we will place on them it will get even better. Next time you are craving a pizza, do yourself a favor... skip pizza hut, drive past peter piper, and get out to hereford ( really it's only like 10 min drive) and see what quality tastes like.

I suppose that i should point you in a direction to travel in order to get yourself some of this goodness!! so here you go!

520 378 0022

Pizzeria Mimosa

4755 E. Neapolitan Way, Hereford, AZ

View Larger Map

OUT

Our aniversary, and our culinary adventures

2011-12-19T17:37:00.004-07:00

This weekend was our 7th wedding anniversary, so we headed to the BIG city, Scottsdale. Why Scottsdale?? why not i say... i mean it is close to enemy territory that is the Sun Devils turf, but we'd be fine not sporting any UA colors, and we were. Really though it's our lil get away, we both enjoy getting out of town, and i LOVE visiting big cities. Their architecture, the mix of new and old that old town centers often bring ( in newer big cities). The whole of the Phoenix area has an awesome concept of outdoor malls goin that i think are top notch. That's why we go, a big part is the shopping, finishing up christmas shopping and whatnot, it's a good time for us both.

This time i wanted to try a new restaurant each time we went out. To steer clear of the Chili's and applebees, Mcdonalds and Burger Kings....and we did. for me it was all good... for her.... hit and miss...

Corn Bread from Bandera....

( obtained against the rules as cell phones arent allowed)

We started our journey at Bandera which has some awesome cornbread, with a loverly ( yes i meant to type loverly) southwest zing in it with peppers mixed in, and an awesome sweet crust on top, served in a cast iron pan that it was baked in... get that when you go... and you will go ( my jedi powers are making you want to go right now) Crystal..... hated it.... she then picked the simplest thing on the menu so that it wouldnt offend her.....plain palate... but it did anyways... a chicken ceasar salad....was too... mayonaisey.. (to her i had same salad w/o chicken with my tritip) i thought it was fantastic, and fresh. On to my Tritip... i've only had it a few times... it's not huge out here like it is over there on the left coast... but oh man do i wish it was... It was juicy and flavorful....and meaty! just the way i like my...meat. we also tried the banana cream pie, it was pleasantly fresh with a nice mix of crunch and squishy puddingy feel. I plan to be back at some point...Crystal... not so much.

EXPENSIVE!!!!

Next day...when was it....Saturday ^^^^that was friday^^^^ lunch time we hit up BRIO which seemed to us to be a nice mix of what would happen if Olive Garden, and Cheesecake Factory decided to hookup, and get knocked up.
It was good, nothing hugely impressive, but i had a nice lobster bisque. and crystal partook of their lasagna, which she hugely enjoyed better than olive garden's offerings.

Less Expensive than lastnight!

Grimaldi's Coal Fired (Brick Oven) Pizza

Best pizza i've had EVER

On the way to Bandera on friday... we passed something that i could not pass up... crystal saw Grimaldi's... i saw COAL FIRED PIZZA!!!! i love brickoven pizza!! so this was set in stone to be dinner for saturday night...and boy was it fantastic. Coal... you know the stuff that they use to power steam locomotives, and give much of the country electricity, also cooks a mean pizza!! They offer one style... NY Thincrust. we had pepperoni on half and just cheese on the other. they use nice ...( i call whole) mozz, that is sliced rounds, instead of shredded mozz. which i think gives it a nice texture, and flavor, with the cheese overpowering the sauce, and dough. Their sauce, was pleasantly sweet, but not so that sweetness is all that is there, it was just enough to tone down the acidity of the maters, with a nice season blend touching all the notes on my tongue.

Cheapest Meal of the Trip!!

That's it for the good stuff in Scottsdale... the next mornin we went for a goodole redneck breakfast at cracker barrel... nuff said there... and a friend thought he'd offer me some advice stating that i didnt need this many plates at and one meal....

... but if they'd just use bigger effin plates.... then there would be no dilemma...im just sayin... crystal had to get her game in.... she's BOSS at this game!

We ended our weekend in Tucson, and from the advice of another friend we tried Culvers

Which...again...we in AZ have been sooo sheltered from these outer worldly burger joints. First In-n-Out invaded from california ( thank goodness!!!) and now this place comes storming in from the midwest!! It's about time!!! that's all i've gotta say bout that... It's about time!! Frozen custard... awesome stuff, Butter-Burgers.... the beezneez!!

for tonight i will leave you in your puddle of drool, to think about what i did this weekend, hope that your's was as memorable as mine.

OUT

Turkey Brine

2011-11-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Hey Yall, Bubba here

I know i know it's a bit late for a heads up yall should have already done this, but maybe you can use this goodness for Christmas dinner... eh well here goes..

In my quest for extreme BBQ goodness i wanted to smoke turkey for TG ( that's thanksgiving yall) but knowing the physics of the this and that of the physical nature of smoke and fire, heat and air movement. The need for a brine is top of the list on top of need for high heat for crispy goodness on the skin level.

I turned to one of the BBQ Buddies from the Brethren PatioDaddio aka John Dawson, and his Ultimate Thanksgiving Turkey Brine. I recommend checking it out, and using his recipe.

I followed it to the Tee, then twisted it ( for AZ at the end).

First of all ya gotta let the bird defrost. ya dont want no chunks blockin where flavor can git in, then ya make sure to get the neck and giblets outta there, them's good eatin after ya boil em up, i like the hearts and gizzards myself.

head over to your local grocery store, or walmart, dairy queen or bakery someplace that does large amounts of food stuff in large buckets, them's food safe, not a good idear to use that orange homedepot bucket...no good...

warsh it out, then throw a capfulla bleach with a bucket of water to kill off all the lil baddies!!

buckets DONE!!

next up is the brine finally, John's list is here (with my thoughtful changes in bold)

Ingredients
1 1/2 gal Ice water (lots of ice)
1/2 gal Hot tap water ( bout 1/3 of my big pot is what i did)
2 cups Dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups Kosher salt
1/4 cup Old Bay seasoning (available in most grocery stores) ( i goofed and got Old Bay Seasoning Rub had a bit of extra brown sugar)
1 tsp Chinese five spice (Asian section of most grocery stores -- I like the Sun Luck brand)
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 oranges
Extra ice as needed
( about 1TBSP Chipotle Powder)

See i didnt change much i just didnt try to measure out the water, then i had to add a bit of spice to the mix, this is Arizona after all.

Now here's what ya do with all that stuff.
Simply heat up the water in the pot to a boil, then stir in all the dry stuff, til the sugar and salt are mostly dissolved, and ready yourself for some good smells in your nostrils!! Squeeze your lemons and oranges into the mix. Then i added the ice straight to the pot and let it get cold while i plopped the turkey into the clean bucket. then pour the mixture into the bucket with the turkey, and get all the good stuff in there, add a bit of water to the pan and swish it around to get the stuff in there. Top with smore ice, and make sure that bird is covered good!

I did this with both turkeys, then i put them in my cooler, to soak for the night. You really want to be careful here, and keep that bird cold, below 41 i like even colder so i put ice around the buckets in the cooler as well. Dont need anyone food poisoned.

the next day these birds hit the smoker to get good! Rub the skin down with some canola oil and Cook em about 350 ish for nice n crispy skin and they should cook ( depending on your bird) in 5-7 hours. Here's where things got sketchy for me, I had to make an emergency BIL save in Yuma, AZ about an hour after these birds hit the smoke, so the timing wasnt exact and neither was the temp. but i'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Overall i can say that this WILL be my Brine of choice at least the base brine from which i modify for individual tastes. I could have added more Chipotle powder, but the flavor was fantastic, i added no additional salt or pepper, and the leftovers were simply awesome, i've never had leftovers that were as good as this turkey was.

OUT

WW

2011-11-23T20:56:00.001-07:00

im bummed...yeah again

2011-11-19T22:17:00.001-07:00

This time it's nothing to do with work or other such drama in my life ( that's still there no doubt). Rather i tried to go and put together another movie... and Wham i was blindsided with my editing program has been deleted... imovie is gone! so now i've gotta come up with another way of editing... that's my bummer...

There might be a round about way for me to get FCP but have gotta look into that, i'll leave that for another day though...

OUT

wordless wednesday!

2011-11-16T19:08:00.001-07:00

2011-11-11T20:44:00.001-07:00

All of my BBQ buddies have inspired me in someway or another. Some cases it's their realization of the American Dream by goin' into the Que biz, ( like i wanna), and other's it's their unique ability to ALWAYS cook up great grub...(except tofu) some of em even just rub (seemingly) everyone the wrong way, but in that raw almost vulgar way i get what he's putting down, i dig what he's shoveling. so here's a thanks to my BBQ inspirers without further ado, my take on Porkbutt!! OUT

wordless Blackgun mod

2011-11-09T19:31:00.002-07:00

Right,

so here i am, thinking that i am missing out on something. nothing huge, nothing uber important, but it's missing.

I used to have "what's cookin' wednesdays" that got to be tough with family schedules and the like, but i can do this "wordless wednesday" thing that is, ( and has been doin for a while now) so after this lil blurb it will be wordless... except for the signature OUT.... so just let that slide will ya?!

OUT

Pork Tenderloin: My Way

2011-10-23T14:03:00.002-07:00

Today is Sunday... which is generally set for goin out to lunch after church, but comma today i didnt wanna go out... i wanted somethin different

so my thought was pork tenderloin, my way!

started with a just under 5 lb tenderloin. and veggies and herbs outta my garden ( i love that thing!!)

Put some of the herbs, oregano, basil and parsley with some olive oil in the bottom of a aluminum pan then deveined, and seeded a single jalepeno. then diced it teeny tiny to spread the spicy love

then did the same with green bell peppers, sliced them thin and dropped them in pan, next player on deck is my friend garlic.

Peeled, and squashed about 5 cloves of garlic, then laid out on the meat where i wanted em, made garlic sized slits in the meat and pushed em in trying to center the garlic, in the meat.

After a light seasoning with a lil season salt, course pepper, italian seasoning ( grinder) and just a lil more course sea salt, on top of the bed of greens stuff the t-loin went with smore of my fresh herbs on top.into the fridge over night then the morning came. it was time to start the fire, this is where i get serious.

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER use lighter fluid...for your charcoal needs... i mean really in the long run, a chimney starter will #1 save you money #2 NOT MAKE YOUR FOOD TASTE LIKE CRAP!!!!! go buy one instead of the 6 dollar bottle of lighter fluid... i mean really c'mon...

anyways now that Mr. Rant is done, simply take paper towel and soak with veggie oil, ( or you can just use a decent amount of newspaper, and stick it under the chimney.

Then simply light, and come back in the same amount of time it would take for your precious lighter fluid to "burn" off.... seriously dude... GET A CHIMNEY!!!! 9AM i threw the pork on UNCOVERED for the first hour @ 250deg (for now) then the cover went on, but not before my extra bit of love in the form of the contents of a full can of coke.

After returning from church @ 12...ish ( so if you are keeping track that's 3 hours) off comes the pork, the temp was at 200 ish, OMG you say, pork tenderloin is ruined at that temp... from what i had read i hesitated thinking this might be... but zero stress level, i knew what to do.

As the foil came off, i was greeted to a steamy love scene of porky goodness in a bath of sweet savory coca-cola and other porky juice. i removed it from the bath and put it in a robe of aluminum foil and wrapped in a towel to rest, while i fixed the rest of the meal. Starting with fried corn, which is simply chopped bacon, in a frying pan til it's crispy, then put the frozen corn in to do it's thing, S&P to taste. The juices from the roast simply went into a pot to simmer down a bit, adding a bit of cornstarch to thicken it up a bit for a nice sauce.

there were mashed taters too, but if you dunno how to make mashed taters... i cant help you... you'll need a professional.

OUT

PPPPPHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEWWWWWW

2011-10-10T11:05:00.000-07:00

That was a long weekend, busy weekend, mind screwing, rewarding weekend. ( that's alotta emotions for one weekend!!)

This was the ~~inaug~~...first weekend for BubbaStew BBQ to do aything, and it was... AWESOME.

Friday i had a cook for the teachers at the First Baptist Church Christian Academy. Brisket, porkbutt, coleslaw, Bubba's BBQ Beans, and Bubba's twist on cornbread. and from the look of the leftovers, they all loved it!

lesson learned here however was that starting earlier than needed, is indeed a good plan of action. i started at 8 pm, the shindig was to kick off at noon.... almost didnt make time because the meat just didnt not want to come up to temp.. but all was good in the end...

Rule#1: START EARLY!!!

Next up of the two gigs for Sunday was my ma's shindig. Brisket, porkbutt, and a couple chickens. I learned from the last cook ( thur/fri) to start early. Rule 1 was in effect, shindig was at noon, so i decided to get the meat on at 2 pm. Off I went meat on, on time.

Everything came out top notch with ma's cook, spatchcocked the chicken ( i cut out the spine, and remove the ribs so that the chicken lays flat on the grate, cooks even and quickly, and i think it looks cool when served this way)

Rule #2: Foil is your friend, not a crutch

The Final chapter in the story is the Church's shindig for 160+ people at the park. 3 big briskets, 4 decent porkbutts, and 25 lbs of chicken both white and dark meat. Again following R1 ( that's rule 1 from here on out in The Bubba Chronicles) i started early, the shindig was to start at 4pm, so i thought 5 pm would be a good time to get the meat on and it was so. The smokers filled to the brink with ma's shindig meat and the church's meat, they smoked along beautifully, i went to bed at 12, and thinking i'd need to check on it i set the alarm for 4pm... checked it all, and all was well, shoulda stayed sleepin!!

Made it to the park ( after scrambling around for all my serving supplies) and served up the 'Que ( to my AZ readers when bubba says Que, that isnt "que" as in the spanish "what" it is barbe'QUE) and hardly any leftovers, chicken was left over that's it.

Rule #3: Organization is CRITICAL!!!
i really need to work on a system for this, and an easy transport solution for it.

All in all this was a very very rewarding weekend. I hope to get a call soon, so i can do it again!!!

OUT

2011-10-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

it's been a minit, since i updated you on life, so i wont bother, that's a long story, but howwa bout the weekend, it's only saturday right but that's ok. what've i been doin ( quit thinkin that what've isnt a word and catch up) i've been BBQin like a mutha!!!

Thursday brisket and pulled pork went on for a lunch at The Academy. then in the morning had to cook up cornbread, beans coleslaw and chicken... farkin chicken.... but everything went off, and food got scarfed!! happy customers, happy me!!!

then a "day off" after the drop off on friday, crys an i headed up to sign up at sams club, so i can get meat!! yyyuuuummmm mmmmeat! then we continued shopping blahdy blahdy blahdy. dinner at in and out good finish to the day..... when we got back to SV...

then we get to today where i again started prepping meat, albeit MUCH MUCH earlier than thurs... due to technical difficulties that i learned on fri morn, i decided to start earlier to reduce headache.

so im cookin, watchin the news, and with these smokers, i'll be able to sleep which i'll appreciate very greatly!! i like sleep!!

OUT

Sappenin yall

2011-09-25T22:18:00.001-07:00

Sunday was the day, it was a long day. It was a good day. not much was done, but after church went to lunch, and had a very decent lunch at the mall from .....that one place... with the teriyaki goodness, ( the name has escaped me) but it was good, normally i get the T-chicken this time i branched out for some beef and shrimp :O shrimp at a mall!!! you must be crazy!! no just adventurous, thank you very much.

so i waited for the freshly cooked T-beef, and shrimp ( with mushrooms no less) rice and noodles( in lieu of veggies) watchin' the skilled chef chop, scoop, flavor, all the food. picked up my order slathered on the Rooster sauce, get some, it's nice stuff!!! picked up my chopsticks.... ( cuz im authentic when i eat oriental food.... it's something i have done since i learned to use them... i NEVER (or almost never) use a fork or spoon when enjoying, it seems wrong to, so chopsticks is the way to go!! (Learn to use them!!!)

after that i wanted to show off my spoils ( that motorcycle in the bed of my truck STILL) to Cuzin jeff, he's a freak when it comes to bikes! ( in a good way) but alas he wasnt around, so i went to hang out with the lil sis, and ended helpin her clean up tha g-rents house. They'll be back next week from a summer in Minnesota.

Then it was dinner time and we decided to hit up the OG for some italian....ish food in the form of fett alfredo for me, and sketti and deadcow sauce for her. I dont care that it's not the best in the world, it's pretty decent, and at the very end, it does what most food does... so it's purpose is served.

with that, came home to the wifey who was watching the newest jeff dunham ( funny ish) that's where this story ends....

OUT

2011-09-24T21:35:00.001-07:00

Today was a LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGG effin day, but dont read that as a bad day. Started the morning by picking up, a new toy to learn to work on. It's rough.. but it was free, and will let me explore a different type of mechanicals in my brain. It's a ~~76 CB750~~ (a little numbers research turns out that it's a 79 CB750K) that's a Honda. First order of business is to get it running.

Next i helped a buddy from ( old ) work move up to tucson, then met up with the family ( who went up there to do some shoppin and whatnots) but i hadnt received my sustenance from the lunchtime time period, so on my way to northside, i decided that i make good on a promise to myself that i'd hit up Pat's for some chili dog action. So i did!!!

4've em, thats how many i do, but before you get all health crazy on me.... i didnt get any fries, and no soda either... so totally worth it ;). Two hot, and two mild is my norm and if you go do yourself a favor and do the same, it was a lil more than 6 bux, for THE BEST chili dogs in Tucson.

HERE ARE THE GOODS

So next time you are in Tucson town, get off I 10 @ speedway and head west to Grande, turn left til you see Pat's ( @ niagra if you wanna go by street names) you wont regret it!!!

then we were off to Costco, so we could get some bulk necessities, like muffins, and croissants, a 100 lb roll of aluminum foil ( alright not that heavy but it's HUGE) that's for the BBQ, i dunno what else we got cuz my brain is fried, you know from that long day i told you about at the beginning... anywhoo....

OUT

well that went well

2011-09-20T19:41:00.002-07:00

Three comments, minus one from me, two comments on that little exercise, so i'll stay away from serious stuff i spose...

here's a throw out question maybe one of ya might know, what is a good vid cam that shoots in 1080, with the possibility of shooting 30 fps 60 fps, or even faster??

that's what i be lookin for, whether it be a Canon SLR that can record ( cuz i hear that they are hot ish for video) or a dedicated video camera. so if ya know, vvv--pop a comment below--vvv

as you may ( or probably dont care to know) i've gotta Youtube channel that i want to take to the next level, i have been able to step up a lil bit with different POVs with the GoPro, but sound out of the lil guy is lacking due to it being in it's protective case, ( not that i will sideline GoPro for a bigger camera, but wont be my primary recording method like now) but i've been keeping up with a couple very interesting Youtubers that have set a bar for me ( not personally, i'd just like to meet their quality output)

So a camera is my next investment. Followed by a computer of my own, i've got that one picked out so no worries there.... except payin for it ;)

well with that said head over to my channel and check it out for heaven's sake, and comment, or maybe even subscribe. it's worth it, if not anything else you can find something else interesting.

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a little excercise

2011-09-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

HA gotcha you thought i meant the physical kind huh... no not me... but an exercise... in futility probably as all 10 of you who read this probably wont respond but here goes.

What is important to you?

The easy goto answer would be first God and all He's brought into my life. In that my family is the top tier of importance, keeping them in the loop of important life goings on, ( or at least trying) and ( again) trying to be a part of the family's life... i think that i may have been lacking....or so it seems in the years before this one as im actively trying to engage in family life this year.

What's your passion??

Do your passion and what is important to you conflict each other or mesh pretty well??

Please do me a favor and answer, im trying to be engaging here!!!

OUT

It is what it is...

2011-09-16T17:38:00.001-07:00

Oh what it would be to be an animal, everything there truly is black and white... no not colors, but issues, there is no gray area, there is only what is and what isnt. There is no halfway anything, it's all or nothing, all instinct.

There is either love, or there isnt, there is no backstabbing, there is no behind your back BS talk, oh what it would be to be an animal.

Animals dont need approval from their friends or family to be who they are ( that's what i like most about them) the are who they are and they do what they do, cuz that's how they are.

i strive to get back to a more black and white society... no not segregation.... that is horrid, but where there are clear lines drawn at good and bad, moral and not.

i believe what has gone wrong in the world, and relationships are the gray areas. lines have been blurred so much that no one really knows what side is what anymore. right and wrong is more of an opinion, and if you have the opposing opinion you are a bad person...an immoral, prejudice buttwipe...

so i dont know where this all came from but like the title it is what it is, and i think if we'd all step back and clear our eyes we could get back to black and white, right and wrong, good and evil, ying and yang...so on.

OUT

rain rain rain!!!

2011-09-09T21:48:00.001-07:00

it's about time we got a nice rain, since about 2pm it's been rainin decent. it's 930 now and it's still comin down, this should make a nice dent in our rain deficiency.

other than that, not much has been goin on, except the explosion of pain in my mouth. All caused by a bad tooth, but here's to the medicine im takin to knock out the infection just long enough for the dental ins to come into effect, and i can get a perm fix.

i've also branched out onto the twitter, mostly to secure my name for BubbaStewBBQ <<<<<< click there if ya wanna follow me and watch me be a twit. But mostly it's going to be a great (i think) Free advertising avenue, i'll be able to tell people where i'll be, when i'll be there how long i'll be where ever i'll be, and what i'll have with me. and i've also been makin more videos over on my youtube channel too so check it out if ya would and drop me a line, lemme know how/ if you even do like what you see there, check it here >>>>
YOUTUBE CHECK IT OUT!!!!!
OUT

PLINK

2011-09-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Plink plink plink, well actually more like a bangpling bang plink bang plink, oh the sound of bullet hitting steel is such a rewarding noise. up til now however i've been limited to paper which sounds like bang.......nothing... no rewarding sound, and if it's a decent ways away, ya cant really see what youve done til ya get up there to change out the target.

with steel however, you hear every hit with of course a resounding PLINK!! yesterday i got up the gumption to go and get some FREE scrap steel and went to hardware store and picked up 20 bux worth of rebar, and i went to town buildin away.

i hope to get out and try this thing out soon, it's mainly a pistol target, i'd really need armor steel (AR500 or somethin of the like) for rifles but that costs bookoo bux...that i dont have ya know being unemployed and junk.

i made it portable, in that it comes apart in total of 8 parts, 5 targets and 3 peices of support structure. so if i had to i think i could load into a car to get out to a range to shoot. all of the targets are free swinging, this will help distribute the force and let the plates last a lil longer, and also it gives an added element to shooting, being that shooting a moving target is just that much harder.

with out further ado, my new target(s)

OUT

look what i did, look what i did

2011-08-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

is how i felt yesterday. the last year or so i have com to the realization that it could be relatively possible for me to need to know how to survive, outside of the norm... i havent become a tinfoil hat wearin wackjob or nuthin, not huge conspiracy out to get ME per say. Just a basic need for survivability on my part.

I have been very interested in the Survival shows on the likes of the travel channel, or was it discovery... maybe the science channel... either way, Dual Survival, Man vs Wild, Survivorman, man woman wild ( in that order) have been very interesting to me in all of this.

across the board # 1 usually boils down to water DUH, living out here in the desert, it's a no brainer. next is generally fire, or food, depending i guess on the situation. sometime ya need fire to cook the food, so there's no point getting said food w/o the fire.

i have wanted to learn to make "primitive fire" since the last time i played around with it when i was a boyscout, after watching these shows i got a kind of importance kick that i NEEDED to. i think it will be a last ditch, as if i go out i'll take a lighter with and/or matches in some kinda kit... but what if both get destroyed? i think it would be good to have a "primative fire" kit as well. that's what i set out to do yesterday.

Stuff around the house that i can pack up for this primative fire kit are goin to include

Dryer lint fantastic kindling, takes a spark like and fires right up

fine 0000 steel wool same as above, but also can ignight by shorting across battery

9 v battery see above

small pine shavings not necessarily shavings, but a lil bigger than toothpicks pine or some other type of tree that has heavy resin type sap is important as when it heats up the resin, it basically creates turpentine which is nice and flammable. i want to include these in the kit because sometimes ya just cant find a good wood to take a decent flame and fire up, once these things take that flame they will usually burn long and hot enough to dry out OTHER woods ( where ever you may be) for them to take the flame.

Fire Steel i've got a magnesium block/fire steel combo peice, the idea being that you shave some of the magnesium into your tinder bundle and throw the sparks into it igniting the magnesium which burns incredibly hot setting the tinder into a blaze.

Largish Fixed blade knife i like a fixed blade for the lack of failure no springs to break, etc, also a nice sturdy knife will allow you to hammer and ax your wood that you may be able to find into manageable peices along with of course the killing of food, defending ones self, chopping up food, and of course starting the fire.

i did the first fire and it took a good 20 min to get goin...trial and error i could have gotten it done in a minute with a lighter did you not read any of the above... keep your questions til the end! now where was i? 20 min, but it got goin then i transfered it to my firepit, which i had built a wood stack to transfer the lil fire to , and that also took off. success!!!

the second fire went up in 10 min, and i learned that i need to adjust my lint so the outside doesnt just burn off, once it takes off, it needs more air so i gave it just that, also note that i didnt just use lint as my tinder bundle, there is also a mimosa tree in the yard, and the old dead flowers on it are fantastically dry, and some dry grass.

my knife sheath has a built in pocket for it's sharpening stone, and it's JUUUUUUSSSTTTT big enough for me to shove in my fire starter block, so i'll always have the two together.

it was a fun experience, and i'll keep up the practice it's something handy to keep around if nothing does hit the fan.

OUT

6000 pictures.... ooops i forgot the camera was on!!!

2011-08-21T19:24:00.001-07:00

Chicken Enchiladas our way

2011-08-20T15:09:00.001-07:00

the recipe has been around a while in our family, and it's because it's not got an ounce of fail in it anywhere, it's simply the definition of AWESOMENESS, in a casserole dish.

Here's the players....plus chicken of course and onions.

first ya gotta start with the chicken, a 3 lb bag of the frozen stuff works just about perfectly, add more or less to fit your meaty desire ( i like more) that cooks til done in the oven, ( or i have also SUCCESSFULLY also smoked the chicken to give it another level of AWESOMENESS) then ya shred it chop it what ever ya gotta do to get it down to small manageable pieces. we use ~~a fork~~ two forks to accomplish the shredding.

whilst the chix are cookin, here's your chance to chop up the green onions, two bunches are what i used from the store... i imagine about 6 in each bunch, so a dozen green onions will be your friend, and i use most of the onion, well into the green part.

after the chix are done cookin, and you've torn the flesh to pieces, it's time to mix up all the players, i like to start with the onions, cuz i can that's why then the green chilis both cans all of it juice and all, i mix it together by hand. next i break out a spoon, make sure it's a sturdy one, cuz this stuff is THICK with AWESOMENESS. empty both cans of cream of chicken in and mix it up good, then the sour cream, same thing i used almost all of the ... Medium sized tub of it, i like it creamy!!
Next is cheese... and LOTS OF IT!! put that in the bowl and mix everything one last time till it's all good n junk.

should look kinda like this

Now are you ready for the speed class cuz here it comes.... throw some glop in the bottom of the casserole dish and smear it around ( this helps to prevent the sticking) then heat up your corn CORN holy crap for all that is holy USE CORN TORTILLAS!!!! we used to use hot oil to dip the tortillas in, ( to soften em up and junk) but we use the Nuker now, it's faster, and healthier as well but mostly cuz it's faster...and no oil burns...and it's faster.throw em in between some kitchen towels and usually 40 seconds on about 10 tortillas works good. where was i.... heat up the tortillas, fill 'em with glop and roll em, stuff as many as you can in the dish, and start fillin the next one.... cuz you'll have plenty to do a couple dishes, and dont try to cut the recipe down... it's not worth it, you WILL want this awesomeness, and you WILL want it ALLLLLL. after they are all stuffed in there and stuff, take a bunch of the mix and slather all over the top, i like to fill in all the gaps and make it all smooth with the filling.

throw it in the oven @350 foiled, i go about half hour or so til the middle is hot and the sides are well bubbling, remove the foil and CHEESE it, the more the merrier. then throw it back in WITHOUT the foil, til the cheese is all melty, once it gets there, take it out and let it cool while ya set the table.... heed my warning here, if you wanna be a boyscout, and prepare the table first... you better be prepared to spray burn ointment on you tongue which has now fallen off due to the extreme heat emitted from the cheesy goodness... let it cool...or else..

Enjoy, you wont be disappointed, and there are many variations i have done and all have been accepted and enjoyed.

here's the Reader's Digest version:

about 3 lbs chcken
24 oz tub of sour cream
2 lil cans of green chili
2 lil cans of cream of chicken soup
2 lbs of shredded cheese seperate out enough to cover 2 casserole dishes worth of goodness
about a dozen green onions, ( two bunches from the store)
CORN CORN CORN tortillas, ( thirty pack works good)

cook chicken ( oven it or smoke it, grill it even it's all good), shred chicken, mix all ingredients ( except tortillas). oven at 350. glop casserole dish to prevent sticking, stuff tortillas, glop over the top of tortillas, foil and oven for half hour, remove foil, cheese the top of enchiladas, re install in the oven, til cheese melts. COOL for your mouths sake please cool. and enjoy.

OUT

Thursday is farmer's market day

2011-08-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

so i went, and i enjoyed, and i partook of the market. got some bread from the bread guy, who also passed off some of his grapes to me, which were nice, couldnt tell ya what kind they were, but they were good.

Then i hit up the mesquite flour lady... if you havent tried it, mesquite ( peruvian to be specific) flour is .... interesting... it's like nothing i have ever tried before...but very familiar tastes... hints of ginger... then it rolls back a lil bit and there's a cinnamon tint to the flavor, along with a certain nuttyness, im gonna experiment throwin some in a rub and see what i can come up with i think it would be good on ribs. if ya wanna small sample leave me a comment, or email me ( follow the "VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE" link over there >>>>>>>>>

so i got bread, mesquite flour, and hummingbird feeders... you didnt tell us about hummingbird feeders!!!??? you're right i didnt, yet.. jeeze you are impatient. right, you remember that "lil" fire we had a few months back well seems a big H-Bird feeder making company called down to see what the dealeo was on the H-Bird's habitat was, and of course torched, so to help out the H-birds they sent out 25000 bux worth of feeders and nectar to help keep them on their feet...the birds that is... so i got a couple, and already them savage lil birds are gulping down the sugary goodness, entertaining me for hours at a time watching them dogfight each other protecting their territory... good times.

that was about it for my day, it ended with a nice chicken noodle soup that i made for dinner tonight, a nice simple meal, Chicken, carrots, Celery, red taters ( outta my garden no less) and noodles. the obligatory Sea salt and coarse ground black pepper, quarter of an onion ( again from my garden) and oh i dunno bout 4-6 cloves of garlic. all in one pot, all in all best Chicken noodle soup i have ever made.

OUT

WTF did i Go??

2011-08-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

dudes and dudettes... all 5 of you, i am failing at keeping up with the blog... shame on me... but being laid off.... there's nothing to tell you about.... AT ALL!!! i've been playin' with the gopro a bunch and i hope to get out and shoot some ~~film~~ electrons (digital camera DUH!!!) and bullets... but when...and with who... EVERYBODY is at work... such is the life i spose.

i long for a reality break for a minit... at least... but it's not happenin... since i've been laid off, things all around are goin Kaput... servers at the church exploding everywhere... (ok they didnt really explode) crashed out servers are a bummer, and i dont even work there...

tryin to get the BBQ off the ground, is taxing my brain. the plight of the small business man freaks me out, the money im gonna have to up front to get everything goin' is outta control...where's that winning lotto ticket when ya need it???

one thing for sure is that when i look around and see all my family that are here to support me.... oh wait.. not all of em.. most of MY family is in Minn cuz Great Gramma passed ( another thing to add to the bummer list since the layoff) crystal is a solid rock for me, keeping me from totally losing it (thanks Babe!!!)

well im done fer now, we'll see if i can keep it up (the blog duh) the next few ~~days~~ Months.

OUT