Californ-i-a

Did I just quote a Yellowcard song in the title? Yes, I did. Sad.
Anyway, last week was my last Spring Break ever as an undergrad. Maybe my last Spring Break ever, but I don't know.
My mom and I and her friend went to wine country. We heard (and told) our share of Sideways jokes, and visited the Mumm's winery, where of course, I tried to buy a whole bunch of Mumms. Considering that I had to take it back on the plane, though, I ended up with only one bottle. It's from Francis Coppola's winery, it is a blanc de blanc called Sofia, and it was created for Sofia Coppola's wedding in 2007. The Francis Coppola winery is currently under construction, and the finish date keeps getting pushed back, because according to the employees, Francis keeps coming down and changing his mind about the plans.
But it was pretty cool, he had a bunch of his awards up there. Not Oscars or anything, but still, awards and some props. I took pictures and I will post them up here. Hopefully.
We went to another winery that had sheep as a natural weed-eating device. They were funny.
As far as food, well, I was disappointed, personally. I didn't find the sushi I was looking for.
However, I ate at four places that should be mentioned.
1. Sam's Chowder House, Half Moon Bay
Excellent chowder. Although, I have to say, not as good as the chowder served at Daddy Jack's, a local Indianapolis restaurant. But, Sam's had great views of the bay and an interesting smoked salmon appetizer, as well as Manhattan Chowder, which had tomato sauce in it, I believe.
2. Villa Romano, Napa Valley CA
(Click to view menu)
This was good, despite that we had just spent a looooooooong day getting lost repeatedly and I spent most of the day listening to people talk nonstop without the aid of my iPod. Despite this, I had a great risotto, which is one of my favorite foods in the world. It had mushrooms, but that's ok. Mmm. I want risotto again now.
3. Rutherford Grill, St. Helena
This was nice, a casual upscale restaurant with a varied menu. Unfortunately, due to my semi-drunken state because of our cave tour at the Del Dotto caves, I don't remember a lot of the experience. I do know that I had a chicken and spinach enchilada, with steamed vegetables and fried rice, and blue cheese chips, and apple pie a la mode for dessert. The enchilada was great. I wished they gave me two.
4. In N Out burger
Glorious fast food. Honestly, their fries leave something to be desired, but their very limited menu plus the (optional) presence of good onions on the burger makes this place unbeatable in my opinion. Why do I need to choose between 15 different types of cheeseburger? It's a freaking cheeseburger. Just let me eat it. With onion.

So, pictures later, I hope.
This month, I will probably post more about restaurants I have been to, and less about cooking, because I plan to cook less and eat more grilled cheese. Long story.

Oh! But I did find a jar of Zahtar spice blend at a farmer's market, so I'll do something with that. Later.

In lieu of cooking...

I have been very sick this week, and since this is a food blog I don't even want to tell you the exact details of my illness, just that...it was gross.
Since I have been basically out for the count since Tuesday, I will just have to write about something I didn't cook, but I did experience.
There's this burger at Scotty's Brewhouse. Scotty's is an Indiana college bar/pub/restaurant. They've got really good dill chips, apparently - I hate all pickles, so I wouldn't know. Also, they've got a decent (but not Heorot-sized) beer selection.
Usually, I go to Scotty's and I get the same thing. That's how I am. I find something good at a place and I stick with it. Because usually I find that if I try other things, they taste like shit. Take for example, when I decided to deviate from my usual order at Thai Smile and go for the spicy noodles. They tasted like wet dog.
But, I decided to take a risk and change my regular order of Mo'Fo Buffalo Chicken Wrap with a side of Macaroni and Cheese (seriously), and get a burger.
I know. Burger? Is that really a big risk?
Well, it is with this burger. Apparently, Scotty's has a competition in which you make up a burger, and if it's good, they put it on the menu. And somebody had the urge to submit a burger with peanut butter and jalapenos.
No, I'm not pregnant. But I decided it sounded intruiging. And honestly? I loved it. I wished it the meat were more cooked, but that can be easily fixed. I found myself just wanting more peanut butter on the burger, because I couldn't taste it enough. And the jalapenos were okay, but the kicker was the peanut butter.
The burger was huge. And weird. And I couldn't finish my mac and cheese for the first time in a very long time, but it was an enjoyable (if not completely weird) gastronomic experience.
If you're in Muncie, and you are feeling adventurous...go ahead and try it.