Welcome to the Pepperheads Play Page. Feel free to send in your own stories, images or whatever inspires you. You can always find us on our "Non-Stop Kitchen Party". Creating food & fun is what it's all about anyway, so enjoy your casual visit and feel free to get involved. Have some fun out there....

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." ~ Fellini

PEPPERHEADS IZ IN ‘THE HAT’

Medicine Hat…home of The World’s Biggest Teepee. Just love Rudyard Kiplings quote: “All hell for a basement.” The Hat would be a perfect place for a stiff chili cook-off, or a fine Smokin’ BBQ competition! Solid music & arts community…maybe some fine ‘hot’ artwork on some local Medalta Pottery as prizes? First heard the buzz from fans of Mike’s Meats (his pitchfork barbeque is quite legendary), discovered the great sausage & pork jerky at Premium Sausage in Seven Persons…now their jerky always comes home, as well as a drive-by fix of mochas from the Mad Hatter Roastery, Ralph’s Place is justifiably famous for cooking steaks up as they should be, and it’s also the home of Hitchen’s Hot & Sloppy Salsa grown and prepared with love each year by Jay Hitchen.Check out PAPA JAY…THE SALSA KING story in our Much Ado About Nothing page.

‘Papa Jay’ invited The Pepper Prez down to share a little hot love in The Hat. When Jay is not playing in the kitchen, he’s picking out music for CHAT and MY96 (he’s the Program Director). Had heard about Jay’s salsa, but hadn’t tasted it, so a visit was in order! We started just before 7 a.m., creating some great smells in the radio kitchen, which may seem early, but Jim Duce was already rolling on-air in the CHAT studio, while Chris Savage was bouncing off the walls next door at MY96. The Prez kept slipping into the CHAT studio to slide freshly cooked treats to Jim, but a crowd was starting to congregate in the kitchen….some things never change. Both salsas received rave reviews. Shrimp, mopped up with lots of fresh bread, strawberry shooters and some fine rubbed chicken. A little later on things started to erupt on MY96….these folks really take their peppers seriously…check out Chris’s tattoo!  Can’t say I’ve discussed Prairie Oysters on air before…and no, not the band. Jay was beaming like a true proud ‘Papa’ at this event he had created. We even fed to staff of CHAT TV…figured we fed at least 30 people. The TV crew broke up a meeting after they heard what was happening in the kitchen. A fine sunrise event!

THE FESTIVAL OF THE TOMATO 2005

This could be a little windy! First off, how Pepperheads ended up in Osoyoos Home Hardware…kept looking for where the foodies hang out in Osoyoos, then spotted a Portuguese Festival announcement that included Portuguese Cooking Classes at Home Hardware (?), so I checked it out. It was loaded with the interesting & unusual for the kitchen. In fact the whole place is packed with an amazing array of stuff. It is also a community hub…the weekends are more like a carnival. Then there’s Frances…she’s Italian…very Italian! Every year she gets them to close off the street to hold an Italian Street Party. Food, fun and just picture a street full of people of all ages singing “That’s Amore”. Frances (and her store) both have character, so it was a natural to join her at The Festival Of The Tomato, near Oliver (The Wine Capitol of Canada)

It’s held at Covert Farms, which is on McIntyre Bluff, just above Vaseau Lake. The glaciers which formed the Okanagan first broke apart on McIntyre Bluff, so it’s very fertile, but when the grandparents first announced that they were irrigating to grow crops up there, the locals thought they were loco. Wine (grapes) didn’t work out…Chateau Okanagan River Channel, but apples, tomatoes, corn squash and much more took off. For 4 years now they allocate 0.2% of their tomatoes for a wacky fundraiser for Okanagan Gleaners, which helps feed the hungry people of the world. Their “Pancho’s Country Market” is in what once was the draft horse barn. OK, that’s enough set-up…it’s time to throw some tomatoes!!

What happens when you let 2,000 people loose with a few truckloads of tomatoes…

Kathy, Susan, Frances & the Pepper Prez set up a festive portable kitchen and began to cook. We rolled out creations for five hours. Of course we used fresh produce from the farm. We created meatloaf using sun-dried tomatoes, Dark Secrets, Wild Garlic, mushrooms, Blue Cheese & blueberries, did a few Piri-Piri Strawberry Shooters, did some chicken in ½ Piri-Piri, ½ whipping cream & Amaretto…yum. The butternut squash, picked fresh from the field, baked, mashed with a little butter & then added Piri-Piri to taste were a big hit. Kathy created a new ‘appy’ with Heirloom Tomotoes (smaller) and stuffed them with 1 container of Ricotta Cheese mixed with ½ cup of Wild Garlic Salsa. Had to add the new cooking tips ‘cause people kept asking us to post them.

It was all beautiful bedlam. The Canadian Tenors sang away in the background and the Iron Tomato Chef competition was a great place for foodies to hang under the tent. There were lots of local microbreweries and wineries to check out and sample…Silver Sage’s aperitif wine “The Flame”, with a pepper and a kick in every bottle caught our eye (brought some back). Heard some rave reviews about shrimp being cooked on the grounds. Saw some people who really needed to use the portable showers. It was a nice set-up for the whole family…let the kids ‘have at-er’, then shower and a change of clothes. It really had a farm atmosphere to the day. Of course, if you plan to attend next year, it is held in the middle of the Wine Capitol of Canada, so there’s always something to do & if you book into the Gallagher Lake Lodge, there’s a great private lake with lots for the young at heart to play & do.

Thanks to everyone…we’ll be back!

 

‘THE PIRI-PIRI STRAWBERRY SHOOTERS’ are becoming all the rage. We went through almost 1,000 when we guested with Peg’s Legs during ‘A Taste Of Spring’ in Regina, another 300 at Indulgence in Edmonton & another 1,500 at the many stops over the last three months. : We’ve added how to whip up some for your next party in our Recipes To Inspire section & these puppies really do inspire your tastebuds! All the different elements of taste sensations hit different parts of your mouth, then form a conclusion about 90 seconds later. At Taste Of Spring and again at Indulgence, the wineries were holding impromptu “What wine matches up best with Piri-Piri Strawberry Shooters?” sessions. It was pretty funny. Many of you have added it to the menu at your get-togethers. We have another (Pepperheads) ‘Family Fave’ here. Thanks to Peg’s Legs & Savour Life for sharing the following photos.   REGINA WAS AT IT AGAIN....FANTASY FOOD 2005 Picture the Saskatchewan Science Centre with 35 great restaurants, micro-breweries and wine makers doling out treats between giant hockey player statues, mechanical contraptions and other unusual stuff. The place was packed. We've been so adopted by Regina & have a great group of food loving retailers who have become a community of it's own! We had planned to team up with Vern and Peg (of Peg's Legs) to share a festive offering of great food, then Brent from AAA Meats offered to come and play (and cook). He's won 50 or more culinary awards, so that was not to be missed. The menu was improvised 18 hours or so before the show (and during the show as well!). Peg's Legs were serving up their cabbage rolls & kobassa, along with Brent's Pork Picatta and five fabulous Rib-Eye Roasts. Word spread & soon our tables were buzzing. After 9, we rolled out the monster strawberries from Lakeshore IGA (they take their produce seriously), Rod served Strawberry Piri-Piri Shooters (lop off the top, scoop out a bowl inside, spoon in some Piri-Piri Sauce and add some whipped cream to the top...messy and fun). Brent has shared his quick recipes with us & we'll add them to the recipe section as well. Thanks to CJ Katz for sharing her photos (we were just to busy to take any, until we turned the tables on her...that's CJ "shooting a strawberry"). An improvised menu, a casual caring group creating and serving and Food & Fun just happens! We've added a couple of other "CJ's Best of Show" shots to give you a feel for some of the other creations. Peg's Legs were serving up their German style Cabbage Rolls & beef and pork Kobasa. FANTASY FOOD #1: ROAST BEEF RIB EYE Roast rib eye of beef with fines herbes! (Took a traditional French approach) MIX: fine bread crumbs, Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce, fresh chopped tarragon, rosemary, thyme, horseradish, salt and pepper. Combine it all together, adding enough Dark Secrets Sauce so you can spread the mixture all over your roast top, sides and bottom. Cook on low heat uncovered. This works great on your fillet and strip loin roast, will also go with a nice pork roast. “Pick a big red wine to go with this.”         ~ Compliments of Brent at AAA Meats in Regina. FANTASY FOOD #2: PORK PICATTA Pork sirloin or loin works great. I mixed finely shredded parmesan cheese & Piri-Piri Sauce (or Wild Garlic Hot Sauce works well). In a mixing bowl, add eggs, beat well with a whip, add finely shredded parmesan cheese till the consistency is like a batter, then add Piri-Piri (or Wild Garlic Hot Sauce) to taste, or until it is a nice red colour. Dip your meat in flour then into the mix and sauté with plenty of oil over brisk heat. Enjoy with Wild Garlic Salsa. Try this with boneless chicken or veal. “If this one don’t get your taste buds to come out and play you know for sure you must be dead.”      ~ The other creation shared at Fantasy Foods 2005. Compliments of Brent at AAA Meats in Regina

THE INVASION OF THE PEPPERHEADS (a.k.a.: Power To The Pepper)

The non-stop Pepperheads Kitchen Party blew into Power 104 and CKOV 63 in Kelowna for some early morning breakfast treats.

Imagine our surprise when we walked into Dirtman's office and saw his shrine of sauces (NOTE #1 ~ We had no knowledge of this in advance.
NOTE #2 ~ We'll assume he got his name for his ability to grow some amazing hot peppers.) It was a wonderful chance encounter. The story we heard was way to much fun not to share. The courtyard inside the Power 104 and CKOV building hits 100 degrees in the summer and is a fine place for Dirtman to grow each year's crop of different sizzling peppers. (He's promised to send us a shot of this year's crop.) Up to 10 different varities enjoy the courtyard enviorment (Cayanne, Congo, Habs, Thai, Serreno, Jalapenos and more). Now being a casual classic rock station (and this being B.C.), last year they were commenting on air about Dirtman's "real hot crop" coming along nicely. The talk about the great harvest coming in peaked the interest of a top cop who was tuning in....(do the math here). Needless to say, they were paid a little visit. Again, some fun random karma came into play here. THE COP AND THE CROP ~ Turns out the 'inspector' was a heat freak himself. No free donuts for this officer, he took away two baggies of 'evidence' after posing for a few fun pictures. A week or two later they got another visit. He had used the peppers to create one hell of a fine pepper jelly and came back to share. As Dirtman said: "Kelowna beats to the tune of a different drum." Now you know why we just had to share this story. www.power104.fm

On October 29th Pepperheads shared a little love with the CKUA pledge room.
We pop in for a mystery shift each pledge drive (this was our fourth). This time we teamed up with Sunterra Market to raise the bar to another level.
Plenty of fun as usual and as Dave Ward said: "I can always smell when Pepperheads is in the building." If you know what CKUA is about, please support with a pledge. If you aren't hip to what they offer ~ go to www.ckua.com (streaming audio available). We were sampling some serious food here.

The menu rolled out for almost three hours:

Pork Loin Roasted in Honey Garlic Mustard Rub - served with Rye Swirl Bread & Mandarins

Beef Strip Loin Satay with Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce - served with Applewood Smoked Cheddar & Port Salut Cheeses & a Sunterra Frest Fruit Tray.

Jumbo Tiger Prawns in Piri-Piri , Wild Garlic Hot Sauce, Coarse Ground Peppercorns & Herbs
- served with OLive & White Cheddar Bread

Desert was a customized Sunterra Mango Mousse Cake.

Tasty Sensations For The Musicians & Volunteers At The 2004 Calgary Folk Music Festival…

This July, as usual, there was quite the vibe happening on Prince’s Island. Pepperheads chipped in with loads of sauces to help out with the menu planning. Great spirits, salads & entrees kept rolling out for four days with live music from the main stage being pumped into the kitchen & dining area. Imagine sitting on the banks of the Bow River enjoying great grub while Ruthie Foster, Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir, of the wonder surprise from Italy, Fiamma Fummana played their hearts out. The ‘torqued’ onions caramelized in Wild Garlic Hot Sauce & Honey Mustard Garlic Rub were like candy, organic turkey was marinated in Piri-Piri for a day first & buffalo steaks in Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce. Vegans had Tofu/Pineapple Brochettes in Dark Secrets and Tofu Patties in Wild Garlic Hot Sauce. Many other local companies donated time & treats to make for dining & dancing pleasure at ‘The Food And Fun Tent’. When work was done, we’d go out into the crowd and enjoy the likes of Taj Mahal, ‘the only in Canada’ icon, Stompin’ Tom Conners, Olu Dara, Shooglenifty (big fave of the Pepper Prez), the inspiration of The North Mississippi All Stars, Michael Franti & Spearhead had ‘em riveted, Youssou N’Dour wove musical magic and Lucinda Williams had us hanging on every word. www.calgaryfolkfest.com

Playing With The Folks From Key West Bar & Grill, Cheering On The
Flames and Generally 'Sharing The Love' At The 2004 Big Rock Eddies...

Once again Pepperheads was warming up the beer tent at the 11th Annual Big Rock Eddies. The chefs from Key West helped us whip up Mango Crab Balls, chicken drumsticks cooked in Dark Secrets BBQ Sauce and some 'seroiusly snappin' traditional Sloppy Joe meatballs cooked at two stages with Dark Secrets Simmering Heat. You might figure from the shots that something else was going on....

This wonderful, warm night (not to be confused with the snow that proceeded & followed it...ahh, May in Alberta...gotta love it!) was also Game 5 of the Flames / Sharks series. Being the year that Cowtown became Flamesville, we swiped a TV, rounded up rabbit ears, adorned it with some good MoJo, cranked up the volume and began dishing up some of the best treats that any hockey fan could wish for...a catered win (3-0 Flames). Big thanks to the Flames & Big Rock Brewery for keeping the inspiration flowing!

MARS ROVER SENDS ONLY “BEEPS & GIBBERISH” FOR THREE DAYS.
	Has the Mars Rover finally discovered Miss Wild Garlic? In late 2001, an unauthorized secret launch took place from an undisclosed location. Radar picked up on this flight, but the real story has been suppressed until early 2004.
Six months later, high-powered telescopes began picking up noticeable changes on the face of the Red Planet. The authorities wanted to get to the bottom of these strange events, and the Mars Shuttle was sent out to investigate. While all the research to date told us that no man had yet to set foot on Mars, as the first shuttle approached Mars, photos indicated a very feminine presence on the surface below.
Secret encoded communications were passed back and forth between the shuttle and earth. Back on earth, scientists were quite excited. Their first shuttle was named ‘Spirit'. Why did they tag a machine with a name reflecting such human emotions? What was the true nature of this mission? What were they really trying to find?
Eventually, the rover moved out onto the surface of Mars and began searching for possible signs of life. All seemed to be progressing relatively smoothly, until January 21 st , when the Mars Rover dropped over into a previously uncharted crater. As it passed over the rim, all pictures and communication ceased. All that they received were “beeps and gibberish” from Spirit. “We now know we had a very serious anomaly on the vehicle,” according to project manager Pete Theisinger, “I think we have a patient on the way to recovery” he added.. The rover remained incommunicado for two days, and then unintelligible messages came sporadically. Has Miss Wild Garlic finally taken her exotic vacation kick a little too far? Have her legendary charms held sway over inter-space technology? According to NASA, the malfunction was most likely a ‘corruption' of its software or computer memory. Did Spirit finally meet its match?
Miss Wild Garlic is a very persuasive, independent woman and we would like to make it very clear, that there's no way on earth, or Mars for that matter, that anyone else could be responsible for her actions. ‘OPPORTUNITY' KNOCKS! On January 24 th , the second rover, ‘Opportunity' landed on the opposite side of Mars. Early progress seemed just about flawless. The only glitch so far, was that Opportunity's heater was turning itself on during cold Martian nights, a sure sign that no encounter with Miss Wild Garlic has happened yet.

CALGARY FOLK FEST

The Pepperheads came to play at the Calgary Folk Music Festival on Princes Island Park on the Bow River. Musical friends from around the world stopped by and visited. Tunes filled the air, our good friends at Big Rock were close by and we were spoiled with fresh roasted corn, souvalaki and fine folks. Everyone slipped out to catch their favorite acts, or gravitated to sounds that just pulled us in. We ran another batch of our Dark Secrets Sweet 'n' Sassy Alberta Beef Jerky for the show. Under the shade of the trees, a casual Pepperheads hospitality area developed out back. Thursday, we had Petrona Martez from Columbia followed by Ricky Skaggs, then Elvis Costello doing a streamlined set with Steve Nieve on keyboards…old faves of The Chefs. Friday, Alpha Yaya Diallo (a transplanted Canadian from West Africa) had the crowd swaying to his infectious rhythms. Saturday Niamh Parsons & Danu weaved their Irish charm in an afternoon mainstage set, then the Celtic buzz kept rolling with Slainte Mhath. Horace X had us running up to see what the hell was happening with the wild mix of styles and the crowd dug it.

Very 'festive' at night	Alpha Yaya Diallo, Abdullah Chhadeh & Nara
Our friends were signing in	Petrona Marinez (Columbia) & the Jolly Boys

Sunday, the Pepper Prez was checkin' out the early morning 'Can I Get A Witness' stage driven by the Lee Boys with Michelle Shocked and Ruthie Foster. The sound was big! Big enough to sub-off at the Pepperheads booth to have the others dig the last half. Converts all. Our good friends Alpha Yaya Diallo and Adullah Chhadeh & Nara (from England and Syria) had a free-flowing world beat waking up the crowd on another stage for 'String Driven Thing'. Ann Vriend had us wondering whether Aretha Franklin had snuck in un-announced the the festival (Ann, check in with the Pepperheads, we missed meeting you!). Niamh Parsons joined Amos Garrett, Ian Tyson & Al Stewart, for a memorable 'Home Sweet Home' stage. Niamh is an Irish vocal angel. The Lee Boys www.leeboys.com added to the heat of the day by pulling off a monster funk set. Best said by the mid-set introduction; "If you think you're dancing now…wait 'till you hear this!" If that didn't have you dancing…best see your doctor!

The Lee Boys, from Miami, funking the crowd and getting jazzed on our BBQ Sauce.

 

The chefs warmed up the beer tent at the 10th Annual Big Rock Eddies.
A fine festive crowd & evening it was!

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On the May long weekend, Pepperheads came to play at the Edmonton Billingsgate Lobsterfest party to raise money for the Alberta Fireman's Burn unit...and a party it was. Three days, 4500 lobsters, 40 kegs of Big Rock beer and 45 cases of wine! Sharing should be so much fun. Kudos to Dennis & Chris.

“Food Throwers: Begun usually by estranged couples, once this victual flinging starts, everyone will do it...Should your dinner party have become an out of control concussion match with opponents catapulting croutons and petits pois across the mahogany, don't fight it, go with it. And when you have the desire to quell the uprising approach the original perpetrator from behind. There, slowly crown her with the contents of the fresh fruit salad bowl. But be warned. Although this immobilizes and rivets everyone’s attention it also gives them new ideas.”
          ~ J.P. Donleavy, The Unexpurgated Code (1975)

Our small part in THE WORLD'S LONGEST BBQ.
Cuisine Canada spear-headed Canada Day 2, The World's Longest BBQ, on August 2nd, where friends gathered from coast to coast at 6 p.m. local time, to help Canadian Beef Producers by creating & enjoying recipes featuring cheaper cuts from our local ranchers. We enjoyed Barbequed Wild Garlic Flank Steak Flautas, Piri-Piri Sweet Potatoes, Tabboulah salad with Nasturtium flowers as well as a few 'spur of the moment' creations. The Pepperheads Kitchen is located in prime Alberta ranching country (note the hay bales). We salute all who took part from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts and hope you had as much fun as we did.

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BARBEQUED WILD GARLIC FLANK STEAK FLAUTAS

Why Canada Needs Hot Sauce! These photos were taken just outside the Pepperheads Kitchen on May 6th, 2002! - That is a chair buried in snow.

 

The essence of eating... A well appointed table	Cooking circa 1930	Cooking circa 2002

 

Here's a few of our 2002 Pepperheads At Play Contest Winners....

	The "Guggemusik" is a Swiss custom during the time of carnival, they make more noise than music. It is more important to be loud than musical. They go from restaurant to restaurant and play for drinks and food, and get really drunk in the process (sometimes). --------------- ~ Max
	We were on holidays in Switzerland for a week without running water, gas or electricity and no bathroom, only an outhouse and that's how the farmers live in the summertime, when they have their cattle up in the mountains and have to milk them twice a day. Lucky for them, we brought some Wild Garlic Hot Sauce along. Can you spot the bottle? ~ Kathrine
	My niece's husband from Buffalo, NY--first trip to Louisiana. He did a fine job with Crawfish and Beer !! ~ Chris Beatty

Now how did he know just what was in those bottles? Snoopy, a turkey vulture was quite the performer!	Alex, a burrowing owl, was just too darn cute. We had to move slowly, but he would let us pet him.

Alberta Birds of Prey Centre is a registered charity whose main purpose is to rehabilitate and release injured birds of prey. You can adopt & name a bird at www.burrowingowl.com . The burrowing owl is the world's only underground owl and are native to the Alberta prairies.

We take a little time out each year to enter the Pepperheads At Play team in Turner Valley's annual Snowshoe Softball Tourney. It's held each March to cure that indoors 'cabin fever'....