Hunting is not a sport. It is murder!

I can understand why the cave man went out hunting. He had to find food. And I am sure that along with hunting, the cave man also gathered - berries and fruits and all that veggie stuff. What I can't understand is how man has made a sport of hunting poor defenceless animals. And how man can take pleasure in killing another magnificent creation of nature? This rant is because of a programme I saw on TV last week. The channel in question is VS and they have featured programmes on hunting and fishing. The episode I happened to be watching was one in which some misbegotten idiot wanted to achieve his lifelong ambition of killing a bear. Why was I watching? It was some kind of horrified fascination and a fervent hope that the bear would somehow escape. I was destined for disappointment as far as my hope was concerned. The bear was killed, and he died an agonisingly slow death due to a punctured lung. Why is this sport? Men go in armed with rifles and bullets, and the bear only has his claws and teeth for his defence. How is this fair? How can this be thrilling? Of course, I admit that walking into the jungle, tracking a beautiful animal like a bear is thrilling. My question is, wouldn't it be better if we shot a bear with a camera and not a rifle? What right do these men think they have, to kill another animal for sport? The episode I watched was heartbreaking and enraging at the same time. These idiots hide in camouflage till they spot a bear who unfortunately walks into shooting range. The bear who was killed (murdered) was a beautiful black bear in his prime. He probably had many more years of living, mating and creating little adorable bear cubs which of course would turn into big bears like their papa bear. Alas, this was not to be. The idiot shot the bear while the bear was doing his bear thing of searching for food. He shot the bear somewhere near the shoulder. The wounded bear ran off into the jungle to hide and lick his painful wound. What enraged me was, if they were "brave" enough to shoot an poor, defenceless unsuspecting bear, they should have been brave enough to follow it and end it's suffering. But no, satisfied that the bear was mortally wounded, they went back to their warm camp bed, sure that the poor fellow would die during the night and they could "recover" the dead animal in the morning. They did recover it in the morning; death resulted from internal bleeding and a punctured lung. The poor thing literally "drowned" in its own blood. What a painful death. These "brave" hunters did not have the guts to kill an animal outright. These "brave sportsmen" do not have the courage to face a bear, look it in the eye and kill it. No, these freaks who burden this earth hide behind camouflage and shoot animals and let them die an agonisingly slow death are cowards of the first order. They are a blight on the face of this earth. They are not sportsmen. They are soulless creatures who murder in cold blood. They deserve an end like they mete out and hopefully they will get it!

My experiments with alcohol

Alcohol is one of the best things known to man. In fact, people like me consider it to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, shopping malls and retail therapy. So it is no wonder that the next step in my food and beverage career would be experimenting with alcohol. Make no mistake, by this I mean my making drinks and other assorted goodies with alcohol, not just consuming them. I have been a consumer of all alcohol related things long enough to start experimenting with making and serving them on my own. I have achieved moderate success in this endeavor, thus this blog post.

After quite a few booze parties and falling in love with tequila, I have come up with my signature Margatini. This drink has been called many things like straight up margarita and/or margarita on the rocks. For the curious and others as well, this is a yummy blend of two classics, the margarita and the martini, (as the name suggests). The drink is simple! I have heard tell that in simplicity lies great beauty, and this is true of the Margatini as well. The recipe you ask! I use Jose Cuervo’s tequila and margarita mix. I know I am supposed to use triple sec and simple syrup and all that, but Jose Cuervo puts them all together in their margarita mix. No point in re inventing the wheel there!
The ratios are simple, 1:2. One shot of tequila, two shots of the mix. Pour into shaker with ice. And shake well (around ten times like you make iced tea). Rim the glass with salt and pour. Voila! The Margatini is ready. And if you want to make it look pretty by adding garnish, go right ahead. I personally feel that garnish just gets in the way!

I must thank Z'Tejas in Bellevue Square for introducing me to this drink. The first time I had this drink, I loved it, and had to have the recipe for it. Our server told me that it is made the way a typical Margarita or your favoourite margarita is, except it is shaken and not blended! And that's the way I make it.

And now onto my other recipe: Jello shots. I made these for our New Year’s Party and these are a great way to get people drunk. My disclaimer, these contain a lot of alcohol, so be careful of how many you have. Also, they don’t hit you immediately, but when they do, it is Whammo! So don’t eat these and drive. The recipe is again very simple,

6 ounces Jello (large box)
2 cups water (boiling)
1 cup water (cold)
1 cup alcohol (8 ounces) (cold)

Dissolve the jello in the boiling water, add cold water and the chilled alcohol; pour into jello moulds/shot glasses and let set. They take at least 4 to 6 hours to set. Chilling them overnight works best. Enjoy them (responsibly!).

Suggested pairings:
strawberry jello - rum, vodka or vanilla twist
orange jello - peach schnapps or rum
lime jello - tequila
watermelon jello - vodka
grape jello - 1/2 vodka and 1/2 blackberry schnapps
lemon jello - vodka
raspberry jello - vodka
apple jello - butter shots

Of course you can play around with different flavors and liquor and come up with your own unique recipe, but be sure to enjoy them responsibly.