Greatest chips ever?

Really quick...UTZ brand makes these old style chips that are actually cooked in lard. If you can make it to the East Coast to pick these up, you really should. Maybe you could pick them up online...not sure. They have my vote for best chips I have ever eaten from a bag.

Carne Asada

Last week I had to stay in Bradenton, FL while one of our crews did some repair work on a site we produced in 2008. Unfortunately, the problems with the job were keeping us from getting more projects, so I had to stay until everything was completed and acceptable. Since I was staying so long, I looked into vacation rentals in the area. I was lucky to find a condo for rent at Bradenton Beach. It was right across the street from the Gulf of Mexico. The condo complex contained 5 other condos, but mine was the only one occupied for the week I was there. I had the place along with the beach view, a grill and a pool to myself.
I worked with the crew on Wednesday and Thursday. I promised the crew that if we could finish the job by the end of the day on Thursday, we would have carne asasda at the condo I was renting.

We did finish on Thursday, and later that evening, the crew drove to the condo with all of the ingredients for an authentic carne asada. They picked up "fajita" beef, salsa verde, napol (cactus), jalapenos, cebollitos (medium sized green onions), chorizo sausage and lots of fresh white corn tortillas. Cirilo worked his magic on the beef. He soaked it in lots of lime juice and beer for about an hour before it got cooked. It was actually very tender and you could really taste the marinade.
I had picked up some Modelo Especial on my way from the jobsite earlier. They brought the cooler and ice.



We spent most of the evening trying to help each other get through rough translations of Spanish to English and English to Spanish, listening to Spanish music on my laptop and stuffing our faces with all of the goodness Max was serving from the grill.

And I think we went through approximately 42 cold cervezas. We got to watch the sunset over the Gulf, and overall we had a great time.
Getting up the next morning and driving 2 hours to Orlando was not the funnest thing I have ever done, but the late night was worth it. I love getting to spend quality time with our paint crews. They are amazing people with equally amazing stories. They inspire me to learn more about them and their culture.

Avocados! Finally!

During the Summer of 2008, we received a box of fresh avocados in the mail every couple of weeks from April's friend in California. Unfortunatley, there was a problem with their tree in 2009, so we have gone without them for nearly 2 years. Recently, we received a surprise package in the mail. We opened it to find 6 medium avocados! They were not ripe yet, so we had to wait to enjoy them. It was a tough 4-5 days but when they were ripe, I got to make my favorite guacamole.


In 2008 I developed a simple recipe for guacamole. It has been received with rave reviews from friends, etc. I wanted to record the recipe here and post some pictures of the avocados along with pictures of the guacamole itself. If you can't get fresh, home-grown avocados, it will still taste good, but these avocados actually taste and feel like the creamiest butter ever. They are amazing.

This recipe will create a pretty large amount of guacamole that can be shared by 4-6 people. You can eat it with chips, or apply it to sandwiches, etc.


1. Finely chop one small-medium red onion. (You can use white, but I like the color of the red onion).
2. Finely chop one large chili (I use a red jalapeno, but you can use any chili).
3. Finely chop 6-8 cloves of garlic (This is what makes this guacamole unique. It has a very stong galic flavor. You can lower the amount if it is too strong).
4. While the chopped garlic is still on the cutting board, add 3/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt to the garlic. Then with your knife, smash the garlic and salt together, dragging the mixture across the cutting board to create a salty garlic paste.
5. Cut and scoop the fruit from 3 medium-large avocados.
6. Add all above ingredients into large bowl.
7. Squeeze the juice of 1 whole lime onto items in bowl. (Not only does this give it a stong, unique lime flavor, it also keeps the avocados from browning).
8. Crack about a tablespoon of black pepper into bowl.
9. Mash all ingredients in bowl with a potato masher until a creamy, uniform consistency is obtained.
10. Top the mixture with the zest of the lime you juiced into the bowl.

Hot Boudin & Cracklins Part Deux

Earlier in March this Spring, I was able to visit Baton Rouge, LA for some new projects in the area. I was excited to get another stab at some Cajun favorites. I found a great place there called Ronnie's. The site manager where we were working recommended it to me.

It was basically a walk up counter with a few booths to eat inside. They had a cooler stocked with soda, etc. I decided to go with an assortment of their specialties for lunch. Let's see...give me one meat pie, one fried turkey wing, some boudin balls (that's right, balls) and a handful of those hot cracklins. Here are the pictures of this lovely spread.







The meat pie was very good. I could taste onion, celery, groung beef and/or ground beef, spices, etc. Great finger food. These are just a bit larger and more heavy in texture and flavor than their Jamaican counterparts (Patties). This was my first turkey wing ever. Delicious. Very juicy, and the crunchy, fried skin was a real treat. It was also the first time I was able to try the Boudin Balls. I have had Boudin before in links. These were balls of the original boudin that had been coated in some kind of batter, then deep fried. Ridiculous. Last, but not least, the cracklins. These were really not that fresh. Bad timing, I guess. They were still tasty, but did not have that juicy, fat squirting in your mouth texture when I chewed into them. I love the selection here. They even had steamed crawfish available by the pound. I can't wait to come back.

When in Baton Rouge, LA make a point to eat here: Ronnie's, 9830 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA

Las Vegas....40 years later.

Last winter my Dad and I decided that we would travel West to check out the White Sox in Spring Training again. Our time in Glendale, AZ in 2009 was remarkable, and we decided that we would try to go every year from now on. However, I came up with a better idea. In 2009 the White Sox and Cubs played two Spring Training games in Las Vegas. After a little research, I was able to find out that they were going to play 2 games in Las Vegas in 2010, also.

I ran the idea by my Dad, and after some convincing (seriously), he agreed to go Las Vegas to check out the Sox and Cubs for Spring Training instead of going to Arizona. Over the next several weeks, after making the decision, I learned that the last time my Dad visited Las Vegas was 1970. 40 years ago, my Dad had just gotten out of the military, and along with a good friend, spent over 2 weeks traveling from Indiana to California and back. Along the way they stopped in Las Vegas for a couple of days to take in the sights. I was very excited to take him there again to see how the city has transformed. I think he was also excited when I explained to him that, basically, all of the hotels/casinos have a Sports Book. When he was younger he spent time at horsetracks in different parts of the U.S., and he had not gambled on the ponies for over 30 years.

We had to leave Indianapolis at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, March 12. We would arrive in Vegas at about 9:00 a.m. The first Sox/Cubs game was Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Vegas time. We knew we could not check into the Bellagio until later that day, so we were actually struggling to come up with ideas about what to do. That's when we came up with the brilliant idea of going to the Pawn Shop that hosts the show Pawn Stars.



Pawn Stars was sort of fun. The Old Man and Chumley were signing shirts, etc. for a line of fans and others were taking pictures while pointing and staring. We took a couple of pictures and decided to come back at a later time. At this point, we were Downtown Vegas, and my Dad wanted to see how it looked now compared to his 1970 visit. It really hadn't changed. Actually, he thinks he found the same motel they stayed in during his first visit. It was still renting rooms.

We proceeded to get some carry-out beer from a tourist store, and walk the Freemont Street Experience. During which, we got yelled at by a large man laying in his electric scooter, got hit up for change and came across several bearded men drinking from a can of Stack (beer marketed to alcoholics). After all, it was only 10:00 a.m. Pretty rough area compared to the Strip, but excellent people-watching.

After having a decent lunch a an Irish Pub, we decided we would go try to check in early at the Bellagio. We got in. We were both very impressed by the lay-out of the place. We got to our room, and rested for a bit.
After that, we went to the casino floor and walked around for a while before arriving at the Sports Book. We were actually pretty successful with some small-level wagering on the horses. It was really fun because we were actually winning. I think we spent about 4-5 hours betting, then realized we should probably get to the game.


The game was a flop. Not only was it cold, but the place was so packed it took approximately 2-3 innings to get a beer or hot dog. It also didn't help that we had been up for 19 hours straight by the 5th inning. I gave one look at my Dad, and motioned for us to leave. He was up in a flash. We had both been thinking about leaving, but did not want to upset the other. We jetted quickly and went straight to bed. We slept well, and at around 10:00 a.m. Saturday, we were ready to have a great day. The sleep was key.

We ate breakfast at Paris across the street after walking for a bit on the Strip. Pretty decent Bloody Mary bar. Pretty good food...nothing to write home about, though. Next we went to Caesar's to check out their Sports Book. We loved it here. We were able to have our own table with our own small screen to watch any sporting event, including all of the races. After a bit of this, it was off to Cashman Field again to check out Game 2 of Sox/Cubs.


It was still cold, and packed with fans, but we were prepared. We stayed the entire game to see the Sox lose for the second game in a row. However, it was becoming very apparent that this trip was not necessarily a baseball trip. We were jonesing to get back to the Book. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching horses and the Big Ten Basketball Tournament. We actually hit a really nice bet on Ohio State, and stayed above water with our horse betting. That night we went back to Paris for dinner, and basically passed out soon after. We had been walking and drinking all day, and we were exausted.


We spent Sunday walking the Strip and checking out other casinos. Got to spend time checking out the new casinos in City Center.
Very cool. We watched the NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Show that night. My Dad crashed early, and I spent some time playing blackjack, etc. Monday, we went back Downtown. He wanted to get a shirt from the Pawn Shop and I was forced to buy an Old Man mug for April. We spent some more time people watching on Freemont St. Then it was time for us to get back to the airport to leave. It was like all other trips to Vegas. 2-3 days is the max. If you stay any longer, you start to feel like you have to get the hell out of the place. We were both feeling this way by Monday morning.

I did learn a very important lesson though: Vegas is not for baseball. We will be heading back to Glendale, AZ next year. However, I would really like to go back to Vegas with my Dad again sometime soon. We did not get to see it all. 40 years is too long to stay away from this place. No matter how cheesy it can get, there is something that continues to draw me back to Vegas. There is just something exciting about waking up at 5:00 a.m. and walking down to the casino floor, placing a bet and ordering a drink. Looking around at the rest of the floor, it could be 5:00 p.m. You really don't care what time it is here.