BOY SCOUT FISH FRY

  The local Boy Scouts have a fish fry every year and we attend. It is a fun event and the whole town shows up. They have a nice club house with a great out door seating area. It is all you can eat and I am no stranger to over indulgence.

   On a sad note we have found out the local Catholic Church is on the list for closure  decreed by the Vatican. This was another venue for several great dinners a year. We attend their fish fry and polenta dinner every year. It would be sad to see them go.

CUPCAKE

 

I do like pie............with a few cupcakes now and again.

CINCO COOK-OFF

 

We were in Dixon Ca. for a Cinco Cook-Off to prepare for Cinco-de-Mayo. The categories were ribs and Wild card shrimp. This was a small contest held in the parking lot of a Mexican Supermarket; Super La Favorita. This market has a fantastic meat market and I would love to be a frequent shopper but I live an hour away. Here are a few shots of the shrimp entries. This was another tasty bbq judging day.

 

BISCOFF CHEESECAKE

 

Ms. Goofy made the most scrumdiddlyumptious biscoff cheesecake. I had to ask what is biscoff? It is a brand name of a unique peanut butter consistency like spread from Belgium. It is does not taste like peanut butter at all. It is made with crushed caramelized biscuits and has caramelized flavor with distinct notes of cinnamon and brown sugar. I say it tastes yummy noodles.

KENNEDY'S STEAKHOUSE

 When in Eugene Oregon, I like to stop at Kennedy's Steakhouse. It is the best place in town to get a steak. The service is great and the ambiance is steakhouse fresh. You will get a visit from the crumbsweeper and that is what is all about.

PRIME STEAKHOUSE AND MARTINI GARDEN

 

Yesterday was Ms. Goofy's birthday and we went out to celebrate. We went to Prime Steakhouse and Martini Garden in Walnut Creek, California. This place has been open for over a year and it was time to pay it a visit. We were not dissapointed. The staff was great. The ambience was festive and the food was fairly good. If I have any critique, my prime rib was perfectly cooked but the actual serving temperature was a little tepid and not warm/hot. As a whole we had a very nice dinner.

The Crumbsweeper did make an apperance.

FISH FRY

 Once a year the local church has a fish fry. I actually look forward to this event. The fish is fresh and you get to see all your neighbors attending too. We will see our neighbors in several months at the annual Boy Scout fish fry. I cannot wailt.

META ROCKY

 

I just purchased some Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses. Rocky wanted to try them on. It is pretty scary what these glasses can do. This should be interesting.

BASKETBALL BAKESALE BETTY

In the 80’s, I went to a lot of professional sporting events. It was a lot of fun going to Oakland A’s games, Warrior games and a few years later Oakland Raider games. As I reflect back, I remember complaining about three dollar beers. How greedy where those vendors? We grumbled but still purchased those beers. Let’s fast forward to today and I would like to share my culinary investment from the Golden State Warrior game I just attended.

We went as a group on a bus from my Italian Social club. The price was all inclusive and Ms. Goofy treated me. We had some very nice seats but where fairly high up from the actual basketball floor. I want to share the food and prices I experienced. I ordered a Bakesale Betty chicken sandwich for 22.00 dollars. I have had this sandwich before and it was quite tasty from their original restaurant. This version was a complete fail. The bun was cold like it had been refrigerated. The chicken was crispy like a fried piece of cardboard. I washed this down with an 8 dollar bottle of water. My wife still likes her beer and was charged 25 dollars for a large can; OUCH! I finished off my pre-game meal with a unique and fairly decent piece of Hojicha Basque cheesecake. This cake had a weird texture and was flavored with tea. It was only 14 dollars for a slice.

 

Am, I complaining about the prices? I saw a lot of families at the game. I just wondered how they could afford such a venture. By the way, the Warriors lost the game in overtime. To answer the question; yes I am whining about the prices a little bit. Three dollar beers from the 80’s all of a sudden does not sound so bad after all.

LODI BBQ

 

Fun, sun, and a whole lot of bbq this weekend. This was a practice bbq contest to clear out the cobwebs for the 2026 bbq season. It is going to be a great year.

THREE TIMES A CRUMBSWEEPER

 

Ms. Goofy and I had the most wonderful Anniversary/Birthday celebration at Fleming’s Steak House. Did the Crumbsweeper make an appearance? We had a fantastic Beef Wellington bites to start, Wedge salad, lobster, prime N.Y. strip and chocolates to go. The Crumbsweeper did not make just one appearance, or twice but swept the crumbs of this extravaganza three times to make this jubilee extra special. What a great dinner.

Australian Wagyu

The term Wagyu is thrown around in lot of butchers and meat markets. Wagyu translates to Japanese Cow. Ms. Goofy picked up these N.Y. strip steaks at 50. dollars/pound and were advertised as Wagyu steaks from Australia. You do see a lot of beef products coming from Australia these days. They were cooked over a very hot fire for about 4 minutes a side to create a medium rare on the rare side. They were very tender and well marbled with flavorful fat. I enjoyed it but the price, I could not get out of my head. Slapping the term Wagyu on a product does not guarantee greatness. They were very good but I believe a prime steak at a lesser cost would of been just as good.

Tokyo Central

What to do on this dark and stormy day but go explore the newly opened Tokyo Central Specialty Market in Emeryville, California. Let’s just say this was an adventure on foreign to me products. Forty nine ninety nine dollar strawberries from Japan, Waygu beef, extensive fish market, two rows of different brands/flavors of ramen, loads of Japanese snacks  a row devoted to seaweed and a buffet that charged by the pound. It was very interesting