RE: [CH] Austin Hotluck

David Cook (DCook@RetroStudios.com)
Tue, 27 Apr 1999 18:27:50 -0500 

> To completely change the subject:
> I wasn't able to go to the Austin Hotluck and really wanted to.  Can
> someone fill us in on what we missed?  Vicarious is much better than
> carious after all...    Deb in Houston
> 
	Deb (and all the others who missed it) -- here's the Austin Hotluck
write-up.

	First, I gotta apologize for the delay in getting this posted, but
hopefully my lame excuse will make itself clear as this goes along. It
wasn't from an overdose of El Grande. El Grande was fine and kind to us two
Saturdays ago. However...

	The tale of the hotluck begins on Friday, the night before. With a
goodly number of guests anticipated, my wife had put in her time cleaning
the house and baking her signature habenero cheesecakes, while I had spent
most of my day sitting on my keister at the office. Needless to say when I
got home, making dinner was not high on the schedule, so I did my best to be
generous and offered dinner at the local burger joint. This went over well
and so out we went -- on foot.

	Four hours and an ambulance ride to the emergency room later, we
finally got to eat cold cereal before taking our pain pills and hobbling
into bed. While crossing the street just before our burger goal, we were
both hit by a car pulling out of a parking lot. As a result I was left on
crutches and my wife was hobbling very, very slowly.

	But, you see, NOTHING can stop the unstoppable force of a chilehead
hotluck. Not threat of rain, not cars, not moving cross-country. Nothing can
stop a hotluck except the dreaded lack of hot stuff and that we had plenty.
Thanks to Jim Campbell the Elder of Mild to Wild Chiles, we had a fine
selection of sauces and treats for everybody.

	So, with the help of friends, the Austin Hotluck went forward.
Although the actual list member turnout was a little small (and thanks
Yvonne, David, and Bill for all your help being hands and feet), there was a
fair turnout of secret chileheads (ie. not list members) and chilehead
wannabes. For those who weren't there, we can only tantalize you with the
spread:

	Homemade pico de gallo
	Bill's homemade salsa
	Thai Grilled Steak (based on the late Colonel's recipe)
	Chipotle Scalloped Potatoes
	Thai Appetizers (deep-fired meatballs wrapped around a chile; again,
the Colonel's recipe)
	Habenero Chile
	Dried Sardines Fried in Chiles
	Dried cuttlefish with hot dipping sauce (for the adventurous)
	Lime-Habenero Cheesecake
	Orange-Rum-Habenero Cheesecake

	And of course, being Austin, plenty of Shiner Bock and Celis beer.

	If anybody wants recipes of these, I'll post them as soon as I get
them from the respective folks.

	A good time was had by all, the weather was perfect, the food was
delicious and there weren't a lot of leftovers. My wife and I had a grand
time, even if we did mostly just sit with our legs propped up on pillows.
Again, we want to thank all the folks who came and helped out so
unexpectedly. Stay tuned, there will be another Austin Hotluck sometime in
the future.

	David Cook