I had a friend visiting from out of town last week who had, on more than one occasion, expressed to me her frustration with the response she was getting from restaurants in Denver when requesting a vegetarian meal. Having spent many years cooking in restaurants whose philosophy was always, give the customer what they want, I was shocked and disappointed to hear that m... Read More

Many of you have read about the new Barbeque rig we put together.  I
finally got a chance to take it way out in the field and see if it would perform
as expected.  Cooking around town is easy, if something goes wrong you can
get it fixed up in a hurry.  Being 80 miles out in the high country with
150 rig hands to feed along with their bosses... Read More

Thinking more on the tastes in Richtee’s rub I decided it might go
well on catfish.  Whilst not a smoked product… time in the outdoor
kitchen with the fryer going full tilt is still good time!  And so I set
out to put together a little catfish fry complete with a modified Sylvia Woods
hush puppy offering.  If you have never picke... Read More

Richtee, Arrrtea on some boards, sent along a sample of his rub for a testing
by me.  I decided to test it out on something that would allow maximum
contact surface area.  Still wanted to be able to marinate, smoke, and
finish with a grilling.  The choice was KABOBs!

This past Sunday I helped a group of my fellow peers execute a Spring wine dinner at my boss’s resort.
Here’s the menu:

An Amuse Bouche
Venison Cudighi Sausage on Brioche
Roasted Grape Tomato
Caramelized Pearl Onion
Zingerman’s Bridge Water Cheese
Sauvignon Blanc

First Course
Wild Indian Popcorn... Read More

Until recently, I had found that exploring different types of pasta was mostly limited to trying different shapes, those infused with flavorings such as spinach or herbs and those made with coarse, dry flours that seemed more like eating sawdust than food. Today, however, there seems to be an influx of pastas on the market that are of much better quality and made with... Read More

I recently gave up dairy for one month in an attempt to get to the heart of some sinus issues I had been having. I was fairly certain that I would not survive the month, but I did and, in fact, came out of it feeling much better. 

Sadly, the success of this experiment means that I’ll have to continue on the path of no dairy (well, in theory at least̵... Read More

Wednesday May 13th

Today was the day I’d been planning for quite some time. This was the day I was going to Bouchon in Yountville, California. To those of you who don’t know this place, it started out as a bakery and has since evolved into a French Bistro type of place, both in Las Vegas and here in Yountville.

The place is very non descript ... Read More

Sunday May 10th…Mother’s Day

I am staying in a 2-bedroom condo off of a very beautiful golf course country club in Napa, California. I did a little shopping of my own so I can cook and make coffee, have wine, etc….

I ate breakfast at home this morning. I took an early long walk up and down the hills where I was staying. I took a mot... Read More

Reporting from my hotel room in Napa California, I am continuing with my dining adventures.

It’s been an interesting 2 days so far. Read on:

May 8, 2009

Ate breakfast at the hotel. Free buffet. Scrambled eggs, bagel, potatoes and sausage links. Coffee .3.5

No lunch
Middle Eastern Restaurant. The server could barely speak En... Read More