Want to see what you missed at Rickenbacker’s on Thanksgiving?

It was pretty much amazing. Did I mention the pumpkins for the soup (possibly my favorite part of the whole meal) were grown in our garden?

Skip the cooking and cleaning and join us next year!

Check it out. American Express is giving registered Cardmembers a $25 statement credit when they shop at small businesses on Small Business Saturday! See their facebook event for more information.

Chef Courtney was putting up some very good looking and delicious plates at the American Red Cross Autumn Gourmet Gala. Mahi mahi ceviche, shrimp tamale and chicken breast with mole colorado.

Want to learn a few new Mexican style desserts? Things you can easily whip out with not too much hassle, impress the friends, make the kids happy…Sure you do.

Join me at Sonora Grill tomorrow at 2pm and I’ll show you how to blast out a few simple but delicious desserts, for instance, Torre De Bunuelos, Tres Leches, Sopapillas…it may all be written in Spanish but in the universal language of Awesome Dessert…your mouth is gonna be like O heck yeah…

…A couple nights ago I was at a Red Cross charity event up in Snow Basin here in Utah, its a very large, very shee shee chi chi ski resort about 20 minutes drive from my house…we were there, my staff and I, to do a bunch of nice food, as well as were some other restaurants with ‘chefs’ as opposed to your average like McDonald’s which admittedly are more popular here, but the Salt Lake City crowd does have a few nice restaurant diners types…anyway…we’re just loading in all of our equipment at the event’s beginning and I was standing on the parking lot looking up at the mountain when my guys are moving a big ice thing inside the lodge and this guy walks up…this is a true story…completely…this guy walks up to me, he appears as if out of nowhere, I swear and he’s like 70ish with hiker’s clothes on and he has a big gold chain around his neck with a star of David on it, he is walking with a cane and he has these big sunglasses and he goes hey are you guys working hard? I could sense right away this guy was a spiritual being, a kind of guy that didn’t need me to be trying to be creative with him or anything…just real…so I go, no, we’re hardly working (which is the stock answer of course…working hard or hardly working? Yuk yuk) and he gets this look behind these huge glasses and he smiles and says with a hardcore NY accent ‘now that’s the answer. That’s what I’m talking about my man’ his spirit is smiling and laughing…and me too. We had an instant rapport…sometimes you get that from honest people…I said what are you doing out here?
He said, I’m from NY
I said I guessed that.
He said have you been there?
I said, oddly enough, I was just there in April. I was visiting a few people I know in Brooklyn and my uncle in Manhattan.
He said I’m from Queens. Did you get to Queens?
I said no I didn’t go to Queens when I was there.
You didn’t miss much.
We both laugh…he’s the only guy outside for a hundred miles…the guests haven’t arrived…it was weird…
He goes hey you know where I can get a coffee or tea?
I said I bet I can find someone with coffee so follow me and let’s get you one. What are you doing out here?
We go inside the gigantic lodge and there’s a hundred cooks/chefs and waiters in there preparing for the event but no one has coffee. I’m walking around asking everyone where’s the coffee. I’m doing all I can to be getting this guy a coffee…I eventually get someone in the main kitchen to get me a coffee in a paper cup and a sugar bowl and some half and halfs…then I started looking for the guy, the Snow Ghost…I called him that because he just disappeared. I was there in my capacity of Executive Chef Rickenbacker’s/Sonora Grill…doing my thing, leading cooks in the making of the fine foods and shmoozing guests…except my cooks are putting me on. Pretending they didn’t see the guy…

I don’t know, Chris. You’re finally slipping. I didn’t see no old man.

Yeah, sure Chef, right…little old man with a cane…riiight…

Whole Foods is opening a store in Ogden! Finally!

Come test your tongue! We are looking for contestants to participate in the 2nd Annual Habanero Eating Contest.

Winner will receive $100 gift card, $50 cash and a sweet mountain bike. Prizes will also be awarded to 2nd and 3rd place contestants.

If you are not brave enough to participate, come and witness the pain first hand.

Check out the pictures from last year here. And some video action here.

Sonora Grill chefs were serving carnitas tacos with roasted tomato, garlic and chile salsa and basically having a blast at the PCFWC. A lot of the attendees were there to taste the many various wines and beers on hand. A lot of those folks were really doing some…tasting…nothing wrong with that…me, I was honored to hang out and try some food…got a chance to talk at length with Ryan of the Copper Onion, Bowman from Forage…cool chefs…very enjoyable event. There were some other hot shots there…can’t remember all their names… and those wacky kids Tom and Jen from Salt Lake Magazine , and also Whole Foods…when are we getting a Whole Foods in Ogden? Can someone please tell me when we’re gonna get a Whole Foods around here?

MARGARITA SPECIAL – ECLIPSE MARGARITA, IN HONOR OF THAT  TWILIGHT MOVIE COMING OUT. YAY! JOSE CUERVO, BLUE CURACAO ORANGE LIQUOR, FRESH LIME, CRANBERRY JUICE, CHATEAU MONET RASPBERRY LIQUEUR. ONCE YOU STIR IT, IT TURNS BLACK LIKE A VAMPIRE`S HEART! WE STILL HAVE HEINKEN LIGHT FOR THREE DOLLARS. GO TEAM EDWARD!