May 13, 2008

Did you have a good time saluting the mothers in your life on Sunday? I know I am one lucky girl to have my mother AND grandmother live so close by (San Mateo), and had fun planning and cooking a celebratory dinner for them. I owe a big merci to Georgeanne Brennan for her delish recipe for leg of lamb with herbes de Provence—I learned how to prepare it in one of her cooking classes last year at Purcell Murray, and the escarole dish I made was from one of David Gingrass's classes at the former Hawthorne Lane. It was all so good with sides of spring peas and carrots, and roasted potatoes with mint. Oh, and grazie to Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbooks for her awesome baked artichoke dip; a total hit, especially with some bubbly (next time I'm adding some prosciutto to it, heh). For you bakers out there, if you want a super-easy and tasty cake recipe, check out this winning lemon and olive oil cake from Gourmet—we ate it with fresh raspberry sauce on the side. Meow.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful feedback on what you'd like to see more of on tablehopper, or what you'd like to see change (YES, we are working on the font size—long story. This is too big, but we're trying to find "just right." Stand by). Congrats to Riki T. who won tickets to this weekend's OysterFest! As for the "I ate a gross critter in my Tequila" award, the scorpion-eating Annie P. won that one. Speaking of, I wanted to share this tidbit from Eric Rubin of Tres Agaves who "learned me" a bit about Tequila:

"Unfortunately you will not receive any photos of people eating Tequila worms. It is illegal under CRT (Consuigo Regulador del Tequila) law to add any foreign objects to a bottle of Tequila. What is true is that mezcals are allowed to add foreign objects, hence agave plant larvae (aka Tequila worms), and also scorpions are found in some low quality products. Also, the word 'Tequila' is always capitalized as it is a proper noun. All denomination-of-origin products are capitalized; Camembert, Kobe, Armagnac, Scotch (technically only single malt), Tequila, Cognac, Champagne, etc.  But not cheddar, rum, vodka, etc."

Gracias, Eric!

I know some of you are big fans of the annual CozmoDeck (I am) for easy discounts on local restaurant dining. They are now hosting their mid-year special: buy one, get one free. Hubba. The two-for-one offer is valid until the end of May; just use the code "thmay" to double your order for free. Any purchase made with that coupon code will automatically double your decks on Cozmo's end (unfortunately they can't reflect it in the receipt—just trust the doubling will happen).
  
This week is shaping up to be a hot one, so I thought I'd share this link to my "Foodie 411" column for the SFCVB Taste site—last week I made a few suggestions for good spots for outdoor dining.

In honor of San Francisco Cocktail Week this week, Duggan McDonnell tried to out-do me in word count—I hope you enjoy his piece in the wino (knowing Shotzi, his piece would have a better home in the lush, actually, but no matter). Whaddya know, this column is even LONGER than last week's. Glug.

See you on the town!
~ Marcia (rhymes with Garcia)