Susan in FL

Whoa! That may get the most-beautiful-photo-of-the-burger cookoff award, even if you weren't all that impressed by the flavor.

More valuable information... and continued thanks to all. I think that he has Solvang on our itinerary, unless there are others. If this is "the one," we will be making a stop there. About reversing the route and driving down the coast with the ocean on our right... but of course! We have decided to do that. The only missing details about the general route are depending on when we meet up with my Navy son... and he keeps telling me that the Navy doesn't tell him anything until the last minute. I'm trying to be patient. We fly out early Thursday morning, so we'll probably find out Wednesday night. And so... If anybody has any last minute additions to our list of possibilities, they are still welcomed!

It's looking pretty good for California. For those who are interested and might not have seen this thread, here is a link for a topic in the California Forum with brewpub suggestions included.

Thanks, Anna. Our Dane and one of his friends from Denmark will be getting here this weekend, and I can offer that as a dinner.

Yum, please do tell more.

Thanks, Russell and Bill. We do have quite an ambitious trip planned, don't we. My one son was the primary planner of these routes. Actually, he's the Danish one, and has taken two road trips across the United States and back, to visit most of these places. He wasn't even raised in this country, and has seen more of it than I have! I've already told him we need a couple of months to do all the things I want to do, from the great suggestions I have on this thread. We might be saving some time and not going to Lemoore. The son who is stationed there has to go out on an aircraft carrier for a week, during this time, so we might meet up with him in San Diego instead of at his home. I appreciate that you noticed the Utah part, and advised accordingly!

At last, I got it posted in RecipeGullet. I was quite pleasantly surprised at how avocado worked in a crust. It's a keeper recipe for us.

Whew. I feel better now.

Marlene, that tabletop cooking stone is a lot of fun. We received it as a gift from a good friend many years ago. I haven't seen them in stores or even for ordering online in a long time. I looked, because I wanted to give some as gifts. ← Try this hot stones link. ← Thank you so much!

Glad you did, Bill. It's good to have additional points of view... That sure worked in my favor for our dinner at Seasons 52!

Utah, LOL. I get it. But from looking at your profile, I think you're too young. What do you think, Helena? Marlene, that tabletop cooking stone is a lot of fun. We received it as a gift from a good friend many years ago. I haven't seen them in stores or even for ordering online in a long time. I looked, because I wanted to give some as gifts. Last night: Sauteed chicken thighs, corn, salad, and the mashed potatoes I was hungry for the night before when we were out of potatoes.

Avocado and Pistachio Crusted Snapper This dish was inspired by a recipe that Douglas Rodriguez developed for Delta Airlines' First Class in-flight meal service. 1 semiripe Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 c shelled green pistachios 1/2 c Panko 1 T fresh cilantro 1 T fresh parsley 2 scallions, sliced 3 T softened butter Salt and pepper to taste 2 snapper fillets (8 to 10 ounces each), with skin on Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss gently. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Place the fish, skin side down, in a greased baking pan. Spread the crust on top of each fillet, and pat gently to adhere. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or to your liking. Serve immediately on warmed plates. -2 servings Keywords: Main Dish, Dinner, Fish, Seafood, Latin American ( RG1303 )

Avocado and Pistachio Crusted Snapper This dish was inspired by a recipe that Douglas Rodriguez developed for Delta Airlines' First Class in-flight meal service. 1 semiripe Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch dice 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 c shelled green pistachios 1/2 c Panko 1 T fresh cilantro 1 T fresh parsley 2 scallions, sliced 3 T softened butter Salt and pepper to taste 2 snapper fillets (8 to 10 ounces each), with skin on Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the crust ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss gently. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Place the fish, skin side down, in a greased baking pan. Spread the crust on top of each fillet, and pat gently to adhere. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or to your liking. Serve immediately on warmed plates. -2 servings Keywords: Main Dish, Dinner, Fish, Seafood, Latin American ( RG1303 )

I am impressed. I was not going to touch that. I have done that, and they were delicious. Plus it's fun to say lamb burgers instead of hamburgers. I can't remember the other ingredients in the burgers, but I do remember that they were moist. I'm sure it helped that we grill burgers only to medium rare or medium.

That looks good. A Saturday is possible. Does anybody know about security laws/rules pertaining to carrying fresh produce on a flight out of LA? Is there something about a med fly that might be an issue?

We recently went to the Altamonte Springs location of Seasons 52 for dinner. Beforehand I didn't think I would include this restaurant in a fine dining category, after knowing it was Darden's attempt at a more upscale eatery and reading a few less than favorable comments about it. I probably wouldn't even have suggested it as a place to meet my brother and family for dinner while they visited Orlando if a dining buddy of mine from work hadn't recommended it. However, we all were glad that this was my pick for the evening. We must have caught everybody on duty on a particularly good night and everything fell into place. It was an outstanding dinner, service included. My first impression was a positive one when I called a few days in advance for a reservation and they had none available. The young lady on the other end of the phone was very good at her job, making me feel like she really wanted to work out something to accomodate us, but did not have the authority... "My brother and his family traveled all this way from Delaware to eat at your restaurant." After we talked for about 10 minutes, she told me that some customers ask to talk to a manager when she lets them know she cannot authorize a reservation. So, slow-to-catch-on me, I asked to talk to a manager, and within moments he rearranged some reservations and we had one. We were seated at a very nice round table on the outskirts of the attractive room. The spring menu was organized with starters described on lists of flatbreads, appetizers, and small salads. Then there are Main Plates, and Desserts. As a starter I ordered goat cheese ravioli, Russ got garlic grilled romaine salad, my brother and sister-in-law had seared Ahi tuna and a small salad which was huge, and we had an order of garlic roasted potatoes for the whole table. My dinner was grilled boneless quail breasts and Russ's was artic char. It was a real treat to have quail boned. I've waited too long to remember what my brother, wife and son had as main courses. Everything came close to perfection. The waiter gave us excellent service, including wine selections that were right on it. We all had different wines with each course and every one was a great match. We had some enjoyable laughs and conversation with the waiter, as well, including some baseball talk. There were several good wines available by the glass, including dessert wines. Desserts are $1.99 each and called "mini-indulgences." I had three, espresso, and a fine Port. We spared no expense, and our portion of the bill, for the two of us, was under $130.00 If I knew this restaurant was consistently this good, I would recommend it to all, including the most discriminating of diners.

I still gotta have one on my trip. It's on my list of California things I want to try. So far: an It's It; an In-n-Out Burger; a deep-fried artichoke; and a taco from a taco stand.

Nice overview. I didn't know the definitions. Thanks, Bob!

Last night we had meatloaf, as part of the currently active eG Cook-Off. Sunday night, we cooked steaks like Sam did in his and Marlene's tag team blog. With that, we had Belgian Fries with Sauce Andalouse, mushrooms, creamed spinach, and Cabernet. Wonderful, one of the best steaks and perhaps the best fries we've ever made. Thanks, Sam! Some other catching up: A mixed grill of lamb, quail, and sausage, and not pictured, a side of pasta to go with it. Friday night happy hour was at home, in front of the TV, table-cooking on the stone. With the chicken, shrimp, and beef was Bagna Cauda with spring vegetables.

For those not 'in the know,' animal style is In-N-Out code for put-everything-on-it! The In-N-Out secret menu. ← Thank you. I was just about to ask.

Thank you. This is all going into our research & intinerary development!

Here at eG, your wish is our command. Even though I don't make meatloaf often, I've been wanting to try Armandino Batali's recipe since I first saw it in Bon Appétit. So what better time than during an eG Cook-Off? Perhaps a day with temperatures cooler than the 90's would have been a better time, but what the heck, the electric bill is going to be higher from the AC this month anyway... and it's all for a good cause! This is a monster meatloaf. Here's the recipe. When I do make meatloaf, I get into the comfort food thing and like to have mashed potatoes & gravy/sauce and corn with it. Change of plans last night... I went to the basket to get the potatoes, and we were out. It was one of those things where I couldn't believe my eyes. I just knew we had potatoes, but we didn't, and neither of us felt like going to the store. So we changed the menu to pasta, and I threw some pinenuts on French-style green beans to Italian it up a little. I deglazed the pan with red wine and then added chopped fresh tomatoes, garlic, and beef stock for a sauce. The sauce was good except that I didn't de-fat it enough, and it was too greasy. The leftover in the fridge will be good after I remove the layer from it. This seemed like a good time to drink jug wine, so we had Frontera Cab/Merlot. Overall, it was a very good dinner. I'm imagining burgers will show up at the House of Burgesses one night next week.

Snowangel Susan, I am about to post about a meatloaf that was definitely not dry. In the meantime, to cheese or not to cheese the burgers, we are both pretty much the same on that. Once in a while, if we are making a certain burger recipe such as black 'n' blue burgers or "Cheeseburgers in Paradise," we use it. However, for our usual and more frequently eaten hamburgers, NO.

I'll say! Wow, sounds delicious.

i think so. i've had river horse a few times, and while it didn't thrill me enough that i can remember specifically what it was like, it also wasn't bad enough that it stuck in my mind for that reason either. ← What he said.