it aint easy being cheesy

Buddy's Chickens in the Texas Hill Country are Big, Beautiful, Clean, and oh so tasty. Sounds like a plus size commericial.

For the Lemons: Ketal One Martini With Baked Summer vegetables for a side dish With a cucumber red onion salad, x-virgin oil, lemon juice, & Sal de gris Finish a veal sauce with cured lemon for a refreshing sauce with grilled lamb Finish a soup de pistou with cured lemon & lemon basil pesto for a twist. Bake on top of whitefish with thyme and white wine, sliced onions & chantrelle mushrooms for a healthy course . Mix in with whipped cream, Lemoncello, and powdered sugar on top of summer berries

Jean Calot makes some good Mogons.

Domaine Triennes from Provence is a nice syrah. I keep it at the house for a pizza and spaghetti wine.

An easy and fun technique is Duck Civet. A little play on the classic is both easy and fun. Remove all innards. Salt and Pepper duck Sear duck in hot pan with oil. After all sides are golden brown remove duck and toss in 2 cups red wine some chopped carrots, celery, garlic, onion, thyme bay leaf, etc, Add duck back to pot and cover with water. Place in oven on 300 degrees till tender. Strain liquid and degrease Either serve parts of duck at this point or pick the meat and use in other recipes. Mash potatoes and veggies with crusty bread and sea salt. Lots of butter Yum Yum

Try using corn tortillas instead of flour you will be thankfull.l

With my humble means I've found that off vintages are not only great values but tend to show true characteristics of both the winemaker and vineyard. Great crushes are rare but to turn medocrity into to something special takes heart. Just like in California everyone has written off 98 as a bad year but with care I'v found wines which are much more approachable due to the rain during the end of summer. I've also found that for drinking now or in the next couple of years the fruit is much more in place. In 20 years the 1997 will shine past the 1998 but for my pallate 98 is a better value. So going through Wine Spectator and Robert Parker I begin reading about vintages green green green. But that bottle of Chappele was not green. It was suttle fruit with a long finish of smoke and pepper. But then again maybe my memory was eskewed.

Whats even funnier to me is I've had the pleasure of enjoying other bottles which would be considered better.d'Yquem, some of J. Hoffstetters pinot nero's, Chateau Beaucustel, and others which I think of as favorites but the mood of that night with the Jabolet were overwhelming. Sitting on a porch with a thunderstorm brewing, candles lit, when I was single, and drinking bottles by my self, I had experiences that mimicked that night. The best bottles are ones that have other memories shared. Most of the replies have to do with discovery which is also very telling.

On my honeymoon 2 months ago a bottle of 1991 Paul Jaboulet Hermitage "La Chappelle" Was on the list for $125. " For my young marriage with candles framing our table my wifes eyes staring at me and the wine just weighing on the tounge. The finish may have been long from the bottle or from her.

The fried tacos at Jack in the Box are the best and dirtiest thing in the whole world. What makes them truly special though is the fact that the use the sliced cheese product instead of shredded cheese product. Why bother trying to be semi-ethnic. You gotta love the honesty.

I ate at the FL in the Summer of 1999 with my date who was vegetarian. She got the Veg Tasting and I got the Meat and Fish. I apologize for not remembering all the courses as they seemed to all run together. The Veg tasting was the same flavor on every course "Butter". Not very creative. My date also asked if she could extend it to match with the extra courses I was going to receive. After running to the kitchen to ask Thomas Keller we were told NO. So for my 3 extra courses she sat empty! Maybe it was a bad night. More than what I remember eating is how I remember her sitting there waiting for me to finish courses so we could leave.

There is a bread called "Hawaii'n Bread" which is similar to texas toast but sweetened with coconut and vanilla it "hands down" beats challah and brioche. I don't know where to get it in the mainland but it's gooooood!

I like to play with sorbets for the summer and I've found that using an obvious pleasing with twist has the best luck. For instance Strawberry Basil Blue Berry Black Pepper Yogurt Pink Peppercorn And my all time favorite Mango Gewurztraminer.

Kosher Salt is my choice but anything you have will do.

Try roasting the potatoes on a salt bed instead of boiling them and they will be not be nearly as moist. Also try to use semolina to seperate them after they are rolled and they will stay seperate. When you are ready to cook them keep the water just under a simmer so your poaching them instead of boiling them. A little olive oil in the dough also gives them a better texture. good luck