Toliver

Dude, you need to eat more...for this foodblog, of course!

My mom pulled two red "Whooper" tomatoes off the vine only to find black bottoms. One was quite bad but the other didn't have as much. She was quite disappointed. The soil in the planter pot was fresh. It was Mircale Gro soil, in fact. My brother told her not to worry, that the rest of the fruit on the plant should be okay (the plant is loaded with immature fruit and flowers). So she's going to hold off on adding calcium until she sees more fruit from this plant. Given how virile this plant looks I wouldn't be surprised if it's already sucked all the nutrients out of the soil. Meanwhile, she's amazed at the two volunteers that are growing like gangbusters. She still thinks they're currant tomato plants. She said she'll yank them if they are but I suggested (again) that she give them to her neighbor with the grandkids since they fell in love with them last year. At least they'll do someone some good. edited to add that she is far enough inland that the June Gloom hasn't hurt the tomatoes too much. It burns off mid-morning and doesn't come back in until between 4pm and 5pm. That seems to be enough sun.

Here ya go, Maggie. Johnnybird's Toast Dope, Oh So Good

I tried the Pepsi Summer Mix this weekend. Thankfully, I didn't end up bouncing off the walls. First off, as a diet Pepsi drinker, the regular soda was quite sweet to my palate. As for the flavor, I thought it was okay. It reminded me quite a bit of the Sprite Tropical soda that came out (and disappeared) about a year ago. The odd thing about this Pepsi Summer Mix is that the Pepsi Cola flavor seems to be completely missing. Where other flavors (Lemon Pepsi, Lime Pepsi, etc) still taste like Pepsi, I thought in this mix the cola flavor was totally MIA. Has anyone else tried it?

That is freakin' amazing! When I win the lottery, I'm buying one or two of them.

I stumbled across this adjustable table: Retro Contemporary Hydraulic Ribbon Bar Table I don't think it would be stable enough to use as a work table but you could certainly dine on it. It has a good range of height, too.

My attempt to get spicier food in a Chinese restaurant was to follow up my order with "Lao", which I was told means "spicy hot" in Chinese. It hasn't always worked. I could be saying "purple" for all I know.

None of the Taco Bells in my area are open at breakfast time, nor have they ever been open at breakfast time. Were you in a test-market area, perhaps?

Spatchcocking?

And it apparently has. In the news today they think the smelt have moved far enough away from the pumps that two of the pumps will turned back on, if they haven't been turned on already as I write this. How do they know the smelt have moved away? They're rather small fish, I imagine they're difficult to see from above water. Underwater cameras?

A new recap: Please don't assign numbers to your new movie foods...if a movie is solved before it gets put into a recap, it's not given a number since it's out of play. Also, we're getting some repeat movies. Try not to use "Pretty Woman", "The Godfather", "Cool Hand Luke", "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", "Fargo", "Moonstruck", "Repo Man", "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Fried Green Tomatoes", "American Grafitti" and "Dirty Dancing" as they've all been used twice. CONGRATULATIONS TO: -petite tête de chou for correctly guessing that "A cage of ortolans flutter madly in hostage scene. This takes place in a French restaurant which serve the avian delicacy" was the film "Hannibal Rising". ************ Pontormo has revealed that #188: Poem improvised by prospective husband-material at family dinner that begins with a pile of thick strands of pasta sauced with wild fennel: "Snails to eat And woman sweet-- An incredible treat!" Or something to that effect. CLUE: a) Another incentive to make the gaped-toothed dinner guest a member of the family: the prospect of lasagna and sardines. b) Takes place on an island, c) in black and white. is the film "Seduced and Abandoned". Hilarious; dark humor and for Netflix subscribers, available. ************ WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION: -petite tête de chou has guessed that #174 (Raw corn, bananas, scenery CLUE: The actor won't eat the banana, but does chew the scenery) could be "WarGames". -sadie_siamesecat has guessed that #173 (Jack Nicholson film: features a lot of barbequeing [as I recall]) is the film "Term of Endearment". -petite tête de chou has also guessed that #189 (Creme de la Creme ala Edgar) is the film "The Aristocats". #154 is not "The Notebook" nor is it "Jamon, Jamon" #174 is not "1492 - Conquest of Paradise" #184 is not "Lost in Translation" ************ STILL UNSOLVED AND TAUNTING US: 154. REVISED CLUE: A floor picnic of roast chicken, rudely interrupted by monetary concerns and time constraints. CLUE: Every meal in the movie was disrupted by SOMETHING, but no other by money. CLUE: The hero speaks to an older woman, and her comeback was quite memorable. CLUE: The lady came to the hero's place of work in order to watch him. No food was visible at the moment, though the aura of ham was present. 158. "I love their eggrolls" " Eat your eggs" and four perfect T-bone steaks 173. Jack Nicholson film: features a lot of barbequeing (as I recall) 174. Raw corn, bananas, scenery CLUE: The actor won't eat the banana, but does chew the scenery. 177. I hid behind the car. I didn't want to get any ketchup on my dress. CLUE: I've been carrying around this ketchup bottle for weeks!... WEEKS!!! 184. sushi, including 'masago' and 'amachi' CLUE: in a separate scene, Noodles eaten from a paper carton (on a park bench) CLUE: in another scene, Snapper - discussed but not seen. 188. Poem improvised by prospective husband-material at family dinner that begins with a pile of thick strands of pasta sauced with wild fennel: "Snails to eat And woman sweet-- An incredible treat!" Or something to that effect. CLUE: a) Another incentive to make the gaped-toothed dinner guest a member of the family: the prospect of lasagna and sardines. b) Takes place on an island, c) in black and white. 189. Creme de la Creme ala Edgar **** NOTE: If you post a movie, please check back to see if the guesses on your movie are correct or not so we can keep the "Still in Play" list accurate. Also, consider posting more clues if your movie remains unsolved. ****

There is bound to be a fall-off of patrons when the casino opens. Everyone likes to go to the new place. Hopefully, the pendulum will swing back in your favor once the novelty wears off. Since a majority of your clientele is from Chicago, you could try featuring Chicago specialty foods - deep dish pizza, etc, but with your own spin on them. Perhaps try to create a niche that the casino won't be able to fill.

Regarding the Pepsi Summer Mix, I looked for a diet version right away but didn't find one. I never drink regular sugar-based sodas but figured I would make an exception this time...what with taking one for the team and all. That's one reason why I am waiting for the weekend to try it...in case the sugar and caffeine rush overwhlem me. I do not like the Diet Sierra Mist (Sonic uses it in their Diet Cherry Limeades and I think it tastes ghastly) so I didn't think to look for a Diet Sierra Mist Lemon Squeeze. I'll take a look next time I'm in the grocery store.

It's the same with my mom's tomatoes. Last year she had a night critter gnawing on the not-yet-picked-but-ripe-enough fruit. They didn't even have the courtesy to take the fruit off the plant. It's as if they left the partly eaten fruit on the vine to taunt her.

You posted this on another board and I replied there as well. In Bakersfield (30 minutes north of Grapevine, up Highway 99), I like the 24th Street Café. The guy who runs it, I believe, is related to the owners of Hodel's. It's not a true diner but is diner-like. It always has a line waiting to get in on the weekends (they provide coffee and chairs outside for those waiting). They used to have a chalkboard with daily specials, though I'm not sure they still do. I had a nice pan-fried trout special there one morning. Can't get that at Denny's. They serve breakfast and lunch (had some nice corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day) and are closed for dinner.

Carolyn, Thanks for taking the time to post about your trip. As I read the above quote, my heart went out to you. My family, for some crazy reason, likes to go to Buca di Beppo for the occasional family birthday get-together. After our last outing there, I spoke to my brothers, who both enjoy Little Italy, and I think I convinced them that if we're going to go out and spend too much money on mediocre-to-poor Italian food, why can't we take that money and patronize a localy owned Italian place that serves good food? The money will help a local business, we'll eat better and probably have just as good a time.

Sandy, I think the way I do it, is pretty much the same way you do. I just cube up the cooked potatoes and saute in some olive oil. This way, I know they're cooked thru and the oil crisps them up nicely. ← If I can just add a point for clarification...the baked potato has to be refrigerated, usually overnight, before the home fries are made. It's the refrigeration that turns the baked potato firm and almost waxy. It makes it quite easy to cube the potato the next morning. I've also seen other cooks shred these refrigerated baked potatoes into "home-style" hash browns though they're not my cup of tea, to mix metaphors. Calipoutine, I am exhausted just reading your blog! Your energy seems boundless. I look forward to reading more.

In May of 2007, Sierra Mist introduced "Sierra Mist Lemon Squeeze", their regular soda with an extra added "squeeze of lemon". This special mix will only be available through September. Pepsi (who owns Sierra Mist) has introduced "Pepsi "Summer Mix". Its regular Pepsi with "a mix of tropical fruit flavors". This special edition flavor is only supposed to be available until the end of July 2007. Is this a new version of test marketing? If the flavor sells well enough, will it become a permanent product? Is this a welcome trend? I've bought a 2 liter of the Pepsi Summer Mix but won't be cracking it open until next weekend so I'll have to wait to give feedback on it. Has anyone tried the new flavor of either soda?

My mom was surprised to find two volunteer tomato plants growing in a pot she was using for a fern. My brother transferred them into new pots for her. She has no idea what kind they are. She says she's just hoping they're not the currant tomatoes from last year. Her "Whopper" tomato plant is growing like gangbusters. She's got fruit on it in all different stages and lots of blossoms on the higher branches. It looks like she'll have tomatoes through Summer and early Autumn on this plant. The tomatoes at the bottom of the plant could start turning if only the June Gloom would go away.

When I used to do the monthly eGullet digest for Bon Appetit magazine, I fell in love with Pornchai Mittongtare's photographs. Here's his web site: Pornchai Mittongtare's web site It's Flash driven so be forewarned. I also enjoyed the work of Brian Leatart & Gary Moss in the magazine, as well.

There's also the argument that food isn't art but is a craft instead. Craftwork, if you reduce it down to a barebones definition, can be called art that has function. In the case of food, it provides nourishment and can provide pleasure. So a chef isn't really an artist no matter how well they cook and plate the food. They are, instead, craftsmen. Discuss.

And I recall the opposite. During my elementary school years (San Diego in the '60's), we had "room mothers", a volunteer parent (usually a stay-at-home mom) who would supply homebaked cookies or, more often, homemade cupcakes and punch for our classroom parties. The parties usually coincided with a holiday (Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc). I can't recall an end-of-the-year party although I am sure there must have been some. And it's just not school parties with all the rules and reg's these days. My mom's hospital worker's retiree board can't have homemade anything present if their meetings are held within the hospital's meeting rooms.

I believe San Diego is currently experiencing their yearly "May Gray/June Gloom" weather (at least, they were when I visited my family there over the Memorial Day weekend).

It turns out that the state water pumps have been shut off by court order afterall: "Pumps shut off to save smelt" It's not as if Southern California has large reserves of stored water to beign with. Yearly rain totals for the last couple of years have been below normal. The impact on agriculture/farms in the state remains a large question mark.