CtznCane

What is a reasonable charge for corkage? Typically I've found it to be $10-20 per bottle. $10 I think is reasonable. At $20 I still accept the fact but it just sort of sticks with me. One place (Julius Castle) , that was $20 per bottle I took in a magnum and of course they charged me $40. I wonder if I'd taken a half bottle of desert wine if they'd only charge me $10? I doubt it. The best restaurant I've found for corkage though is Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. They will not charge you for corkage for the first two botttles with one proviso: The wines must be Sonoma County Wines. I admire their point of view. They make it more enticing for you to eat their and bring your own wine as well as do it in a way that supports their local wineries. Being a person of high moral fiber and character (on occasions when it suits me of course) this sits well with me. Being a fine restaurant as well, this makes the dining experience more affordable and accessilbe. It is truly a win-win proposition. I wish restaurants would either make it more reasonable, in terms of corkage fee, or perhaps a slidiing scale, $20 for the first bottle, $15/10 for the second bottle. , $10/5 for the third bottle,.... I don't know for sure as I have not done it, but having been in sales for many years, if it were a large group I'm sure one could negotiate a flat fee. Just wonder what others think is reasonable. ALso, were it more reasonable, would that make you more inclined to eat out more often? More willing to spend more on a nice meal knowing you wouldn't have to pay restaurant prices on wine?

Prices are just so outrageous. Anyhow, I've already had what I consider to be the perfect wine (guess I paid about the same $110 back in '85) but still, for that price I can get one of my current favs, a bottle of Zin Alley Zin and still have enough left over for 628 cans of Pabst as I figure it. Hell, with that much beer I can get my back yard fence fixed too!

I not only love drinking sweet/late harvest wines, I use them for cooking as well and am constantly on the lookout for new ideas. BTW: I also serve the same wines with the dishes too. 2 favorites of mine are: 1. Doing split lobster tails in butter & almond oil and L.H. Riesling , then finishing the sauce off with cream and slivered almonds. -- I usually do this as an apetizer though for entree as well once in awhile. 2. Chicken breats scallopini style briefly sauteed with butter & shallot, then adding (not available right now) Rosenblum Muscat de Glacier. After removing the chicken breasts adding cream and reducing the sauce, then garnishing with orange slices. I'd really be interested on feedback of what savory dishes others make with Late Harvest wines. I feel these wines are undrused in this regard.

JD's on Castro Valley Blvd in Castro Valley

I can't believe I read 4 pages of posts (since I'm new here I have to catch up) without seeing a mention of "kick it up a notch', or ' its lettuce in the head, and rubber band in the stretch'.... Let's face it though these phrases are part of their shtick, part of what makes them who they are, and part of why they are so successful. It is like "The real thing" - Coca Cola, 'Any place, anywhere, overnight' - Fed Ex, these are their tags. Even in bitching about them you are acknowledging them, and what is the saying? No such thing as bad advertising? Fact is we all like personaliities or don't like them. At the same time these phrases are what catch us or keep us in the beginning. How about favorite phrases? I cooked a lot when I was married, then went through a hiatus (cooking wise) till my present relationship 4 years ago. While surfing I hit on Emeril Live when he was mixing masa flour for tamales. He leaned on the mixer and said something along the lines of 'if it's too thick add more water, if it's too thin add more flower, It isn't rocket science" Don't get me wrong, I bitch as well but it is still an acknowledgement. Either the look, voice or phrases. If we like them we emulate them, if we dont' like them we rip them. For me? Martha Stewart, I do though promise to watch the first show of 'From Marthas Jail Cell. So much for my early morning rant, I haven't had enough coffee yet and it's too early for a beer. Well maybe not, maybe time to go pop one open.

Only a few weeks back there started to be this horrid smell in the garage. I smelled it one day and couldn't figure it out. By the next day (and at wellover 100 degrees out there) the smell was over the top. Our freezer is in the garage and after I buy meat/chicken I vacuum seal it and store it in the freezer. I looked on top of the freezer (an upright) and there was a bag with 2 chicken breasts that looked ready to explode. Talk about yuk! The only fortunate part is that there was only 1 more day till they picked up the garbage.

A pot luck sounds like a great idea. Do they do those here? How? Where? We'd be up for that.

If you are where they have trader joes, just get 2 buck chuck (Charles Shaw) , a decent if innocuous wine but I use it for sauces or their sauvignon blanc when poaching fish.

On Sunday we decided to make an impromptu run up to the wine country. Part of our trip was in our continuation of trying to visit as many of the wineries that produce sparklers as possible. Our main destinations for the day were Frank Family Vineyards (recommended from Sonomawines here), S Anderson/Cliff Lede, and also to stop by and see Carolyn at GunBun where we had not been before. I remembered the old Hans Kornell though I had never been there and wasn't aware of the change. Heck it's only been 10 years or more! The only 2 sparkiling wines they had were their Blanc de Noir and also a rouge Champagne made from 100% pinot Noir. I wasn't taking specific notes so my comments here will be fairly general. Their Blanc de Noir was nice. Nothing spectacular but very pleasant. The rouge was interesting with its berry flavors. They also showed the rouge off nicely in a Mimosa which my SO really liked. Both their sparklers were $27.50 each. A bit more than I felt they were worth though still a reasonable enough cost to value wise that we got a bottle of each. While their sparklers were nice, I was thoroughly impressed with their still wines. Especially their Chardonnay and Zin. Their Chard, which they served at room temp was extremely rich and full bodied. Filled with butterscotch, fruit and a fine finish. Not your typical Chard but one we thoroughly enjoyed. Being more of a Red wine fan myself, it is not too often I'll fork out over 20-25 for a Chardonnay but this one at $28.75 had me asking myself how many I could afford. Their Zin, was big, jammy, and fruit forward yet had a silky smootheness to it. One of the most enjoyable Zins I've had. $32.50 to me is on the high price for Zins. Typically the only ones I'll buy in the over$30 range are ZinAlley and Ridge, but this one joins the club. Frank Family Vineyards was also pouring their Sangiovese $32.50, 2000 ALexander Valley Cab $40.00, and 2000 Reserve Cab (Rutherford) $65. I liked the Sangiovese and will consider getting that one in the future. Frankly I think most Napa Cabs are overpriced. Not only that, I tend to like the Alexander Valley Cabs better. These were good but the Cabs just don't float my boat too often. All in all though I liked their wines a lot. From there we stopped at Charles Krug. For 20 something years I've always passed by and not stopped there. The only good thing I can say is at least I know I didn't miss anything. Not only were they over priced, the only one I cared for was their bordeaux style blend and at $38, it too was overpriced. On the way to try the S Anderson we stopped at Mumms. We aren't Mumm's fans but thought we'd try again. All we tried was their 25th Anniversary Cuvee and the M Cuvee. These were pleasant enough. The M Cuvee enough so that we bought ($20) a bottle. Their lower end sparklers are reasonable, I still though don't think their DVX is that good much less worth the price. The S Anderson sparklers were a total disappointment. They were pouring the brut and a Reserve. Neither had much character. Even at half their price ($28 and $36) I'd pass. Tried a couple of their other wines. The Pinot Noir was decent/pleasant but not worth pursuing. Their Claret Stags Leap (I think it was their 2001) was nice. That is the only wine of the ones we tried there I would consider buying. From there it was on to GunBun where we hand not been before where we went on a tour of the winery with Carolyn from the list here. We ejoyed the tour of GunBun as well as their wines. I thought the GunBun wines were consistantly good across the board. Nothing spectacular but good solid values. I diid particularly like their 2002 Morse Vineyard Zinfandel. I have since verirfied that fact by enjoying that wine last night. The Morse Vineyard Zin is on the jammy side of Zins. Very pleasant and at $20 it is a good value. As we left the Valley to head home we did stop at Domaine Carneros. As always theirs are good sparklers. Good not great. We are most fond of their Brut Rose. Or at least we feel that one is a good value at its price point of $34. The La Reve, Blanc de Blanc, while being a very nice sparkler I feel is overpriced at $55 per bottle.

The simplest and surest bet (imho) is one that in Marcella Hazan's The Classic Italian Cookbook is described as Tomato sauce number 3. tomatoes, butter, onion and a pinch of sugar. Just bright fresth tomato taste. What a joy, as Jimmy Buffet sang "It was so simple I could jitterbug it plum evaded me." How can something so simple be so good, yet it is.

I'm sure it is small enough, but Anchor Steam is my go to guy/gal not to be sexist)in the clutch. Or their Anhor's Liberty Ale. Being an IPA fan, I am also quite fond of Pyramid Brewery's IPA as well as Lagunitas IPA (all of them being NorCal beers.) I seldom find it out here, but wish I could and that is Abita Amber. Anyone know a good norcal source for it?

We drove down to L.A. when my son turned 21 so I could take him out for his first legal drink. One extra gift I added on that birthday was a copy of "Joy of Cooking." It's the only gift I'm sure he'll have left 10 years from now. I'm an opinionated SOB and I'm not a Bittman fan. On the other hand, whenever I've needed an idea on something and been unsure where to turn, Joy of Cooking has not let me down. If I were to go in an untraditional direction on cookbooks I'd choose AB's - "I'm Just Here For the Food."

On fillmore st there is also Vivande Porta Via

Harris Ranch is in Coalinga and is about 100 miles north from Bakersfield.

I'm relatively ignorant on the subject of egg safety though I'm aware of all the recipes I see with the good old raw egg warning on them. I never did well in science in school so if the answer is too technical it won't mean a whole lot to me. What is important to me is the fact that I like raw or undercooked eggs. I grew up with a Dad who ate coddled eggs every day and I too like them. When I'd go get a malt I'd get one with an egg thrown in. I use to like spaghetti with just parmesan cheese, a little olive oil , and a raw egg on it. I stayed away from using raw eggs for several years. Finally I sort of said the hell with it and have gone back to using them. If I do get a bad egg how sick will I actually get? I have no idea. On another note, why do they have to dis my favorite fish by using its name in a disease? Couldn't they at least change it to sardinella?

I tried fifi's southern style green beans tonight. She's my new hero! Boy were they good, we enjoyed them thoroughly along with Pan Roasted chicken breasts. I made the version with the roux, and no, not a drop of bacon fat was wasted. I only spooned out a couple tablespoons to use with the roux. The duck stock sounds like a nice twist. Being that I have some duck stock in the freezer I think I'll try that one next.

I'd give a second nod to Fung's Kitchen (worked next door almost when I lived in Houston) and I also liked the Crazy Cajun in Seabrook.

The asparagus steamer does seem to be a single use item and as Alton Brown would say, your only single use item should be the fire extinguisher. I just use the steamer I use with other vegetables (mine is a large pot with two steaming units one large one small) and it works fine. Add to this the fact that grilled and par boiled are also good methods really limits the use of this item.

My choice would be George Mardikian who was the owner of Omar Khayyam's in San Francisco. Our family would always go there for Chrsitmas dinner and on other special occasions. Why choose him? Not for the type of cuisine but for the sheer passion he had for good food and for sharing that food with others. I've never met anyone with the passion and intensity that he had for food. He was such a joy to be around. His restaurant also had great food.

I have many books I like a lot but the top of my list is: 1. Joy of Cooking - I even gave my son a copy on his 21st b-day and it gives you an idea on almost anything. 2. Any Rick Bayless Mexican cookbook. 3. I'm Just here for the Food - Alton Brown (besides learning it is fun reading) 4. The New Orleans Cookbook - Richard & Rima Collin (not in print now I don't think but well worth it to find.) 5. The Classic Italian Cookbook - Marcella Hazan 6. The Food of Outhern Italy - Carlo Middione 7. Craft of Cooking - Tom Colicchio

Maybe it's the funky atmosphere, but regardless, a place that puts down a good steak is Al the Wops in Locke on the Delta. It has been there forever it seems and I've never been disappointed.

Within the realm of the bizarre foods I couldn't eat Rat. Of the foods I may come across regularly? Lemon Meringue Pie. I can make it for my SO and she loves it. Shrimp heads are delicious, escargot exquisite, my mom being form Tennesse fixed okra (one of the few things she could cook), you name it, I'll try it, but not Lemon Meringue Pie. Odd I know, but then again, I am odd.

75 - And seeing some of the numbers here I no longer feel guilty about having too many.

I've gotten Turtle flown in from Louisianna for turtle soup. In terms of a historical dinner, There is a recipe for Turtle Soup in a historical cookbook titled "The Lewis & Clark Cookbook - HIstoric Recipes from the corps of discovery & Jeffersons America" by Leslie Mansfield published by Celestial Arts www.tenspeed.com ISBN 1-58761-147-3. I did a review of the book for a local paper here and tested several of the recipes which came out very well. Both for the turtle soup and other old recipes this might be a good resource.

As far as an inexpensive Scotch that is decent I've found Clan MacGregor to be okay. It is very much on the light side but pleasant. I know BevMo has it for 15.99 for a 1.75 litre so it is a good value. Certainly cheap enough to give it a try.