Readers of this blog know that I have a real interest in the gourmet food truck trend and the lack of them in Sacramento due to City ordinances. Well this weekend I was up in Portland hoping to find some of their over 400+ food truck/vendors and try them out.


Unfortunately, it seems that most of them only operate Monday thru Friday in the downtown area. I found plenty, but almost all of them were closed.


That topmost picture shows one block that had 22 of these vendors!!!



There were some vendors that were open along the river and by the Saturday Market. I opted for two. This one is where I got a pork and cheese pupusa.


Here she is making my pupusa and below is my plate. Delicious and only $5. It's the size of a dessert plate.



I also got a chicken sambusa from this cart and it was $2.



What I did notice was that most of the vendors were parked in parking lots. So they must be paying a small lease for the space from the lot owner versus being on the actual city street.


Anyway, if you haven't already, please write to the City Councilpeople. We are missing out on a lot of great food possibilities and the biggest food trend in the country. And please read my article - Sacramento Needs to Embrace Street Food.

This is the mixture I've been using for most of my gluten-free baking lately.

1 1/2 c rice flour
1 c sorghum flour
3/4 c tapioca flour
3/4 c potato starch

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

If you were a guest in my house looking in my kitchen for a snack you would probably be very disappointed. There are no chips or cookies or much to snack on period. After all, I usually cook, bake, or go out. You would probably end up only with some microwave popcorn. The same holds true for meals. You won't find any frozen dinners or even cans of soup. But like everyone else, I sometimes come home and want something quick and easy to prepare. Lately my go-to grab has been Bolanis.

Bolanis are made in Concord by the East and West Gourmet Afghan Food company. They are flatbreads filled with either spinach, lentils, pumpkin, or potato. You then add a variety of toppings so that there are endless combinations of flavors to enjoy.

For instance, I currently make lentil bolani with the Garlic Mint Cheese spread and Sweet Jalapeno jelly. I also like spinach bolani with Lentil Curry and Cilantro Pesto spreads.


I buy my bolanis at the Davis farmers market. You will find one of the Sidiq family eagerly passing out samples of these different combinations. You can eat a meal just off of their generous samples alone. It's a wonderful marketing ploy because you realize you can't just get one bread and one spread, you need multiples! They also offer buy four, get one free. After all, you've now realized you need each type of bread and at least three spreads!

You can also buy from their website where I noticed that the prices were slightly lower. Another great marketing strategy. They know that there is going to be shipping added, so they mark down the product price to better entice the sale.

I talked to Navid about the family owned business. His mother came to the United States almost thirty years ago. It's only about seven years ago that the company started. The family had decided that they wanted to spread some Afghani goodwill to show Americans a little Afghani culture, especially with the Afghan war going on.

They make their products all by hand and started by selling them in farmers markets around the Bay area. They are soon going to be including Southern California farmers markets as well. Navid said that he just got back from New York City because they signed a new contract with Whole Foods, who also sell their products. In Sacramento you will only find them at Whole Foods and Corti Brothers because Sacramento does not allow non-farm produced foods at our farmers markets. That's why I have to venture to Davis.


There are about thirty employees in their Concord commercial kitchen hand making and packaging everything. All of the products are vegan except for the Garlic Mint Cheese. The most popular bolani is the spinach and the most popular toppings are the Garlic Mint Cheese, Cilantro Pesto, and Sweet Jalapeno. I asked if there were going to be any new products and Navid said that in the next month or so they will be introducing four flavored bottled Afghani teas.

East and West Gourmet Afghan Food is also very involved in community services. They donate a lot of food to different organizations such as Feeding America and the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center. I asked if they send funds back to Afghanistan and was told that they do so by helping in fundraising activities here by supplying food and support. The money gets sent to Afghanistan by the supported charities to help build schools and other necessities.

So back to the product. What I do is I buy a variety of bolanis. They come two to a package. One would be a meal for me and so when I get home I actually cut them in half and then freeze them. When I want a snack I pull one out, nuke it for a minute, and then toast it on a skillet like you would do with a tortilla. This will give it a nice crispness to the bread. Then put your combination of spreads on and enjoy!

You go to the store or the farmers market and find that a small clamshell of blueberries is $4-5. If you make a little effort to head to Apple Hill, you can get a pound of blueberries for $3.50 if you pick them yourself. And isn't that more fun anyway?

Apple Hill is a lot more than apples. Most people know about the wineries and Christmas tree farms. But there are also places to pick your own cherries and berries at the right time of the year. Cherries are better in June and the berries are better in July.


Poor Girl Kimberly and I headed up on Saturday with blueberries as our goal. Bolsters Orchard was our first stop where a bucket holds six pounds of berries and the going price was $3.50. If you don't want to pick them, there are pre-picked bags for a little more money.



We got there when they open at 9 a.m. and it was already getting pretty hot. I had heard that berries needed to be picked in the cool morning for better sugars and so we had gotten there as early as we were allowed. It took us about an hour to fill our buckets. I got 5.5 lbs and Kimberly got 3. The nice thing about the blueberries is they aren't thorny like black and raspberries. Blueberries are available til the end of July.


Our next stop was Patrick's Berry Farm. They have about six varieties of black berries and three of raspberries. The raspberries weren't ready except for these tiny black ones that Kimberly picked. She really liked the flavor. I wasn't interested in such tiny, seedy gems that cost $5.50 a pound.


I opted for a mixture of Marionberries, Boysenberries, and New Zealand blacks, which are thornless. I thought the best tasting were the Marionberries. Kimberly thought that the berries that were warmed by the sun tasted more alcoholic. I guess a bit fermented. I tried my best to pick berries hidden on the inside of the vines under the shade of leaves.


The blackberries were $4.50 per lb. and raspberries were $5.50 per pound. The raspberries weren't going to be ready for a few more weeks.

It doesn't take long to pick enough berries to keep you going depending on what you are going to use them for. To keep them the best, take them home and rinse them. I lightly swish them in a bowl of cold water with a bit of veggie wash to get rid of the dust, loose leaves and thorns, ants, and pesticides. I then transfer them to a clear, cold water bowl for a second rinse, drain them in a colander and then poor them on a towel. I line cookie sheets with wax paper and then arrange the berries on the tray loosely. Berries freeze really quickly. After about an hour you can then transfer them from the trays to freezer bags and then work on the next batch of berries. This method works great. You just have to have a light touch with the berries for each step.

Last month I was up in Reno at my dad's wedding. We all stayed at Circus Circus. The casinos, though, are smart about keeping people inside to shop and eat at only their establishments. The casinos have sky bridge connectors where many of the restaurants are located. On the sky bridge to the Silver Legacy's hotel is Fairchild's Oyster Bar.

Our first night we were looking for more of a casual restaurant since we had a child with us. Luckily all of us enjoy seafood. A quick look at the menu showed lots of selections at reasonable prices. The Yelpers gave it pretty good reviews and there wasn't a huge wait to be seated, even with a larger party of six.

We started out with a nice bread selection. There were white and wheat batons (bread sticks like the kind at Olive Garden) as well as traditional, pencil-thin, crisp breadsticks. We were there for a late dinner and were happy to munch on these for a while.

A couple of people had the clam chowder. It was thick, creamy, and had a nice amount of clams so you weren't left hunting.


My dad is British and so it was no surprise that he ordered fish and chips. Out came several large pieces of halibut. They had a nice thick, but not to thick, coating of crispy batter. And it was definitely crispy with minimal grease. He was very happy with it.


His new wife chose the coconut prawns. She received six large prawns covered in a sweet coconut batter. They were also nice and crispy. Both of their dishes came with a nice pile of perfectly cooked fries.



The restaurant is known for its pan roasts. Now I'm not sure why they are called pan roasts when they are really more of a seafood stew. Very much like a cioppino, but with a lot of cream and wine. Maybe like a French cioppino. Anyway, they have many versions depending on what kind of seafood you like. I ordered the combination because I wanted everything in it. Out came a large bowl full of this thin but creamy broth with lots of seafood. Some Yelpers say it's too much for one person, but I found that not to be true and I'm a small eater. The key is to pick out your seafood and not too much of the very rich broth. The broth is very rich with cream and wine, but has a nice kick to it spices. I'd say there is a good amount of paprika to give it the reddish pink color.

Overall we were very pleased with our meal and had not one complaint. Service and the food were good. So if you are willing to be confined in the casinos, Fairchild's is not a bad choice.

Since I'm featured in today's Bee article I thought I ought to repost some of my ice cream recipes. My strawberry rosewater is the one that got me interviewed and is also on the Allrecipes.com site. And please join my Facebook fan page and follow me on Twitter. Thank you!


Strawberry Rosewater Ice Cream.

Rosewater is most commonly used in Middle Eastern, West Asian, and South Asian pastries and sweets and is very distinctive in flavor. In this recipe, it is combined with strawberries to make a unique homemade ice cream. You can use other berries as well.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries,
hulled
1/3 cup white sugar
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 pint milk 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup white sugar
1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup rosewater

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine the strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl; mash together with a potato masher. Store the mixture in the refrigerator while preparing the rest of the recipe.
2. Stir together the egg yolks, milk, salt and 1/3 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat to 175 degrees F (80 degrees C), making sure the mixture does not boil; transfer to a chilled bowl and move to the refrigerator to cool, stirring occasionally. Once cooled, stir in the cream, rosewater, and strawberry mixture.
3. Fill an ice cream maker with the mixture, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Click here for mango pineapple sherbet and Meyer lemon cardamom ice cream.

Today is my final post from our Canning party last weekend. We are focusing on Ryan's recipes - red beans and rice and his beer can chicken.

I met Ryan about eight months ago at a Sacramento Tweetup. (That's a networking mixer for people who use Twitter.) Although he is a Northern California native, he's only turned into a true Sacramento area resident last year. He currently works at Voyage Home Loans and has a blog here. One of his prior locations was when he was working for DHL in New Orleans. While there he learned that true red beans and rice has to be made with pickled pork.

Now I like red beans and rice, but my only experience with it has been at Popeye's Fried Chicken and from the prepackaged seasoning packets you get at the grocery store. So this news about pickled pork was new to me and I just had to try it. After months of pestering, we finally got him to make a batch for us. Since my kitchen was occupied with canning and it was hot outside, I decided we would need to BBQ our meat and decided his other recipe, beer can chicken, was the perfect solution.


It turns out that pickled pork needs to pickle for three days to two weeks. Ryan got a batch started at the beginning of June so that we had a really pickled batch for the RB&R. It was already chunked out for the pickling, and here he is just giving it a final trim and cut before adding it to the pot of beans and seasonings.




His girlfriend, Lisa, mixes the beans. We cooked them on a separate burner since the stove was occupied with canning.


The spices are applied to the chickens and then they were 'violated' with beer cans stuck inside their cavities. Each beer can is half full otherwise it would boil over.



Our chickens were big and so we did take them off the grill a little too early and they were a bit underdone. The joke was that he was fixing us chicken sashimi. As you can see, it looks a little uncomfortable with a beer can up your rear.


The beans are ready. The rice is cooked separately and dished out and then you ladle the beans on top. Extra hot sauce was provided on the side in case you wanted to make it even hotter.


My plate of chicken and the red beans and rice. So good! Thank you, Ryan, for sharing!

And here are the recipes:

Ryan’s Rad Red Beans and Rice (alliteration always is acceptable!)

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 3 stalks celery, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 2 medium green bell peppers, chopped
* 2 teaspoons salt (Kosher if you have it)
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 5 cloves garlic, minced fine
* 1 lb pickled pork, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 3 bay leaves
* 2-3 teaspoon hot sauce
* 2 quarts water
* 1 pound red kidney beans, rinsed (also look for non-beany material)

For rice:

* Some type of long-grain rice (I prefer brown)

Place the vegetable oil in a 7-quart pot oven and set heat to medium-high. Add the bell pepper, onion, celery, salt and pepper to the pot. Cook and stir often, until the onions and celery are somewhat translucent and the bell peppers are fork tender, (usually about 7 or 8 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid burning.

Add the pork, thyme, bay leaves, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, water and beans to the pot. Turn up the heat to high. Cook while stirring frequently until it comes to a boil.

Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Stir the mixture every 30 minutes.

Uncover and increase the heat slightly to maintain a steady simmer. Continue to cook for another 30 to 60 minutes, or until the beans are tender and you like the thickness. You can make it creamier in texture by mashing up some of the beans with a fork. You can also use a masher, but that squishes too many of the beans.

Prepare rice during the last 30 minutes of cooking however you prefer to prepare rice. I like to use a cooker, but however you like is fine.

Pickled Pork:

* 2 cups water
* 1 cup apple cider vinegar
* 1/4 cup salt (preferably Kosher)
* 8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
* 2 tablespoons yellow mustard seed
* 3 tablespoons hot sauce (less if you’re not into spicy)
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon celery seed
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
* 8 -10 ounces ice
* 1 1/2 – 2 pounds fresh boneless pork butt, cut into 2-inch cubes

Put all of the ingredients (except the ice and pork) in a 2-quart saucepan, set over high heat and bring to a boil. Saucepan should be stainless. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, add stir in the ice. Put the pork and the cooled pickling liquid into a 1-gallon ziplock bag. Squish out as much air as possible; seal the bag and place in the refrigerator for minimum of 3 days. Jostle the bag around, carefully, once a day. You can pickle for up to 2 weeks. Remove from the brine and use the pork, or freeze in the bag.

Ryan’s Spicy Beer Can Chicken:

1 Whole Roaster Chicken (about 4#)
1-2 TBS of Vegetable Oil (Enough to cover the chicken)
2 TBS Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
½ tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Paprika
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp chipotle powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp rosemary (minced if fresh, ¼ tsp if dry, but also minced)
1 can of beer (my preference is a high quality pale ale, poured from a bottle into a can, but any can of beer will do)

Clean the chicken and remove neck and giblets if necessary. Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat dry gently, but thoroughly with paper towels.

Mix the spices together completely.

Rub the chicken with the oil (lightly) inside and out, then rub the whole chicken inside and outside liberally with the spice rub.

Open the can of beer and take a couple of gulps to decrease the volume of liquid by about half. If refilling a can with a bottle of beer, only fill half way.

Put the can on a solid surface. Take the chicken, 1 leg in each hand, and place the cavity of the bird over the can of beer. The can should be physically inside the cavity of the bird.

Place the can and chicken on the center of the grill grates balancing the chicken on its 2 legs. It should be like a tripod on the grill.

Cook the bird over medium high, INDIRECT heat. This means that there should be no coals or lit burner (if on propane) directly underneath the bird. Cook for 1 hour and 15 mins with the grill cover on. If you have a thermometer the breast temperature should be 165 F and 180 F in the thigh area. You can also check if the thigh to see if the juices run clear when you pierce it with a sharp knife.

Remove from the grill and let rest for at least 10 minutes. Carve and enjoy.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

My problem with this challenge was that they wanted it in chocolate. Thing is, I'm really kinda picky when it comes to chocolate. I love it, but only certain ways. For instance, I love chocolate candy and cake, but don't like it as ice cream, pudding, or mousse (this last I'll eat if I have to LOL). So I did mine without the chocolate.

Pavlovas are named after a Russian ballerina named Anna Pavlova. They are essentially meringue topped with cream and fruit. There is controversy between Australia and New Zealand as to where it was created, but research seems to indicate New Zealand (which my Kiwi friend is very proud of).

There are two styles of pavlovas. This challenge was presented as individual serving size. The pavlovas were therefore very crispy. The traditional style is to make it as a giant, cake sized meringue. Apparently in that version the outside shell is nice and crispy but the inside is marshmallowy soft. This sounds very interesting to me and so I will probably try that version next weekend for July 4th.


Meringue is simply egg whites and sugar beaten to very stiff. I took this mixture and used a decorator bag and tip to squeeze out the circle shells. I tried to create a bit of a lip on them to hold the toppings.

The challenge had a mascarpone mousse and a mascarpone cream. Talk about fattening! I made both and had a couple of issues. The mascarpone mousse came out perfectly except that there was no sweetness to it and so it was kind of drab. Perhaps if I had done the chocolate version it would have had the sweetness. Next time I would add a bit of sugar. But keep in mind that when combined with all the other elements (meringue, cream, fruit) there was plenty of sweetness.

The cream starts with a creme anglaise. My problem here is that I guess I overcooked it because the cream curdled. So I just forced it through a fine sieve over and over to cream it out again before I added the mascarpone.

At our party I decided to add some of our lemon curd as well. So the layers went: meringue shell, lemon curd, mascarpone mousse, fruit (plum/nectarine), and mascarpone cream on top. Everyone loved it, although Paul thought there were too many elements. I can't wait to try the other version.


Meringue shells

3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.
Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)
Fill pastry bag and pipe meringue onto parchment in whatever shape desired.
Bake in oven for 2-3 hours until the shells are crispy.
Store in an air-tight container for up to three days.

Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream below):

1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.
2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.
3. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.

Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling):

1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional)
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

1. Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Plum jam, spicy mint jelly, and FF onion marmalade

What an exhausting and hot day we had. But the fruits of our labor were worth it. I held a canning party yesterday and the kitchen was in use for over six hours.

It started because Poor Girl Kimberly and I had been pestering our friend, Ryan (Voyage Home Loans), for months. He lived in New Orleans and had learned how to make red beans and rice the right way - with pickled pork. Kimberly wanted to blog about it from a Poor Girl cost savings point of view and I just wanted to try it and blog it as well.

My other friend, Karen, had said she wanted to have a canning day. I figured, why not put the two ideas together? We would do a variety of canning, Ryan would make his dish, I'd do my Daring Bakers' Challenge for June, and we would all feast at the end of the day. Then everyone would go home with a variety of jars in trade. Ryan's girlfriend, Lisa, joined us as well as our most ambitious contributor, Epicurean Paul.


The lemon curd station was in the dining room since we were using the microwave.

By the end of the day we had lemon curd, plum jam, FF onion marmalade, and spicy mint jelly. For dinner, red beans and rice, beer can chicken, and green salad. We ended the night with pavlovas with mascarpone mousse, fruit, mascarpone creme anglaise, and homemade vanilla ice cream.


There's so much that I'm going to do a couple of blog posts. This will be on canning, one will be Ryan's recipes, and one will be the Daring Bakers post for June.


The first shift was Karen making plum jam and Kimberly worked on my microwave lemon curd. Both of these were done in about an hour.


Poor Paul. He chose the FF onion marmalade. He nicknamed it with F'n Forever because it took forever to cook and then you have to let it set for two weeks. Each batch took over two hours to do. What was amazing was that almost 20 pounds of onions only created six pint jars. And boy did those onions torture us! I have a small bungalow. While Paul was busy slicing all those onions, the onion fumes drifted through the house so that we all suffered. Lisa was practically in tears and sitting the farthest possible distance, on my living room sofa. Even my cats were dying. They came out of the bedroom with squinty, blinking eyes going, "what are you doing!?"




After four hours of onions, there was still the spicy mint jelly to make.


Kimberly and I chopped up about four cups worth of mint leaves since we were making a double batch. Paul got a variety of peppers and not just jalapeno. Luckily this one only took an hour to do.

The day was definitely fun, but long. And there was a lot of waiting between phases, except for Paul's forever onions. We all agreed on a few things. First, it would be nice to have a pool to sit and chill by for all this waiting on a hot day. Next, canning is not the easiest thing to do on a hot summer day. But mostly we learned that canning can be fun and if you do a canning party, you can get a great variety to match the variety of your friends.

Don't you hate it when something gets a lot of hoopla and then you don't like it yourself? Or you think, "What's so special about that?" Such is the case with Nationwide Freezer Meats and their burger.

Now before I continue I should say that burgers, like pizzas and ribs, are very personal dishes in that people like things their way. NWFM has a lot of devoted Sacramento fans and lots of good reviews by others and on Yelp. So go ahead and judge for yourself.

I've heard of NWFM for many years but never could seem to locate it. (Not that I was looking very hard in the first place.) Then on a recent meeting at The Urban Hive I noticed that they were right across the street. I made a mental note that I finally would have to venture over. That day was today, sans camera.

The place itself is on the corner in a duplexy commercial building. Inside it is bright, clean, and very spacious. They could pack more tables in if they wanted to. I think it appeared so spacious today because tables had been pushed together for a large party. The counter is way toward the back.

I asked for a combo order of their French Ground Steak Burger with fries and soda. My order was written on a paper bag. There are no plates, trays or baskets here to worry about washing. Talk about a minimilistic approach, forget the salt shakers, on the tables are set the big round containers of iodized salt. And to the side there are bottles of mustard and special sauce, but no ketchup. I began to worry until my order came out with a small dental spit cup filled with ketchup.

The burger is made with Harris Ranch beef, ground on site, then hand shaped into patties. Considering this, I was really disappointed. I found the meat dry, tasteless, and overcooked. The patties were large because they had been pressed flat and thin. Therefore, it seemed that they had squeezed and cooked the taste out of it. What I did taste was salt. There was a definite saltiness upon first bite. I can also see the appeal of ordering a double-burger to get more meat per bite considering the thinness of the patty. The bun was good, though. It was able to stand up to the burger and toppings while not falling apart.

The fries were disappointing as well. Expect potatoes that have been cut lengthwise into thick, one-inch sticks with skin left on. Sure, they are hefty suckers, but not all that appetizing. I left more than half of them behind.

For those of you who love Nationwide, so be it. You can have my servings while I go elsewhere.