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January 22, 2012: Taco-Off! Continuing our preview of Dark Matter #2!

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Today, we gathered at my place (the only home in our circle of friends with a functional theater room since Rob’s gave up the ghost last weekend) for a final weekend of football prior to my departure for Tokyo.  Fortunately, the Patriot’s win (or, more appropriately, the Ravens’ loss) ensured I won’t have to go through the trouble of trying to track down somewhere to watch the Superbowl while I’m in Japan.  I’ll just read about the Giants victory instead.

While both games were exciting, the biggest match-up of the afternoon pitted Ivon’s Beef and Chorizo vs. Lawren’s Pulled Pork in our first annual Taco-Off.  Rob served up some delicious corn tamales (I can eat them for dinner AND dessert) while Patrick demonstrated his domestic flair by making his own peppermint patties.  As for me – I just picked up some pastries.

Lulu awaits her boyfriend's (aka Ivon's) arrival.
Lawren shows off his goods.
His goods = slow-cooked pulled pork with a little secret Kansas City rub imported from Seattle where, apparently, the best Kansas City rub is sourced.
Hey, check out Alfie! With a knife!
Rob comes bearing gifts.
The gifts = corn tamales!
Ivon finally arrives.
And he brought slow-cooked marinated beef and chorizo with paprika, chili, olive oil, white vinegar, lime juice and love!
Patrick surprises everyone with home made peppermint patties. HOME MADE!
Tasty decisions…Tasty decisions…
Ivon's tacos on display.
Chocolate and vanilla-filled zeppole.
Chocolate, pistachio, and gianduja macarons.

And the winner?  Well, I’m going to have to call it a tie.  Really, they were both great and neither deserve to lose.  Also, declaring it a tie opens the door for a rematch when I get back from Tokyo.

Another sneak preview of the second issue of my comic book series, Dark Matter.  Below, you’ll find the first two pages of issue #2.  Call up your local comic store and reserve your copy to find out how it all turns out!

Cookie Monster would like to remind everyone to finish up viewing Superman (1979) for this blog’s SuperMovie of the Week Club!  Discussion begins tomorrow!

Maybe.

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24 responses

  1. Gina Avatar
    Gina

    Hi Joe!

    Your description of painful shopping excursions reminds me of my husband’s attitude… he too, shops with that single minded purpose. Get what you need and get out!

    Will you be doing the weird food purchase of the day from Japan this year? Those have always been a fun part of your travel journals. Will we get to meet Akemi’s mom? That would be great… What about Max while you are gone? I’m sure it is going to be hard to leave him behind. I think about him often (odd, considering I’ve never met him, but I really feel like I have through this blog) and hope he doesn’t suffer. Do the other dogs treat him differently now that he is so sick?

    And lastly- any predictions for the superbowl? Score spread? Winner? I’m interested to hear your opinions, especially since you are the Fantasy Football winner this year..

    -Gina

    Reply
  2. cherluvya Avatar
    cherluvya

    Hey Joe,

    The food looks fabulous! Patrick is using your blog as proof he really did cook. *smiles* He made two? How did it taste?

    I have milstones in my life that mark the speed at which time is passing. Your trip to Japan makes me think “How can it possibly be a year already?”

    Superman: All versions that I have seen…this one being no exception…leaves me questioning Clark’s attachment to women. I am certainly not an expert on any character…but I have always wondered why Superman/Clark seems to fall so hard. Do men…even those with super powers stay with one woman? Lana/Lois ….boy/man. Is this suppose to show part of his character?

    The other thing that really bothered me when I was young watching the series…the number of times he jumps out a window. Did boys actually try to do it? I think I like the Smallville version that just has him moving faster than we can see.

    Best to you Joe,
    Thank you for the picture of Patrick,
    Always,
    Cheryl 🙂

    Reply
  3. sylvia Avatar
    sylvia

    Yummy – those fixin’s would make great sandwiches.
    And, of course the “to die for” macarons. What is/are gianduja?

    Why are you guys looking at a puter monitor with the caption – tasty decisions?

    Reply
  4. Narelle from Aus Avatar
    Narelle from Aus

    Hey Joe,

    How’s Max going?

    I was wondering if I could take a moment to thank someone from this blog publicly.

    Lise, or as she’s known here, For The Love Of Beckett, was so thoughtful and extended my Mum’s tribute page in a local paper for a year online so people from Facebook and directly through her page can leave messages.

    Lise and I live on opposite sides of the world but you’ve brought people together on your blog Joe that care truly for each other.

    The emails and messages from everyone have been an incredible support. Thank you.

    Reply
  5. Gforce Avatar
    Gforce

    Oh wow, those tacos look great! Did you guys watch TV or just eat? :).

    The Superman movie is locked and loaded and ready for watching tonight.

    Reply
  6. Nola Shingledecker Avatar
    Nola Shingledecker

    Just curious – corn tamales? Are there ANY other kind? It’s the fillings that differ – pork of course, chicken, beef, and if you’re adventurous and have connections – venison/pork combo – absolutely yum.

    Reply
  7. SiSi Avatar
    SiSi

    Yesterday I finally made it to the local comic store (where I’d never been before- it was a really cool place), but they were sold out of Dark Matter Issue #1. They did say they were ordering additional copies which should be in on Thursday, so I’ll head back then. And I’ve learned my lesson and will reserve a copy of issue #2.

    Reply
  8. JimFromJersey Avatar
    JimFromJersey

    Thanks for the pizza compliments! They were REALLY good.

    @Jeff: We stretched and rolled the dough on the floured counter. I’ve tried tossing it in the past and I ended up with holes in my dough or kitchen floor in my dough. Or both. =)

    My wife isn’t very adventurous either, hence the old faithful Pep-Mo. She did like the El Wilbur too…but the European not so much. She’s not a fan of truffles. Although she was surprised to find that she liked potato on the pizza.

    Reply
  9. Thornyrose Avatar
    Thornyrose

    how did you ever get lucky enough to fall in with a group of creative, productive folks that can also cook so well? The food looks delicious. Worked yesterday, but my visiting niece came up with a nice apple cobbler(which somehow involved some butterscotch) that was a hit. By this morning there was none left for the incoming shift, which is the biggest compliment we can give a dish at work.
    Hope the weather is good and that your flights are uneventful, and that you have a good trip. Oh, and what would you charge to accompany someone on a shopping trip? It would be worth quite a bit of change jsut to see you in action with some of the shopoholics I know. Thanks as always for the posts.

    Reply
  10. Lisa R Avatar
    Lisa R

    Yum yum on the food pictures. Does Patrick have a recipe for those homemade peppermint patties? That would be fantastic.

    The northern portion of our county here in Alabama is dealing with the aftermath of a tornado touching down this morning. Sirens and weather radio woke us up at 3 AM. There are people trapped in homes and roads blocked off. Thoughts and prayers appreciated. Thanks.

    Have a good day!!!!

    Reply
  11. Sue Jackson Avatar
    Sue Jackson

    Awwwww…pretty Lulu! 🙂 So…Lulu does have a crush on Ivon. 😉 So sweet! 🙂 Oooh…looks like you guys had Mexican fiesta! Tacos! Tamales! Yummmm! 🙂 Hey…Joe…you gonna host a Super Bowl party? If you do, I wanna come! 😉 Oh…btw…my NY GIANTS are going to hte SUPER BOWL!! 😀

    Reply
  12. Shiny Avatar
    Shiny

    Love soft tacos, they both look delicious. I’m not a fan of hard taco shells and their habit of shattering and dumping out their delicious contents on the first bite.

    I’m totally versed in Supe ’79, when Supe was great. Glad it’s not Supe IV with that bizarre double date between Clark, Superman, Lois and Mariel Hemingway.

    Reply
  13. TeesterX Avatar
    TeesterX

    Now that looks like a really nice lay-out. The marinated beef looks so good that I could almost taste it!

    Reply
  14. maggiemayday Avatar
    maggiemayday

    Aren’t all tamales “corn” tamales?

    We’re living on pulled pork here. Numnumnnummmm.

    Reply
  15. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    JimFromJersey: That pizza looks fabulous!

    JeffW: Better watch out there in Chicagoland. Those wonderful cheesecake and pizza recipes are very fattening. You could be the next target of the diabetes scandal (Paula Dean) 😉 .

    Mr. M.: That food looks incredible! Are all your friends foodies?
    Thanks for the preview!

    Did anyone catch L.D.P. on Celebrity cook-off? I’ll be hunting for those recipes!

    Reply
  16. Bailey Avatar
    Bailey

    Do you have a facebook page for Dark Matter?

    Reply
  17. Tam Dixon Avatar
    Tam Dixon

    LisaR: We got the top part of that storm at 11:00 last night. The electricity was off and on all night. I feel lucky though because all we got were the high winds/rain. I’m so glad your family is ok and I’m sending prayers to all the tornado victims!

    How is Max? Jelly ok?

    Reply
    1. Lisa R Avatar
      Lisa R

      @Tam Dixon: Thanks. My boys are still getting used to being in an area where the tornado sirens go off with higher frequency. And this was the first time we were woken up by one at night. My hubby’s bosses all live in the area that was hit. One is not in the office today because trees fell on his inlaws’ house. The others made it in. And this was all in the same county we live in–if it had been twenty miles south, it would have been us. A sobering thought.

      Reply
  18. Shiny Avatar
    Shiny

    Just a minder to the scribblers out there that Austin Film Fests script submission days end in May, and that since last year they are now accepting submissions of original teleplays to the competition:

    http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/new/screenplay

    If you put chicken and pork with a prune into that corn tamale and they will be heavenly.

    Reply
  19. jeremsg1 Avatar
    jeremsg1

    Hie Joe! French ( and Corsican) big fan of your works, and of course SG, I’m 20 years old, and I read your blog since I’m 16!

    1) Any future publication of Dark Matter in France?

    2) Do you think that one day Brad Wright will reveal the master plan, the ending, of SGU? And one day, you reveal us the end on Extinction?

    Think’s for answering, and sorry for bad english…

    Reply
  20. chevron7 Avatar
    chevron7

    mmmmm…who won the Taco-Off? I’ve got money on Ivon.

    Well it was a sad day for this 49er fan…very disappointed but congrats to the Giants….while the Giants looked a bit cowardly on punt/kickoff returns they were smart….have a bit of a run then when a 49er gets to you drop and let Eli take over….oh well it wasn’t just that, Giants had us pretty well covered…hardly heard Crabtree’s name….onto the Superbowl party…think I’ll go for the Pats.

    Cheers, Chev

    Reply
  21. JeffW Avatar
    JeffW

    @Tam Dixon:

    JeffW: Better watch out there in Chicagoland. Those wonderful cheesecake and pizza recipes are very fattening. You could be the next target of the diabetes scandal (Paula Dean) .

    I take only small samples of what I make; I get other people hooked instead 😉

    I can’t take all the credit; the original cheesecake recipe was from a book called “Eat what you want and die like a man!”:

    http://www.amazon.com/Eat-What-You-Want-Like/dp/B005Q600B2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327357551&sr=8-1

    That was a blueberry cheesecake recipe that I later modified to make a White-Chocolate Cheesecake, a Butterscotch-Caramel Cheesecake, and so on. For the Superbowl, I’ll be making those and a Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake (it’s the first time I’ve tried this combination; it’ll probably be something like a 12″ Reese’s cup!)

    Reply
  22. JeffW Avatar
    JeffW

    Oh and fair warning on “Eat what you want and die like a man”; it is a bit irreverent. Think of it as a humorous book that also has recipes.

    Reply
  23. jeremsg1 Avatar
    jeremsg1

    Hie Joe! French ( and Corsican) big fan of your works, and of course SG, I’m 20 years old, and I read your blog since I’m 16!

    1) Any future publication of Dark Matter in France?

    2) Do you think that one day Brad Wright will reveal the master plan, the ending, of SGU? And one day, do you reveal us the end on Extinction?

    Think’s for answering, and sorry for bad english…

    Reply

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