The Theorem of the Cheesy Ratio

After waiting months in the In-and-Out-less Midwest wilderness, Foodgoat finally got to go to In-and-Out again while in California.

The last time he was there, he got a little silly and had a 2x6 - two patties, six slices of cheese. Afterwards, he conceded that it might have been too much cheese.

Being older and wiser, this time he stuck with the more delicious 2x4, animal style.

But while awaiting his order, he noticed the receipt listed a 4x4 animal style. Foodgoat caught a worker and corrected the mistake.

He sat down to eat, only to discover that it had not been corrected at all. He still had a gotten 4x4 animal style. Four meat patties, four slices of cheese. What could he do but eat it?

It was good, but ... it was a lot of meat. A lot of meat.

What does this teach us? Well, it proves Foodgoat's Theorem of the Cheesy Ratio, developed after the 2x6 experiment.

The Theorem of the Cheesy Ratio explains why the 2x4 works by describing the perfect proportion of meat to cheese - of two slices of cheese per one meat patty.

Too much cheese - as in the 2x6, which has three slices of cheese per patty - and the cheese doesn't quite melt right. Thus some of the cheese is a little cold, and the whole meat-cheese tastiness is dependent on adequate meltedness.

Too much meat - as in the case of the 4x4, which has 1 meat patty to 1 slice of cheese - and you don't have enough cheese to balance your meat. This is especially important the higher you go in number - a cheeseburger (1 patty to 1 cheese) may be tolerable if you're of small appetite, but get up to 4x4, and you might feel you're just chewing down a pile of meat without enough cheese to make it worthwhile.

But in the right proportion - as in the 2x4, 2 patties to 4 cheese slices - there you find enough meat to be filling but not overwhelming, enough cheese to be tasty but still melted properly.

Days of Wine

While in California a few weeks ago, we attended the wedding of Foodgoat's aunt, which featured not only a lovely ceremony, a fun party, and a very happy bride and groom, but also days and days of excellent wine. There was fine wine at the rehearsal dinner, trips into wine country for tastings, long discussions about the virtues of this wine and that, wine gifts, even wine with Nation's burgers for lunch (which is pretty good, let me tell you).

The reception had the very best bar of any wedding we've been to, and that includes our own (when people see my wedding photos, the first question is always "What's that you're drinking?"). It featured wines from the local Rosenblum Cellars in Alameda, which happens to be Foodgoat's very favorite winery and current obsession, having discovered their delicious Zinfadels when he visited their tasting room last spring. We sipped happily all night long.



Later that week we stopped by the Rosenblum Cellars tasting room - “mecca for zin-fanatics” - to sample even more.

We tried:
Kathy's Cuvée Viognier, California - 2006
Maggie's Reserve Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley - 2005
Snows Lake Vineyard Zinfandel, Lake County - 2005
Lyons Reserve Zinfandel, Napa Valley - 2005
Désirée Chocolate Dessert Wine, California


How much did we like the Rosenblum wine we tasted? This much:

Ah yes, Foodgoat and I will be drinking well for a long, long time.

The Old Ball & Chain Eats Burgers, Drink Wine

We're back from San Francisco! And Foodgoat and Ladygoat are officially a Mr. & Mrs. The wedding was fun, the food was actually good, and no, we don't have any pictures yet. But I did snap a photo of my pre-wedding lunch:
Yup, that's In-and-Out. Even the Fisherman's Wharf In-and-Out is delish.

A week in California has also activated the wine drinker in Foodgoat, because since coming back, he's been passing over the beer aisle for the wine selection. Blame his aunt for that transformation - she took him and his brothers to the Rosenblum Cellars tasting room, where they sampled several of their famous Zinfadels.

Since then, Foodgoat has been on the hunt for the Rockpile Road Vineyard Zinfadel. It appears to have completely opened his eyes to wine, for he described it as "amazing ... smooth ... luxurious" and likens it to having a Scharffen-Berger chocolate after only having Hershey's all one's life.

I was busy making centerpieces and favors that day, so I missed out on that fun. Fortunately, our favorite wine shop reported that their distributor could get some to them at the end of the month, so I'll finally get to sample this thing.

San Francisco Dining

Now that the wedding details are in place and my flight to the Bay Area looms, my thoughts are now turning to what to eat the rest of the time that I'm in California.

Foodgoat and I are mourning the loss of Sushi Lovers in Milpitas and vainly trying to recall where the best burritos in the city are.

Otherwise, where to go? where to take our various visitors? I'm perusing the egullet forums for ideas. There are Nation's pies, for one thing. I'd love to go to the notorious farmer's market at the Ferry Building. Shall my adulthood official by having a cocktail at the Top of the Mark? A tour of the Cowgirl Creamery. Perhaps some sake bombs at Mas Sake, the Hooter's of sushi? A visit to the Point Reyes oyster farms. Oooh, an earthquake sundae at Ghiradelli Square? Early on we had in mind to go to the French Laundry, but somehow I think we won't quite make it.

I left my heart in the Hooter's of San Francisco

Before I settled on a reception site, I considered practically every restaurant in San Francisco. The restaurant business being what it is, a lot of these places weren't there when I last lived in the area. One sounded especially promising -- Mas Sake, a Japanese sushi place, that seemed reasonably priced, stylish, and in the Marina.

And then I looked online for user reviews, and found comments like this:

Hey, don't you think there are way too many white people in here for this to be a good Japanese restaura -- whoa, boobs.

Cross that one off my list of potential reception sites.

Although Foodgoat may have just circled it on his list of potential bachelor party sites.

Well, how's a blogger supposed to follow that?

Before we dive headlong into a year or so of wedding pie selections and whether the lechon should be served at the reception, my week in California included other developments aside from the sparkly-sparkly kind. For one thing, my brother graduated from UCLA.


For another, while we were in town, I was introduced to Westwood's famous Diddy Riese Cookies.


Each time we walked by, there was a line at least fifteen deep that trailed down the street. But if you are patient, at the end you can buy one delicious, freshly made cookie for only 35 cents. Or you can get two cookies with ice cream packed in between them. Yummy.

Or you can get a cookie and a hot dog and have yourself a dinner for about a buck fifty.

Blog Party #2: Tiki

After my sorority initiation, we celebrated at the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar in San Francisco's Fairmount Hotel. Amid the Bay Area fog and Union Square sophistication, it was a kitschy, campy fake Polynesian paradise, featuring a tiki-boat-cum-stage that floats across the pool with a full band, and a "monsoon" and thunderstorm that sprays the dance floor every half hour. I don't remember a thing about the food, but I do remember a partaking in a few gigantic tropical drinks for four people that might have been called a Scorpion Bowl. (Perhaps that explains why I do remember spending part of the evening sliding down the Fairmount staircase bannisters).

But the Tonga Room is hardly the best known of Bay Area's tiki attractions. That honor goes to Oakland's Trader Vic's, one of the original tiki-themed restaurants and soon after opening in 1936, one of the most popular watering holes of its time. Trader Vic's gave us the original Mai Tai. I've never been there, but the December 2004 Saveur has a delightful article on it, and more importantly, some intriguing recipes from the restaurant.

The one I wanted to try was Bongo Bongo soup. With a name like that, who could resist?

It is made of spinach, fresh oysters, and a bit of clam juice, in a lot of half and half, and flavored with hot sauce, Worcestshire sauce, and A-1 sauce ... a pureed spinach and oyster bisque, I suppose. It was creamy and delicious, and went well with our crab cakes to a light, sea-worthy meal. Easy to make, tasty to eat, and above all, fun to say. Bongo bongo!

California highlight #7
Ladygoat, her sista & brudda iz cruising da dark streets of their old 'hood, Irvington. When dey realize they's near Mickey D's, they head that hooptie Honda Accord right over. Yo, what's da big deal, you axe? It's September 17, foo', an' dat particular McDonald's iz celebrating 34 years with a 34-cent menu. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, cookies, 34 centizzles, fo' shizzle!

The line at the drive-through goes out an' around but inside da lines iz only a couple peeps deep. They strategize: cuz dere's a limit o' 10 per menu item. They order: 5 hamburgers, 10 cheeseburgers, 10 fries. Total: $8.50. Das what I'm talkin' about, G.

The posse takes dat boo-yaa grub back to the crib for the blanco nino.


30 minutes later: We're a not feeling so phat ... just fat. Turns out 10 orders of small fries = a lot of fries. But it was an adventure.