Foodie » The Geek Life Project

Food Friday: Whataburger Conidments at HEB!

Apr 262013

OK, this probably makes no sense to you if don’t live in Texas. Let’s make this simple Whataburger is a chain of burger joints. HEB is a massive chain of grocery stores. And having the two team up is just kind neat. This may not sound like much but Whataburger ketchup, mustard and spicy ketchup are going to be sold on the shelves of HEB.
No in all honesty, ketchup and mustard aren’t that bid of deal to me. But that spicy ketchup. Now that stuff is pretty damned awesome. I know I could go all mad scientist in the kitchen and come up with my own but this recipe just hits my sweet spicy spot. And that’s not meant to be a euphemism. This summer I’m going to be checking the shelves of my local HEB for that little treasure.

Ancient Food Trucks?

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Apr 252013

Roach Coach. Ptomaine Truck. That’s what we used to call them before they were cool.

Now, they’re the newest hipster craze. That’s why we can’t have anything nice for long. But enough about my anti-hipster rant.
It appears that the concept of bringing the food to the people isn’t a new one. Heck, the ancient Egyptians did it. And damn those guys building the pyramids worked up an appetite, 4,000 pounds of meat a day.

Crunchy Bits Nearly Done & Weirding Up Skarynth

Foodie, My Gaming Projects, RPG, Writing No Responses »

Apr 252013

It’s been a busy two weeks. Mostly on pounding away at Crunchy Bits and it’s damn near done. I know I keep saying that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This time I really mean it. Heck, here’s the rough mock up of the cover.

I’m thinking may a couple more weeks and then it’s done, done, DONE!
And still working on Swords of a Forgotten Age: The World of Skarynth for Swords & Wizardry. All the major pieces are in place just a few more minor crunchy bits to write up then I need to weird it up. Right now, it just doesn’t have the personality that I’m looking for and thanks to the feedback I’m getting from some really wonderful folks, I have plan. When exactly will that be done? Uh. When it’s done.
And that damn fence. Yeah, that’s a project for this weekend and next. I’m too old for crap like that.
That friendly readers is what’s up.

Food Friday: Because Bow Ties Are Cool…

Fanboy, Foodie, TV & Movies No Responses »

Apr 192013

Everybody’s a Dr. Who fan, maybe even the folks at Budweiser. Because starting in May, their cans are going to be shaped like bow ties.

This is the sort thing that I just can’t make up. I just love this quote by Pat McGauley, vice president of innovation for Anheuser-Busch. “This can is certainly a conversation starter: eye-catching, easy-to-grip, trendy and – according to our research – very appealing to young adults.” So the secret to getting people to drink your beer is have a hipster can. How about just make the best damned beer? Yeah, it’s kind of silly in this guy’s opinion. What’s even sillier is that that they’ve been working on this can for three years and invested a big chunk of change doing it.
It’s gimmick and bet they don’t even get the whole “Bow ties are cool” thing. In a way, this makes my inner geek giggle just a bit.

It’s been one hell of a week

Fanboy, Foodie, My Gaming Projects, RPG, Writing No Responses »

Apr 182013

There’s just been too many damned tragedies this week. Keep all those affected in thoughts. Now on to this week’s work. I took a week off from the day job and much has gotten done despite the unfortunate events.
One big hunk of time was focused on Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day. The OSR blogosphere was flooded with great posts. Thanks to the work of Erik Tenkar, you can catch up on most of the posts over at his blog. My little contributions were posted over at They Might Be Gazebos.
The bulk of my time has been working on Crunchy Bits (the cookbook). We’ve been making an editorial pass every day and making small changes here and there. I had no idea how many food pictures we’ve taken. I’ve spent hours choosing, cropping and cleaning up pictures. This is starting to look like a real cookbook. It’s good to see that light at the end of the tunnel.
Work continues on my Sword & Sorcery hack for Swords & Wizardry. A hell of a lot has changed since this project started. The bulk of the editing and playtesting has been done and there’s a few more sections that need to be written and edited. Then it’s off to layout. And like Crunchy Bits, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So that’s it. That’s whats been happening around here. With luck, we should have these two projects done in the near future. Wish us luck.

Food Friday: Make Me A Sandwich..

Foodie, Politics, Sex & Religion No Responses »

Apr 122013

Maybe it’s just the circles I happen to frequent but there’s all sorts of screaming and yelling and finger pointing and crusading when it comes anything having to do with gender or gender issues. But you know shit like this happens in other cultures too geeks and nerds. And how do they handle it?
Well, first check out this article on Eater. Just read it and think.
In case you didn’t know it, the restaurant kitchen world has historically been a Boys’ Club. That’s right. The kitchen as a Boys’ Club despite what you see on the cooking shows.
I’m lucky enough to be on first name basis with a woman chef. She gets asked this question all the time. Even in freaking job interviews. Some of the interviewers are even breaking or nearly breaking employment laws. Little things like, “Well, we’re not sure if you’re strong enough to lift those full pots.” or (and this is a real winner) “The kitchen is kind of small. I don’t if you can handle it. Someone might brush up against you.” Yeah, it’s that freaking silly. And crap like this isn’t just limited to male interviewers. Female interviewers are worse especially if said interview doesn’t crap about how things work in the kitchen. So what does she do? Works hard. Muscles through and be the best damned cook she can.
So here’s the end of my rant. Sure I’m going to get some hate mail on this one.