butter and thought about that story of Sambo turning those tigers into butter. Every time I drive past Santa Barbara I plan a breakfast stop at the original, “Sambo’s” for the best pancakes in California –...

to aprentice to cut bread for two years to move up to be able to pour water (that’s a joke). I also think California really dislike the formality, the butt kissing/snubbing and pretense.

of bad behavior. Those who don’t better know the risks. Cheat on your wife? California is a community property state. Now, we could move this thread (not about food). I’d rather not. Arm wrestling about morality...

this was a good idea? And why in God’s name is it the default for mass-market mozzarella in California? Why does every Safeway/Cala/Albertson’s carry 3 or 4 brands (Precious, Frigo, house) of exactly the friggin' same...

I love this place! I’ve eaten there far too many times to keep track. I’m still doing research for a big report but here are some brief pointers: Socca Oven rocks! Everything on the menu is good. Delicious, unique,...

We lived in Gaviota, California, in a tiny house on an oil lease where my dad worked. It was 2 bedrooms and there were 5 kids! We made it work by converting the garage to a bedroom and by getting a travel trailer parked in the...

them at my local shop. As I posted earlier, New Mexico peppers (also called Nu Mex or even just Chile Peppers) may be the easiest to find. They’re the shiny red ones- beware the skin, though. California nomenclature calls...

to digress again here to say that we had learned when inquiring whether we might drop off the wines earlier in the day that corkage was an incredible $50. To those of you from outside California, corkage in the Bay Area ranges...

's "A Cook’s Tour of Mexico". It’s a nice mix between travel guide and cookbook. Many of the recipes are excellent and everything is very regionalized. Diana Kennedy’s books, of course, are good as well....

reasonable unless you go to Slanted Door or something like that which we are not. Afterward, if the group wish there will be a walking tour of a well known Asian mall that also have many of the Vietnamese goodies. It will be on a...

Oh yeah, I remember Faygo from when I was growing up in St. Louis. Along with Shasta, which I think came from California, but Ozzie Smith was in the local commercials—"I want a pop, pop, pop—I want a Shasta."

doesn’t look that promising. The only abulon (abalone) they have is from a can, it’s Mexican, and distributed by a California company. It’s not true-abalone but imitation abalone made from squid. I should have...

of parmesean cheese (don’t kill me) the canned version, sour cream, and fresh salsa. I don’t add taco seasoning to the turkey, just my mojo spice; red chili flakes and california chilie powder, garlic, and cayenne....

Sam’s Club is a spin-off of WalMart (Sam Walton) and is membership only – don’t know what determines eligibility. We were killing time recently near a club and they wouldn’t even give us a free tour to see...

discussion and content – I can tell you that I’m visiting (and contributing) less since these threads started appearing. They’re just too hard to keep track of, and have so little staying power. I’ve...