Monday, August 26, 2013

Wondering about things hot and things cool.

Our old friend, Jimmy, stopped over last night.  That was really great because we had not seen him in quite awhile.  We used to work together, hunt together, and fish together.  He had the bass boat and a hunting lease and I had the time (grin).  He had some things that he made and wanted to show us and some of it he wanted to give to us.  So, I will start with the HOT stuff.  Yes, he raised, processed, and bottled his own hot sauce.  He said he couldn't find any in the stores hot enough for him.  In fact, next time, he is going to make it hotter.  How?  He says that the membrane that holds the seeds in place is the hottest part, so although it will take a lot of time, he will just remove that part and use it.  I tasted some and it was soooo gooood and also soooo HOT!!  I wouldn't want anything hotter.  Here is a couple of pictures:


 
And the side of the label telling you the vintage and the name:
 


 
Want a little closer look:
 

 
He has a lot more than one talent.  He also draws pictures and takes photos and has them printed on coffee mugs.  Here are a few examples.
 
 
He drew the picture on the top mug, and arranged the real peppers and took pictures of them for the other two:
 

The one on the left below was all the arrow and spear heads that he has found in Texas,  the middle one is his own artwork, and the one on the right was a picture he took of some of the peppers he picked and then using his computer, he added the flames.

 

 
Here is close-up of his artwork.  The caption reads, "Wow!! How can a Buff just up and disappear like that?".
 

 
And one for fishing and one for hunting:

 

 
A close-up of the fishing cup.
 

 
These next two cups both show the live cycle of the peppers.  The one on the left is turned so you could see the start of the ripening process and the one on the right is the end of the process.
 

Now the next two are unique.  They both look like the one on the left when cool, but put hot water in them and they reveal what is on the outside.  We put hot water in the one on the right:

 

And another one that needed hot fluids in it to reveal the pictures.  Notice the handle is still black.  The heat hadn't got to it yet.  The pictures on this one were taken from his game camera located on his hunting lease:

 

He has really done a great job on the cups.  Now, I hope he can make great tasting coffee to sip from these cups.  Anything less than the best would not be good enough.  These are really impressive, don't you think?  Now, you all finish sipping your coffee and have a great day, you hear?

10 comments:

  1. Yes... very impressive! I hope he has a place to sell his mugs as I bet they'd sell like hot cakes.... uh peppers!

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  2. He is obviously a very talented and creative guy!

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  3. You've got a talented friend there Dizzy.

    I don't mind a bit of fire in my food, but I've got my limits. I think your buddy's sauce plans would exceed them.

    Still, hard to beat homemade hot sauce. Never got any peppers to grow this year. Critters kept eating them right down to the roots. Oh well, maybe next year.

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  4. The Odd Essay, He does not want to sell them. I guess he made them for himself. I am that way with any art work that I do, just do it for myself.

    Jill, Yes he is. You don't know the most of it. This is just a tiny part of his creativeness.

    Sixbears, I got limits, too. The one I tasted isn't any hotter than my store bought Habanero. But I didn't try all of them.

    Trouble, me too. It is always interesting to see what he will come with next.

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  5. Sure wish he would sell his art... so tired of going places and seeing 'made in China' .... suppose the cups are made there but at least the art work is home grown.

    Very talented ... don't care for hot sauce... I tend to stick to Pace's medium Picante sauce... that's as hot as I go...

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    1. I also buy Pace'smedium picante sauce. I guess great minds run in on the same track (or taste buds). Right?

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    2. I think so... I like to smush up avocados and mix Pace with them... great guacamole ;)

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  6. I agree with your friend Jimmy, can't find a 'store bought' hot sauce that is hot enough. I too have started to experiment with making my own but not growing my own.
    A small packet of dried habanero was crushed in my mortar and then about 1/2 cup of vinegar added. Could not wait for it to mature so I started shaking out some of the 'flavored' vinegar. I now need to be careful because it is getting hotter the longer it sits. I could add more vinegar but when it reaches the mush stage I'll use that in a pot of pozole.

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    1. I love the flavor of the store bought Hababeron sauce but have to be careful with the "heat".

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