Weekend Warrior: 2007 Hot Sauce Festival, Houston, TX

This last weekend I got a rare treat - I attended the annual Hot Sauce Festival in Houston, Texas with my husband, dad and stepmom (that’s us to the right with all the dust in the air). There’s also one in Austin, but we missed it - this one, however, was NOT missed and turned out to be a singular experience in the delights of Really Hot Peppers.

This was real Texas-style event: it was held at the Farm & Ranch Club where rodeos tend to be held. There was also cheap beer - that is, cheaply made but not cheaply sold. And lots of folks with Wranglers and boots, just like you’d expect.

I personally tasted 90% of the hot sauces offered at the event on various chips and crackers. My taste buds were in heaven. The vendors at this place really know what they are doing, and I benefited a great deal. The event wins its way onto a Crafting Blog because I met the majority of the people who actually made/come up with these hot sauces, olives, relishes, salsas and the like. These are Food Crafters, and they know what they’re doing. And they’re trying to make a living at it - more power to them!

So here’s what I bought:

1) The top Prize for me at the event is divided between these two, who coincidentally had just won prizes at the August Hot Sauce Festival in Austin:

1A) Big Daddy’s sauces (Houston) - Jeff likes the original Ass Burn Hot Sauce (no, I’m not kidding) and I favor the Amplified Heat Mean Smokin’ Green Hot Sauce. But we also bought the habanero-spiked High on Fire Hot Sauce. We were lucky enough to get our samples (which burned my face off) from Big Daddy himself, who coincidentally plays in a band called Whorehound. I’m pleased also that Big Daddy uses St. Arnold Lawnmower beer in his sauce - St. Arnold is a local brewery in Houston. No wonder it’s so good!

1B) The Salsa Picante Medium from Rancho Bravo in Peru. I met the son of the maker, who had a t-shirt out front that proclaimed he was sold out. I was lucky. I got a jar anyway, probably because I told him his salsa was heavenly and asked all kinds of questions about it. It turns out his dad was an oil and gas man - he sold his business and bought a tomato farm in Peru. And those tomatoes take center stage in this sauce. It’s sweet and spicy and chunky, with the taste of tomatoes fresh from the garden. And if you’ve ever had a fresh tomato from the garden, you know what kind of great I’m talking.

2) The Sausa from Chile Beach Jams in San Antonio. Jeff also bought a gift pack of their pepper jams to take to his work. The Sausa is sorta somewhere between Sauce and Salsa, hence its name. It’s really spicy, but not so far over the edge that it’s not perfectly edible. I think it’ll be great on grilled chicken, myself. But the nice lady at the company offered me a Bloody Mary made with it, and that just kicked it (add to it olives stuffed with jalapenos and you’re set). Yes, definitely, you can’t forget that many libations are also good with hot sauce, in addition to the beer that all proper Texans use to put the fire out when they’ve had too much spicy stuff.

3) Winston’s Hot Sauce and BJ’s Hi-Tech Habanero Pepper Sauce. Ultimately I bought Winston’s Jamaican Hot Pepper Sauce (Winston was there) based on taste. These two were both really hot and of the same style. I have to say, though, that BJ’s was the hottest sauce I tasted at the show, by far. The t-shirt below is Winston’s, and the other pic is of the very tall guy that was kindly brokering BJ’s Habanero to the crowds.

4) The Texas Gourmet - he and his whole family were there, and were very persuasive! - had the best jellies I tasted (apart from the ever-favorite Austin Slow Burn). I bought some of their Mandarin Orange Serrano Jelly, while the parentals opted for Kiwi Jalapeno. Yum! They also put out pads of recipes for their jellies and BBQ etc., which I thought was a really nice addition. I plan to make egg rolls and dip them in my mandarin. Anyone want to join me?
5) Tony Legner’s CAT-5 Food Polish from Rockport, TX tops off the list. This powdery spicy stuff kicked butt on the nice sizzling sausage they had. Also, I’d been craving Cheetos, and they had a bowl full of them sprinkled with their hot powder. I wanted to run away with the whole bowl, but I restrained myself. Cheetos are NOT on the health food diet, y’know. Turns out Tony Legner’s is a restaurant in Rockport… probably yummy!

In other news, my Dad (hot pepper face below, right), who I believe can eat anything spicy, came up against stiff competition - he munched a raw Tabasco pepper (that innocent plant below) off of some plants that someone had for sale, and discovered that it was just about too much! The woman selling the plants was highly amused, my dad was sweating and swearing … it was crazy.

Below are additional pictures of the Fun To Be Had By All Pepper Lovers. This was truly an independent food artists event, and I was pleased to attend. I think the largest pepper vendor there was Austin Slow Burn, and that’s just because Central Market here in Austin sells them, so they’re a bit better-known. But not by much. It was awesome to see so many people there with their handmade stuff. Oh, and a shout out to Cin Chili & Company, whose chili was featured on Bobby Flay’s Showdown not long ago. I got to meet Cindy of Cin fame and sample her chili - it is indeed awe-inspiring.

Cheers and happy hot stuff! What a great weekend!

Handmade Nation Documentary

The documentary is nearing completion - it is in editing phase, and the clip below is a taste of what’s to come.

Wait, wait, what is this? It’s a woman who took 2006 to document the rise of the DIY/craft/indie/making movement in the US. More info? Check out the website.

See if you can spot all the Austinites and Austin pics in this clip. Wow.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2HWPfwpOw]

Guest Post: Melissa’s Scarf

My most frequent commenter is also a knitter and general crafter as well as a very old friend of mine. Her name’s Melissa (left). Recently she showed me her first finished knitting project, described below, and I thought hey - it’s not all about me, right? No, seriously, it’s really awesome to see others’ projects and see the joy they get out of making (and finishing!) things. Maybe Melissa will send us a picture of her mother wearing the scarf later, eh? Without further ado, I present:

Melissa and the Scarf

When Miriam asked me to contribute a guest entry on my first knitting project, I hemmed and hawed like crazy. I’m very much a beginning knitter, and I don’t have a ton of confidence in my skills yet. But considering my limited abilities at this point, I was delighted with how my first project– a soft heathered-blue scarf I knitted for my mom (shown right)– turned out.

I’m more or less a “dabbler” when it comes to crafts. Since childhood, I’ve tried on different crafts, looking to fulfill a longstanding desire to, well, create. But I’ve often abandoned projects after starting them, or become frustrated and quit before getting good at something. You name it, I’ve tried it through the years – crochet, cross stitch, puff painting T-shirts, stamps, acrylics, calligraphy, needlepoint. I still haven’t finished a cross-stitch kit I bought in 1994! So learning how to knit, and actually completing a project, gave me quite a sense of triumph. And with knitting, I think I’ve found the crafting hobby (or at least one of the crafting hobbies) that suits me best.

I didn’t know how to go about tackling my first project. After mastering the knits and purls and practicing ribbing, seed stitching and other techniques, I knew it was time to complete something. But I was afraid of attempting to read knitting instructions. I taught myself to knit left-handed, and I still don’t understand completely how to translate patterns for a lefty. (That’s a confusing endeavor I’ll have to embark upon as I go). A friend and fellow knitter suggested I keep it simple and just use the most basic stitch there is – the garter stitch – to make an uncomplicated scarf. No pattern, just knitting until the scarf seemed long enough, then binding off.

I chose a bulky yarn that is quickly becoming my favorite for projects – Lions’ Brand Homespun yarn, for this project in Blue Sky. The yarn is so silky, easy to work with, and has subtle color variations that I just love. I used large, size 17 needles, and because of the bulky yarn and the big needles the scarf was done in record time.

I haven’t given the scarf to my mom yet, because I completed it in August, and my mother lives in Houston, Texas. (She won’t need a scarf until at least November). But I’m so excited for her to wear it, and now I want to give knitted things to everyone! Friends, beware – scarves, bags, blankets and even tea cozies might be coming your way.

I’ve heard many people describe knitting as a meditative practice – a technique to calm the mind, its rhythmic needle-flicking and yarn-wrapping soothing the soul. It’s true for me, and I need more of that calmness in my life.

So now I’m already at work on my next project, a baby blanket for my friend’s little girl. And once again I’m using Homespun yarn, this time in Lemonade (such a pretty, sunny yellow!) It’s going to take awhile to finish. But I’m addicted to the pretty yarn, and to knitting in general. I think this hobby is a keeper.