How Jealousy Spurred Me to Make Biscuits

ok, so I guess I am a petty person. The other morning my lovely wife Rachelishungry decided to make some biscuits, and they turned out really nice. Light and fluffy, warm and tasty, just like her! minus the fluffy part of course…In other words her biscuits were the exact opposite of my many attempts at creating biscuits but actually making hockey pucks made of sawdust…I can cook almost anything, but a good biscuit has always eluded me for some reason which I have mentally swept under the kitchen rug for years…but  my wife’s biscuits made me so darn mad at myself i had to one up her and make even better biscuits, and by Jove and bu golly i think i did just that….sorry wifeishungry…i used an old recipe for Angel Biscuits from one of my vintage cookbooks…see, my biscuits were always too flat, like a can of pepsi sitting on the hood of a car in summer or the top of Glenn’s head…but the addition of yeast!?!?!?!?!?!? sounds like sacrilegious jibber jabber, but it sure did work..anyway..i ate one…lisaishungry ate one, catishungry ate one…somerandomladyintheshopishungry ate one…and we all agreed that they were the best biscuits ever made by anyone ever in the history of mankind, including your grandmother!!! yes YOU!!!!!<<<<<warning!!! the previous statement is probably not true in any way shape or form<<<<<<<

anywho, look at the pictures, yo! there’s even some pictures of the book store all up in this mofo!!! maybe even a PICTURE OF SOME POTATOES!!!!! FUDGE YES!!!! word to your mother..peace im out..abc-ya…drop the zero and get with the hero baby!!!!

 

 

The Poster Collection: Day Eight

I worked at a little hole in the wall/roach farm/ISS nightmare/underage-beer-provider/ chicken wing and beer joint located on the Strip in the early 90’s named Spicy’s. I worked both in the front and the back of the house at various times and witnessed some kitchen nightmares that would make Gordon Ramsey pee the bed.

As a caveat let me say this: the chicken wings , steak and cheese sammiches, and oriental bbq steak sammiches were ab=so=fucking=lutely deeeeelicious. Most of the recipes came from the original(?) owner, who was Asian. Not sure what part of Asia, but I really only met him once or twice as he rode off to California in his red Corvette( for realsies). The chicken wing sauce was very simple . yet unmatched in all my wing eating travels. The steak and cheeses were simple but fresh cut beef only because it was cheaper to pay someone almost nothing to cut it up than to buy it pre-made. The sauce for the oriental BBQ sammich was a sticky sweet concoction full of ginger and absurd amounts of garlic.  However…..

BULLET POINTS OF INSANITY FROM SPICY’S

• We used to buy whole chicken wings and cut them by hand into the little drummies and 2nd joints. We did this by removing the safety guard from the meat slicer and cutting the severing the wings joints upon the spinning blade of doom. It was hugely effective but terrifying.
• I saw the owner “allegedly” thaw a case of frozen chicken wings by running them thru the Hobart with the sopa hoses disconnected.
• Once, to save a buck or two, the owner tried using solid shortening in the fryers. While cleaning it, the shortening overflowed and covered the floor in a congealed mass of discount , off brand crisco.
• Roaches. Napkin Holders. Use your imagination. Then double that.
• Gaggles of 17 year olds drunk on 24 ounce can’s of Foster’s, some of Murvill’s best and brightest at the time
• We once sold 1600 pounds of chicken wings in a single day. This is part of why I really don’t like UT football games. Every Saturday home game is an exercise in torture if you work on the Strip
• Tables of Vol’s linemen on all-you-can-eat wing nights could consume upwards of 50 poounds of wings per table. The most I saw ever was a skinny dude who ate almost 130 wings.
• The owner of the building would sell parking spaces on gamedays, pack the cars in like sardines, and then leave. Noone could get out until the “key” cars were moved. Once mine was a “key” car and it was moved by a gang of about 8 guys into the middle of the street.
• Whiskey. Knives. Hot grease. What could go wrong?

Anywho, here are some posters of sheer awesomeness

 

Poster Collection: Day Seven….Some Goooood Stuff

I remember when I was in 5th grade we moved from Alcoa out to the county area known as Binfield.  I was put into Binfield Elementary and immediately started getting into trouble, mostly for being too smart. The most memorable was when we were starting simple division, FOR THE FIRST TIME<that’s right, “we” were just starting to learn division at the end of the 5th grade year.  At Alcoa we had been learning this, oh I don’t know, the WHOLE DAMN TIME we were in school, so I had a wee bit of a head start/ Let me say this, I am not making fun of anyone who went to county schools, but more so the schools themselves.

Anywho, the question posed to the class was “what is 9 divided by 3?” Well I answered it immediately and was quickly admonished and ushered out of the classroom, aka a trailer, at which point I was whooped with a paddle. Ahhhh, the good old days when you could hit kids with a large stick! The same teacher also paddled everyone in the class for being too loud at lunch one day. Every single kid, even the quiet ones. You know, spare the rod, spoil the child kind of thing. The same teacher also sent home a pamphlet warning us of the impending Rapture. My rather liberal parents didn’t care too much for that, and I thought it was laughable at best.

The only thing they could do after that was to make me sit in with the 8th graders during class so I didn’t get too bored.

Hey look posters!

Oodles of Doodles from The Way Back Machine

I found an old sketchbook of mine from around 15 or so years ago and thought I would share where me noggin was at that time. A little back story: I was working graveyard shift at West Knox News in Knoxville, which is a “bookstore” which also sells “novelties” and “marital aids” and “foot long plastic wienies”. And lots and lots of  wippits…or whippits..or Whipits..not sure of the proper spelling on that…I was also heavy into collecting action figures and other manly toys. I was single and had figured out how to breathe beer instead of normal air. I had no phone of any kind, just a pager with an elaborate series of codes . I lived in  an apartment the size of a walk-in closet: i could literally open the fridge and from my bed while washing my hands in the “bathroom” sink. It was cozy and quaint and had curb side recycling, aka “bums picking up my beer cans i left on the porch”……ANYWHO, this is some of my “art” work from back then…Warning: titties!!!

and i didn’t get tacos yesterday , sorry

Random Photos and Thoughts

Hi folks…sorry I have been AWOL from the blogosphere. Work has been waaay to “work” lately. The new cheffin’ gig is going well, but the Country Club in question is going to the auction block in 6 days, so I may well be looking for employment. I’ve got nothing but good feed back from the menu and the specials, and i rally hope my new Golf Club Overlords decide to keep the status quo …anywho…here’s some pictures: look at them and tell me how cool they and/or I am! 

Steveishungry Goes Country! well, more country

Well folks, despite setbacks life goes on and that means Steveishungry will be Popping Up this month at Southland Books and Coffeeshop, back open under old management. The menu this time will pay homage to the Southern heritage I have at times tried my hardest to escape from, but which i now embrace wholly…sooo here is the rough draft for dinner on January 19th…call lisa at 984-4847 or , even better, sign up on facebook to attend the event…

APPETIZERS:

Pulled Pork and Purple Haze Slaw wrapped up in flour tortillas and grilled, served with moonshine peach dippin’ sauce

Sweetwater Vintage Cheddar and Scallion Biscuits with local honey butter

Benton’s Bacon and Sweetwater Valley Gouda stuffed Tater Skins

House Salad :By Greens with  Avocado Buttermilk Dressing, Benton’s bacon, Pico de Gallo and Fresh Croutons

Zesty Beer Cheese and Potato Soup with Corn Bread Mini Muffins

ENTREES…..

Locally Sourced Meatloaf with Portabella Gravy, served on a bed of Real Mashed Taters and one side item

Grilled Chicken Cordon Blue made with Benton’s prosciutto and Sweetwater Valley, and Moonshine Peach BBQ sauce, served on a bed of rice with one side item

Shrimp, Benton’s Bacon and Avocado Panini with Spinach, Marinated Artichoke Hearts, Sweetwater Valley Cheese served with one side item

Grilled Portabella, Spinach and Swiss Cheese French Dip served with    one side

SIDE ITEMS:

Mashed taters, with or without gravy

Fried Corn, creamy and wholesome

Green Beans, chock full of garlic and bacon

BBQ Baked Beans, secret recipe!

5 Cheese Mac and Cheese

DESSERTS:

Banana Pudding

Whatever Else My Aunt Wants to Make

 

Well, there you go….I’m hungry just thinking about it…Prices will be more than reasonable, especially considering the quality of the local ingredients we’re going to use. This will be probably my best menu yet, methinks….This is the kind of food i can really put my self into..not literally of course, that would be gross.

We’ve got Shirts and Annoyed Ramblings!

First off let me say, howdy and happy holidays…or merry christmas or happy kwanza or happy hanaukkah or whatever you choose to say…to be honest i wouldnt celebrate anything in december if it wasn’t for the kiddies, but i’m a crusty bastard soooo…anywho

WE”VE GOT T-SHIRTS!!! now we are officially cool and you can be too! stop by the shop or email me and i can ship one of these beauties world wide!….Now on to the ranting and rambling

here is a short list of things that have been pissing me off lately, insert your own punctuation as needed or desired.

republican debates, goat cheese, the high cost of towels, vaccuum cleaner power cords, power chords, broken strings and rusty things, shipping peanuts that you cannot eat, stale doughnuts, co-pays, computer editing software, unclipped toenails, the inability to throw something in a straight line for ten feet, new charlie brown specials, churches in general, generals in churches, zombies, hipster staches, miller high life and the whole damn state of texas

here are some good things…champion cheetahs, fire, mario kart, baby giggles, screen printing, fire, cheese from 2008, UEFA, basketball, fire, sourdough, long hair, fire, onions and did i mention FIRE?!?!

BURN THE DAMN  TREES DOWN!

Photo Bomb!

i hate to admit it, but i love my smartphone…having a nice camera and mp3 player and google searcher and gps and video game system and all around useful thing….sooo anywho, here are some pics from the aforementioned smartphone…dig em with  a shovel y’all!

Photographs…not the Def Leppard song, though, sorry

Ok, I know the song is actually Photograph, singular not plural with the s. Deal with it. That’s how I roll.

Anyway, I got a new phone that does coooool things like take pictures and keep me organized and let’s me play scrabble while driving down I-40 at 85 miles per hour. So look with your eyeholes and leave comments with your fleshy letter poking hand sticks

Pop Up Dinner at Southland, the Menu for the 23rd of July

Howdy folks, here is the menu for your early perusal…items may be added at the last minute, of course..

Appetizers:

Artichoke Bruschetta with Homegrown tomatoes and roasted garlic

Pesto and fresh bread

Crab stuffed Mushrooms with fresh herbs and local cheese

Pimento cheese stuffed Local tomatoes

Entrees:

Linguine with your choice of sauce, small green salad and garlic bread…chose from rustic tomato sauce, creole sauce, meaty marinara, or creamy pesto….add grilled shrimp or chicken for additional charge

Homemade Veggie or Meat lasagna with your choice of sauce, a small green salad and garlic bread

12 inch pizzas:

Margherit: garlic infused olive oil brushed on the crust, sliced tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and topped with fresh basil

Jerk chicken (or shrimp for extra charge),  jerk sauce on the crust, red onions, shredded carrots, diced jalapenos(or habaneros if youre ‘mon enough) mozzarella cheese and fresh cilantro

Salsa rustica, homemade italian sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms and mozzarella…with fresh oregano

White pizza with spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, mozzarella and grilled chicken( or shrimp for extra charge)

Desserts?!?!?!?!?!?! still thinking about that one…