I love a good chili, and love pork even more. I was trying to decide what to do for dinner tonight and decided my own variation on a Chile Verde might be fun. Instead of just green chiles I also added some sweet yellow, red, and orange chiles to the dish for some flavor balance and color.
Read moreReview: Amazon FireTV
Amazon delivered my FireTV today, and I just have had a chance to hook it up and run through the welcome before watching a show I left off watching on my ROKU a few minutes ago.
The first thing you will notice when you inbox the unit is how basic it looks. Much like the other network streaming boxes on the market there is not much to connect. Since I am on a wireless network and not hooking up to surround sound on this TV it was two cables, power and HDMI.
Once connected to the wireless network the FireTV wanted to update it's software, which took 3 minutes and then the system restarted. Boot up was amazingly quick. It shows the benefits of the quad-core 1.7GHz processor right away.
Playback is smooth and quick, and the voice search which seemed to be just a gimmick actually works very well. The system just like all other Amazon electronic products shipped linked to my account, so there was no need to sign in to Amazon for access to Amazon instant video and Prime video content.
I'll have more after I try more apps and the interaction with the Fire HDX tablet as a second screen.
Pressure smoked Bourbon Cola Pork Loin Roast
I received an interesting new kitchen appliance from the folks at WOOT yesterday, and decided to give it a try tonight. They sent me an Indoor BBQ Pressure Smoker, something that I had no idea even existed before they told me it was on it's way. It promises to smoke and cook a piece of meat in 1/4 the normal time or less, and if it works as advertised it will change much about the way I barbecue.
Read moreThrillist Strikes Again: Portland's 8 Best Whisky Bars
Thrillist today posted their choices for the eight best whiskey bars in Portland, and they took the easy way out in a town known for great food and drink by naming their favorites in eight categories instead of ranking the top eight.
From the article:
You can drink whiskey pretty much anywhere... except in your car, or at work, or in public, or at the library (unless it's Multnomah Whiskey Library!), but literally almost ANYWHERE else. Portland's best places though, are right here...
Preview: Taco Bell Breakfast is coming March 27th
In February, Taco Bell announced that they would once again be rolling out a breakfast menu nationwide beginning March 27th, 2014. Among the items tested at select locations prior to the announcement, and the one that received the most attention on social media outlets was the Waffle Taco. One of my neighborhood Taco Bell restaurants jumped the gun and launched the menu early, so I was able to get ahold of some of the new breakfast items this morning, and of course I took one for the team to bring my thoughts to you.
Read moreThrillist Rate's Portland's Best Mac & Cheese options
Woke up today to find a great article in my inbox rating the best Mac & Cheese dishes in PDX. Some great choices here, but my favorite Lobster Mac & Cheese from Ringside Fish House missed the cut. You can see how your favorite ranked at the link below.
Dinner Classic: Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner
Growing up, St. Patrick's Day was "boiled dinner". Corned Beef and Cabbage cooked all day on the stove, allowing flavors to mix and make a delicious dinner to serve the whole family. If we were lucky and weren't very hungry that night, there were enough left over potatoes and corned beef for Dad to make hash the next morning. Twelve years after Dad has passed away, it is still the dinner I fall back to on St. Paddy's Day.
Read moreReview: Sesame Donuts - 185th and Jenkins
Sesame Donuts newest store at 185th and Jenkins in Hillsboro
One of my favorite donut places in the state is Sesame Donuts. Their original store on Beaverton-Hillsdale highway in Portland has been one of the goto places for donuts in town for a long time. Their newest location in Hillsboro is a godsend for me. I'll be there quite often.
Read moreWhisky Tasting: 21 yo Whisky Face Off
21 yo Ben Nevis Highland Single Malt
Last night I got together with some old buddies from Woodburn High School to catch up, and thought it would be a good chance to compare a couple of 21 yo Single Malt's with a 21 yo Bourbon side by side. Not all of the guys were interested in tasting them all, but we had a consensus on flavor profiles among those of us who did.
Read moreWhisky Review: Johnny Drum Private Stock
Johnny Drum is one of those elusive bourbons that we hear about on the west coast but never have a chance to taste, so when I came across this bottle I had to pick it up.
The green label is far more common even on the east coast, this Private Stock bottle I had to get directly from the distillery when we visited the folks at Willett in April of last year. Now that I've taken the time to taste it I only wish I had brought back a case instead of a single bottle. This bourbon won double gold at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, besting the field with good reason.
Here are my tasting notes:
Review: McMenamin's The Sand Trap Pub at The Gearhart Hotel
Located in the historic Gearhart Hotel, The Sand Trap Pub is classically McMenamin's. Art Deco decor dominates the design of this newest hotel in the McMenamin's chain which opened in March of 2012.
Read moreWhisky Heaven: Medley Bros. Bourbon - 4yo vs. 12yo!
I love Bourbon, in case you are new and have not figured that out yet I figured I better lay that out here right now. One of the things I love is seeing what effect aging has had on a decent bourbon. Is it best after four years or six? Does the recipe have enough sugar to hold up to the barrel and come out better after ten or twenty years than it was when it was meant to be bottled at four? What different flavors and smells are added or removed with time in supposedly "identical" barrels?
Read moreReview: Cheri's Cafe, Cannon Beach
Cool little Cafe in Cannon Beach, featuring breakfast and lunch with a full service bakery. From fresh baked goods to pizza and burgers, the menu is diverse.
Read moreReview: Famous Dave's BBQ Shack, Cedar Hills
The BBQ Shack is casual BBQ done right
My buddy Mark called and asked if I had time to have lunch with him today since he was up in my part of town, and I love to get together with old friends, so we had a late lunch. Famous Dave's opened this little BBQ shack on Cedar Hills BLVD. In Beaverton, so we decided to see if it was as good as their restaurant in Tualatin.
Read moreReview: Guiseppe's Italian Restaurant
Guiseppe's is an old world Italian restaurant in Gresham. Featuring a great menu, with classic dishes at decent prices, Guiseppe's is a great restaurant that deserves a visit if you are looking for classic Italian on Portland's east side.
Read moreKickstarter Project: Stackerware
I stumbled across this great project on KickStarter tonight, and they are in need in help to get their project off the ground.
The idea is fairly simple: easily stackable food storage containers in three sizes (16, 24, and 32oz) with interchangeable lids. A couple of things set this project apart from others on the market: first is a patent pending storage system with hooks that allows for a wide range of storage options, and second is the materials used. The containers are microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe as well as certified BPA free. What this means is that they can be easily organized and kept track of so gone are the days of cluttered drawers and cabinets of mismatched lids and containers, as are the frustrations of lids shrinking or containers warping and no longer being usable.
You can find more info on the project here .
New Channel available for AppleTV Owners - WWE Wrestling!
Part of yesterdays update to the Apple TV was the addition of a WWE channel, allowing fans of the popular Wrestling network to subscribe to content and access PPV events directly from their AppleTV for a $9.95/month charge directly billed through iTunes. Follow the link for more info.
World Wrestling Entertainment Channel Now Available for iOS and Apple TV - Mac Rumors:
World Wrestling Entertainment Channel Now Available for iOS and Apple TV
Dinner Tonight: Fat Boy Heaven's Gluten Free Fettuccine Alfredo with Sausage
Fettuccine Alfredo can be served with any protein, not just chicken or shrimp.
My kids were out of school today, and my son asked for fettuccine alfredo for dinner. I didn't want to do it with chicken like we normally do, but as I was thinking about it I realized that I had never posted my Alfredo recipe here.
Read moreDinner Tonight: Fat Boy Heaven's Gluten Free Bacon Feta Macaroni and Cheese with Dates
One of the things you may have noticed by now is how much we LOVE comfort food here at Fat Boy Heaven. There is nothing that epitomizes comfort food for most of us more than a nice rich Mac and Cheese, but it would get boring if it was always the same. I decided that the saltiness of the feta might tie in nicely with the smokey saltiness of the bacon very nicely, and since feta doesn't melt, provolone was a nice neutral base cheese to develop the sauce. I added the dates as the milk was first coming to a boil so that some of the sugar would help sweeten the sauce to offset the salt.
Read moreReview: Dungeons and Dragons Premium Deluxe Edition - Original White Books
The Classic Edition arrives in a beautiful carved wooden box.In December of last year Wizards of the Coast announced a Premium reissue of the Original Dungeons and Dragons set that started a revolution in gaming for it's 40th Anniversary. It has been hard to come by due to limited release, but they finally got mine to me today, and it is just as I hoped it would be.
For those of you too young to remember the original Dungeons and Dragons, before there was AD&D with it's modified rules, and even before the simplified "Red Book" set came out was the original "White Book" set released by TSR Games in 1974. It consisted of seven rules booklets, a booklet of reference sheets, and a set of five dice that literally changed the world. I know many games and books have made this claim, but there is not a gamer, movie, or TV fan alive that does not owe a part of their entertainment for the last 40 years to this game.
D & D was the first game that taught our youth that creating stories was just as valuable as retelling them. It is fitting that it was released by TSR, a company founded as a way for some friends to make money from their hobby of war reenactment gaming. They had speant hours and hours gaming and at conventions retelling stories of battles throughout history. Now they had come up with a game that allowed them to write their own stories, and make worlds up out of whole cloth for their friends and family to play their way through; creating new stories for them to retell their friends.
The Box Set is beautiful, and quite frankly the books are printed on better quality paper than the originals. The set is a fitting tribute to the history of the game, and a great way to bring a new generation of gamers into the world of fantasy role playing.