2008 Texas Eggfest in Austin

Well, another Texas Eggfest is now under our belt (pun intended). It was held last Saturday, May 10th in Austin, Texas at The Oasis, a really neat restaurant/bar on a high cliff overlooking Lake Travis. We were joined by my Sweetie's sister Joyce and brother Curtis and their spouses, Allen and Sandra. Joyce and Allen helped us cook up four dishes: ABT's, Frito Pie, Chickaletta's and Shrimp over a six hour period.

Everything we cooked disappeared quickly to a hungry crowd of about 150. Only 15 of us were cooking. The rest were new to Egg'n or about to purchase their first Big Green Egg. They were loaded with questions. In fact, 32 Eggs were pre-sold and at least 10 more were sold after the people saw how easy it is to cook on one and how delicious the food is.

Other cooks met with the same results. Lots of great food for lots of appreciative people.

The location could not have been better. We were on a private deck, complete with tables and chairs and our own bar. Water and sodas were free and beer could be obtained with a ticket. Mixed drinks could be purchased for a very reasonable price. We really like this arrangement over having to lug a big ice chest with all our beverages in it.

The view was fantastic. Boats in the lake looked like ants. The only problem we had was the heat. It gets hot in Austin. So next year we're having it in April. Yes, we'll definitely be there, as will just about everyone who came to this one, plus all those who couldn't make it this year.

Our hats are off to BBQ Outfitters, Sponsor of the Eggfest, and The Oasis for allowing us Eggheads to have a really great time. Here's some photos to prove it.

Or watch the video...

Fifty-Seventeen

In two hours I will be a year older. Fifty-Seventeen to be exact. At least that's the way I prefer to think of it. Of course the traditional method would put me up in my sixties but that's no fun.

If I had thought for a minute that I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself. So here I am, overweight, on heart medication, arthritis in multiple joints, herniated disk in my back, one good eye, missing a prostate due to cancer, a bullet wound, rabid dog bite, cut arm almost off at the shoulder and many other serious threats to my well-being during that time. But I'm still better off than a lot of folks, and for that I consider myself fortunate.

So tomorrow when I wake up I will begin another chapter in my life, just like the day before and the day before that and so on for the 24,455th time. It will be a nice day and the love of my life will be by my side.

It's fun being me.

Happy Birthday

Unfinished Project Finished

It has been a couple of months since I sawed through the tips of three of my fingers while replacing new wood on Judy's hammock. The fingers are coming along nicely but the project never got completed, that is until yesterday.

It really urps me to start a project and not finish it. So yesterday I finished it. Yep! Got 'er done! Project completed.

No, there's no plans to use the hammock because we already purchased another one, so we will probably give it away. I don't even care if we throw it away. Unfinished, it was just a constant reminder of a project that never got completed. I suppose now I can pressure wash the blood off the garage floor to totally eliminate all evidence suggesting that I did a stupid thing.

At least I didn't let it get the best of me.

More Projects

My fingers are still healing from my little encounter with the table saw a few weeks back but things are still getting done around here. For instance, our fence that I installed myself almost twenty years ago was in pretty bad shape and needed replacing. We paid someone to do it and they did a great job.

While they were here we had them add to the French Drain I installed last year. They did a great job on that too.

Then we asked them to install a real concrete sidewalk to replace the stepping stones I put in last year. 90' and it looks good.

Of course all of this was expensive but since we've decided this will be home from now on, we wanted things to be for us, not the next owner. Heck, we even had a guy come install new attic stairs that lead to our A/C and water heater.

So the only thing left to do is mow the lawn tomorrow, and for that I purchased a new mower. Had to, my ten year-old mower pull cord finally broke. So since this is probably the last mower I'll ever buy I got one with electric start. That is so cool.

With all these projects being done I can now do something else with my time. Sawdust... I've really been wanting to make some sawdust. Lots of it too. Maybe now I will. And I've been wanting to read more. And I just started a new book by Greg Iles. And I want to do more cooking on the Big Green Egg. That's why I own three and built an outdoor kitchen for them.

But I also want to start a vegetable garden. A nice one. Raised with individual sections for each type of plant, and easy to maintain. In other words, tomatoes that might cost me 50¢ at the store will probably end up costing $4.00 by the time I do all the things necessary to make a tomato. But as any gardener will tell you, it's in the "growing" not the "buying."

And finally, I've really been wanting to make an outdoor brick oven. Yep! One that makes pizza and bread. Once again, it's in the "making" not the "buying."

Or I could just stop everything and become a vegetable myself. Naaaaaaaaa! Too much fun being me.

Tablesaw vs Fingers

After 20+ years I finally let my table saw bite me. Yep! I let my guard down for just a second and the three middle fingers of my left hand suddenly had divots taken out. No, I've still got all of them but they still look like they were in a battle and lost, even after four weeks.

Unlike a knife, a table saw makes an 1/8" wide cut. Fortunately I had set it up to only cut 1/8" above the board so my cuts were only 1/8" deep. Even so, it was deep enough to reach the bone and take a nick out of them too.

I marked my "WHATDOIDONOW" path in the garage with 294 drops of blood before I got it under control by wrapping my hand in Bounty towels. Then I drove to the emergency room where I was promptly treated, mostly because I take blood thinners that tend to make me bleed a lot. They didn't want me to mess up their new floor.

29 stitches, Xrays, a few bandages and some really good pain killer and I was done, at least until the next day when I had to see a hand specialist. He started out by saying I was one of the few lucky ones. Most of his patients lost fingers and even hands. But he was pleased with the stitches as well as the appearance of the wounds and scheduled me for hand therapy a couple of days a week. I go back to him next week. I think he will be impressed with my progress.

Surprisingly, for three weeks my whole hand didn't want to function properly, and the three fingers tended to hurt quite a bit although the tips were bone dead. I'm told that feeling will likely return in time as I finish the healing process. Also, scar tissue will be minimal if I continue my therapy.

So instead of thinking "woe is me" I'm thinking of just how fortunate I am. It could have very easily been worse.

New Year

Well, I survived another year. 2007 was certainly challenging what with a heart attack in January and that annoying/painful sciatica problem cropping up all year long. Then my Mom died and my two brothers are in dire straits.

But there are plenty of folks worse off than me so I'm really not complaining. It's more like comparing each year to each other. Let's just say I've had better ones.

But there was some good news too. I passed the "critical period" by being cancer free for four years according to my prostate doctor. Instead of seeing him every six months I'll only go every year. That's certainly a mind-settler.

Also during the year I finally finished the Chicken Coop, my outdoor kitchen. It is an absolute pleasure to cook in and I've made some very good meals out there. Not to mention having a lot of fun.

Then there was that period when I was making handles for Lawn Ranger to help him catch up on some back orders. I sent him enough rough cuts to give him some relief and now I'm in layoff status. I surely don't mind not having to worry about it but I really enjoyed making the handles for him. He said he would call me when he's ready for more.

Then there was Eggtoberfest in Atlanta. We really had a good time. Met old friends and made new friends, not to mention cooking and tasting some really good food. I am SO glad we got into Egging. Everyone is just like family whether we've met in person or not.

Then there was my goal of winning the Texas Lottery. I didn't win but that may be due in part to my not buying many Lottery Tickets. Small technicality. I may try harder in 2008. Worth a shot because somebody's gonna win.

Then there was the Clan MacMillan Society of Texas stuff. We went to Salado, Texas for a big Scottish Clan Gathering and Games where we helped man our Clan Tent. It was fun but the wind literally destroyed our tent the first day. And since I "volunteered" to prepare our Clan's newsletter I tried my best to do it up good. I was actually surprised at how nice it turned out.

Finally, we did Christmas in New Orleans. Actually, Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. My Sweetie's sister lives there. We really had a good time, well except for a terrible mattress at the La Quinta where we stayed until Christmas Eve. By then I had had enough and slept on a sofa at my sister-in-law's house. It was better than the hotel mattress.

My Sweetie gave me another Big Green Egg. A mini. I had been wanting one for a long time and it certainly lives up to its reputation as a good cooker.

Both of us are starting off the new year with a strong resolve to lose some weight. My target goal is 640 ounces. I think it's easier to lose ounces than it is to lose pounds. Just losing 3 ounces a day will reach my goal in 213.3 days. And 3 ounces is a piece 'a cake (pun intended).

We're both looking forward to 2008, all the while thinking it can be whatever we want it to be.

Happy New Year

EggtoberFest 2007 - Atlanta

Another fantastic EggtoberFest. And this one was made even more special by being the Tenth EggtoberFest. The two of us were right in the thick of it too. We even cooked.

The final figures aren't in yet but I heard 3,000 showed up Saturday. That's over twice as many as last year. There were 500 at the Meet & Greet the night before. And the weather was perfect the entire time.

Texas wasn't well represented this year so I made sure they knew we were there though. I made some Texas shaped waffles here and took them with us. Saturday morning I fired up an Egg, put my cast iron griddle on it and heated up the waffles. I added some butter and syrup and handed them out. They went over great.

Then my Sweetie broke out a Dutch Oven and made a pot of chili for her famous Frito Pie. It sure didn't take long for the hungry crowd to scoop that up. They loved it and naturally asked for the recipe.

Then we started making our version of a Muffuletta. We started with sourdough bread slices, then buttered one side. Then we added some Creole Mustard, ham, turkey, genoa salami, provolone cheese and then the secret ingredient, olive salad (Just like they use in the original muffuletta in New Orleans). Then we buttered another slice of bread to top off the sandwich. About 20 seconds each side on the hot griddle and it was ready. They loved it...

Naturally, we sampled as much as we could too. Most of it was close to Fantastic. We got full real fast and missed out on a lot of stuff we wish we could have tried.

Then there was the After Party, a gathering of souls who just didn't want the day to end. We had another great time there too.

Here are a few photos for you but they really don't do it justice. It's unique, it's fun and it's gonna be bigger and better next year.