You're Drinking Pineapple What?

Whew, temperatures here in Northern California/Sonoma County continue to jump above 90 degrees, making the one-last-hurrah-of-summer three-day Labor Day weekend perfect for some cold, refreshing wine--pineapple wine, that is.

That's right, pineapple wine. I was recently introduced to this by my friends Richard and Leslie Mansfield, who in addition to owning Mansfield Winery in the Napa Valley, also have Tradewinds Winery. TWW's first release is a 100% pineapple fruit wine. According to winemaker Richard, he puts the pineapple juice through the exact steps he does for a high-quality Chardonnay. The results? Well, I have to say, following my first few sips, I wasn't certain that this was for me. However, as I continued to drink, the wine grew on me. It's a bright, fruity (obviously!), and off-dry: sweeter than an oaky Chardonnay but close to a good citrusy Sauv Blanc. It's best served ice cold, and is a great accompaniment to spicy foods such as tacos, a Thai stir-fry, or a Mexican mole. And Leslie makes a mean sangria with it. I had to do some serious arm-twisting, but came away--just for you FROTB--with her Sangria recipe. Enjoy this cool, refreshing drink on this, the last hurrah of summer.

Tradewinds Pineapple Sangria

1 cup cubed fresh pineapple

1 cup cubed fresh mango or cantaloupe

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 orange, quartered and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 750-ml bottle of Tradewinds Pineapple Wine

1 12-ounce bottle of 7-Up or ginger ale, chilled

Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish

In a large pitcher, combine the pineapple, mango, strawberries, orange, Triple Sec, sugar, and Tradewinds Pineapple wine. Stir gently to mix. Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to serve, stir in the 7-Up. Divide the fruit into six tall glasses along with two ice cubes. Pour in the Tradewinds Pineapple Sangria and garnish with a spring of mint. Serves 6

P.S. By Tuesday, September 4, there will be on this blog a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. You will NOT WANT TO MISS THIS. Trust me on this. EXCITING STUFF coming. I would give you a hint, but, well, isn't the ANTICIPATION delicious too?

Friends in Sweet Places

Garth Brooks may have friends in low places, but I have at least one friend (hey, no comments on that!) in a sweet place.

Here's the scoop: During my time at Pizzio's, I've gotten to know L., who turns out is the pastry chef at the famed Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg. L. has invited me several times to come over while he's working. So this past Friday night, G. and I went. But we didn't want to do the whole Dry Creek Kitchen experience (of celebrity chef Charlie Palmer fame). I mean, what if we got TOO FILLED UP for dessert?!?! The horror!

So we went restaurant hopping. We stopped first at Restaurant Charcuterie, which is a few doors down from the Dry Creek Kitchen. (They don't have a web site that I can find--how strange!) It's a great French bistro-type place, with crowded tables and a big old bar that seats a good four people. We had wine and their delicious appetizer place, the Chacuterie Plate. HMMMMMMM! Two kinds of salami (Rosette de Lyon and garlic), some duck rillette, pork pepper pate, plus a selection of olives and grapes. Wonderful! Throw in some bread, and that's a great meal for me.

Properly fortified, we strolled around downtown Healdsburg a bit, then went to our 9:30 p.m. reservation at the Dry Creek Kitchen.

The desert menu made my head spin! Here's how my thinking went:

Amaretto Creme Brulee, oooo, sounds good.

Toasted Lemon-Olive Oil cake, wow, sounds different.

Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding...with Organic Cherry Puree...and Guinness Ice Cream?!?!
GUINNESS ICE CREAM???

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a drive to deep right field. Way back, way back.... Gone! HomerunBarryBonds.

Gretzky skates over the timeline, deeks the defender! Only the goalie to beat. Gretzky shoots, scores!!!!!

The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!

Needless to say, I had that, and it was wonderful--rich and dense yet balanced with the fruit and the ice cream. G. had creme brulee. Then, L. came out (we had told the waiter we were his friends) and presented us with two freebie desserts--which we happily devoured. Then, as a take home gift, L. had the waiter present us with two small boxes, each of which contained a selection of three homemade chocolates.

So we were living in style. Just hanging out at the Dry Creek Kitchen, sampling great desserts, I'm having Port, and having the pastry chef come out and treat us like Rock Stars. Hey, as I've said before, You only go around once in life, but if you do it right, once is enough.

L., thanks for making a special night very special. And the next time I see you around, L., I'm buying the drinks till I get that Guinness ice cream recipe from you!!

Tony Brings A Tear

How appropriate that on the night Tony Bourdain tackled my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, on his Travel Channel show No Reservations, my beloved--and first place (yes, you read that right!)--Cleveland Indians turned a triple play while soundly defeating the Minnesota Twins, 8-3.

Overall, I thought the show was excellent, though the first part was heavy on eccentric Cleveland, and we really didn't didn't get into the food until the second part. I loved the tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (did you know you can rent that for a party or dinner?) and of the ethnic restaurants.



What did bring a tear to my eye was the mention of "stadium mustard." Here's the scoop: Cleveland's old Municipal Stadium used to be the home for the Browns and the Indians. It was a huge (70,000-seat), old, drafty place yet filled with memories. Some of my strongest childhood memories are of going, either alone with my dad or with my dad and friends, to Indians games, one of the highlights which would be having several (hey, I was a growing boy!) foot-long hot dogs slavered in Municipal Stadium's brown mustard. This was a delicious concoction, heartier than that French's yellow stuff yet without the strong bite of a good Dijon. When Municipal Stadium was torn down, lost too, was the stadium mustard....


...until recently. I had heard rumors and quickly confirmed them last night during a late-night Google fest: stadium mustard lives! The stadium mustard Web site looks as funky as old Municipal Stadium used to, and to me, that's part of the charm. My check is going in the mail this week for a case of this all-natural, delicious, and memory-inducing condiment.


So thank you, Tony, for showing us new places to see and try...and for taking us back to old places and old times and old foods that shouldn't be forgotten.

Tony Alert: Part 2 (or maybe 3 or 4)

Mark your calendars now: this Monday, August 27th, is a not-to-missed episode of Tony Bourdain's television show No Reservations. Tony travels to Cleveland, Ohio, (birthplace of one particular blog host) for an in-depth (O.K., superficial and very skewed) culinary and travel-related review of the Big City. In Tony's television trailer for the Monday night show, he calls his Cleveland foray "the best show ever." So you know it's gotta be good.

Monday night, 7:00 p.m. (I think) and 10:00 p.m. on the Travel Channel.

LV: WWFD?

Am resettling back into life PV (post-Vegas). So What Would Frank Do? He'd make a list of great Vegas restaurants (great for a variety of reasons, from awesome steaks to 24-hour cheap eats) for himself and FROTB for future Vegas excursions. Please note that some listed here I ate in, while others were recommended to me by LV locals and others in-the-know.

Binion's Ranch Steak House at Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel (vintage Vegas)

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House (they do it right with cigars, etc.)

Ellis Island Restaurant (24-hours; cheap eats)

Garden Court Buffet (at Main Street Station)

Grand Lux Cafe (another 24-hour place, at the Venetian)

Hugo's Cellar (at the Four Queens)

Le Cirque (trendy high-end place at the Bellagio)

Triple George Grill (old-school in the heart of Fremont Street)

And for fellow vintage Vegas fans like myself, there's also the tour of the Neon Museum.

What Would Frank Do? He'd go back as often as possible, and he'd ALWAYS go back in style.

P.S. Many of you have been following my Texas Holdem exploits as well (which I appreciate). With that in mind, here are the final tallies for my tournies:

8 tournaments entered

4 final tables

3 in-the-monies

1 2nd place finish

1 Tie for first

All in all, I think I held my own very well-- four days playing poker in Vegas, and coming out to the good.... I'll drink to that.

LV: Craps

My Vegas Baby trip is coming to an end. Had a WONDERFUL dinner tonight at Hugo's Cellar in the Four Queens casino. Very classy and old school: low ceilings, brick-lined walls, a TON of waiters and busboys (all male, I might add). I had the duck flambeed table side. Each dinner includes a salad with numerous custom-made made-at-table side accompaniments, a lemon sorbet between courses (to cleanse the palate, of course) and a selection of special small deserts: black figs, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and something I can't remember. Had a wonderful Napa Valley Cab from Meyer Vineyards which I know nothing about and must check out. Finished with a glass of port. Yes, life is GOOD.

Ah, Vegas. It's all about excess, as the duck flambeed table side shows. Here, anything is possible...and that means both good and bad, from bluffing and winning a pot with AK when the flop comes 10-rag-rag to getting shanked in the kidney from a local down to his last 50 cents. LV, in other words, is about not just being in some Eckhart Tolle-ish moment, but living in the moment, excess--however temporary---and all. I get ready to leave Vegas not with regret or despair or hope or fame or money but rather with gratitude....that for several days I was truly alive, playing poker, and enjoying wonderful meals, in moments one after another when anything truly was---is---possible.

LV: A Fool and His Money...

...are soon parted. But Nancy and Bill didn't raise no fool! Has been a wild day in Vegas. I played in the 10:00 a.m. Binion's holdem tournament, played till 1:00 p.m....and finished in a Tie for First. Nice! For you non-tourney FROTB, the final three of us all had about the same amount of chips, so we "chopped"--combined the prize monies for first, second, and third and split them evenly. So for Texas Holdem I've:
played 5 tournies
made 3 final tables
cashed 2 times
finished T-1 once
Not bad.

Barely had time after the 10:00 a.m. tournament to dash back to Main Street, grab lunch, then dash back for the 2:00 p.m. tournament. At the Garden Court buffet, had a great lunch. Talk about variety! All these things I NEVER eat at other times.... Salisbury steak, cottage cheese, custard pie, chocolate brownie, deep fried cod, etc. Vegas is all about OPTIONS...which is why the best card players---and those who love great food and wine---end up, in the end, coming out on top.

LV: Breakfast of Champions

No buffet this morning, still not hungry from our mega steak meal last night. Breakfast this a.m. a couple of handfuls of cashews, two Aleve, and two 591 ml bottles of Deja Blue purified drinking water. Off to the 10:00 a.m. Holdem tourney at Binions, so wish me luck.

P.S. Jimmy Z, in a bit of a rush this morning as I had to run down and get some change--for some reason after our after-dinner excursion last night, I didn't have a dollar bill to tip the maid. Go figure, huh?

LV: Dinner on the 24th Floor

Wow, had an AMAZING dinner tonight in Las Vegas with my buddy Jim. Again, we went old school: we've been playing at the Binion's Gambling Hall and Casino poker tournaments, so we went to dinner at their Binion's Ranch Steakhouse. We had a window seat on the 24th floor overlooking, of course, the Vegas strip to the South and most of the Vegas to the east. Was an amazing view and an amazing meal.

Shared an escargot, then French Onion Soup, then I had the Petite Filet with garlic masheds and a side-order of sauteed shrooms. A nice Hess cab sav to accompany, which we quite gleefully finished off. The steak was cooked to perfection (I'm doing Medium of late, rather than Medium Rare, for some reason), the garlic masheds were awesome, and the wine, well, very hold-its-ownish: smooth yet full-bodied without being heavily tannic. All in all, it felt completely old-school Vegas, very Rat Pack-ish with the dim lights and dark interiors and hushed wait staff. I'm not a huge meat person, but man, every once in a while a Petite Filet just hits the SPOT....especially when accompanied by a great wine and a wonderful dinner companion. I learned several new things about my friend Jim, several businesses are being hatched in our minds, and well, we just HUNG OUT. And that hanging out fact alone turns every meal into a feast.

LV: You know you're in Vegas when...

...you're drinking coffee at 10:30 p.m. and cocktails at 10:30 a.m.

No lunch today--still on the reserves from my power Sunday brunch this a.m. Tonight, a great meal--definitely in the steak mode. The only question: Where? So many possibilities!

P.S. Have played in two tournaments, made both final tables (50+ players in this morning's tourney), and cashed once (ended up 6th), so holding my own.... Still, I want to WIN one of these.

LV: Sunday Brunch

Just finished the "Super Sunday Champagne Brunch" at the Garden Court. Ah, champagne and biscuits and gravy--breakfast of champions!

LV: The Basics...

When tired, hungry, and on the edge in terms of too much wine and too little water, I find I resort back to basics: Just finished a delicious Ceasar's Salad with chicken and a Blackchip Porter at the 777 Brewpub in the Main Street Casino. There's comfort food and then there's comfort food, and in Las Vegas, one quickly learns the difference.

Tomorrow, a tourney at 10:00 a.m. and then 2:00 p.m., and then a nice dinner and then, well, TBD.

Now time to bed.

P.S. Jimmy Z: made it to the final table in the 8:00 p.m. Sat Binion's tourney. Had QQ in the big blind and lost to AA in the small blind. I'll say it again--I don't want to be luckier playing poker, I want to STOP being UNlucky.

LV: Can you say: Buffet?

Enough sleep: I'll sleep when I'm dead.

When you think of Vegas and food and wine, one thing that should come to mind is the buffet. Vegas is famous for these huge, and inexpensive, spreads. I just stumbled out one of the most popular--and biggest of Vegas's buffets, the Garden Court Buffet at the Main Street Casino. It's a football field-sized room of nearly every type of food and drink imaginable. For awhile I debated between scrambled eggs and pancakes, pizza and salad, or pot roast with mashed potatoes--then said what the heck, and had em all! They can be dangerous, though; I went back for seconds, loitered for a bit around the desserts section, grabbed an extra banana (for the potassium)...then couldn't find my table. When they seat you, they could give you a GPS system to avoid that!

Anyway, off to Binion's Gambling Hall, where they have Texas Holdem tournaments every day at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. (Is this a great country, or what?) The 8:00 p.m. tourney tonight has a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000. To paraphrase Cowboy Troy, I'm gonna git me some of that!

LV: It's 7:30 a.m. and ...

...time to go to bed.

LV: The Eagle Has Landed!

Touchdown! Initial mission accomplished, and man, it is HOT here--the H-E-double toothpick kind. Of course, it is the DESERT and it is AUGUST, so.... Note to self: Be sure to drink more fluids than normal.

Cab ride to the hotel one of the greatest adrenaline rushes ever.... The sights, the lights, the people, the...action. Can't wait to dive in, head-first. We're going old-school (I know, I know: Surprise, surprise), staying on Fremont Street, part of the Fremont Experience. Are there any two words prettier in the whole human language than Vintage Vegas????

LV: So Be What?

So I’m standing at the urinal at SFO doing, well, what men do standing at urinals at places like airports and ballparks when I start to read, on the shelf in front of me, the back label text of someone’s nearly-finished (and obviously discarded) bottle of SoBe “flavored beverage” (Nirvana Mango Melon, for you SoBe connoisseurs). Of all the writing and nutritional gobbledygook on the back of the bottle, my eyes instinctively (or so it seems) settle on the company’s tagline. (What can I say; I’m a marketing/tagline-kind of guy.) The tagline? Shake the lizard. (This is the honest to God’s truth; I wish I was this creative to make this kind of stuff up.) Anyway, I read on and discover that this particular bottle of SoBe has 50 MG of Hibiscus, 50 MG of Ginseng, and 50 MG of Astragalus. Astragalus? wtf? Does ANYBODY have the slightest clue what that is? What, is this supposed to throw us off the fact that SoBe has 30 GRAMS of SUGAR??? Are we not supposed to “get” that this is sugar-water? SoBe, you be so uncool….

LV: We're Off!

Off to the airport and the trip to the big LV. I'm loaded down with a half-dozen power bars, a bottle of water, a full bottle of Pepto-Bismo, 12 Aleve tablets, and a case of grapefruit (for the Vitamin C). Mr. Plane, please be on time, please be on time, please be on time... cause I hear a craps table calling my name....

LV: Countdown!

Am in SERIOUS countdown mode for my VEGAS BABY trip with JS (roughly 36-hours, but who's counting?!?). Ah, the sights, the lights, the poker rooms, the craps tables...the food and drinks! Disneyland might be the happiest place on earth (though others disagree--read on) but Vegas is the action-ist place on earth.

Friends and FROTB have been giving me numerous tips re: restaurants to visit during my stay, everything from Le Cirque at the Bellagio to the House of Blues in the Mandalay Bay Resort to THE Steak House at Circus-Circus. At the top of our must-hit list, of course, is the Double Down Saloon, another self-proclaimed "happiest place on earth".

You only go around once in life, but if you do it right, once is enough.

State of the Grape: Part 1

Whew, am only now coming down off my sugar high following the Gravenstein Apple Fair this past Saturday (and have finally slept after two days, too; I neglected to mention that with my apple cobbler I also bought an iced coffee--which came in a 32-ounce cup that took both my hands to lift to drink). There's SO much going on the Every World A Feast blog world right now that it's hard to get my mind around things. First, COMING SOON, a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT regarding the FIRST EVER Every Meal A Feast "Gathering" in which YOU TOO can participate. Plus this Friday, I leave for VEGAS BABY with my good friend JS, and in the spirit of my buddy Jay's recent blow-by-blow account of his across-country "cannonball run", I plan to post frequent updates regarding my Vegas food & drink escapades. Trust me, this will be something NOT TO BE MISSED, so if you have any weekend plans, you might just want to cancel or postpone them to stay in close contact to the Internet. More soon about Vegas, but let me just say now that Vegas to me is ALWAYS a cannonball-type run where the real question becomes not did I have fun or even did I win any money, but did I SURVIVE???

With all this talk of late about apples, I thought now I'd turn to grapes. I talked yesterday with my good friend Todd Anderson, who's the owner and head winemaker at Conn Valley Vineyards in the Napa Valley, to get the Every Meal A Feast inside scoop on this year's pending grape harvest. Here's a verbatim interview with Todd (with my mental comments in parenthesis):

Me: Hey.

Todd: Hey.

Me: How's it going?

Todd: Good. (This is warm-up guy-talk.)

Me: Tell me about the grapes.

Todd: This year they're hanging to the left.

Me: Really? Is that a good thing? (Is he pulling my leg?)

Todd: No, you idiot. I'm just kidding. (He WAS pulling my leg, the bastard!)

Me: Oh, O.K. So when you are going to pick those suckers?

Todd: I don't know. In all seriousness, it depends on what Mother Nature does in the next couple-three weeks. We monitor things in the vineyard very closely this time of year.

Me: Monitor sugar levels, right?

Todd: Yeah, plus some other factors, like color. And a lot of times we make our final determination of when to pick based on taste.

Me: Really?

Todd: Yeah. After growing grapes for 25 years, you get an idea of what the grapes are supposed to taste like at harvest.

Me: That's very cool.

Todd: Yeah. It's all about getting great fruit. The better the fruit, the better the wines.

Me: O.K., thanks. Say, do you have that five bucks you owe me?

Todd: See me next week, O.K.? I gotta go do a vineyard walk-through.

Me: (&^%$##%^)

Here are some grapes-on-the-vines pics; enjoy.

Fun at the Fair

Attended the Gravenstein Apple Fair today in West Sonoma County (Sebastopol). Was a beautiful day weather-wise, wonderful people-watching, plus of course great food and drinks. MAD went with me along with her friend, Cassidy, and I even won Cas a Hermit Crab at the ball toss (what can I say: I can more than hold my own with anything having to do with throwing, hitting, tossing, or kicking a ball).

Here are highlights of our day in pictures:

Ode to the Apple

What it's all about: Gravenstein Apples used LOTS of ways...

Mad and Cas cooling off with some Hawaiian Shaved Ice (watermelon-flavored):

For lunch, I had a roasted pig tamale...

...prepared by chef Mateo Granados.

My tamale with a Laguanitas Schoolhouse Ale:

For dessert, ice cream and sherbet for the girls...

...and Apple Cobbler for me:

The fair stays open through Sunday August 12th, from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. For more info, check out: http://www.farmtrails.org/.

Rondo and Rondo We Go

Lately on my friend Kim's blog she's been writing about (rather compulsively, actually) Rondo. Now what, pray tell, exactly is Rondo? Apparently (this is all from her; I don't think she's making any of this up) Rondo was a "refreshing citrus drink" popular some 20-odd years ago. While obviously the soda didn't SELL very well, it still lives on today when someone uses the term "he got rondo'd." Now I know that there are all types of jokes and potential play-on-words here, but this time I think I'm going to pass. If you'd like go for it, be my guest.

Anyway, check it out: http://www.ckderum.blogspot.com/
Aug 4: Confessions
July 31: Rondo Reincarnated
July 11: Do You Feel Rondo'd

Taste of Nostaglia

Just a quick note that the Gravenstein Apple Fair in West Sonoma County (Sebastopol) takes places this weekend, August 11-12 (Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5). I've been to the fair numerous times, and it really has a great "bygone era" feel...plus TONS of great food and drink goodies.

Here are a few of the food items you can find at the fair:

Sausages, funnel cakes, iced coffee, apple cider syrup, apple butter, granola, apple pies (whole and by the slice), Hawaiian shaved ice, cotton candy, lemonade, apple cobbler, coffee, nachos, garlic fries, apple fritters, kettle corn, frozen yogurt, caramel apples and cake with ice cream, Teriyaki chicken, toffee, gumbo, apple bread pudding, grilled gourmet crabcakes, calamari, jalapeno poppers, corn dogs, hot link sausage corn dogs, BBQ turkey drums, and tamales.

Come hungry, leave happy!

General admission: $10.00
FREE parking
Ragle Ranch Park, Sebastopol
Games/contests/entertainment
Beer/wine tasting/apple cider
Arts and crafts/kids corner
http://www.farmtrails.org/

"It's a bird, it's a plane, it's..."

it's.....
















it's....






























SUPERBURGER?!?!?

FROTB know that I'm a vintage kind of guy. I like people, places, and things with character--with a few bumps and bruises, some scrapes, those who have not just seen a little life, but experienced a little life. I don't like cheese-y things. Matt Damon in the Bourne movies; yes. Steven Segal in Marked for Death; no (mind you, Segal is one bad dude, so I don't think I'd say this to his face!). So needless to say, during my travels around Santa Rosa in Sonoma County when I ran across Gayle's Superburger, I was, shall I say, skeptical.... But being the foodie that I am, I tried it the other day...

...and liked it. Gayle's Superburger has been a burger diner since 1947. Now it's run by Gayle and Doug Darling. I spoke with Doug, who's the main cook, and he told me that Gayle's specializes in "burgers, fries, and homemade pies." (Doug came in to the place 18 years ago to get a cup of coffee and, well, the rest is history.)

Inside Superburger:



Of course, I went old school, ordering the Regular Cheeseburger (4 oz., $4.95) and small side of onion rings ($2.45). The burger was excellent. Medium-rare, and hence that tinge of pink in the middle, with a soft bun that absorbs the burger's juices before they hit your fingers/lap/the floor. I'm not a fan of onion rings, and these were pretty heavy on the grease, but they were good. I also love the fact that you can add what you what in terms of condiments. The burger came with iceberg lettuce and tomato, and with relish, mayo, onions, ketchup and mustard all available.

My burger and side of rings: (Notice that I was a little excited with the mustard. Unfortunately, my buddy Jimmy Z, who helped me out previously with my premature cork extraction, wasn't there this time. I got the mustard EVERYWHERE: on the napkins, on the counter, on the floor, on the waitress....)




The take-out window:



So check out Gayle's Superburger sometime. While borderline cheesy, it's good, simple homemade eats served up by good simple folks who like good food. Nough said.
Gayle's Superburger
1501 4th Street, Santa Rosa; cross-street: St. Helena St.
546-4016
Opens at 11:00 a.m., till 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays

If you do go, a few notes:
1. NO HOT DRINKS FOR TAKE-OUT. Don't even bother to ask.
2. ABSOLUTELY NO CELL PHONES. Trust me on this; you've been warned.
3. THE COUNTER IS ORIGINAL. Which means it was built in the 1940's...when apparently no one was taller than 5-4"...which means there is 8.25" between the stool and the counter...which means that if you are taller than 5-5, YOU WILL HIT YOUR KNEES REPEATEDLY ON THE COUNTER. (I had to eat sitting side-saddle, let's just leave it at that.)

P.S. Is there any burger joint or pizza shop within a 100-mile radius that Joe Montana HASN'T eaten in and left behind a signed photo??? Joe, I know hindsight is 20-20, but man, maybe if you'd stayed a way from the burger joints a little more, you'd a been a little lighter on your feet and been available to AVOID a few more of those bone-crushing, back-breaking (literally) hits. Anyway, Joe, if you want to share your fav burger joint, you know how to reach me.

Why I Hate August 1st

Sorry folks, but this time I have to rant. In a nutshell, I hate August 1st.

There are two main reasons. Number 1, it feels like the official beginning of the end of summer, which depresses me because I LOVE summer. Already the weather feels cooler, the days are getting shorter. August 1 also means that the beginning of school now looms only a couple-three weeks away, which means--soon--drop offs and pick ups and homework and volleyball practice and the million and one other things that six-letter word "school" brings with it.

And there's another big reason I hate August 1. Behind my backyard lies the baseball field for a local public high school. Which is fine cause it's nice and quiet, especially in the summer. However, Aug. 1 is the official beginning of pee-wee football practice on that field. Now, I'm all for sports for kids. And these kids--they're what, 10, 11-years-old?--seem nice and all. (Mad calls them the 'midget football players.') The kids are fine. It's the *&^^%$ coaches I can't stand! Why? Well, let me count the reasons.

A. There are scores of them--about 1 coach per every three kids.

B. Each coach has a whistle.

C. Each coach tries to out-macho the other with incessant yelling, whistling blowing, and generally trying to make as much noise as possible for the 2+ hours each practice lasts. (This goes on through Oct 31; later in the fall when it gets dark so early, they wheel in lights operated by portable generators.) I swear to God, it's like having 15 Vince *&^%$ Lombardi's a few steps from your backyard throwing fits for two hours. I mean, come on--they're KIDS.

To help get over my August 1st blues, today I stopped at two places that STILL mean summer to me: two of my favorite fruit stands.The first is in St. Helena, at the corner of Deer Park Road and Silverado Trail. They have the BEST strawberries ("The best, Jerry. The best!"). Small and firm with an amazing explosion of taste and juice as you bite into them, these strawberries pack a punch in a tiny package.

The other is on River Road about a half-mile west of the Fulton Road intersection. They have a huge selection of very fresh fruits and veggies, as well as other products like breads, homemade pies, organic Sebastopol apple juice, etc. Anyway, today I loaded up on heirloom tomatoes and cheap avocados and those amazing strawberries and scored some great apple juice. So if you're driving by my house this evening and see me outside sipping a glass of wine and enjoying the last of summer's wonders sitting in my FRONT yard, you'll know why....