This past Monday was the only Monday between the New Mexico State Fair and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. which to us means that it’s time once again to judge our annual Scovie Awards Competition. This year was a bit different from previous years. First, it was our 25th anniversary of the awards, and second, we had many more products … Read More
Review of “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law”
I have mixed feelings about this book. Parts of it are fascinating and brilliantly written; other parts are gross to the point of being downright disgusting. I mean, if you like reading about how seagulls shit in peoples’ mouths, or the precise details of what they vomit, then this book is for you! Maybe living for decades with a surname … Read More
Some Seafood Products You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
(Image Above: Bottarga Made from Ling, Mullet, and Tuna. Photo by Radobera on Wikimedia Commons. This photo is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.) Lately I have added another food history subject to write about: seafood and seafood products. Long before I became obsessed with chile peppers and spicy foods, I was a seafood aficionado–I loved … Read More
Some Hope for the Environment
A Review of Islands of Abandonment In this excellent book, Cal Flyn uses the word “island” in the metaphorical sense of “a thing or place resembling an island, especially in being isolated, detached, or surrounded in some way.” Her main accomplishment is a rejection of the gloom and doom attitude about the future of the environment so prevalent in the … Read More
Judging the Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge
Yesterday I judged the Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge held at the Agricultural Building at the New Mexico State Fair. I joined eight other volunteers in order to determine which restaurant in the state made the best spiced-up cheeseburger. I must say that all of those entered were delicious, but one, shown above, was clearly the best. Why? Well, see those … Read More