Take Home Blogger

In previous writings I’ve mentioned my addiction to food shows on both Food TV and Public Broadcasting. Now it seems like other channels want a little piece of the action. Low and behold, The Learning Channel has come up with a food show that has caught my attention. On Friday nights we watch Take Home Chef. TLC has imported chunk (chef/hunk) Curtis Stone to the U.S. Chef Stone has had other T.V. shows in both Australia and England. The premise of the show is Stone and his camera crew go into a supermarket and convince a really attractive woman to take them home. Stone pays for the food, accompanies the woman home and cooks a three course meal for her and her boyfriend/husband. All kinds of smiling, flirting and good food follows. Is this a Door Knock Dinner rip-off? Maybe, sort of, kind of it is. It’s entertaining.

Well I decide to turn my T.V. watching into a blog. I’ll go to the market and pick up a woman, take her home and cook her a three course dinner. My wife won’t let me pick another woman so I must be creative. I sneak up on my wife in Trader Joe’s and say “hello my name is Greg and I write a blog. May I buy your groceries, take you home and make you a three course dinner?” She says yes and we go home and much smiling, flirting and good food follows. Here’s my menu with photos too.
P.S. I am not a chunk. More of a chunky!

First course is grilled bread with Serrano Ham, fresh mozzarella, Kalamata Olives and balsamic vinaigrette.



Main course is Surf and Turf. Fillet of beef, grilled jumbo prawns, vegetable couscous and French green beans.



Dessert is dressed up strawberry shortcake. Pound cake with lemon curd, strawberries and crème fraiche.



Take Home Blogger coming to your T.V. soon!

Walk Away Shrimp Cocktail

When I worked in San Francisco I took the Larkspur Ferry to the city. This was before the Ferry Plaza was turned into place of food worship it is today. I would arrive early and exercise walk along The Embarcadero, past Pier 39, Fishermen’s Wharf, up through North Beach and into the Financial District. At that time of day the tourists were few in numbers. The seafood peddlers on the Wharf worked hard cooking fresh crab in huge pots. They hammered and cracked crab. Anyone who passed by was given the carnival style pitch, attempting to lure in potential customers. Some days I would treat myself to a goodie for breakfast. One morning I had a walk away shrimp cocktail, like almost any tourist who visits San Francisco. It was good, if not a little timid in the spice department.

I was asked to bring an appetizer to a get together recently. I used the Fishermen’s Wharf experience for inspiration in creating a dish to share.

Walk Away Shrimp Cocktail with Sourdough Crouton.



Makes five servings.

One pound shrimp – use what you can afford – I used small frozen cooked shrimp.
Cocktail sauce
¾ Cup ketchup
1 or more tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 squirts Lea & Perrins Worcestershire
4 or more drops Crystal Hot Sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Sourdough Croutons
Sourdough baguette cut in quarters lengthwise rubbed with olive oil and baked in the oven at 350 till the brown. Caution... They go from blonde to burned fast!

If you want to take these to an event keep the croutons separte and assemble on site.

Runaway Weekend

American River Inn

In my experience, the best adventures happen by accident. I had just such an adventure last weekend. My daughter is working on a wildlife project for the University of California. She is living near the small town of Georgetown in the mountains between Auburn and Placerville. I did an Internet search and came across The American River Inn; a Victorian style hotel/boarding house originally built in 1853, now housing a bed and breakfast.

I have never had occasion to stay in a B&B, so I booked and crossed my fingers. We arrived Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted by the innkeepers. Will and Maria Collin, a charming couple, run the place. They have “retired” here by way of Beverly Hills and San Francisco. Both have traveled the world, most recently returning from a trip to China. Will is a grand storyteller and would make a great blogger. We were escorted to our room and invited to wine and snacks at six.

Our room (number 6) is great. The first thing that you notice is the bed. It‘s huge! I believe it is two full beds pushed together, fitted with custom linens. Add some runway lights and you could land jets on it. The Victorian style has always seemed a little feminine for my taste, but there are plenty of masculine features here. The rough-hewn flooring, clawfoot tub and the toilet with chain pull make for a unique experience.



We headed off to explore Georgetown. This old mining and logging town is home to some salt of the earth folks. Pickup trucks and four wheelers are prevalent. Not the shiny, never been off the road kind that populate the town where I live. These are dusty, rugged, and used for work that needs four-wheel drive. A lot of the trucks have a dog or two in the back. These same dogs hang out in front of the many bars in town while their owners quaff a draught or two on Friday evening. One gentleman wearing a pith helmet, accompanied by a dog with a circle around his eye (like Petey from the Little Rascals), is hosting a trivia contest on the sidewalk fronting a particularly rough and tumble looking bar near the firehouse.

While exploring the town my wife decides to entertain a group of local teens who are sitting on the steps in the middle of town. She hangs up one of her “hot mamma” platform shoes and does a stop; drop and roll maneuver to the collective gasps of the teens. Like a skating routine gone wrong, she recovers, bows and gives the thumbs up sign to the crowd. With hoots and cheers the group gives her a 9.5 on the judging scale.

Back at the Inn it’s time for wine and goodies. A selection of varietals and hot and cold noshes are laid out on a bar in the patio area. We meet our fellow guests and relax in advance of dinner plans. The innkeepers have menus from the local restaurants and will make reservations at your chosen spot. The wife loves Chinese so we’re off the Royal Dragon. There is a buffet the locals seem to love. We order an appetizer and an entrée to split, having started the evening at the Inn’s reception. Crab and cheese filled wontons and asparagus beef both rock! Our food with two glasses of wine and a diet soda is under twenty dollars before tip. Good food and at a great price – you’re going to love it!

The next morning breakfast is waiting in the dining room. This isn’t your cold muffin and coffee buffet; it’s a full on, tasty, country style breakfast served on real china. I could stay here everyday.


There are plenty of activities to partake of in the area. Visit a goldmine, raft a river, hike, bike, fish or more. What we did was mainly hang out at the Inn. We played ping pong, looked at the aviary full of show birds, soaked in the huge hot tub and enjoyed the relaxing patio and yard. This is a great place to unwind and escape the rigors of city life. In the words of our Governator “I’ll be back”.

American River Inn

Main&Orleans St.

Georgetown, Ca. 95643

800-245-6566

Royal Dragon Restaurant

6326 Highway 193, Georgetown, CA Tel: (530) 333-2868

Dirty Sugar Cookies Virtual Book Tour

When fellow blogger Ayun Halliday invited me to take part in her Dirty Sugar Cookies Virtual book tour I was pleased. Hey, to hang out with a published author, ask pointed questions, talk trash, you know the cool things! Then between the time we chatted and the book arrived the skeptic in me emerged. What if this book is a giant stinker? The kind of book you were forced to read in the seventh grade and write a long book report about. What the heck did I get myself into?

It turns out I worried needlessly. The book is a kick in the butt! Ayun begins with tales of her sugar fueled youth. Candy helped her endure the slings and arrows of childhood. Green Apple Stix, Pop Tarts, and Grape Fanta eased the misery. I was a Hostess Chocolate Cupcake and RC Cola junkie myself. She was trained as a juvenile farm worker, picking strawberries under the tutelage of her summer camp director.

Into the adult years we learn of her travels, boyfriends and family infused with a huge dose of wicked humor; an optimistic skeptic a la Anthony Bourdain with New York attitude. The chapter about making sugar cookies for her kid’s classroom had me laughing so hard in the lunch room at work that I nearly choked on my sandwich. Some guy tried to give me the Heimlich maneuver! To sum it up, Ayun’s book is a little naughty and a whole lot nice. Buy a couple of copies!

Now to the pointed questions I needed to ask.

How do you pronounce your first name? I know it’s a stupid question but inquiring minds want to know.
How's your Southern Indiana accent? It sort of rhymes with ray gun, if the hard g was short and squishy like a y. A lot of my friends side step the issue by referring to me as Annie, a nickname I tried to evade as a child, because I found its inevitable second part (banan-y) beneath my dignity.

Knowing you are a fan of breakfast, what would be your perfect breakfast?
Huevos Rancheros in in an open air cafe in the Yucatan. Lots and lots of cafe con leche. Nothing more pressing on the schedule than a date with my hammock.

What did you really have for breakfast today?
Some familia low fat granola with non-fat organic plain yogurt and a handful of blackberries that started their journey in the very country where I was indulging in my fantasy huevos. We woke up so late, it was a choice between cappuccino and getting the kids to school on time, so my bucket of black snakes was delayed until my arrival at the Flying Saucer Cafe, where I spent a very pleasant few hours working on the newissue of my zine.

Thanks for coming by Ayun. Feel free to join me at the virtual picnic buffet. We have a whole bunch of California goodies here. Of special interest is the strawberry shortcake for your ‘zert hole (inside joke - read the book).

You Croc Me Up

For a number of years my wife wore a pair of cheap, orange, squishy, sandals for most of the summer months. Whenever she wanted to be comfortable they were the ticket. They were great for gardening because you could just hose them off and leave them in sun to dry. One day the strap broke and the foot joy ended. She tried tennis shoes, flip flops, mules and Ace Hardware gardening shoes. Sadly, not the same love.

Two weeks ago while surfing the internet, looking for the latest ideas in the food world, I came across Crocs. They are clogs made of lightweight, squishy rubber with little nubs that massage your feet when you wear them. They are being worn by nurses, doctors and chefs. Reportedly, Chef Mario Batali’s trademark orange clogs are Crocs. Are they ugly? Lookup ugly in the dictionary and they have a picture of Crocs next to it.

Anyway, I ordered up a pair for the wife and one for myself too. I ordered bright purple for the wife and navy for me. When they arrived I thought to myself “I would probably have sued my parents if they made me wear these as a kid”. The foot joy has returned! They are so comfortable you won’t mind the laughter you hear when you wear them in public. It’s like walking barefoot on the grass.

I ordered the more conservative closed toe Aspen Crocs. I think I may also order the vented toe Cayman Crocs they would be great for walking in water because the water would flow out the vents.

If I may paraphrase the lyrics from an old Jimmy Soul song: ‘So for my personal point of view get an ugly shoe to carry you.’

I told the wife Barney the dinosaur may want his shoes back

Foot Joy