Happy Fridays

My kids have decided to take over the dinner duty on Fridays. This unsolicited offer was made and accepted last week. I've always been a fan of Fridays but this is a whole new level of enjoyment. Our kitchen construction project is still happening so the dinner was made with a microwave, George Foreman Grill, and my Weber Q.

My daughter's boyfriend works at Costco and is a food hound like my kids. The group purchased La Brea Bakery rolls, and Aidells teriyaki pineapple meatballs at the big box store. At home in the temporary kitchen they grilled pineapple slices and onions. The meatballs were heated in the microwave with BBQ sauce. The balls were them placed on the rolls and topped with mozzarella cheese. A few minutes in George Foreman and dinner was complete. Now that's some spicy meatballs!

Parting is such sweet sorrow

While in the process of remodeling my house I decided to enter another life changing event, I got a new job. Why not add a little more stress to my life? You only live once, so go for the gusto. Sounds like a beer commercial!

The hardest part of the change was that I liked my old job. I've been there a long time and developed many friendships. Easy money as they say. I worked with a group of the most adventurous foodies you could imagine. I'm going to miss them.

On my last day, in my honor, they executed an extreme lunch. Chef Randy pulled out all the stops and created a masterpiece. Below witness the results.

My plate! Standing rib roast with au jus and apple/horseradish sauce, garlic mashers.asparagus with hollandaise, and baby lettuce salad with candied walnuts.

garlic mashers and asparagus

salad masterpiece

Grilled shrimp with prosciutto, basil and pineapple salsa

Thanks fellow foodies.

Hot Links

Many moons ago my brothers in law had a body shop in San Rafael Ca. It was across the street from Lucas Films on Kerner Blvd. On many occasions Mr. Lucas was spotted, with entourage in tow, on his way to lunch. There were a number of things exploded on the roof tops of the Lucas buildings in the name of good movie making. They were a fun neighbor to say the least.

But the best memories I have of the place was, naturally for me, food. My favorite was the hot links we got from the Co-op market that was in Corte Madera, Ca. In the front of the grocery was a rotisserie stand run by Willie Braun. I hope my memory serves well on the name. Willie made some seriously good chicken and ribs but our favorite was the hot links. They cooked slowly on the rotisserie, rendering some of the fat and blackening the casings to perfection. They were then placed on a warmed flour tortilla and slathered with a smoky sweet barbecue sauce. They came in hot and extremely hot. You would need to eat two for a substantial lunch. A couple of ice cold cokes were needed to quell the burn. It was my job to run to the market for the links in exchange for the talent and help the guys would give me trying to keep my old clunker car alive. One day when Mr. Braun was busy I peeked around the counter and saw the brand name of the hot links was Saag's. The product is still made today under the name Saag's Atomic Hots.

After reminiscing about these goodies with the brothers I tried to duplicate the links for old time’s sake. I couldn’t find the Saags brand so I substituted Evergood Hot Links. I placed them on the perimeter of the grill over a hot charcoal fire and let them cook slowly. Flour tortillas warmed on the grill with a drizzle of barbecue sauce. They were better than I remembered! I hope my old stomach can stand the burn.

feel the burn!!