Hey, we got a few entries going here, Celeste was our first! You’re going to have to work harder than you thought, the entries are really well done and presented very nicely. Go have a gander, there’s a link to it over there on the left under EVENTS. Or you can click HERE and go directly. Contest is due to end Wednesday, July 27th. However, it will take us a few days to tabulate the winners. So, if you’re a day late? Enter anyway, it’s for fun, and fun has no deadlines.
Off you go, I have spoken.
Biggles

Yay! A contest! It took me a bit to come up with something worth doing. And personally, I’m getting a little overwhelmed with all the fancy cookin’ & ingredients both in books and on the internet. Sure it’s a lot of fun, always something new to try. But this isn’t something that occupies most of my time in the kitchen or at the grill. I’m usually coming home from work and have about 1.5 hours to come up with something, get the kitchen clean and serve up food that is worth eating, good or at least good for you. To be honest, after 10 years of cooking every night for my family, I’m starting to come up a little dry on recipes. So, this contest is all about your favorite weekday meals. A meal you have 2 to 3 times a month, more or less. If not, something that you love dearly and would work well in a pinch. If your recipe requires going to 3 or more grocery stores, that’s not going to work. 2 I think we could handle, maybe 1?
I’m going to make this easy, nice eh? Your submission can be on your blog or you can submit it directly to Meathenge Labs. You can make it as long as you want or as many pictures as you want, it’s up to you. You will be judged on 3 things:
1. You’d want the judge to say, “Yeah, I’d make that. It looks & sounds really good.”
2. Overall Love Factor of your image & prose(show you cared with your presentation). Tell a little story?
3. Completeness and flow of your recipe. Does it make sense? If you can’t make sense of it, you can’t eat it. And if you can’t eat it, you can’t win. See?
The Meathenge Lab assistants will be pitching in to judge these fine entrys, thanks all!
The contest starts today, July 13th and ends on July 27th. That’s Wednesday to Wednesday, 2 weeks & 2 weekends.
The 3 top finalists will receive a copy of Diana Abu-Jaber’s book, The Language of Baklava. Diana weaves the story of her life in upstate New York and in Jordan around vividly remembered meals: everything from Lake Ontario shish kabob cookouts with her Arab-American cousins to goat stew feasts under a Bedouin tent in the desert. These sensuously evoked meals in turn illuminate the two cultures of Diana’s childhood – American and Jordanian – and the richness and difficulty of straddling both. Thank you so much to Pantheon Books in New York for supplying these hardback books. Yup, hardback, ain’t that cool?
I’m sure I’ve left a few things out, feel free to email me and we’ll get to them as we roll along over the next two sun filled weeks.

Good luck and let the contest begin !!!

Oh man, it was only 3 or so weeks ago I heard that Fatted Calf was needing some help at the stall in Berkeley. I let them know I was available for whatever on June 25th. Well, okay, I was only available up until noon. Even so, I could throw concrete blocks for hours without breaking a sweat, I was ready!

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No yelling this time and we’ll get back to talking about meat very soon, I promise.
After Saturday’s hurried pace I thought I should wrap things up and let everyone know how Day 2 went. The pace for the entire day was far nicer for me, it started with a 3 hour hike out at Pt. Pinole with the family. This put me home with just enough time to shower, pack up and get out the door. I knew HWY 80 would be packed, back out through El Sobrante I went. The temperature hung out at about 76 degrees all the way, very nice. The Lafayette Bookstore is right off HWY 24 and very easy to get to, I even got to park right out front. Not like Berkeley, where you need to park, then hike in. Stephanie and her husband Mark were out front relaxing. Owen our publisher/author showed up and got things moving. Ellen showed up soon after. Dave, Mr. Bookstore owner, set up about 20 chairs, made the place real official looking. Owen announced he was going to do a demonstration on how to make tea properly, since he was born in Michigan after all.
It was time to begin! We had our schtick down pretty well after Saturday’s long haul. Each author got up and got to read a selection from the book, Owen demonstrated his fancy tea makings and after we did a little question & answer period. We even got to talk about our worst screw up ever. Stephanie panicked when she couldn’t find the legs or wings on a turkey breast and I shared about the time I country fried a pork spare rib. Eeek.
Unlike Saturday, this jaunt was only an hour and a half or so. It was a good time had by all, we got to sign books and talk with customers that wandered in. Speaking of wandering in, Big D and the Bitner family showed up! Very nice cause we went out to dinner aftwards, enjoyable.
Owen is smart, very smart. He chose the best authors’ best writings to publish. How can you go wrong with that? I suppose you could, but not very bloody likely. The layout and design of the book has been very well thought out. The indexing (a very important point, it’ll make or break you) is done 3 different ways. You can search by blog, by title of recipe and by main ingredient. 3 indexes pally boy, that’s very cool. This book is filled with recipes and stories both silly, serious and prolific. This book will do well.
Owen has most certainly learned a lot and will continue doing well. If you are interested in purchasing a book here, please place your a Order.

Here we find Owen placing the cozy over the tea pot, he’s got 3 of those suckers.
And that, pretty much handles that. I’m sure there will be more public signings down the road. Take care and keep yer ears peeled.
Biggles

Yup, that’s right. Meathenge is another year older, that makes about 2 as I countem’. I have to say it’s been a lot of fun. I remember when I started, not sure what I was supposed to post. You can go see those earlier days, just in case you were wondering. As time rolled by I did some more cooking, but didn’t post the recipes. People started asking what the hell I was putting in my dry rubs and que sauces. I realized it wasn’t really fair to post all the juicy pictures without the ability to at least recreate any of the food. The first 8 months were easy, then I hit a wall. I was at the end of my schtick. I’d run out of my pocket full of ideas and had to actually READ cookbooks to glean information. Reading got easier and I found what I needed. Meathenge really took off and it hasn’t stopped since. There was a little mention in Gourmet Magazine, online articles and recently a huge layout in the San Francisco Chronicle. And if that wasn’t enough, Meathenge has been put to print, Digital Dish. Thanks to everyone for the kind words, input & support. Thank you to my wife who puts up with the tripod and lights during dinner time. Thank you to my boys who have to wait to eat each night. Thank you to my sister for making me look good and thanks to her husband for making the best cornbread on the planet. Thanks to my father, Big D and Joe Bob for the photography backup. Thanks to J. Lee for the support and new finds. Thanks to everyone. It’s been a great 2 years. I hope the next 2 are at least this fun.
Xo Xo

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A few moments ago my brother inlaw Meathead, brought in a snapshot from approximately 30 years ago. Guessing he found it in one of my sister’s boxes. She must have taken this in the mid 1970s some time. Good shootin’ Sis! Not only did he bring in this picture, but he also brought in the meat rack that is featured. I noticed the shiny aluminum salt shaker on the stove I still have. And I believe I can still find that wooden pepper grinder. This, right here, is Meat History.
Xo Xo
ps – Hey, check out that cool brown stove, eh?

Early on SparkleWitch was leaving comments here and there on Meathenge. One of those comments she left, she mentioned something about making Meat Jewelry. How could you possibly miss? She was spot on, take a look! Those images on the keychain and bracelet are ones from Meathenge! Very cool.
Over the months I have really enjoyed cooking for Meathenge, so much so I’ve injured my guts. But I have to say, some of the best things have been the people who stop by here. Thank you Sparkle.
Xo Xo
She can be contacted sparklewitch at removethis aol dot com

Happy Asparagus sizzling over a mesquite fire. Lovelies were marinated in EV Olive Oil, squeeze of half a lemon and Tony Chaceres Creole Seasoning (salty & spicy). Grilled until they bow just a tad when lifted.
Hey, it looks as though Shuna has a few spaces left in her Knife Skills class for Sunday May 15th. If you’re somewhere near or in the San Francisco Bay Area you need to reserve yourself a space. You’ll finally be able to talk to someone who’s worked in many professional kitchens and can give you the straight poop on What and How and Why Not. Why do the carrots always go skittering off the damned table when I’m whacking? My palm seems quite vulnerable when dicing an onion, why’s that? Why can’t I cut a gourd in half easily with my dull paring knife? Eh? You get the idea. A good time is had by all. While she’s going through skills, you get a story about this & that and about that time when. It’s fun just to hang out. So what if you’re worried about spending another $40 bucks, you’ve surely blown it on less worthy things. Don’t you agree?
If you’re even remotely interested get yourself, go now and sign up today! Chef Shuna’s Web Site and details.

When he shows up to work with one of these things in tow.
The commercials for the recent Burger King sandwiches are quite funny. Some guy waking up in bed to find some life sized plastic cartoony king next to him. Or the one for this breakfast sandwich, where this guy opens up the window shade only to find the same king outside his window with the birdies and a nice looking breakfast waiting. What gives these commercials a creepy air is the fact this king doesn’t say anything or have any moving parts, just stares with an odd look on his face. At least Chucky had a moving mouth and eyes. Good stuff.
After the commericals are over and you find yourself in the drive-thru lane, hungry and ready to open up your meal to find this? Egads man, so disappointing. I expected so much more from Burger King.
Supposedly it has 2 slices of American Cheese (Why American? Why us?), 3 slices of bacon (not sure of their definition of bacon), 2 Omelet Egg (what the hell is an omelet egg?) and 2 halves of Sausage Patty (2 halves? Must be a size issue). And speaking of size, if I got this for lunch, I’d be disappointed yet again.
Here’s what this brave Employee had to say, “The eggs were fluffy, yet bland. Bacon crispy, sort of, but didn’t crunch. Typical spongy nothin’ bread with odd molten velveeta-like cheese (couldn’t afford real velveeta I suppose). It coats the sides of your tongue and won’t leave.” He was smacking his mouth like a dog with peanut butter in it, I had to stare. Employee did say the sausage patty was okay, but he started holding his gut and making funny faces. Funny faces to me anyways.
Here’s what Burgler King thinks the Enormous Omelet Sandwich looks like. That’s funny.
This rig is sportin’ 2080mg of sodium (that’s a lot by the way, almost as much as a can of Cambell’s Cream of Chicken soup). 760 Calories with 450 from fat. Not much trans fat though, yay?
This food would almost be funny if weren’t so tragic. I have nothing more to say on the matter, move along.
UPDATE: Okay, so one more thing. 1 hour later Employee showed up in my office, wanting to give me the scoop. He still feels sickly and feels as though he has the capacity to drink maybe 5 gallons of cool refreshing water. Jeez man, it was only two thousand miligrams of salt! Wuss.
Xo Xo

I’ve had this post on the side lines for a few months now. This week has slowed a tad for the Labs here and figured this would be a good time to lay it down.
I believe it was back in and around 1984 when I started hammering on computers, mostly hardware. Yeah well the last eleven years or so I’ve done more on the soft side, this means using a mouse. And it was in the last 12 months when I was working on a huge line of product labels for cans here at work when I developed a really nasty case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Surely I don’t need to go in to details about what CTS is.
If yer interested, read on.

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YEAH !!! I was perusing the net and found someone mentioned the release of Julia’s 1960s cooking show, The French Chef , on DVD. Not only is this release surely going to be interesting to watch from a cook’s persective, but it’s something cool to watch. All the old knives, bowls & platters. Cooking shows are many these days, most of which aren’t worth a plug nickel. This along with Graham Kerr’s Galloping Gourmet were awesome! These shows were worth the week long wait for each episode. Oh man, I’m salivating. That’s the good news. The bad news is it ain’t out yet and isn’t due until April 26th. Even so, go to Amazon and pre-order your copy now. Oh man, I can hardly wait!
Xo Xo

… Shuna! Happy Birthday Shuna. May this year be filled with duck confit & sausage & juicy citrus. All the best,
Biggles

Hey, are you interested in what Shuna is up to? Do you need a baking & pastry workshop for the advanced? She’s here for you, please contact Shuna: shunafish *at* earthlink (dot) net
It isn’t often I leave my immediate surroundings, I’m attempting to do better. When Jenn of Life Begins @ Thirty sent me an email asking whether I’d be interested in a knife skills class, I took a deep breath and said, “YES, count me in for 2 places.” There, I did it. Phew! My wife don’t need no dumb knife skills class, so I invited my sister.
That was yesterday, Sunday. Mrs. Meathead and I headed out for the great unknown, San Francisco. Oooooo. Aaahhhhh. I grabbed a few of my old carbon blades and my F. Dick Multicut steel, neat. We made it in fine style and hung out for a while, waiting for the 8 or so of us to show up. I met the author of World On a Plate, sorry I forgot your name! You were really nice. I also sorta met the author of A Full Belly. I suppose I should really take notes if I’m going to post about such things, eh? I’ll do better next time, I promise Amanda.
Everyone was really nice and Shuna got right to work. Our group weren’t professional working cooks or chefs, so she started talking about knives, the basics. After a while she got to slicing, mincing and some crazy fancy French terms for preparing fruits and vegies. She even showed us this little cube, it’s about the 12th of the size of a pencil eraser. Something The French Laundry’s prep cooks spend a lot of time making. She says they have 43 people in the kitchen and only 5 are cooking. Dang, that’s a lot of prep. No wonder the stuff costs so much. It was really fun to hear about all the stories from behind the kitchen doors. Something most of us don’t get a chance to hear. But we were there for cuttin’. So we finally got a chance to slice a few things. Two things I will remember from this day is knowing how to Supreme a Lime/Orange/Citrus. I went home and did a tangerine first thing, MUCH better. Love it. It’s quite simple, just slice off the top/bottom of the lime. In a downward stroke following the contour of the beast, remove the skin and pith. Hold fruit firmly in hand and using one slicing motion, cut the wedges of love out. I’ve seen it done on teevee, but never tried it. It wasn’t tough. The other thing I will take away, is the … how do I put this? When creating a recipe, or putting together a dish, don’t choose sizes and textures of food that will battle each other in your mouth. Which is why she recommends to peel the tomatoes, Supreme the citrus. When it hits your mouth, we’re talking harmony. Everything comes together nicely. This is a great mantra to have while putting a meal together.
Thank you Shuna and thank you Jenn for making it happen. It was a really nice afternoon with good people. Oh, Jenn, I hope your skills improve and your need for bandages decreases.
Xo Xo

D70 / 60mm f2.8 micro / little unsharpening filter.
Saturday morning found Senior Biggles jacked in to the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, niiiiice. After spending all week immersed in one’s daily job, it’s like a shot of morphine to go stand. Go watch, touch & interract with others whose goal is to smile and walk. I can do that, smile & walk.
While doing just that, I ran in to Charlotte, a food blog comrade. Charlotte had a gift, a chocolate gift. I snorked one right on the spot, paid off cause it gave me a buzz. Neat.
Inspired me to create the photograph you see above, good inspiration eh?

Last September Scott from Anchor Books, a division of Random House, sent me an email to see if I was willing to run some kind of contest wherein the winner would win a copy of Kate Christensen’s Novel, “The Epicure’s Lament”. He was to send me a copy to peruse to see if it was something worth my time. Scott gave me at least 5 months to read the book and get the ball rolling, what the heck eh? Time passed and I chewed my way through the book without much grief, what with all those high-fulloutin’ words and all. The idea of having a meat photo contest with judges seemed like a natural choice for Meathenge Labs, you bet.
Before I knew it, the end of January showed up and it was time to start.
And now it’s all over and time to announce the winners!

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