We’re Ready for You, Mr. McQueen

22 Jan 2013 3 Comments

by scolgin in Beverages, Food, Humor, On the Road, Pork Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Hot on the heels of the coldest weekend of the Southern California winter (see Jimmy Kimmel’s segment on just how cold it got), came the warmest weekend of the Southern California winter. So we were pleased and more than ready when we got the invitation to go stay with our friends, Nadine and Andrew, at their family’s beach house in Malibu.

Immy digging in the sand, Malibu

Immy digging in the sand, Malibu

I like writing blog posts about our weekends at the Steve McQueen beach house, not so much because I’m enamored with Steve McQueen — he was undeniably cool, but so were lots of other guys. It’s because we usually eat lots of good food and imbibe good drinks. More

Skinny Girls Roadshow from San Francisco — The Ferry Building

28 Dec 2012 13 Comments

by scolgin in Food, On the Road, Video Tags: , , , , , ,

When I was a kid, I remember the Ferry Building in San Francisco being a beautiful relic, sad and unused, its iconic clock tower hidden behind the elevated 480 freeway.

Flynn & the Ferry Building, San Francisco

Flynn & the Ferry Building, San Francisco

The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 destroyed the freeway, which resulted in one of the most extraordinary and successful urban redevelopment projects in history. Today, vintage street cars from around the world run along the Embarcardero that fronts the Ferry Building. Craftspeople sell their wares across the street, while a daily farmer’s market brings the city’s residents the freshest produce from the farms of nearby Sonoma and Marin. More

Skinny Girls Roadshow from Sonoma — Hunting the Pine Mushroom

24 Dec 2012 10 Comments

by scolgin in Food, Humor, On the Road, Video Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I like the thrill of the hunt. But not one for killing animals or dealing with blood, I mostly limit my hunting to wild mushrooms in the woods and groovy cowboy shirts at thrift stores. It was the former that had my wife and I up to our ears in Sonoma pine duff, hunting the elusive matsutake.

Orange jelly fungus

Orange jelly fungus

“Matsutake” translates as “pine mushroom,” since they often grow in symbiotic relationship with pines. “Take” is Japanese for mushroom, while “matsu” means pine — I have a friend named Kazue Matsunaga. I’m not sure what the “naga” part is, but she’s got something to do with pine trees. She’s a “Pine naga-er,” I guess. More

The Treasures of the Lagoon — a Guest Post

07 Dec 2012 26 Comments

by scolgin in Food, On the Road Tags: , , , , , ,

When my neighbors, Chris and Glennis, told me they were renting a flat in Venice next to the Rialto bridge — and more importantly, the famous Rialto fish market — it was all I could do to contain my envy and jealousy joy for them. I’ve always wanted to have a kitchen in Venice so I could cook the wonderful and exotic things at the Rialto market. Glennis has one of my favorite blogs, Doves Today. So I made her promise to take lots of photos and do a guest post on my blog. Without further ado, here is her richly documented contribution. Enjoy!

*   *   *

The Treasures of the Lagoon

Image 2

“In Venice even ordinary sole and ugly great skate are striped with delicate lilac lights, the sardines shine like newly-minted silver coins, pink Venetian scampi are fat and fresh, infinitely enticing in the early dawn.” – Elizabeth David

In Venice, our flat faced the Grand Canal at the Calle di Boteri, just down from the Rialto Mercado. Here, the great mercantile center of Venice has operated since the 16th century, with the Erberia, the produce market, and the Pescheria, the Fish Market next to one another beside the canal. More

Duck in a Can

16 Oct 2012 7 Comments

by scolgin in Food, On the Road Tags: , , , , ,

The texts and emails began arriving in earnest on a Thursday afternoon. Friends Don and Monica were in Montreal, they had booked a reservation in one of the city’s most talked about restaurants, Au Pied de Cochon, and they wanted me to know about it.

First came links to Yelp, followed by one to the restaurant’s own website, and finally photos of the food they were eating — fois gras poutine, steak tartare, fois gras hamburger and something called “Duck in a Can.” More

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries