Delicious Drinks

Delicious drinks to go with your spicy foods, regardless of the season.

I came across some drinks that were in err since I was supposed to have purchased a bottle of cinnamon schnapps to make some fireballs for an upcoming Christmas/birthday day party.  Turns out I got root beer schnapps.  Check out the two drinks below and let me tell you they are good and go well with almost any spicy food.


Root Beer - Float recipe
1 oz root beer schnapps
1/2 oz Bailey's® Irish cream
1 oz 7-Up® soda
1 oz Coca-Cola®

Pour ingredients into a shaker with ice and stir pour in to glass over ice.



Brittle Fracture recipe
3 oz root beer schnapps
9 oz Sprite® soda

Mix in no particular order. Serve over ice.

Remember to drink responsibly and don't drink and drive.

Curry Carrot Ginger Soup

Curry Carrot Ginger Soup
Fiery, creamy and hot, a dose of curry adds an extra kick to this super-healthy soup.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 nub fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 or 6 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon curry powder
Dash cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
4 lemon wedges
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sprigs parsley, optional garnish
Dollop sour cream, optional

Time estimates
Prep time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon oil and butter in large heavy-bottomed pot. Add onion and ginger. Stir and cook until onion is tender, 5 or 6 minutes. Add potato, 1/2 cup of broth and salt. Bring to low boil. Stir occasionally until potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Add carrots and remaining broth. Return to low boil. Cover and simmer. Cook until ingredients are tender, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat.
3. Meanwhile in separate saucepan melt 1 tablespoon butter until it begins to foam. Add milk and bring to low boil. Add curry, cumin and cayenne seasoning. Stir about 1 minute or until ingredients turn gold. Remove from heat.
4. Carefully transfer contents of pot to blender. Process until smooth, about 25 to 30 seconds, in two batches if necessary. Return to pot.
5. Stir curry sauce into soup. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes, to let flavors meld. Reheat, add lemon wedge and serve hot.

Serves 4
Recipe from Mother Nature Network

Mandarin Orange Chicken

Here is a nice recipe that is quick and delicious.
Serves 6, prep time 15 minutes

Ingredients
6 Boneless Chicken Breast
11 oz Canned Mandarin Oranges
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbs Paprika
1 Tbs Onion Powder
1 Tbs Garlic Powder
Zombie Jac's Crushed Pepper (To taste)
Himalayan Sea Salt (In grinder)
Grape Seed Oil

Thaw, wash and dry the chicken breast, set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Pour enough grape seed oil in to a large roasting pan to just cover the bottom
Mix Brown sugar, Paprika, Onion powder and Garlic Powder in a large bowl.
Place each breast in the mixture, lightly coating both sides then place chick in to roasting pan, breast side up.
Grind salt on to each breast and sprinkle Zombie Jac's Crushed Pepper to suit taste.
Open oranges, drain and place oranges on to each breast, there are usually enough for 3 slices for each breast.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes uncovered.  Makes 6 servings.

It is pickling time!

Pickled Jalapeño Rings

• 3 pounds jalapeño peppers
• 1½ cups pickling lime
• 1½ gallons water
• 7½ cups cider vinegar (5%)
• 1¾ cups water
• 2½ tablespoons canning salt
• 3 tablespoons celery seed
• 6 tablespoons mustard seed

Yield: About 6 pint jars. Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning. Procedure: Caution: Wear plastic or rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes.

	1.	Wash peppers well and slice into ¼" thick slices (a mandolin slicer works well). Discard stem end. Mix 1½ cups pickling lime with 1½ gallons water in a stainless steel, glass or food grade plastic container. Avoid inhaling lime dust while mixing the lime-water solution. Soak pepper slices in the lime water, in refrigerator, for 18 hours, stirring occasionally (12 to 24 hours may be used).
	2.	Drain lime solution from soaked pepper rings. Rinse peppers gently but thoroughly with water. Cover pepper rings with fresh cold water and soak, in refrigerator, 1 hour. Drain water from peppers.
	3.	Repeat the rinsing, soaking and draining steps two more times. Drain thoroughly at the end.
	4.	Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids according to manufacturer's directions.
	5.	Place 1 tablespoon mustard seed and 1½ teaspoons celery seed in the bottom of each clean, hot pint jar. Pack drained pepper rings into the jars, leaving ½-inch headspace.
	6.	Bring cider vinegar, 1¾ cups water and canning salt to a boil over high heat. Ladle boiling hot brine solution over pepper rings in jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Make sure pepper rings are covered with brine.
	7.	Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; apply two-piece metal canning lids.
	8.	Process in a boiling water canner according to the recommendations in Table 1. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Pickled Jalapeño Rings in a boiling-water canner.
		Process Time at Altitudes of
Style of Pack	Jar Size	0 - 1,000 ft	1,001 - 6,000 ft	Above 6,000 ft
Raw	Pints	10 min	15	20

What is new om the Zombie Farm

Hi everyone,

Been a bit since I posted anything about the growing and hot sauce, but that doesn't mean something is not going on.  First we added a second bed.  I had a request to grow some sweet grass for basket making so after a few hours of thinking I realized I had a 6 foot long PVC fence post cover, I was originally going to use it to make a vertical tower for strawberries but said what the heck, so over a weekend I cut it open, plumbed it and filled it with some media.  I had to change out the valves and still trying to work out kinks in the drain but it is filling with tank water now, getting the bacteria  in there to make those nutrients for the plants.  Diane has located a distributor for the seeds so we need to get those ordered.

Spent one day looking for worms.  Yes worms in the house.  I know most of you are going ewwww, but they are needed for the grow beds to eat the solids and break them down for the plants.  We have not been able to locate any other than online and they only sell them in pounds not smaller, and they need to be vermicomposting worms, red worms.  No room for night crawlers and they don't like water anyways.  Either way I need to get some ordered.

As for what is growing, we have cherry tomatoes sprouting, celery growing, some habanero seeds have sprouted as well.  The basil is not looking well although the roots are doing great.  All the lettuce has died but I did not think it would stay since I did not plant em that deep.  The original jalapeno's are starting to sprout new growth as are the Portuguese Chili's.  The bush beans were slow but now are starting to get additional growth on them so all in all the bed looks great.  The fish are also doing well.  We started with ten and are down to four, and they are getting bigger.  They are up to 2 feedings a day even though the nitrites are high I am going to keep feeding them, unless the ammonia levels come back up, and we now have nitrates showing up in the water, that is a great thing.

Thanks to everyone who is following us on this journey, and remember we are only weeks away from starting the hot sauce bottling!

Jalapeno Slow Cooker Recipie

Jalapeno Corn Pudding


--2 cups of frozen or fresh corn kernels
--2 T unsalted butter, melted
--1 cup milk (2% or lower)
--2 eggs
--2 T white sugar
--2 T flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
--1 tsp baking powder
--1/2 tsp Kosher salt
--2 T jalapeno pepper slices, chopped
--1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Use a 4 quart round crockpot for this recipe.

Spray the inside of your crockpot with cooking spray. Melt the butter in the microwave and put it in. Add milk, eggs, salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder. Whisk the ingredients together. Stir in the corn kernels, cheese, and chopped jalapenos.

Cover and cook on low for 3-5 hours. This is cooked through when the edges brown and begin to pull from the sides and the center is set. Take the lid off for 20-30 minutes when set and continue to cook on low to get rid of the added condensation.

Cook for exactly 4 hours on low, then let it cook for another 20 with the lid off.

Chowder Month - Recipie

JALAPEÑO BISQUE

1 T grape seed oil
6 to 8 jalapenos, minced
1 cup finely chopped red onion (about 1/2 onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups raw cashews
3 cups water
1 avocado, peeled and diced
2 cups diced tomatoes (about 2)
1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped
1 T Himalayan sea salt*
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1 red jalapeno, sliced in rounds (for garnish)

In a 4 quart saucepan, heat the grape seed oil over medium heat and add the jalapenos and onions stirring until the vegetables are almost soft. Add the garlic and saute an additional minute. Place the cashews in a  blender with the water. Blend on the whole juice setting until completely smooth (about a minute). Add the cashew mixture to the jalapeno mixture. Stir in the remaining ingredients and gently heat to blend flavors. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with additional cilantro and red jalapeno, top with an avocado slice and quesadillas. Serves 8.

Could be heading for a disaster

So I think I am headed for a disaster, any thoughts or advice on the below situation would be appreciated.
 - We are at week 7
 - Fish are in tank
 - Plants are in the bed (cuttings and seeds)
Over the weekend I noticed brown spots on one of the fish.  It appears to be ammonia burns that are healing.
I have had the following chem readings

Ammonia 4 / pH 8 / Nitrite 2 / Nitrate 0 Temp 73

I checked again this morning and had this

Ammonia 4 / pH 8 / Nitrite 4 / Nitrate 2 Temp 74

The ammonia has been consistent at 4 and does not drop, ph the same.  Got this double Nitrite count but now getting Nitrates.  Vet says the brown is good in the fact the fish is healing but can not explain why no other fish is showing signs of Ammonia/Nitrite burns (apparently the condition is the same).  Coming from an aquaculture back ground we would just change 50% of the water and chem test the filter.

Well I have technically changed all the water over the past 3 days and everything stayed the same.  Now that I possibly could have slowed anything going on in the bed, I am at a loss as to what to do.

 - Should I remove the fish and let it run while the fish have r&r session in another tank, till everything drops, or let it cycle out as is?

Tank is 20 Gallon with 3 mid size comets and one small comet.
10 Gallon Growbed
475 Gph pump
Have not fed fish in over a week.  Need more info?  Plant cuttings are rooting and seeds are sprouting.  HELP.

Progress

The lettuce is growing......

This all after 4 days after I put the seeds in the bed, the bush beans are also starting to grow.

One dead several injured...

Not to sure about what is going on with my setup.  One fish died overnight and two more are on the way out.  pH is at 7.0 today but was at 9.0 last night.  Ammonia is still at 1.0 and still no sign of nitrites or nitrites.  Water temp hi is 74 low is 71.4.

Cuttings look great, made mini terrariums with old soda bottles to cover the plants, also added a neck to the siphon to raise water level to reach seeds and cuttings for the time being.  Smells a bit fishy in the tank, but then I did add 10 fish to the 20gal tank.  The big comets are happy as hell the little ones I picked up at Petsmart (never doing that again) are all croaking.

Engage

Today was the day.  Cuttings were planted in the grow bed, seeds will be in a few days and we put fish in the tank.  Altogether we purchased 10 fish and I will say this, do not purchase fish from Petsmart, get them anywhere else.

I also located a Nitrate test kit and well , 0 nitrates found.  We also added a heater that is preset at 78 degrees.  I know the numbers are not that great on the water and now the pH dropped to 9 tonight, but Ammonia stayed the same.

I need to find a way to control the pH but looks like I will need to get some pH up from the Hydroponics store to get it to get to 7.0 where it should be.  I took a number of photos today so please take a look.

Shock and AWWWW

A little update for everyone:

Added Ammonia to system last night to kick start it and tested this morning and the level is about 3.0. A little high but will test Nitrites tonight. Hopefully adding cuttings and tomorrow and maybe some seeds for bunch beans.

So tonight I tested the water again, Ammonia is down to 1.0, but pH is still high at 8.  Need that down to 7, checked the nitrites and they are at 0 (yeah) then I realized I bought the wrong test kit 'cause it is missing the Nitrate test...duh!

I did pick up an air pump that should fix the pH and help get Nitrates developed for the plants plus I also picked up a bottle of Nitrate Bacteria to dissolve the ammonia and get the bacteria into the bed.

Water Temp is 71.3 - great for Talapia and for Goldfish, Koi

I never liked Chemistry but I am sure glad I did pay attention.

Up and testing

Today I took another day off of my bill paying job, last vacation of my anniversary year and spent a better part of the morning on the phone with them, bad timing I guess but good for the aquaponics.  I spent this morning moving the equipment in to the house and I thank my love wife and  gardening partner for giving me a space in the kitchen to set this stuff up.

Drilled out one of the shelves so that I can run the drain through the decking to where the tank will be.  Moved the bed and tank to the shelves and plumbed out the whole thing.  Here are a few photos.

Drain and hole

Drain with aeriator

Flow control valve

Water line in and grow media (Hydrocorn)

Extended Tank fill with Aerator and tank

Day of recovery and redemption

Today we got an early start, got the bed emptied and cleaned.  Did a quick diagnostic on the bell and found media wedged in between guard and bell as well as the drain was completely filled with Hydrocorn well as the elbow on the drain was plugged.  Cleared all of that out and decided to cut the drain down to 7" from the 8" it was as well as shorten the bell and redo the media guard.  Tested the old guard and the new guard and found that they are not floating, they are actually rising from the media floating and lifting the guard.

Had Conor rewash the Hydrocorn several times while I went out to locate some pvc and cpvc parts as well as maybe a comercial media guard at the pond fish store.  No luck there but we did pick up a water test kit, and got some hardware from Lowes.

We redid the tank, bed and piping.  Put the media back in the bed and started from scratch retesting the set up.  Here is a video of the drain of the bed and it is quick.  I am still concerned about the fill rate vs. the drain.  The bed fills currently in 3:53 seconds and drains in 33 seconds.

We are going to let it run for a few hours, change out the water in the tank and test again.  Should be moving bed indoors tomorrow and get plumbing done

The hydrocorn is no longer floating away, hopefully it will stay.

The new drain incorporates an aerator on the last horizontal section, getting more Oxygen into the
tank.









The grow bed is no longer floating and the water now stops about 1/2 to 1" away from the top of the grow bed.

Not so good

Today we tried to clean the Hydrocorn.  Not an easy task.  I have now done four full washes and it is still running red.  We also made the media guard but in my estimation it is an utter failure.  I was checking the flow and drain and realized the guard was rising as the water rose as well the hydrocorn floats and that may be a big problem.  Need to go back to the drawing board on the guard issue but not sure we can work with the hydrocorn.

On a better note we purchased the shelving we will be using for the tank and bed/  It was rated for 1000lbs per shelve and required no screws plus it was under $70 at Lowes.  It did require the removal of a table but that is going to a family member who needs a real dining room table.


Here are few photos of the media guard and the media that is somehow getting into the siphon and down to the tank.

Conor working on the media guard

 This guard has 3 different size holes and even though it was floating we added holes all the way up to the top of the media, but that didn't stop the floating.

Here is a completed bed with guard and media in place.  It now only takes about 1/3 the water to fill.

Here we can see media reaching back to the tank.
Not sure how it is getting into the siphon unless the siphon is rising with the water level.

Success..mostly

Today to release some stress from the toils of life in IT I swore I was going to go home and work on the grow bed and fix the issues and test.  I asked my assistant Conor if he would join me in the backyard and we began.  I had already re-sized the bulkhead adapter gasket and used silicone on the the cap to the bell on the siphon.  We also made a new down spout to increase the velocity of the downward flow and pull on the siphon.  The thought is that this will prevent a "bubble" from forming at elbow and drifting back to the bell breaking the flow.

Notice the funnel at the top this is to increase the flow volume into the drain.

The sealed bell.

I left the funnel on the tube hoping that it is not the issue.  We also had to place the tank on the ground so that we could use a longer down spout. We had to run a few test, several fills and drains, trying to determine the best rate that the bed would work at.  On our first test it filled in 3 minutes and drained in 90 seconds, but the siphon would not stop so the drain and fill were stuck at a 1/4" deep.  We decreased the fill rate a bit and it now filled in 9 minutes and drained at 2:06.  The drain hung for a bit but finally got the gurgle of air.  After a few more tweak we had the fill to 23 minutes and drain in 1:20 seconds, I thinks this probably the best we can do with this bed without increasing the size of the drain to 1".  We also tested the down spout on the slower fill fast drain rate, the be filled but would never go full drain, just a trickle to keep it from over-flowing.

I do still have to clean the hydrocorn and make the media filter but we are very close to starting the active flood and drain and add fish. Really need to locate a metal rack for the tank and bed.  I think the plastic one we have will collapse.  Hopefully we can get some type of setup running this weekend.

We will keep you all posted and thanks for reading.

Recipe of the week "Pickled jalapenos (escabeche)"

Pickled jalapenos (escabeche)
Ingredients:
1 pound of jalapenos, cut into rings
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
3 carrots, peeled and cut into rings
1 small onion, cut into rings or slivers
6 cloves of garlic, minced (6 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon of canola oil
6 teaspoons of peppercorns
6 teaspoons of cumin seeds
6 sprigs of cilantro
2 cups of white vinegar
Salt
Water
Six pint jars, sterilized

Method:
1. Cook the peppers, carrots, cauliflower and onion in the oil on medium heat for ten minutes or until onion is clear.
2. In each jar, place the equivalent of 1 minced clove of garlic (1 teaspoon), 1 sprig of cilantro, 1 teaspoon each of peppercorns and cumin seeds.
3. Divide pepper mix between the six jars.
4. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to each jar and then fill the rest of the jar with water, leaving 1/2 inch at the top. Add a dash of salt.
5. Seal and then give jar a good shake.
6. Refrigerate overnight and they should be ready within 24 hours. Will keep in the refrigerator for a month. Makes 6 pints

Trials and tribulations

We have now picked up a 45 lb bag of Hydrocorn for the growing bed.  Had a little conversation with Bob at Harvest Moon, a hydroponics dealer just down the street.  When I told him I was venturing in Aquaponics he was just amazed. He stated I was the first person to ever come in that was actually doing anything with Aquaponics, so he started asking all these questions and I told him of Zombie Jac's story.  We are attempting to grow our own raw products so that we can produce our product line and keep cost to a minimum and possibly supplementing the income with the sale of Talapia and Trout at the local farmers market.  He was so intrigued it was fun to have a discussion with someone about it who had a little knowledge on the topic.  So I in return picked his brain about grow media, lights and some other topics.  Come to find out that Hydroton, the typical media used, is in short supply due to the main plant in Germany running out of the clay from their mine.  He pointed out the Hydrocorn which is made the same way but utilizes a sterilized standard clay, hence it was cheaper than Hydroton by about $20 for the same size bag.

I am planning on testing the media and see how well it works but the prep is a little more intensive with washing it and letting it sit in the running system for about 2 weeks before adding nutrients to it via the fish, which I don't have yet so it does fit in the time schedule.  We need to work out the bell siphon issue first and there are several fixes I need to do first.

First we need to make the top bulkhead adapter gasket smaller so the siphon sits flat against the bed.  For some reason the bed only drains halfway before the seal is broken.  But I am not sure that is the real error.  When I pull the cap off the siphon and place my hand over it, it will drain all the way.  So maybe it is the cap that is leaking, we could only get a test cap for the 2" bell, I need to locate a 2" cap schedule 40, there could also be the issue of the gap above the drain.  Currently it is at about 1".  I tested a taller bell and the drain rate was terrible.  I have been told it should not be less than 1/2"

The other possibility is the diameter of the drain.  Currently it is 3/4" with 1" flair at the top, theory being that the reduction helps maintain a stable flow, with increased velocity to drain bed faster.  I may have to make the drain 1".  Not sure but it may be something to test. Then final thing is the drain, currently it only has one 90 degree but again I have been reading that I need another.  I did add aeration holes to the first straight pipe off the drain 90 but now put another 90 as a sort of down spout to increase back pressure.

The feed is great.  I fill the bed in about 5 minutes on the highest setting and drain in about 1 min.  The pump is a Tetra 450 gph statuary pump and does great on a 36" vertical.  I did add a shut off valve to the feed line so I can fine tune the feed and I have run it at a trickle to full bore.

I do need to get a hold of a test kit for the water to test pH and nutrients so if anyone knows where I can find a tester (test tube type) let us know.

On the pepper side we are ready to start production on some habanero (Zombie Jac's Original) sauce, Piri Piri Sauce and possibly some Hellapano Juice.  Keep and eye on Facebook for delivery dates for testers and remember if you want to be a tester let us know via Facebook or e-mail.  All you need to do is ues it and tell us what you think.

I will post some more pictures later.

Remeber you can always reach us at Zombiejac@nycap.rr.com
and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ZombieJacsHotStuff/

Ready...Set...Aquaponics

Ok so I had the day off of work and went out to shop for some garden supplies for my experiment.  Here is were we are so far

Got the fish tank

Testing for leaks and cleaning

Mystery items.

I will get some photos as I progress here but I am really excited.  Right now just looking for an adapter for CPVC down to 3/4 inch vinyl hose and growing media.

More to come.

PART 2

So here is what we have. Pump 450gph, filler pipe,hose, parts for bulkhead adapter, drain, silicone, cvpc cutter and pvc cutter and a 10 gallon tote for a grow bed.

Ok so not pretty. Just needed to test home made bell siphon. Thanks to Conor for the help cutting and drilling weep holes.

Glad to say bulk head adapter works, no leaks there and stand pipe works fine but a little to tall still. Gasket at bottom too big as well need to make smaller so bell sits flat on bottom.

Conor and I worked on building the bell siphon and all though the set up was not perfect we were able to find some mistakes that we need to change.  Also it tested our version of a bulkhead adapter since no one at lowes or home depot was smart enough to  know what one was, or even what a bulkhead was.

Honey Habanero Chicken Wings

We received this from one of our readers:

Submitted by: Amy Angelo
Prep time:15 minutes
Cook time:45 minutes
Serves: 8

These wings are coated in a smoked paprika spice blend, then glazed with honey and habenero sauce, and finished with cooked bacon.

Ingredients

24 chicken wings (cut into wing and drumette pieces)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Oil for frying
1 cup honey
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 habanero pepper (minced finely)
1 lb bacon (cooked and crumbled)
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Preheat oil to 350 degrees.

Remove chicken from packaging and dry with paper towels.

In a large zip top bag, mix together: flour, salt, black pepper and smoked paprika. Shake to incorporate.

Drop the chicken wings into the flour mixture and shake to coat chicken.

Shake off excess flour and drop chicken wings into the hot oil. Fry for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together: honey, apple cider vinegar, and habanero pepper.

Dip each chicken wing into sauce and then place onto a baking sheet. Bake chicken for 5 minutes, remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

Sometimes the plans change

I have often been accused of having harebrained ideas, and often think I came up with a great idea to find out someone already made it that sometimes it becomes embarrassing to hear the stories or that I just keep them to myself.

Well Zombie Jac is not one of those ideas but is also one of those ideas that has spawned into a little more than I originally thought it would.  I started making hot sauce a few years ago because I really disliked all the vinegar tasting sauces that were at the stores but I loved hot peppers.  I often sit out in the yard and pull a habanero, jalapeno or what ever hot pepper I am growing and snacking on them, especially with a cold beer.

I decided one day that I could make my pepper sauces myself to the taste and way I like them and came up with several of my own recipes as well as several that should never be resurrected again, for example a mango papaya habanero salsa, or maple habanero sauce, if green had a taste that was it.

I always had a love for cooking but there was something special about making spicy, hot food, knowing that not everyone can tolerate it and sauces seem to fit the bill, I can have it with out effecting the rest of the families ability to eat the food.  A few years ago I finally decided to make some  to give to family and friends, and in 2011, I had a record crop of habanero peppers so I decided to make a larger batch of habanero sauce, salsa and some other unique concoctions and sent them out for taste testing and gave them away as gifts, as well as collecting donations for the sauce that was donated to the Wounded Warrior Project on behalf of Zombie Jac and the Marine Corp League.

My wife, Diane suggested that I should sell my sauce, salsa and habanero products at the local farmers market so I started some research as to what I would need to do to do that locally and in New York State.  Laws and regulations make it almost impossible to get product to market, some for good reason others are not so good, like $400 to the state for a license to  produce a food product.  That is $400 per product, not per license.

I better take a step back, I told Diane one day back in 2010 that we ought to get a food truck, I wanted to get in the restaurant business, she said OK, then said no and said how about a hot dog cart first, I said OK, then she said can't quit my day job, well that squashed that idea, haha.  I am sure she has a different version but basically the arm of rational decision led me to the sauce and work on that.  I had gone over the laws and requirements for food truck, restaurant and food manufacturing and the seemed impossible to get past but the sauce seemed actually to be attainable.

The problem I was facing was I need my peppers in the sauce, not some powder or dehydrated peppers from California, we are located in upstate New York by the way.  Our growing season consists of about 120 days give or take up to 30 days and peppers require almost 180 days for good fruit, that is 60 days of lost growing or spending an astronomical amount for seedlings that may or may not be healthy.  We have gardened for years and it was a hobby but with the cost ever increasing at the market and the cost of young plants increasing, droughts, disease and pests it was becoming ever apparent that we need to be able to sustainable grow what we want and need.

Hence a new direction for Zombie Jac's, sustainable farming of our materials to create our products.  I will cover more about that later on.

Thanks for following Zombie Jac's and we hope you stick around and follow us on our journey.  You can follow us on Facebook, twitter and right here on the blog, you can also e-mail us.  I will post that at the end.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZombieJacsHotStuff
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ZombieJac
E-mail: zombiejac@nycap.rr.com

Pepper infused Vodka

I like to call myself an aficionado of Bloody Mary's and even though the Spicy V8 hits the spot for them I started thinking why not add the spice to the Vodka instead so for all of you Pepper lovers and Bloody Mary lovers here it is....Pepper Vodka

Pepper Vodka
The hottest thing to ever hit a bottle of vodka, this infusion adds a perfect element of spicy boost guaranteed to produce the best damn Bloody Marys.
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and quartered lengthwise
1 jaiapeño chiie, stemmed, seeded, and quartered lengthwise
1 red habanero chile, stemmed, seeded, and quartered lengthwise
One 750-ml bottle good-quality vodka


Place the chiles in a large glass container, add the vodka, and cap tightly. Let stand at room temperature for 48 hours, shaking gently once or twice a day. Taste for the preferred flavor and heat intensity, allowing it to infuse for up to 2 more days if needed. (Do not allow it to infuse any longer than 2 weeks, or a bitter flavor will result.) Strain the infused vodka back into the original bottle. Cap tightly, label, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I had a dream...

What a day, I want to share a little story of something that happened last night. Well sometime last night I was dreaming that my backyard was filled with millions of Tilapia and I had no way to get rid of em and had no idea how they multiplied that fast, so I got up and wandered downstairs to the back door. I stood there looking out the door, not opening it, trying to see in the back yard as I thought it was a giant fish tank and the door was a way into the tank. I could not see the fish but I swear they were there. I suddenly realized where I was and woke up. I started laughing but let me tell you it screwed my whole day. I have not sleep walked since I was a kid... :)

Welcome to Zombie Jac's Hot Stuff Blog

Glad you made it here.  This is were our journey will begin.  From here you will watch and join and hopefully enjoy  and share with us as we develop our hot pepper based products and get them to market.  I can not promise it's success but I can promise we will have an adventure.

Again thank you for joining us!