This is an article that should change things up here. This site cut its geek cred on restaurant reviews, and an occasional review of something like an Asian grocery store, what we are cooking for dinner, some gadget like flexible skewers or what is on the hot sauce shelf of the alphageek's refrigerator. Mrs. alphageek spent some time looking around at Amazon.com, for new experiences for me to relay to you, our patient readers.

Today, we have a product that immediatly generated some thoughts along the lines of "I have to review that", This product is called PB2, Powdered Peanut Butter. Don't ask me how it can be called powdered and butter at the same time, but it is. Sort of like partial zero emissions. How can you have part of zero? I guess that is how large debts are run up. I paid $6.99 for 6.5 ounces. I guess there is a lot in there, because it is a dry powder, so 6.5 ounces should go a long way.

Powdered Peanut Butter (click to enlarge)

PB2's label says that the oil and fat are pressed out of the peanuts, after the peanuts are roasted. I think you should keep this product away from people with peanut allergies. There are some directions about adding two parts of peanut butter powder to one part of water.

Of course, I ignored these directions, at least to get started. I simply sprinkled a little on my tongue, simply to see what the taste would be. I found out that the taste was simple: peanut butter. I know that sounds strange, but I expected something more processed in flavor. Instead, it tasted very natural. Hey, low fat and sugar too, so you eat it whenever you are worried about calories.

Okay, so now I decided I would try the directions. Here, I mixed up what the directions on the jar said to do.

Peanut Butter Mixed (Click to enlarge)

As you can see, I got more of a paste than a butter. However, I like the taste. It does not have the creaminess of peanut butter, but the taste is right on for peanut butter. You can also see that I did not pretty up the bowl before taking the picture. That is how you know I really do this stuff and don't just rip off other pictures from cyberspace. I mixed a little more water, and it became a little more butter like. I liked the nut taste without the sugar.

Growing up, there was a product called Goober. Goober was peanut butter and jelly poured into one sticky mess in a jar. My sister and I pestered my Mother to buy Goober one time. Big mistake because Goober was simply sticky, sweet and awful. Our Mom made us eat it all too. I thought it might be fun to try to make a real Goober, by simply adding some PB2 to some jelly on bread, and see what came out.

I first just had some of the pictured above paste, with some jelly, on a cracker.The peanut taste was almost buried by the jelly. I then tried some varying amounts of powder with jelly on a cracker, but they did not get it done for me. I then mixed the jelly with some powder, and this did the trick. I had a good recreation of peanut butter and jelly on a cracker. Oh, and it was much better than I remember Goober ever tasting.

What else could one use this for? I think it would be good with chocolate, but you would need lots of the powder. I also think it would be great to try to make a satay sauce with. Maybe adding it to something that finishes with a peanut flavor, like pad thai. In the end, this is an interesting product because of the low fat and low sugar aspects. Given the price, it is a rather expensive alternative, but a great way to get peanut flavor in, without the fat and sugar of peanut butter, or crushed peanuts.

The last post was about the hot sauce in my pantry. I quoted an eagle eyed reader who said something about how much hot sauce was in my pantry. I went on to say that I don't have that much hot sauce in my pantry. I provided photographic evidence and defended myself as only a geek can do.

Sometimes, geeks pick wording carefully and this would be one of those times.

Today, we are going to visit the hot sauce shelf in the refrigerator. Yes, there is an entire shelf in the alphageek's Headquarters that contains spicy delights to add to other dishes to bring out the flavors.

Just so you can see, her is a shot to show exactly what is in the hot sauce shelf. As you can see, there is a wide variety of sauces and other hot items to bring out the flavor of your favorite dish.

Hot Sauce "Shelf"

As I stared at this picture, a sense of deep thought came over me. A very strange thought for someone that has had a shelf of hot sauce for years. "Do I really need all of these hot sauces?"

Sure, they are all good. We tossed the bad ones out a long time ago. Thanks to the preservative nature of heat, these jars can be enjoyed for a long period of time. But I began to wonder why I have some many different ones. Actually, I began to analyze what purpose each one serves. I hope this information will help me understand why some seem to last for years, while some are used up almost instantly.

As I look over the shelf, I realize it is interesting which ones don't get used as often. These lower use ones come in two basic categories. The first are some sort of curry paste. Curry pastes are strange, because they really are delicious, for something that comes in a jar. Curries need lots of oil to cook correctly, and release their flavor. Since I don't cook lots of oily food, they don't get used very often. Even if I did use the oil, they are just too darn hot, if used correctly. If adjusted for the heat, the excellent flavor they impart is simply lost. Perhaps I need to find some better medium curries?

The second category are the sauces made from scotch bonnet peppers. While scotch bonnet peppers are some of the hottest around, it is not the heat that keeps these on the shelves. I find they have a somewhat strange, almost fruity taste to them. As a result, many of these are used in fruity, carribiean type dishes. I am just not the biggest fan of heat and fruit together. While I use these sometimes, I just find the opportunities are more limited.

Why did I write that long lead in, to tell you that I am going to tell you about my favorite three hot sauces? Because my analysis revealed that the reasons are going to be brief, and to the point. No need for further analysis, these sauces have stood the end of time.

Traditional cayenne pepper sauce, preferably Crystal Hot Sauce. Right now, we have Franks Hot Sauce. This is great on anything remotely southern, or traditionally American. I guess I am just used to it because it always tastes "right", like reading a recap of Maxwell's Equations.

Something chipotle. Chipotle are smoked jalapeno peppers. The smokiness compliments almost any Tex-Mex, or true Mexican flavor, or anything that you have pulled out of your smoker.

Sriracha Sauce. Only here will I accept no substitute. This is simply a unique flavor. While the web site says that this was developed in the United States, I find it compliments almost any Asian dish I have ever had. This is backed up by finding this sauce at almost any restaurant that serves Asian food. I think of it a hot sauce version of ketchup because it is universally served.

So, go back and read the previous article, (you will have to click on the underlined text) or at least look at the pictures, and see if you think I have more or fewer hot sauces than those pictures from the grocery store. I think I have a ways to go, but I am willing to admit an entire shelf dedicated to hot sauce is a little extreme, but then again I am the alphageek. As always, please leave your opinions below. Go ahead, I dare you.