I grilled a pre seasoned pork loin tonight and made a mess of it. Apparently it was topped with crumbled bacon but I opened the package upside down as I was putting it on the grill. The ants were very happy though.

Grilled zucchini as well and served watermelon chunks on the side.

They have an awards program - X points get you medium pizza, Y points gets you a large, etc. But this was out of the blue, getting an email saying that they were "gifting" me a pizza. I'd never seen anything like this advertised and had never received it before. It was very generous, as their medium deep dish pizza can feed a couple of people (with normal appetites) at least twice.

Sushi mambo, Calistoga CA:

shared tofu appetizers

sushi:
eel & tempura
spicy tuna & salmon
cuke
salmon skin


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Did an eggplant and sausage lasagna this afternoon since Mom caught COVID last week on a cruise with my brother's family. I didn't fry the eggplant this time, but roasted it, unbreaded, before layering.


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I picked up a 4# rack of beef rack ribs today for $5 so weather permitting this weekend I'll smoke them along with a chicken or Cornish Hens.

Dinner at the Brick and Barrel tonight. I had blackened mahimahi with mango salsa. It came with broccoli and fries. The fish was excellent. Mahi can get dried out easily and this was not. The broccoli was a little underdone, the fries sucked and the server was snippy. Plus there was a credit card surcharge on the bill which irritated me.

Companies are allowed to put a credit card surcharge in the US? In the before times you would sometimes see it up here (although the excuse provided/posted on the door) was that prices are cash discounted, credit card +2%.... But now most companies that accept credit cards just "eat" it (although some might say minimum purchase $xx to use credit card).

I made scallop ceviche today (with mango and avocado and fresh squeezed orange and lime juices) served with tortilla chips and lettuce cups to scoop up
Blistered shishito peppers with sesame oil and soy
big strawberries with sourcream/brown sugar/vanilla extract for dipping
Cava to drink

fleetwood, Calistoga CA:
shared apps:
grilled Caesar
meatballs
bread
corn on the cob

pesto sausage pizza


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In theory they should warn the client about the fee. It’s sort of gray issue.

Florida had a law but the state Supreme Court struck it down last year, according to the state AG’s website. I do think it must be disclosed in advance. I can’t say it wasn’t, although I can say I didn’t notice it on the menu or posted by the door. The bill has a cash price listed in large print across the bottom.


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With partner out of town, I decided to make an ILP family favorite. As far as I know, nobody on earth but us makes this. We call it mmmgagen (no idea why and my mother is long gone, so I can't ask her). Also, everyone spells it differently. At any rate, it's pasta (usually spaghetti or macaroni), bacon, green peppers, onions, celery and tomatoes, with lots of black pepper (though I usually add hot sauce to give it more of a kick). The closest thing I've ever seen to it anywhere else is is spaghetti salad, but this is served hot

Homemade Fish-sauce eggplant w/minced meat on basmati

Other than celery, I've thrown all of that together with pasta.

Gott’s roadside, st Helena CA

Seasonal special of baja shrimp cocktail
Chili cheese fries


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Quite a long stay in St Helena area eh? :) Kind of a cool place, but a day is plenty for me.

i want ice cream and am not hungry enough for it.

we have a pool here at the house rental plus the actual land is probably the size of our block at home. We lack a pool and outside yard space and sparseness at home. We basically just drive to st Helena or Calistoga for luncheon and/or supper and groceries. I’m trying to figure out if we can come here just for 2-4 hours a day while our child attends day camp.

Sunday will bite when we exit.