Jazz Organist Jimmy Smith Dies

One of my long-time favorite masters of the Hammond B3 organ Jimmy Smith Died yesterday. He was definitely getting old and died doing what he loved. The last time I saw him, at Yoshi's in Oakland a couple years ago, he had just been released from the hospital for a heart attack or something. He was still getting into his music so much I thought he might not make it through the gig. Thankfully he made it through that one and many more.

My favorite Jimmy Smith album has got to be Root Down Live!. I've also got a great CD of christmas music he did, called Christmas Cookin' that I play every year around the holidays. We're sorry to see you go Jimmy, but you will always be rememberd.

Put your root down!

"An empty stomach is not a good political adviser." - Albert Einstein

The empty stomach syndrome seems to be a timeless issue, plaguing even Einstein.

Picture it...It's 12:30 PM. You're in the middle of getting through this wicked report, debugging that last bit of code, putting the final touches on that graphic or about to solve that crazy equation and you don't want to take a break. You decide to push through the cranky sounds emerging from your stomach for the greater good. Next time you look at the clock it's 3 PM. Now what? If you're anything like me, you have passed your hunger's point of no return and thus have a case of 'empty stomach syndrome' or ESS for short. ESS occurs when you're too hungry to make any decisions on what to eat, and when left too long, some people become very irritable. When you have ESS, all you know is you need a good quantity of molecules, preferably the edible kind, to be ingested and transformed into energy, and thus sanity, which in turn will make your stomach and brain happy. Of course all of your co-workers have already eaten and they are in awe of the fact that you haven't eaten lunch yet. Even the meal suggestions from those trying to help seem lackluster and not worth your money or the time it would take to bring it back to your cubicle. What do you do?

Review - The Grinder Shop

Located at 1720 Franklin Street in downtown Oakland, CA. this little shop makes a mean grinder. These hot toasted sandwiches are a perfect lunch and easy on the wallet too. A full sandwich goes for about $4.50 and a small sandwich with soup or a salad is just $5.75.

One of the things this place has going for it is really good meat. On top of having great roast beef, pastrami, and roast turkey, there's another special ingredient that makes their sandwiches one of my favorite. Its the olive spread! Mmmmm. For those olive lovers out there this is excellent. I have yet to get the recipe out of the shop owner, but I'm working on it. When I get it I'll be sure to post it here. Its different than olive salad that you'd put on a muffaletta in that its chopped more finely. It also seems to be a bit more garlicky, which may not be the best for going back to the office. But some of us just can't resist.

If you're like me and get bored with just a sandwich for lunch there's a great combo option that includes their same great sandwiches, but on a smaller roll, and either a small salad or bowl of soup. The Greek spinach salad with feta cheese is one of my favorites. They also have a hearty chef salad, shrimp salad, or chicken Caesar for those in need of even more protein. On cold days I tend to go for either the chili or the minestrone instead of a salad. They also have a good chowder. And last but not least, this place honors a frequent buyer card from another local sandwich shop, I.B.'s Cheesesteaks. I'll have to review them sometime too.

Say Yum!

This is the debut of the Stick Out Your Tongue weblog. The site may move to another server in the near future, but we just came up with the idea and couldn't wait to start posting content. Hopefully this will serve as a good testing ground for our idea.

The holidays are coming with them many meals to cook. Hopefully we can share some of our recipes for you to read and try. Please post comments, suggested changes, alternate ingredients, similar recipes, or complementary dishes. We're also interested in food in general so let us know about any upcoming festivals or contests as well as restaurant good or bad.

So lets get this started and see how it goes. Let the posts begin!