Dream come true . . . the 1000th reader comment on Chow & Again belongs to JOHNC . . . holy moly . . . . Congrats, John, and thanks to everyone who makes this blog so vibrant, which is our readership. You are amazing.

You are not seeing things, I am really in Outside Magazine. The monthly of choice for the six-pack ab, rugged-attitude set has deemed this naughty cherub enough of an expert to include my advice in the “How To Do Everything” feature in the July issue. I must be dreaming. Some other signs that I’ve dropped down a rabbit hole and through the looking glass:

Heavenly dream . . . . The Golden Fig in St. Paul is selling a chocolate delight from B.T. McElrath that merges the glory of tomato soup with cacao. Yep. And it is goooooooood.

Weird Dali-esque dream . . . . Fhima’s in downtown St. Paul is closed as of two weeks ago, and the Strib reported the week before that David Fhima’s fourteen-year-old lawsuit judgment that followed him here from California has finally been decided—and not in his favor. Can it get any weirder? And how did I miss this? Of all the stories in the big city, this one escaped me until yesterday. Anyone wondering how LoTo is doing? Does anyone go there these days? And when is his new restaurant in the Grand Hotel going to open? Anyone know anything?

Dreams of wide-open spaces . . . . Any takers for the Fhima’s space, or is St. Paul a no-fly zone for new restaurants? How about the Goodfellows space? Or the Auriga space?

Entrepreneurial dreams . . . . Alex Roberts's new venture, Brasa, opens today at 600 East Hennepin, a Caribe-style chicken and pork rotisserie joint in a renovated old gas station (courtesy of Shea, Inc.). This is a brilliant idea from one of the region's most talented and energetic cooks. It has 'winner' written all over it. I cannot wait to stuff my face there.

Déjà vu dreams . . . . several weeks ago, I asked:

"Will Berry Dills on a stick be the next big State Fair thing?
I think so. Almost no waste and a low-cost item to produce.
Ten bucks says someone does it this year.”

Well, the Famous Dave's franchisees at the State Fair owe me a ten-spot.

Randy Jernberg and Charlie Torgerson are soaking their first KOOL-AID PICKLES now (cherry and black cherry) and will be debuting them at the Great Minnesota Get-Together in August.

Page Six dream . . . . Well, not quite, but check this out from yesterday’s NY Post.

Yesterday’s Body Count, all taken at 7:30 p.m. last night . . . and, just for kicks, I’ll throw in some editorializing and see if it makes a difference to anyone.

Salut — 123 (good number)

Cavé Vin — 25 (a less good number)

Muffuletta — 68 (another good number)

And finally, here’s a huge shout-out to Brock and Natalie Obee, who owned and operated 128 Cafe in St. Paul for years. Posters to this blog have noted that they are closed. The Obees had a great run, influenced a whole slew of neighborhood restaurants, and provided buckets of inspiration to anyone looking to open a small neighborhood eatery. Good luck in whatever your next venture brings you.

It’s hot and humid, and I would definitely rather be sipping some gazpacho on the beach than sitting at my desk doing whatever it is I do everyday. So . . . here is what is distracting me today. Any ideas on what I can do to waste time and procrastinate on making phone calls to insurance companies or cleaning my desk!?!?!? Would be most appreciated . . .

Debonair Magazine's food-blog awards came out, and while the pool of applicants they pulled from is ridiculously limited and the awards are really just one editor's picks, the conversation fodder contained here is awesome. Having said that, anyone who thinks David Leibowitz’s blog is tops for celeb-chef sites is drinking too much pinot grigio.

I am really digging The Amateur Gourmet that won "Most Entertaining." This is the blog where the Batali conversation re: food-bloggers caught fire.

If you are looking for something fun to do at your desk at work that involves videos, check out these great YouTube vids.

Check out the new short rib app on the menu at Mission. Doug Flicker has breathed some new life over there. And stay tuned for Via, Anoush Ansari’s new place, opening the first week in August. Apparently the new Wayzata Eatery is serving Ginsberg's pastrami, just like the old Louie’s Habit used to, and Que Nah, one of my fave Vietnamese eateries, has a new menu focusing on lighter fare. Hmmmm.

Anyone catch Hell’s Kitchen last night . . . ? I am dying to compete in a "palate talent" competition—doesn’t that look like fun? I was a little peeved at the casual dissing of the platters of offal that the lads were forced to lunch on, but hey, I’m in the minority on this issue, I know. And from a strategy standpoint, it's way too early to eliminate the competition if you get to nominate someone to be kicked off. We talked here about it last week, and Ramsay sniffed it out this week. Nice, see ya later, Vinnnie. Why do I love this trash so much???

And by the way, for the blog-o-philes out there, it's like my buddy Dan Barreiro always says about sports fans in this market who think writers are too hard on the teams and subjects they cover: One ought to check out what happens in other cities where little confections like our Restaurant Deathwatch and Body Count are part-and-parcel of the daily conversation. I have received about a hundred emails about the two bits, and they trend about seven-to-three in favor. The majority of those in favor are diners; the majority of those against are restaurant owners/managers.

Any restaurants you know of that are absurdly busy or oddly empty???

Some of the best tuna in the world is available in local markets these days, and I encourage you to purchase fresh giant bluefin tuna, eschewing the cheap hot-pink junk that is gassed to retain it’s fresh color. This recipe is a food lover's dream, and it requires some extra steps and some assembly at the end, but if cooking is your passion, you’ll want to try this dish that is sure to impress your guests at your next dinner party. The crisp potato and the earthy and acidic tapenade are perfect foils for the fish.

Grilled Tuna on Potato Crisps with Black Olive Tapenade
The Tuna
3 lb. center-cut giant bluefin tuna, trimmed and cut into 6 cubed portions,
     sinew and skin discarded . . . ask your fishmonger to do this for you,
     if you like.
2 T. herbes de Provence
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
1 T. canola oil

Season the tuna with the olive oil, herbs, salt, and pepper. Brush the canola oil on your grill surface. Grill the tuna on all 6 sides for about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side over high, direct heat. Do not overcook. Let rest for 2 minutes, slice in half at an angle, perch the tuna on top of the potato crisps on the plates, and garnish with dollops of the tapenade. Serves 6.

The Potato Crisps
Peel and slice 2 lb. of Idaho baking potatoes into the thinnest discs possible on a vegetable slicer. Rinse in cool water to prevent oxidizing and place a large no-stick pan over high heat. Drain and dry potato slices and add some clarified butter to the pan. Arrange slices in small, 4-inch circles, overlapping the slices and  working outward from the middle of the circle. You should be able to do a few at a time if you use a large pancake griddle or flat-top pan. When bottoms of the crisps are browned and crispy, flip them over and brown the other side. Keep warm as you cook the rest. Season and place on the plates for serving.

The Tapenade
6 oz. pitted kalamata olives
3 steamed and cooled new potatoes, sliced
1 T. lemon juice
6 basil leaves
1 T. fresh tarragon leaves
1 garlic clove
1/2 c. oven-dried tomatoes . . . Use 12 roma tomatoes, halved, then
     brushed with oil, pepper, and salt. Place cut-side up on a cookie tray
     and roast for about 8 hours at 225 until crinkly, leathery, and "dried."
1/3 cup olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and puree. Season and reserve for garnishing the tuna.

Last night was Travel Channel night at Cooks of Crocus Hill, so the Body Counters will return next week at this time. Hey, everyone needs a rest every once in while.

Competitive eating swept into town last weekend, as the Midwestern regionals of the IFOCE came to town for their second annual glut fest at the Nathan’s outpost at the Mall of America. The big contest is in NYC on July 4 (will Kobayashi take back his throne from Joey Chestnutt by eating sixty dogs???), but the real thrill for the cold-hearted cynic is reading the profiles of the top fifty eaters in the world. Did you know that the record for buffet-eating is five-and-a-half pounds in twelve minutes? See them on the website.

The Restaurant Guys have an interview with me up on their website that is a lot of fun. The show is also on iTunes for their podcast listeners. Forward the link! Spread the word!

Now after reading this article, I'm thinking that maybe chefs with anger problems should go into fighting crime. Was there no knife or Hobart mixer handy?

I am declaring the cucumber this summer's “it” ingredient and the hot flavor for the year. Everyone is rockin’ the cuke in Summer 2007. Also hot . . . MEAT! Check out meatpaper, one of the most unsual zines I have encountered. Wow, a meatzine. I'm keeping my eye on this one. Apparently they have a print issue as well. Sara Dickerman’s love letter to pork on Slate is worth the read.

Last chance is today to vote on culinate.com for this blog. All winnings go to charity, so help us do something nice for someone. Vote early and often!

Yukon River king salmon arrived yesterday in the Twin Cities. These fish are infinitely more pleasant to cook and eat than their more famous cousins the Copper River salmon. I think you might want to try some on the grill tonight. We’re having ours rubbed with mint and lime, along with a yogurt sauce spiked with herbs from the garden and some quick pickled cucumber salad. Fat is flavor with this fish. Heaven. Check it out at Coastal Seafoods.

The king of the articulate rant is Anthony Bourdain, and his flowing diatribe that dropped last Friday was hysterical. His knock on the Next Food Network Star is spot-on, but here’s the part that leaves me scratching my head a little bit: His mocking (appropriately, I think) of this type of show makes his contributions to Top Chef seem a little disingenuous. That being said, Top Chef actually features a fair amount of talent compared to NFNS or Hell’s Kitchen.

The Queen Kong is my old friend Joan Ida, who is living and working in Hong Kong these days. She checked in last night with this update:

“Hong Kong is hot and sticky. It's rained buckets for the past two weeks . . . and finally clear for Dragon Boat Festival today!

My restaurant, Watermark, in the harbour, has been detained until August . . . . Because it is in a government building, it's been a bit messy getting through the licensing. But we got the go-ahead finally, and it will happen later summer!  Aahhhhh . . . I have been busy choosing cool place settings . . . my silverware is titanium. Yup! It looks like a blue-grey Tahitian pearl and changes colour in the light . . . sexy stuff!  Menus are written, and staff has been chosen. We are just waiting for the building.

So, how have I spent the past six months? I opened a sweet little Italian place in Soho, on Elgin. Old school Italian . . . all familiar stuff with a twist . . . . The name of the restaurant is Peccato—which means sin.  Ha ha ha . . . very decadent stuff. Rave reviews by all . . .

Starting this week I have been moved to help open a central kitchen for the group . . . . With my bread/pastry knowledge, I am to dream up all the baked goods for a coffee-house group with twenty-seven outlets in HK . . . HUGE!

Until Watermark opens, every month I travel to a new place. Last month was Bangkok, I leave Saturday for Beijing, and next month is Hanoi.”

Anyone heading to Hong Kong in the fall should check out Watermark and say hello to Joan.

The undisputed King of Kitchen Cruelty, Gordon Ramsay, seems to have it in for the boys on this season’s Hell’s Kitchen. I would have liked to see Ramsay and Vinnie go at it . . . or maybe Ramsay and Josh . . . . I can’t get enough of the train wreck that occurs each week watching those not equipped to work in a kitchen like Ramsay’s actually attempt it. It’s infinitely more interesting early in the season than watching the insufferable wanna-be crowd on NFNS. Top Chef is a show I like a lot more as the season progresses.

Speaking of TV chefs, where's Rocco now, you ask? Shockingly, this guy once had it all, an amazing restaurant and a great reputation, and then NBC came knocking . . . paging Dr. Faust. Next week on Hell’s Kitchen, the annual blind taste test to see how everyone’s palate rates, and the chefs get to work with tongue and tripe. That, I can’t wait for.

NY Mag’s Adam Platt's response to Mario Batali calling him a miserable f**k, written under Platt’s pseudonym of The Gobbler on Grub Street—linked here since I wrote about Mario in this month’s Mpls.St.Paul Magazine in my column about bad-boy chefs.

Triumph the Dog at the Tony Awards . . . the funniest thing I have seen in years. Almost as funny as the idea of Spam Burgers and PB&J Hot Dogs, two of the coming Minnesota State Fair’s new foods. Is it just me or has the Fair’s board gone a little daft? Enough with the fried, battered junk on a stick. Seriously.

The GrillMe contest has gone extremely well, and there are only a few hundred votes separating the top twenty bloggers so far. You can see the current results at the standings page. The big news in the event is that they have decided to give all readers a "Father's Day" present and let them enter for a second time in the drawing for the trip to Napa's COPIA cooking class—doubling their chances,so to speak.

In doing so, everyone who voted in the first six days of the contest for their favorite blogger(s) will also now get to give second vote(s) in the contest.  All they have to do is go back the GrillMe page, and it will automatically enter them a second time and then give them a chance to "double" their votes for their favorite blogger(s). The contest and voting ends this Thursday at midnight.

My dad is a culinary force of nature, and this recipe is one of his favorites, given to him by the Ugelisch family in New Orleans many years ago. This recipe was cooked in their small little restaurant that sat on the edge of the downtown district as it begins to bleed into the Garden District, a restaurant that served the best oysters in the Crescent City and that sadly closed a few years ago. The preparation sounds weird, but it is one of the best dishes of it’s type I have ever found.

Shrimp Uggie
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. ketchup
3 T. Crystal brand hot sauce (or in a pinch Frank's will do, but do not
     use Tabasco)
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t. hot red chile flakes
1 t. sweet paprika
1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored, and diced
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 red onion, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, diced
6 red new potatoes, steamed, cooled, and sliced
2 lb. ocean-caught shrimp, peeled and deveined, tail-shell left on . . .
     I like U-15 count shrimp best for this application
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper for seasoning
Lemon slices and finely minced chives for garnish

Combine the oil, ketchup, hot sauce, lemon, celery, onion, pepper, parsley, paprika, and chile flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Let mixture rest for 2–3 days in the refrigerator.

Allow mixture to come to room temperature. Skim off any oil on the top. Place the mixture in a skillet and add shrimp over medium heat. Cook the shrimp for a few minutes, turning them often, then add the potatoes. Cook shrimp until it and potatoes are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper, divide shrimp and sauce onto 4 plates, and garnish with the lemon and chives. Serve with plenty of white rice and grilled andouille sausage.

I’m your daddy, at least for today. Here are some things that are making my Father’s Day weekend.

But before you do anything else, click on this link and vote for Chow & Again on the Culinate website as one of your favorite food blogs.

And then for this week’s Body Count . . . and in case you are unfamiliar, this is the head count at three of our favorite restaurants all taken at exactly 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evening.

Mission: 84

Town Talk Diner: 104

Barbette: 69

Jeff Ruby has started a laugh-out-loud anti-blog on chicagomag.com. Besides being the biggest White Sox fan I know, he’s also the best dining columnist in the City of Big Shoulders. His new blog has nothing to do with restaurants; it’s called Push, and it’s lifted from the journal that he kept while his wife was pregnant with their baby daughter Hannah. Do you hate kids? You’ll still love this blog—it’s that good.

Bill Haas, walleye wizard and, coincidentally, my father in law, caught his personal record walleye (thirty inches) this week up at his summer home. He is thrilled, and he should be. Hopefully he will catch lots more this weekend so I can actually eat some!

Check out the cool Travel Channel hat he’s sporting!

My dad lives in Portland, Maine, and is thrilled about the opening of a new bookstore for food freaks. Samantha Hoyt Lindgren and her husband Don Lindgren have opened Rabelais at 86 Middle St. The store is in a great restaurant neighborhood, and (surprise!!!!) it sells new, used, and rare books for the wine geek, serious cook, and everything in-between. Sam is a former editor who became a pastry chef and her husband is a rare-book dealer, and the reason this is important to you is because you now have a real brick-and-mortar store run by passionate professionals where you can hunt down a rare first-edition of James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking if you are so inclined, or you can buy me the first English translation of Escoffier’s Ma Cuisine . . . . If you are reading this blog, you have a reason to shop at this store. Check it out.

M. A. Rosko has been sent to Berlin and London by the suits over at Fox to cover the opening of the new Die Hard movie. Check out the Fox website all next week for clips and what is sure to be some great reportage.

Does the Bulldog have the best Philly Cheese Steak sandwich in town? I am curious.

For anyone following the "food miles" arguments around the world (why sell organic peaches in St. Paul if they are flown in from Argentina???), here is an update on the UK’s idea to ban organic labeling on anything that comes in on airfreight.

And in case you missed it, a man drank an energy drink and suffered a three-day erection. And you think your week has been tough. Relax at the Picasso exhibit at the Walker Art Center.

After a big weekend of family activities and extended-family graduations (congrats, Ethan!) I still have the family on the brain.

First, the Family . . . . Thanks to David Chase for providing this Sopranos fan with the perfect ending to the ultimate American family saga. Forget your Ewings, Cartwrights, Waltons, Carringtons, Bunkers, and all the rest. Tony’s family can now truly exist—or not, depending on your take—forever. Check out Slate for the best of the best Sopranos talk without getting bogged down in too much minutiae. Brian Williams's season-long Sopranos blog was a classic, as were the onion rings that Carm, AJ, and T were downing in the season finale’s last scene. (What did you eat in front of the TV that night? We had Punch pizza for Sunday supper—not a bad choice, right?)

One of the best new food sites on the internet is Culinate. With a unique focus and a growing coterie of articulate and reasoned contributors, this site is fast becoming a favorite of both committed food freaks and casual cooks. Check out the Grill Me contest.

Our family is really into Head Case on Starz, fifteen-minute-per-episode comedy that my wife discovered for us. It stars Steve Landesberg (Dietrich from Barney Miller) and Alexandra Wentworth (Mrs. George Stephanopoulos) as LA shrinks in a small, shared practice. Check it out. It’s hysterical.

One of our favorite family restaurants, Salut in Edina, is rumored to be opening in the old Sidney’s space on Grand Avenue. Everyone at the parties we were at this weekend in St. Paul was talking about it. Anyone know any more than I do? Was this something in the paper while I was out of town?

My wife is a board member of the Minnesota chapter of Gift of Adoption, a wonderful organization that celebrates adoption and helps enhance the financial means for parents to adopt. These days, the lack of money is a barrier to many parents even considering adoption. If you want to help a great cause—and have a blast doing it—check out their amazing event at Oak Hill Park in St. Louis Park on Saturday, June 23, from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. It’s a family carnival with food, games, a splash park, face-painting, and more. Want to learn more? Phone for info at 612-335-3223 or send an email.

Now that the freezer or the live well is filling up with some regularity, I thought it best to be sure that you all had a recipe worthy of the summer€’s bounty from lakes and streams. This recipe works well with any fish, but it always tastes best when it’€™s a fish you hauled into the boat yourself.

Fried Walleye with Cole Slaw and Tartar Sauce
The Walleye
4 walleye filets, trimmed and cut into several small pieces, roughly 3 to 4
     oz. each
3 eggs beaten
1 c. flour
3 T. Old Bay seasoning
2 c. Panko bread crumbs
1 qt. vegetable oil

Heat your oil to 375 degrees in a large pan over an open fire or on your stove. Combine the flour with the Old Bay.

Dredge the fish in the flour mixture, then dip the pieces into the egg and dredge them into the bread crumbs.

Fry the fish pieces in small batches, being careful not to overcrowd your pan until golden brown. Season with sea salt and serve with the cole slaw and tartar sauce. Serves 4–6.

The Cole Slaw
About 6 c. thinly shaved head cabbage (about one large head)
3 T. minced parsley
2 carrots in thin julienne
2 minced shallots
1 t. ground caraway seed
1 t. dry mustard
3 T. kosher salt
1/2 c. mayonnaise (or more to taste)
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. white vinegar
2 T. sugar

Combine the cabbage and salt, tossing well. Place in a colander and let sit/drain in your fridge for 4 hours.

Gently squeeze and discard the liquid. Combine cabbage with all the other ingredients. Refrigerate for 6 hours and serve.

The Tartar Sauce
3 egg yolks
1 T. white vinegar
1 c. olive oil
1 c. canola oil
1 t. Dijon mustard
3 T. minced parsley
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
3 T. minced capers
3 T. sweet pickle relish
2 T. minced tarragon

Add the yolks, mustard, and vinegar to a food processor and pulse. In a thin stream, emulsify the canola oil into this mixture with the processor running. Add the olive oil in a thin stream until incorporated into the emulsion. Add all the remaining ingredients and pulse 2 or 3 times for just a second. Refrigerate and serve as needed.

As promised, more Body Counts. But first, some explanation.

My thinking last week was to let the numbers speak for themselves and allow folks to draw their own conclusions, absent of the usual editorializing that tends to accompany these pieces. I thought the fascinating part of the exercise (picking three restaurants, walking in at exactly 7:30 on the same night of the week, taking a quick head-count, and printing the results) would simulate the "blink" effect—essentially using Malcolm Gladwell’s paradigm, empowering the reader to reach her own most obvious conclusion in the first millisecond. Like Rashomon, everyone has their own story to tell, and some were not pretty. Well, with any good idea comes controversy, right?

Brenda Langton, who I respect as much as anyone in this business, told me that she thought of me as an ambassador of our regional food community, and that I have a responsibility to explain the numbers, asking me point-blank to consider if I was “helping people out and educating them,” and if not, then to consider what was the point. Doug Anderson, someone who I have known for years and who owns A Rebours and the soon-to-be-open (end of July) Nick and Eddies, told me he thought that printing the Body Counts “. . . is not good for small restaurants. It would give the indication that a restaurant like Kincaid’s on a Tuesday p.m. is the place to be—not my place—because they can post a bigger number . . . ,” and would therefore give the uneducated consumer a false indication that this is where the action is.

Doug was pushing for context and support; Brenda was encouraging a sense of civic responsibility.

My sense all along was to let people make of it what they will for a week. Anyone can make their argument using a number—it’s oddly misleading in its simplicity. But I don’t think that raising the issue of who is putting fannies in seats runs counter to supporting local, independent, food-focused eateries or educating the consumer about them. In fact, I argue that it does both. There are good restaurants in town hanging on by threads because there are only so many eaters to go around, and my own take is that the numbers tell you who is doing a good job of connecting to those consumers on some level. Is Cue connecting with the diner who is not going to theater? Not by my measuring stick. Is Spoonriver? You bet. Look at the numbers, drive by, go in . . . the numbers don’t lie. Is Temple drawing the late-night crowd?  Seems to be. The early diner? Not on the night my bean-counter visited. Yes, it is just one quick snapshot, but it can be revealing, and whatever inference you care to draw is yours and yours alone.

Last night at 7:30 p.m., here’s what we found when we counted heads at three local eateries . . .

Temple – 22

Lurçat – 87

Gianni’s – 121

Moving on . . .

Coolest new store in town is 6twelve Premium on Selby and Dale. COOL. WAY COOL.

How do I stay high-functioning and ambulatory given my ridiculous schedule and bending over a hundred times a day to pick up a wriggling two-year-old? I get this question all the time. Well, I give the credit where it’s due: The best massage therapist in town is the immensely talented and therapeutically inclined connective-tissue problem-solver Candace Eck who runs re:nu at 1216 Selby Ave. Check her out if you need the kinks worked out. She does not have a website but her phone number is 651-276-2284. She ain’t cheap, but she’s worth every nickel, and then some.

Every once in a while there’s a TV show that is as supremely addictive as it is painful to watch. I think Hell’s Kitchen starring Gordon Ramsay is that show for me. Last night’s debut of season three was a guilty pleasure of the highest order. The dramatic cuts, the snap edits, the volume cranking on the music, the goofy cooks . . . I love this show!

OK . . . fifteen minutes in and Aaron is crying, before the first service even rolls out.

There’s not a qualified cook in the whole cast, which means this year's show is guaranteed to be the best Hell’s Kitchen ever. It might finally be the year when Ramsay has Jean-Philippe shoot one of these bozos. Stay tuned, 8 p.m. on Monday nights on Fox.

Uh-oh. In our house we watch Big Love on HBO, The Closer on TNT, and HK on Fox . . . all great shows, all on our DVR list, and all on Monday nights. What happens on July 9 when Bizarre Foods starts up again on the Travel Channel with a whole slate of new shows?

Speaking of my problems, is anyone free weekdays from one to three in the afternoons? Check out the new show I am doing on FM 107. More on that as the weeks move onward and I figure out how to actually do a show. The good news is that I am surrounded by wonderful professionals who are open about sharing their expertise with me. From Christopher Gabriel and Colleen Kruse—who work on my show—to the wonderful hosts that are on the station already, everyone is lending a hand. People like Ian & Margery and Lori & Julia have made me feel right at home very quickly. For me, the fun of the show's debut was bittersweet, though. No longer being on the same "team" as my two Yoda-like radio gurus Dan Barreiro (KFAN) and Brian Turner (Cities 97) means that I don't get to see or speak to them as often as I would like.

The joy of the new show is also tempered by Kevyn Burger’s hiatus. Kevyn is taking a time-out to deal with her recent cancer diagnosis and subsequent mastectomy. According to her son’s post on her blog, her operation was successful, and under the circumstances, all looks to be moving forward. She should be home and healing soon. She is the reason I started doing radio many years ago, and she has helped me with career choices in many fields over the last two to three years. She is the classiest, smartest, most genuine person I have ever worked with, and truth be told, I ran out of the studio looking for her yesterday after the show to get a hug and some feedback, then remembered she was not there. I cannot wait until she gets back to her desk and I can see her, tune into her, and pester her—and I know everyone else feels the same way. I love ya KB, hang in there. If I was cancer, the last person I would *#@+ with is Kevyn Burger!

A Chef Robuchon beanie baby (that long dead fad) sold for $3550 on eBay. I would have paid 4K for it, had I known.

I made these the other day with some frozen Meyer lemon juice I had in the freezer, and I made a note to give all of you this recipe, one of my faves. These small desserts are perfect when served with fresh summer berries and can be made with conventional lemon, lime, or Key lime juice. Just make sure to always use fresh-squeezed juice—nothing from a jar or bottle will work quite as well.

Lemon Puddings
1 T. unsalted butter
3 eggs, separated
1/2 c. super-fine sugar
2-1/2 T. flour
1 T. lemon zest
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
1 c. milk
Pinch of salt
Powdered sugar for garnish

Butter 6 custard cups and place in a baking dish lined with a dish towel.

Whisk egg yolks with the sugar until nice and light, then add the flour, zest, and juice. Add the milk.

Whips the whites stiff with an electric beater or mixer, then fold into milk mixture along with the salt. Fill cups with batter. Pour hot water into baking pan to reach half way up the sides of the cups. Bake at 350 for 20–25 minutes until lightly browned.

Cool and serve in the cups, dusted with powdered sugar, and pass a bowl of the season’s first strawberries once they come to market.

Makes 6 desserts.