10th anniversary party

I helped Joseph Leon and Dan Jordan celebrate their 10th anniversary a couple of weeks ago and had a lot of fun doing a few dishes and helping set up the buffet in their beautiful home.  Joseph had a special request for classic chicken salad with sliced almonds and quinoa tossed with lemon vinaigrette, spinach, feta and avocado.

a sunday of great concerts

Well, we started summer right on Sunday, June 24th beginning with a concert in Golden Gate Park at Hellman Hollow sponsored by Alice@97.3,  featuring Graffiti6, Boys like Girls and Adam Lambert.  Joseph, Scott and I packed a great picnic, got a strategic spot and listened to some good music until it was time to race to Stern Grove at 19th and Sloat to hear Anita Baker. 

It's Stern Grove's 75th anniversary and in response, the beautiful redwood grove is featuring free Sunday concerts at 2pm, June 24th through August 26th.  Anita Baker's beautiful voice floated through the trees like the ultimate surround sound, amazing.  A great way to kick off summer!

clam dip recipe

Since it is the beginning of June and the time is here to start cooking all our great summer recipes, I thought it was the perfect time to share my most requested recipe. But be careful, this dip is seriously addictive!

Clam Dip
2 8oz. cans of whole baby clams, drained
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
16oz. sour cream
2 8oz. pkg. of cream cheese (room temp!)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 green onion chopped very fine

Leave cream cheese out for 2 hours at room temp. When ready to mix, remove foil wrap from cream cheese and place in mixing bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds so cream cheese is very soft. Add all the other ingredients except the green onion and mix well. No lumps! Chill 2 hours. Place in decorative bowl and garnish with chopped green onion. Serve with Ruffles with Ridges!
Makes one large batch. (5-6 cups)

a birthday and bartel's giant burger, redding ca.

Just got home from a wonderful weekend in Redding to celebrate my aunt, Sara Resse's, 80th birthday.  Sara is an elegant lady and Bank of America veteran who doesn't look or act her age--beautiful inside and out.  Happy birthday Sara!

My aunt Jan and uncle Roger picked me up from the airport; of course we were hungry and Jan suggested Bartel's Giant Burger, a family favorite and a Redding institution since 1975.  The great thing--it's not fancy, just the perfect fluffy (wrinkled) bun on a perfect medium patty, with cheese, mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion, or a fat, split polish dog, you choose, plus fry sauce.  Both are perfection.  Opt for a creamy frosty freeze cone or shake to add to the decadence--an American classic--yum!  The family birthday get-together--one of the best ever and one great family!

a great visit to healdsburg, ca.

If you haven't been to Healdsburg in awhile, it is time to plan a day trip to this wonderful town.
My aunt is lucky enough to live there, for me, I only get there occasionally and it is truly a treat.

This past weekend Joseph Leon and I went up to check out a few collectible and antique stores, do a little wine tasting and have a wonderful lunch.  We accomplished all three easily.  First stop on the square, Oakville Grocery.  Not only is the fresh food outstanding, you can't resist picking up some great sauce or in this case some gorgeous crisp crackers perfect with brie or pate.  Down the street at the JCB tasting room we experienced a sparkling to die for, No. 69 Brut Rose Cremant, dry, citrusy and delicious and only $20.00 a bottle.  Stop by Seasons of the Vineyard and visit with Al as he pours your choice of 3 Ferrari-Carano tastes for only $5.00.  We walked about 50 feet for brunch at Bistro Ralph, an established Healdsburg eatery and sampled a morel mushroom omelet and a divine lamb burger smothered in whipped blue cheese.  Oh, they had No. 69 on the wine menu, what a surprise--we had another glass.

After lunch we walked the square with stops at Lime Stone, owned by Charlie Palmer's wife (Dry Creek Kitchen is right next door) and a quick stop at Barndiva a top recommendation from Al at Ferrari-Carano. A wonderful day; Healdsburg really has it all.

original joe's is back



As many of you know, I love the old school restaurants (as well as classic hotels, motels, original downtown storefronts, signage,  mid-century modern and on and on).  Original Joe's in San Francisco really meets all the criteria and has been terribly missed since it burned down in 2007.  But that was not the beginning of the story.  The first Joe's was called New Joe's and was located on Broadway in North Beach, having the first open (exhibition, as we call it now) kitchen.  In 1937, after a falling out, one partner teamed up with Louis Rocca and Ante Rodin and opened Original Joe's at 144 Taylor, establishing a SF landmark.

Original Joe's is now re-opened at another famous address in North Beach, 601 Union Street, the former home of one of the oldest Italian restaurants in the US, Fior d' Italia.  The restaurant sports an original sign on the outside, and original sign inside with a few fire scars for character, the exhibition kitchen with counter seats,  most of the classic menu items, black jacketed waiters and the dark wood interior design of Joe's, including the burgundy-red booths, a few saved from 144 Taylor.

Stop in and say hello to Marie Duggan, the owner and her beautiful daughters and be greeted warmly like old friends returning for a long overdue visit.

las vegas raises the bar

Las Vegas, it changes and  morphes faster than one can know.  Brendan's birthday in August was fantastic, a heat wave with all of our friends and family at Vdara. This last week I was a guest in town, that included a visit to a couple of top clubs:  Bond, at the Cosmopolitan, and the Foundation, at Mandalay Bay.  Awesome.

who will win the next iron chef?

This season of The Next Iron Chef on the Food Network is the best ever.  When they promoted  it as the battle of the super-chefs I was a little skeptical, since it seemed to be closer to the battle of the Food Network Chefs, but as I read up on the pedigrees of the 10 contestants I was convinced.

The show challenges have also taken it up a notch, with an extreme outdoor challenge, movie theater food and a Hampton's seafood/passion challenge to name a few.  With the addition of a weekly 30 minute lightening round cook-off between the bottom 2 contestants for that week's challenge featuring such daunting secret ingredients like peanuts, coconuts and party crackers, this nail-biting round is made even more nerve-racking as your fellow contestants stand behind you second guessing your cooking decisions and techniques.

One of my favorites, Robert Irvine, was eliminated in week 2.  I had the feeling that the judge Michael Symon was not a fan, and rumours on the web seem to back that up, since Irvine replaced Symon on the show Restaurant Impossible.  The surprise breakout is Elizabeth Faulkner, from Citizen Cake and Orson in San Francisco.  Several of the other contestants repeatedly remarked that she was JUST a pastry chef.  She has proven she is so much more. Michael Chiarello, (Napa Style, etc.) who was eliminated this week was always regarded as the one to beat, but in the end, it was the elegant, refined classic French style of Geoffrey Zakarian, (Lambs Club, NYC) who will face Faulkner in a final cook-off in Kitchen Stadium.  Bloggers are saying that Cat Cora is being replaced, letting the odds-makers lean toward a win for Faulkner.  Bottom line, tune in Sunday, December 18th, 9pm on the Food Network to find out.