Grumpy Beer Geek

I was thinking about ordering some Skyline Chili online from their store. But at $4/can before shipping I just can’t justify it. So I sent them an e-mail. We’ll see if they respond.

UPDATED — They did. Click Read More to read my email to them and their response.
Read the rest of this entry »

An easy single command to copy a record from one table to another in MySQL:

   insert into destinationdb.destinationtable
     select * from sourcedatabase.sourcetable
     where code = ‘123′;

I think I finally may have found the spam fighting program that works best for me. SpamPal is a proxy program that sits between your e-mail program and the server it communicates with. For me it does a great job of catching spam. Yesterday it caught 198 of 203 spam messages with zero false positives. Give it a try if you are looking for such a program.

Today when I just didn’t want to put up with the stress of watching the Giants lose the World Series — so I went to see a movie. I’m glad I did.

I went to see Jackass the movie — and I thought it was the funniest movie I’ve seen in a long time.

But then again — I’m one of those people that loved the TV show — and the movie is just an extension of the TV show. Not that many very different stunts — but funny.

I haven’t laughed that hard in a long long time. But then when I saw the score when I got out of the movie…

I’m in the planning stages to brew up batch number 9 of my attempt at a clone of Skyline chili. Here’s the recipe I’m going to use. It’s a slowly evolving one. We’ll see how it turns out.

2.5 lbs lean ground beef (extra fine grind if possible)
2 quarts water

1 can tomato paste - (8 oz)

1 oz bitter chocolate
2 whole cloves
1.5 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground allspice

1.5 tsp ground cumin
2.5 tbsp chili powder (dark)
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (powdered)
4 tsp salt
2.5 tbsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp granulated garlic
4 bay leaves
1 tsp onion powder
3 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp yellow mustard

Cooking Instructions

Add raw ground beef to cold water and put on high heat and mix in well — will turn to a thick ugly red liquid. Do this before adding other ingredients. May need to add water if it’s too thick.

Add other ingredients — mix in and bring to a boil

Boil for 15 minutes with lid off

Simmer lightly for 3 hours with lid on or barely ajar

Remove cloves and bay leaves if possible once done

Version 9 Notes

Yellow mustard find was a good one — helps to make that Skyline aftertaste right.
With the mustard can cut back on the turmeric
Cut back on the cinnamon, allspice — too sweet
Perfect heat level

Ric’s notes:

Sounds very nice!! The only things I can suggest is try
vanilla about 1-2 Tbsp, and 1-2 tsp of lemon juice.
Do you skim the grease / fat off the top??
Personally I would suggest keeping the cinnamon as is and
cutting back / removing Cayenne Pepper. The ONLY reason
I say this is I doubt that the original skyline recipe would
have used Cayenne Pepper. It just doesn’t strike me as a
Greek ingredient from that time period.