secession

Hoo boy....I well remember the fat Alaskan spot prawns loaded with roe I bought at Pike Place (as well as a mess of dirt-cheap fresh chanterelles!). If no one else is up for a reciprocal shipping deal, I might be!

If you buy Frog Hollow fruit by the 10# flat, the tariff becomes not quite as painful (OK, $2.50/lb is still pricey, but it's good fruit!). I just went in for a flat of their Flavor King pluots -- awesome!!

I know this is rapidly veering waaayy off-topic, but anyone remember the old Encyclopedia Brown books from childhood? The ones where Brown would always show up to solve some puzzle, or foil some scam cooked up by the local riff-raff (and you'd have to figure out how he did it)? I remember reading another book by the same author, in which the protagonist was on a train, and somehow deduced that the conductor was an impostor. The explanation was that the conductor said his home was in "Frisco," and that no true native of SF would ever use that word; therefore, the conductor was lying!

Though I'd hardly consider Orange County the equal, culinarily-speaking, of LA proper, or SF, it had its moments (for me), having worked there for a few years. Sushi-wise, I had some very fine meals at Sushi Shibucho in Costa Mesa, easily on a par with those I had in LA or SF. Though I never had the opportunity to try them myself, places like Abe in Newport Beach, or Wasabi in Tustin, have gotten consistently good reviews as well.