What I Saw on my Holidays

It's been nearly 2.5 months since I visited Austin during SXSW 2012 over spring break, and finally a series of posts will go up about everything I saw there. Stay tuned.

(Terry Pratchett fans will recognize the title.)

Another vodka infusion

They warned me, saying, "It is poison". I didn't listen. This was the result:

One Bhut Jolokia pepper (Ghost Chili) infused into about 200 mL of Vodka. Usually the ratio is one pepper per liter, but I was stingy. One teaspoon, after a three-day infusion, was enough to prove that drinking liquid poision was not a good idea. Down the drain it went.

This book has recipes for vodka and rum infusions, which will probably be much better than my guessing attempts.

Downtown Austin during SXSW 2012

Most of the closed portion of 6th Street is visible here

This picture was taken from a high floor of the Hilton Hotel on Saturday night, the last night of the music festival. 

Eating a Bhut Jolokia Pepper

Chocolate milk is helpful to absorb the heat.

Shock and awe

Just half a pepper

The heat is really setting in

Agony

It has a nice fruity taste, but is probably best alone.

After rain

Last Friday night some thunderstorms moved in and trained overnight, quickly dropping 5-6 inches of rain and one of the best lightning shows I've ever seen. The next morning the frogs and bullfrogs were croaking raucously all day long. Their mortality rate spikes at night when they decide to journey across the concrete roads.

Andrographis paniculata

Andrographis is an interesting plant. Here is how it's described in the Richter's herb catalog:

"(Kalmegh) In Scandinavia this is the main herb used to fight the common cold, flu, and upper respiratory infections. Clinical trials have shown that this herb really works and many believe that it is better than echinacea. Like echinacea, it works by boosting the immune system, helping the body to battle infections and to prevent them from reoccurring in the future. But it does more: it has adaptogen-like properties, it has anticancer activity, it is a bitter tonic, and it is an antioxidant that has been shown to protect the liver. In China and India the plant is commonly used to treat a wide range of infections such as gastrointestinal complaints, hepatitis, herpes, and throat infections. In short this is one amazing medicinal herb! Easy to grow annual and easy to use. "

So I thought, why not grow it? A word to the wise - research your plants before you grow them. Turns out andrographis is also known as "King of the Bitters". I tried one leaf, once, in a cup of tea. Its bitterness stuck around for the next several hours. So all it does is grow into a spindly shrub, flower, and set seed prolifically in the one-gallon pot it's been allotted, and get pointed out to people interested in the nondescript plant. 

That's it, with the small, sword-shaped leaves, invading a pot of hippeastrum.