Campylobacter

As most of you already know, I have been in the hospital for the past several days. I went in on Saturday morning after fighting diarrhea, fevers, and nausea for most of Friday. They ran some test and found that I was severally dehydrated and seemed to have some sort of virus. After going through 4 IV bags and not getting much better, they admitted me to the hospital.

In the end, they found out I had a food borne illness called Campylobacter. It comes from the cross contamination of poultry and even one single drop can get you super sick. It's kinda hard to pin point where I got it from since the bacteria takes 2-5 days to start effecting the host. Andi also had a small bout of diarrhea but hers cleared up quick, mine kept on going.



I got released from the hospital last night, now just resting and building up my strength again. So kids, there's your word of the day-Campylobacter. One mean little son of a bitch!!!

Chef Ed Bilicki

I received a phone call today from a fellow chef who told me that a friend of ours was gone. Chef Ed Bilicki had had a massive heart attack and died last night. I was shocked. Didn't know what to say. My first thought was that he must have been yelling at someone on the line for screwing up something simple.

I instantly started thinking back to the times I worked with him, pulling out of my mind things I had completely forgotten. I remembered working at Kingfish Hall on Sunday mornings doing brunch while the jazz band played not 20 feet from where Chef was expediting. He would call out tickets to me, getting louder and louder, trying to shout over the band. After awhile he would get so exasperated, he'd throw his hands up and come around to yell at me on the line. He always hated that band!

I remembered Chef Ed bailing my ass out on the line Sunday nights when we would get super busy at Kingfish-me plating as fast as I could and him grilling and yelling orders to everyone.

I remembered visiting him in the restaurant he was working at in Florida and him yelling at one of his line cooks "Do I have to come back there and teach you how to cut bread!?!"

He would push you to strive for perfection, all the while teaching you as you went. His food knowledge was amazing and staggering at times. He could be a grumpy miserable bastard and you loved him for it. He would tell you his opinion whether you wanted to hear it or not.

I can't seem to get out of my head the last time I saw him. It was at my going away party in Boston. He had a beer in his hand and was standing outside the window in the rain smoking a cigarette and looking in at all of us all "creepy like". Classic Ed.

I owe a lot of where I am today and how I got there to him. He was a great Chef, mentor, and friend. He will be greatly missed.

Alameda County Fair

Today Andi and I went to the Alameda County Fair about 40 minutes from our front door. When I was a kid, I would spend my summers in Iowa with my grandmother and we always would go to the Iowa State Fair. I remember fondly eating all the different types of "fair food"-corn dogs, funnel cake(my grandma's favorite!), sno cones, etc. I also remember the rides, animals, and many different shops to buy junk I never would need!! This fair was pretty much the same, just on a smaller scale.

A bunch of sheep who kept knocking each other off of the bails of hay. They were playing a sheep's version of "King of the Hill!"

Ever seen a sheep's balls?!?! Well, now you have.

A mother pig had just given birth to a litter of babies a couple of weeks ago and they were as wild as can be!!

After all the exercise, it was lunch time.

A family of goats. Dad had a huge set of horns!

Shaved lambs with prison tats!

A funny looking pair of bookends.

When I saw this guy, he was so big and fluffy you just wanted to squeeze him!!

Psst!! Hey, buddy. Let me out of here and I'll make it worth your while.

A very strange looking pigeon.

Andi going round and round.

On the Ferris wheel with a rose she won at a game! A very good day.

Hendrick's Gin Sorbet!

I just discovered a random post about how to make Hendricks Gin into a sorbet. Genius! First off, if you have never heard of Hendricks Gin, stop everything your doing and go buy a bottle!! It's the smoothest gin you'll ever taste. Tanqueray 10 is a close second but Hendricks has better flavor in my opinion. It's made in Scotland in small batches and stands out from other gins because of the infusion of rose petals and cucumber. There website is pretty cool also, it's reminds me of something Monty Python would have created while drunk and thinking about gin. I haven't tested the recipe yet since I just found it but I'll let you know how mine turns out as soon as I make it!!

You'll need:

• 180 grams of sugar
• 25g Squeezable Glucose (easy to pick up in a good supermarket baking section)
• 200ml water
• 100ml Hendricks Gin
• A cucumber
• Juice of 1.5 limes
• Handful of mint leaves

Make it:

1. Bring the sugar, water, glucose, and mint to a boil.
2. Add lime, stir till mixed and take off heat.
3. Cool the syrup. I've always put my syrup in the freezer for a while to really chill it. The colder it is the quicker it will turn into sorbet. Just don't let it freeze.
4. Once cooled, add the syrup to the gin and cucumber and blend with a hand blender or in a blender.
5. Pass it through a fine mesh sieve, adding a little pulp for color.
6. If you have an ice cream maker, pour the cold mix right in and let it do it's thing. If not, pour it into a resealable container and put it in the freezer, stiring every couple of hours to break up the ice crystals. Note: I've never personally tried that method but seems like it should work.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, go out and buy one! A good cusineart ice cream maker will set you back no more then $40-$60 bucks. It's super easy to make sorbet and ice cream at home, there are tons of recipes online and if you have kids, they'll love you for it!

Because It Made Me Laugh!

New Tattoo?

Thinking about getting this as one of my new tattoo's. I found this little guy in a hotel lobby in Nanjing.

My thought is to get one on my right wrist, then reverse the photo and get another on the left wrist. Your thoughts? (And yes Aunt Terri, I know how much you hate them! :P)

Crystal Head Vodka

For the longest time I have wanted to try Crystal Head Vodka. It's made in part by Dan Aykroyd and his partner John Alexander who both have a passion about the mystery that surrounds the 13 crystal skulls that have been found around the world. My parents got me a bottle as a late birthday present and I have to say it's some damn smooth vodka! The process they go through to make it is quite intense with water coming from Newfoundland, Canada and passing the final product four times through Herkimer diamonds.

The vodka runs about $45 a bottle which is steep but I think your mostly just paying for the bottle with is quite cool. It is made in Milan, Italy by Bruni Glass. It does however make for a terrible pouring experience. I always lose a little bit no matter how I pour it.

Here is a video of Dan being the ultimate salesman!