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Cocoa is good stuff. Yes, its smooth, dark, delicious, warm and wholesome. It is also highly stimulating. The cocoa powder is enriched with a whole host of central nervous system stimulants including your old friend caffiene, as well as some other buddies, like theobromine. In fact, Cocoa’s scientific name, Theobroma cacao means “Food of the Gods”, because enough of it will cause you to speak to them. At least, thats what I hear…

The Azteks knew that spiciness was key to cocoa, and so do I. In honor of one of their other traditions, human sacrifice, here is a recipe and a method for incredibly spicy death cocoa. The basic cocoa recipe is lifted from the fabulous show, Good Eats, of which I have previously spoken. However, the final touch is pure Sam and Berg.

Ingredients

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder (dutch process works best)
• 2.5 cups powdered milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• incredibly spicy hot sauce, like Dave’s Insanity Sauce

  Procedure

  This is easy. Take the dry ingredients and mix them together. Just put them in a container and shake it around. Thats it. Wow. Hard.

  The interesting part comes when you serve it. Fill a mug 1/3 full with your mix, then add enough boiling water to cover. Mix it up good with a spoon or whisk or chopstick or something. Then fill the rest of the way with boiling water. Hot milk can also be used for x-tra creamyness.

  Give it a taste. Hey, thats good cocoa. But it’s not done yet. Many cocoa recipes include a dash of cayenne pepper. As the Azteks teach us, spicyness and chocolate are two long lost brothers that must reunite with unequaled splendor in the cocoa mug. However, cayenne powder isn’t enough. You need to go straight to the source.

  We recommend a hot sauce with a Scoville rating of no less than 30,000. Forget Tabasco, that shit is weak (2,500 Scoville Units). At 51,000 Scoville Units, we recommend Dave’s Insanity Sauce, but any incredibly hot sauce will work. Here is a list of the hottest sauces in the world to get you started. Start with Dave’s Insanity at #33, and work your way up.

  Once you’ve chosen a sauce, use our handy dosing method. Take one chopstick, standard chinese size, though the vietnamese variety will work as well. If you ever hope to use the chopstick again, make sure it is plastic so that it can be fully sanitized after use. Now simply dip the chopstick into the sauce, and use it to stir the cocoa.

  Most of these sauces are too viscous to pour small drops, and you lose all dosing precision. However, the chopstick gives you precise control of your dose. I recommend starting with a 1 centimeter dip. Mix well and sample. Continue adding 1 centimeter dips until you are at the right place. As Berg aptly wheezed upon taking a hit off his newly spiced cocoa, “If it makes your head feel funny, it’s right.”

  This new concoction is both warming to the belly, and warming to the esophagus. The rush of endorphins released when the receptors on your tongue begin screaming in pain will drive away any winter sadness, and leave you giddy with pleasure. The stimulants in the cocoa will cheerfully wake you, without spinning you up like top. Plus, it is really cheap to make.

  If you enjoy the spicy cocoa, I recommend trying out spicy chocolate on other things, like spicy chocolate syrup on ice cream, or spicy chocolate bars, or even spicy brownies. You’ll find that, as odd as it seems, spiciness and chocolate really do go skipping hand in hand through the meadows of life.

The battery in my scooter has been giving me trouble. It will no longer hold a charge, and I need to be jump-started nearly every time now. If the scooter runs for a while, it will start up fine in the next few hours, but if it sits more than a few hours, it needs a jump. I don’t have a good battery charger (I should get one), but even small charges aren’t holding anymore. However, I’m not too bent out of shape, because the battery is 3 years old, and is a fairly small battery. It’s lived a good life, and is ready for retirement.

In case anyone is wondering, and for my own reference, the Aprilia SR50 DiTech (year 2001-2003, and possibly other years) uses a Yuasa YXB5L-BS. Its a 70 CCA, 5Ah absorbed glass mat (AGM) sealed battery. It needs no fluids, can’t leak, and won’t randomly catch on fire (yay!). However, original Yuasa replacements can be around $60, which is a pretty spicy meatball for such a small battery.

I recommend a Westco or Universal replacement, part number X5LB. They are a lot cheaper, have the same specs, the same longevity, and are the same size. I got mine from Battery Stuff for $36 including shipping.

In the rest of the broken stuff world, I’m now fixing my old PC. It’s the workhorse PII 400 that sits in the corner sounding like a damn jet engine and serving up MP3s and other goodies to the house. It broke a while back because the hard drive crashed. I wasn’t too bent out of shape about that either, because it was just the system drive (all the important data is stored on other drives), and it was the original 7Gb Maxtor that I put in when I first put it together in 1998. For having run nearly 24/7 for 6 years, I think it held up admirably.

Finally, Madalene’s beloved camera is broken. It is having the same problem it has had two other times, that being that the auto-retracting lens cover detaches from some inner actuator, and hangs loose, unable to fully open or close. The camera, thinking it is closed, refuses to operate, and the lens cannot extend. The first time we had it professionally repaired. The second time was within the warranty period for the first repair, and so was repaired for free. However, this time there is no such warranty, and the camera has been on the fritz in a few other ways, suggesting that a professional repair would not be cost effective right now. Berg is currently disassembling the camera using jewelers tools and a dental pick, and we’ll see if he can fix it.

Keep an eye on your breakables, because they will break. But enjoy fixing them, because if you don’t, then you are going to go crazy.

I spent the last few days at a Biodiesel workshop presented by Maria “Mark” Alovert and hosted by Maud, a local biodiesel enthusiast. Mark is traveling the country providing training and equipment help for people who are setting up their own biodiesel processors at home.

For those who haven’t heard, biodiesel is a diesel fuel that is made by chemically reacting vegetable or animal fats with an alcohol (usually methanol) and a catalyst (usually lye (sodium hydroxide) or potassium hydroxide) in the presence of heat to produce methyl-esters (the biodiesel) and glycerol (aka, glycerine). The biodiesel is washed and filtered, and put into your diesel engine. Biodiesel is a true diesel fuel, is recognized by the US government as an alternative fuel, can be made from used fats (fryer oil, for instance), and can be used in any diesel engine without modification (there are a few caveats to this for older diesel engines, but usually any modification is limited to a replacement of the fuel lines, an easy process, even for the do-it-yourselfer).

As complicated as the reaction sounds, what it really boils down to is taking oil, adding a specific quantity of methanol and lye, shaking, and allowing the glycerol to settle. There are lots of little things to pay attention to and a few details, but if you can make a souffle or bake bread from scratch, you have the directions following skills needed to make biodiesel.

The workshop took three long days, beginning with biodiesel chemistry. The chemistry is fairly simple, and Mark explained everything fantastically. As a science educator I know the challenge of explaining a complex process in a way that everyone can understand, and Mark did brilliantly. We then moved to test batches. One liter is a perfect size for test batches, and we made test batches using various techniques from fresh oil, used oil, hydrogenated oil (crisco), lard, and whatever else we could find. We used various catalysts and alcohols, and discussed the merits of each. We intentionally messed up a few batches so we could attempt to fix them chemically.

The next day we gathered the materials for manufacturing a few biodiesel processors. Small batches can be made using two liter bottles and mason jars, but anything larger needs its own reactor. It turns out that electric water heaters with their heating elements and numerous 3/4” welded bungs make ideal small-scale processors. We gathered several, and began removing all the extra stuff hanging off them that we didn’t need, stripping it down to heating element, thermostat, tank, and insulating shell. Then we plumbed it with steel pipe, adding a large pump from Harbor Freight Tools that will allow the filling, the mixing and the emptying of the tank. Mark has a real mechanical intuition, and the design involves a lot of clever tricks and ideas to let you do a lot more than a pile of steel and a recycled water heaters has the right to do.

In the end, we learned a lot, and several of the people in town now own quality biodiesel processors. I didn’t build one of my own yet because I don’t have a good spot to put it, and I don’t own a diesel vehicle yet (though I’m tossing around the idea of an older diesel Mercedes), but I’ll be helping some of the folks in town as they begin to make batches over the coming weeks.

One thing that impressed me about the group was the wide range of people coming to the workshop. We had about 10 people in all. One was a woman who decided after the Iraq invasion that she didn’t want to use gasoline anymore. Now her equipment is almost complete, and her petroleum use will be cut considerably. Another was a younger woman and older man from St. Louis NORML. The woman has been making biodiesel for a while now, but wanted to learn more about the process and make a newer processor. The older man is a professor at Washington University who wanted to learn more about the biodiesel process in relation to economic study. We also had a nice gentleman who owns a restraunt and was hoping to turn his used fryer oil into a fuel for his truck. He even provided much of the oil we used for the workshop! There was also a man and his older father who are farmers and plan on using biodiesel to run their tractors, 18-wheeler and home heating system. I was impressed by the wide range of people who were attracted to the idea of a recycled, domestically produced, non-petroleum fuel for their vehicles. Everyone had different motivations, but the same basic plan: reduce their impact, support their community, and save some money.

If you are interested in making biodiesel, do some reading at the major biodiesel forums, Biodiesel NOW and Biodiesel.infopop.cc. You might also visit the National Biodiesel Board for general information on biodiesel, and for information on where to buy commercially made biodiesel. If you are in the St. Louis area and want to know more, contact me and I’ll put you in touch with other locals who are currently making their own fuel.

Mark’s processor designs are in an ever-evolving state, but the most current information is located on the Veggie Avenger Equipment Forum. Mark sells a book about her process as well, and simple 8.5” x 11” thing that it is, it is packed with valuable information and experience. The Journey to Forever Biofuel Archives are rich with good information (and a little out-of-date info as well), and make an excellent introduction to the world of biodiesel and other biofuels.

I’ll add more links as I get them, and hopefully some photos of the workshop and our equipment as the various photographers email me their pictures.

In an interesting twist, Madalene is going to be present at the Presidential Debate airing tonight at 8:00pm CST. The debate is being held at Washington University, only blocks from our home. Madalene was chosen by Gallup for participating, and is one of only 140 audience members allowed in.

The format of the debate is ‘town-hall’ meaning some questions will be asked by members of the audience. Each audience member submits two questions to the moderator, Charles Gibson, from which he will choose 15-20 that he will have the audience members ask.

I don’t have a way of knowing before hand if Madalene will be chosen to ask a question, so we’ll just have to watch and see!

Its an exciting event, and she has spent all day with the group, being checked out by Secret Service and preparing her questions. This is an important debate, and it is great that she is a part of it. Make sure you tune in!

If you want to watch the debate, you can see it at 8:00pm CST on most channels. NBC, CBS, and even FOX are showing it. You can also listen to the debate on your local NPR station or even listen to it live on the NPR website.

Fungus is great stuff. No seriously, it is! The largest living organisms on Earth are actually giant fungal bodies. One of the largest is a member of the species Armillaria ostoyae, or the “honey mushroom”. It lives in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon, and covers 2200 acres of land, buried about 3 feet under the surface.

The complex mycelial network is a cohesive living organism, even sharing and transporting fluids across itself. It feeds by using tentacles called rhizomorphs to attack the roots of trees, stealing moisture and nutrients. This particular specimen is probably around 2600 years old, though could be as old as 7200 years.

Several large fungi of the genus Armillaria have been found, though the one in Malheur National Forest is the largest currently identified fungus. Research suggests that this is actually quite probable, and that we probably haven’t found the largest fungi of them all.

Most research surrounding the large fungi isn’t concerned with how large it is, but with how to determine that it is a single individual. Unlike an animal, there is no ‘skin’ to tell you how to differentiate between individuals. The researchers now attempt to use genetic matching to positively identify different areas of the fungus as genetically identical, and use other techniques to determine if the fungus is sharing nutrients and fluids with other parts of itself, things that would clearly show that it is a single organism, and not just a random network of tissue.

In any case, it is quite amazing that such things exist. If you were to walk through the forest in the early fall, you might find little patches of honey mushrooms (which are quite edible and delicious). As scattered and individual as they would seem, they are only the tip of the mighty fungal iceberg living beneath the soil. Most fungi are this way in some part. The mushroom you see is only the final fruiting result of a potentially very large organism living deep underground.

I, for one, welcome our new fungal overlords.

For more fungal reading:

• Tom Volk’s Fungus of the Month – Excellent fungal reading! September’s fungus of the month was the appetizing, Russula emetica, AKA, the ‘vomiting Russula’. What will October’s fungus of the month be? Well, you’ll just have to check and see!
• Fungi Perfecti – The company operated by Paul Stamets, a researcher doing excellent work in the field of toxic spill cleanup using fungus (such as the lowly oyster mushroom!). Excellent source of mushroom kits for indoor or outdoor culture, and lots of good books and information.

• More to come (make suggestions)!