Priority Phases

Sometimes you just need a refreshing keg while you are breaking down a cow...
 Gets the job done. 

A lot has transpired in the last couple weeks; mainly food related stuff being Thanksgiving and all. Establishing priorities in life is what we do on a daily basis. Do I need to leave at a certain time? Complete a task? But sometimes you need set your taste priorities right. 

Tis the season for dry aged rib-eye. Top shelf Wagyu has arrived and will be nice and aged in time for a Christmas roast.

Add squash, sweet potato, or parsnip to your sweets; like this apple crisp with delicata squash. This sounds totally like a food network tip....

franken-pig

Or if pork is more your game. Lazyman's suckling pig: de-boned, confit, and whole roasted.

So if you are in the business of trying out new whiskeys, stay away from this brand on the right. Koval: very over priced and must be mixed to be bearable. A local Chicago distillery that just hasn't figured it out.

That being said, I had to find a use for this bottle. It started with the French 75. A classic cocktail named for it's ability to get you hammered. It was named after the French 75 howitzer that inspired hammering effects, just like the 6th or 8th one of these. The 75 has two variations of either gin or cognac, lemon peel, simple syrup and champagne.

I made a variation dubbed: "The American 105" Whiskey, lemon simple syrup, and prosecco. Basically stuff I had in the fridge. It will get you just as hammered. Success.

On that note, we travel to the shores of France.... where the Allies did they're own artillery assaults during the D-Day invasions. 

 This is a little tease as we call it in the industry. The completed 6x4 Bolt Action Normandy beach and trenches. This is one of a couple fine detailed boards that will be making a debut at the Chicago 2015 Adepticon convention.

A little blurry... maybe the camerman had 1 too many American 105s.... or it is the fog of war.

Check back for more progress on this Normandy table, Pegasus Bridge table, and a very unique moon base table for Palladium games Robotech event.

Fall Classics

No this is not about baseball, you will never see baseball here.

Getting paid! And that means I can afford more tasty things than just peanut butter and jelly. I was cruising through the store about to pick up New Belgium's Fat Tire, when I went with their Hoptober. I am not a super fan of hop filled beers but this was nicely balanced and did not punch you in the face like some Sam Adams beers.

Side note, New Belgium is one of my favorite brewing companies, introduced to is while my brother was living in Fort Collins, CO.

 FOOTBALL. Football means the fall, and the fall means already having funky weather in Chicago, and THAT means more comfort food that warms you up. The store did not have any pork butt or shoulder so I went with a family pack of pork chops as my only choice for braised pork.

With my work schedule I like to make a lot of something and freeze stuff for later meals. So I went about braising a bunch of pork for two missions, pork ragu and pulled pork.

Braising any kind if meat is super easy and a good way to impress if your having people over. Sear the outside of the meat, add some chopped carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Add herbs, I used thyme, parsley, and rosemary and bay leaf here. Then simply add a liquid to cover about 3/4 of the way up on the meat.

 After 3 hours of braising, I pulled the bones out, and shredded all the pork. I then separated a portion out to take a shot at BBQ. Honey glazed pulled pork. Finished it with some red wine vinegar, crushed red pepper, honey, and butter.

Paired with sauteed sweet potato and another New Belgium Hoptober.

 After I separated the pulled pork portion, I cooked down the tomato braising liquid with the extra pork and popped this into my freezer for a pasta meal down the road. 

At the same time as braised pork, football, and getting paid! My September Tale of four Gamers saw some light in getting armor and skins done on the batch. I had forgotten how long base coats take, but my dread of doing 22 model batches is not that bad at this point.

Lots more football, painting, and game prep for Bilbo's Birthday Bash coming up in the start of November.

Pissed Pirate Peppers

 

Pissed: I wanted to try new paints for my upcoming armies and heard a lot about Vallejo paints. I did my research and through Vallejo's website picked out the colors they had. Their paints were close to $1 cheaper than Gamesworkshop's Citadel line and around 5mL more paint. 

The order came in from my internet business provider, Neal at The Warstore, always has great service and products from him. I looked at 4/10 of the colors I ordered and they were awful, absolutely the wrong colors I needed. I went back and checked the names, my order, and the original Vallejo product pamphlet on their website.

It all matched but it still remained that the photos of their paints online are not even close to the physical product. For example, livery green, online is a pale dull green, while in person looks like the incredible hulk radioactive green. On top of that some of the bottles are as thin as an ink or wash yet should be a paint consistency.

I guess I learned my lesson in that I should pay a little extra for the quality I know, instead of the hassle of the unknown. I do really like their squirt bottle design though, just needed to see their stuff in person first I guess.

 

 Pirates!: Well they are not quiet pirates but they are my starting 12 man crew for the Legends of the High Seas. These are Perry Brothers Hesse-Cassel Jaeger from their revolutionary war line. I really liked their look, the captain has an eye patch, and they will certainly be different than anyone else bringing a royal navy crew.
 

 Peppers: Got a fiery package in the mail from my parents garden. Way to many peppers to actually consume so I close my eyes, picked a handful out, and food processed them with some onion, garlic, lemon juice, and parsley.

This turned into "melt-your-face-pepper spread/salsa" that will keep nicely in the fridge for when I tempt fate and melt my insides.