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I could go on and on with a lot of blah-blah about how Latin food and entertaining expert Ingrid Hoffman will sign her book, “Simply Delicioso: A Collection of Everyday Recipes with a Latin Twist” at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Citrus Park Publix.

I could tell you, too, that the Miami-based star of Food Network’s “Simply Delicioso” series is scheduled to lead a cooking demonstration at 6:30 p.m. at the Apron’s Cooking School there.

But what you really want to know is the food she’ll be making and giving out in the class.

Without further delay, here’s the list:

Avocado Aji Salsa and Chips

Chipotle Tamale Pie

Avocado Fennel Salad

Passion Fruit Mousse

Delicioso, right?

To reserve a spot in the $75 class, go to www.Publix.com/aprons. The Publix Apron’s Cooking School is at Shoppes of Citrus Park, 7835 Gunn Highway in Tampa. For information, call (813) 926-4465.

Extra: You can listen to a Table Conversations podcast I recorded with Ingrid last year before she came to town for the Sabor festival.

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“Secrets of a Restaurant Chef,” 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Food Network
Anne Burrell has worked at some of the top restaurants in New York, studied the culinary landscape and traditions of Italy and served as Mario Batali‘s sous chef on “Iron Chef: America.” In this debut episode, steak house favorites are prepared, including dry-rubbed rib eye, sauteed broccoli rabe and pommes Anna. (To watch a sample of the show, click here.)

“No Reservations,” 9:30 p.m. Saturday, HBO Signature
Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as a workaholic chef who barely has time for a life, much less for taking care of her sister’s orphaned 9-year-old daughter or for having a romance with a free-spirited co-worker (Aaron Eckhart).

“The Blues Brothers,” 4 p.m. Sunday, HBO Comedy
A pair of soul-singing siblings (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) try to raise money for a Chicago orphanage by reforming their blues band. This movie contains some of the best food scenes ever filmed, including a diner sequence in which the brothers convince Matt “Guitar” Murphy and saxaphonist Lou “Blue Lou” Marini Jr. to rejoin the band, despite the protests of Murphy’s wife (Aretha Franklin).

“60 Minutes,” 7 p.m. Sunday, CBS
The Antinoris have been in the wine business for 600 years – maybe the oldest family business on earth - reports Morley Safer from its vineyards in Tuscany, Italy. Filmed at the Antinori family’s historic estates in Tuscany and Umbria as well as its California estate, Antica Napa Valley, the 14-minute story will feature interviews with Marchese Piero Antinori and his daughters Albiera, Allegra and Alessia and discuss the family’s history, legacy and contributions to the world wine community. Another focus of the segment is the future of the family-owned wine company under the guiding hand of the Antinori women, the first generation of women in over 600 years to assume this role.

In this video, Safer talks about the Antinori family story:

“Food Network Challenge,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Food Network
The cities of New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Seattle are recreated in cake. The end.

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I always enjoy it when friends and colleagues go abroad during their vacations and bring me back some visual evidence of the adventurous eating they encountered during their excursions.

Fellow Baylife Magazine scribe Penny Carnathan and gardening co-blogger at The Dirt, returned to Tampa this week from a vacation to Scotland. She said she took a photo of a dish over there with me in mind.

From: Carnathan, Penny
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 5:26 PM
To: Houck, Jeff
Subject: a roll and bacon

Behold the Roll with Bacon, a popular dish for just 3 pounds (or so) at The Horn, a diner in Inchture, Scotland. A very popular dish at The Horn, it’s served sans mayo or other condiment. Some diners sprinkled it liberally with salt, but otherwise did nothing more than mash the top roll down, unhinge the lower jaw and bite.

The middle-aged, slightly built woman who owned this particular Roll with Bacon had it downed in about 5 minutes.

To recap: People see a scrum of bacon and think of me. It happens more often than you might think.

I suggested to Penny that the photo should be on a poster.

Yea, it was a thing of beauty. …. I ate a LOT of bacon in Scotland.

You’d like the Scottish breakfast as well. Except for maybe the baked beans. And the blood pudding.

Mmmm. Blood pudding.

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Tonight, the Tampa Bay Rays start their bid to win the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox. Winner goes to the World Series.

What better way to celebrate than through consumption of themed alcohol?

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar has concocted a cocktail in honor of the Tampa Bay Rays. Dubbed the LTF (Last to First) Martini, the $8.95 drink is being offered at the Boy Scout Boulevard location through Oct. 31.

The recipe for the drink:

LTF MARTINI

1 1/2 ounces. Cuervo

1 ounces Blue Curacao

2 ounces Sweet & Sour

1 fresh lime slice squeezed in the shaker

Shake with ice in a martini shaker.

Serve in a martini glass with a salted rim. Garnish with a caramelized slice of star fruit.

How will we know if you’ve had too many LTFs? Blue lips.

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I was lost. Not horribly lost, but lost nonetheless. Instead of heading west toward Lutz on State Road 54, I drove my truck east toward Zephyrhills. Gotta love my GPS.

Anyway, I turned around and headed back in the correct direction for a few minutes when I saw a strip mall on the right. One of the stores had a sign in the window that read “MICHIGAN PIES.”

Michigan? I don’t stop. Pies? I do.

Another U-turn.

Yes, the window said Michigan Pies. The entire sign said “Famous Michigan Pasty Pies.” Above that was the name of the restaurant: Ye Olde Miners Pasty Shop.

A miners pastry shop out there in the middle of nowhere. This ought to be good, I thought.

I went inside and met owner Allan Gower, who has operated the eatery with his wife, Cassie, since January. He politely and patiently schooled me on what a pasty is. (I’m such a noob when it comes to regional cuisine.)

Turns out that in the 1800s, Cornish immigrants brought their cuisine to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Working as iron miners, the men would head to work every day with meat pies for lunch made by their wives. (They’d warm the pastries in the ventilation shafts.) Each pastry had a crusty handle on it so that they could hold and eat it without getting iron in their food.

Gower, a former manager with the Outback Steakhouse chain, sells thee varieties of the baked pasty for $4.99:

* Da Yooper (filled with meat, potato, onion and rutabaga);

* Da Troll (chicken, potato, onion, rutabaga, mushroom, asparagus);

* And, on Fridays, there’s Da Veggie (potato, onion, rutabaga, carrots, corn, black beans, mushrooms).

The taste is not unlike the potpies I grew up eating as a kid. Lots of veggies, flaky pastry, warm, delicious and filling. The hearty gravy Gower serves with it is perfect for dipping.

And to think I had never heard of a pasty, much less known that it had an anatomy.

Gower says response to their shop has been strong, especially among the Upper Michigan snowbirds (known as Yoopers because they hail from the Upper Peninsula), he says. Business has been slow during the summer, but Gower expects it to pick up again when they return.

View Larger Map

In case you get lost, the shop is at 35201 S.R. 54 and is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

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So, yesterday was a little weird for me. It was the first day in more than six years that I didn’t run to the curb to see how the Flavor section I worked on looked in print. (Okay, I didn’t always run. Most weeks, it was more of a series of pre-dawn, non-linear stumbling. At that hour, I have all the agility of a drunken baboon. But I digress.)

That said, apparently Wednesday was a little odd for you as well. We got lots of calls and e-mails yesterday from readers who were fans of the section. They didn’t see the column I wrote explaining the new changes in print for The Stew and other features in the section.

WHAT?!?!?!? PEOPLE DON’T READ THE ENTIRE NEWSPAPER?!?!?!? AREN’T MY WORDS GOLDEN AND PRECIOUS ENOUGH TO DEMAND TOTAL ATTENTION?!?!?!?!? Color me gobsmacked.

Seriously, I understand. Not everyone got the message that the Flavor content has moved to our new Baylife Magazine on Sundays. We all lead busy lives. Especially those in the banking and investment industries the past two weeks.

Anyway, I thought I’d share some of the letters I received.

Hi Jeff,

I left a message on your blog last week and e-mailed the editor too about the lack of “Flavor” the WednesdayTribune will contain. Oh well, things change and life goes on. I saved the new Sunday Baylife “Flavor” until today to read, because ... well because I could, I guess. You kept some of the good parts, but I will miss the Culinary Sherpas. I’ve made several of their recipes and my next adventure will be the pork tenderloin baked in the baguette. Sounds yummy. The Shrimp and Chorizo Poblano was excellent and I told them so. I hope these changes to the Tribune don’t go any further or there will be no food to explore and it is the highlight of my week. (Well, maybe not ... but you get my drift.) I hope you stay put. Thanks for the memories.

Gail Ellis

Good news, Gail. The Sherpas are coming back to the paper every week instead of every other week. We missed them, too.

We’ll be bringing back more features as space and money permit. Emphasis on money.

Hey Jeff -

Just wanted to tell you that I was sad this morning when I got the paper and remembered that “Flavor” was discontinued. First it was the Pasco section getting cut, then Baylife and now my favorite section of all gets the boot. I realize that we’ll get a mini-version in the Sunday paper but it won’t be the same. 

Because of these changes, I am cancelling my subscription to the Trib and will just read it online for free.  I miss our old daily paper!

See ya on your blog!

Monica Woods

Actually, Monica, you’ll be getting everything on Sundays that was in the Flavor section, except for the Divas of Dish.

I miss our old daily paper, too. I also miss my white 1976 Buick Skylark with the half-vinyl roof, blood-red interior, white bucket seats and cassette player with AC/DC’s “Back in Black” blaring through the speakers. That baby was sweet. But things change.

Plus, if you cancel the paper, that’s less money the company will have to pay me to write your free Web site. I know it’s a Faustian bargain, but it is what it is. I hope you change your mind.

See ya on my blog!

Hi Jeff,

I am sorry the Mother Trib took your flavor and put it into the Sunday BayLife.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading your Flavor on hump day. I have canceled my subscribtion. 

Good Luck.

Gary Krotz

Gary, two things.

First, the Trib is not my mother. Kitty is my mother. The Trib is more like an uncool uncle who collects swords with wizards on them and who hasn’t had a date since 1983.

Second, please come back. We only moved some stuff around. Please tell me you’re more flexible in your reading habits that that. I always think of newspaper readers as being made of sturdier stuff. Not like those wilting pansies who read magazines.

Wait. Our stuff runs in a magazine now.

Nevermind.

I am CRUSHED, CRUSHED I tell you! I just wrote to the Trib editor last week telling him how much I love the new Flavor ... too little too late ... how will I plan my week!  our whole family food budget is linked to Flavor! We have continued to subscribe to the Tribune on week days because of Flavor. Surely this is a just a hiatus ... Flavor will be back right?

Suzann Corral

Suzann,

Thanks for being such an ardent follower of Flavor. I’ve always been honored by the way readers have loved on the section. We’re just giving you a different place to love on it. And a different day. And a different name to love it under. But that’s it. Those are the only changes. For the moment. Until next time.

I better stop now.

What a shame! A part of the paper I truly enjoy. Since the Trib started turning further to the left, it was pleasant to read a section where there was no left bias, only a friendly gathering of people who enjoy nice things in life, like food and good conversation. You and the section will be missed. 

Paul Frappollo

Paul,

Left bias ... You’re sure this the Tribune we’re talking about?

I like to think that Flavor had no political bias because, well, it had no politics. Only it did. We were decidedly in support of an anti-Brussels Sprouts campaign. Our country cannot afford four more years of that disgusting vegetable.

Dear Jeff,

When I was a working woman, my “hump day” joy was knowing that when I got home that evening, I had all the time I needed to sit down and enjoy my “Flavor” food section.

Over the years I have saved many an entire section, with dreams of one day sitting down with my cache and a pair of scissors and clipping away, saving the recipes I wanted and making an album for quick reference and use in my kitchen. I have also included in that dream, one day having the time to try all of them out.

You have truly made “Flavor” come alive with your interesting and varied topics, your humor, and your obvious expertise in the culinary arts.  You have had an “eye” for a good story, which has added to the enjoyment of this food section.

It has always appeared to me that you considered your readers to be your good friends. I say that by the way you respond to their requests for Recipes Lost and Found, and as for me, you have always answered my e-mails with kindness.

After many years in education, experiencing too much “change for the sake of change” to suit my tastes, I have grown to feel very strongly that if it “ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. I am not so naïve to believe that things can always remain the same, but the Tribune has had an excellent thing going in that wonderful section called “Flavor,” with your presence largely contributing to that reputation. I have faith that the new approach and location will continue to showcase your talents.

It has always been my hope that the Tribune would publish an annual recipe hardback of the previous year’s recipes and consumer tips. Not only would it be a source of revenue, it would save me, personally, from worrying about cutting all of those old editions to shreds as I search thru for the recipes. I would want to be on a list to receive the new book every year, as I feel many of your readers and their friends would feel when word got around. If the paper was to be concerned that they might be criticized for not testing all of the recipes in the book, a simple disclaimer in the preface to that effect would satisfy that concern. I am being totally selfish in this desire.

Sorry this is so long, but you and “Flavor” have been my friends for a long time, and I hate to see you go, even if you are showing up in a new suit, on a new day, in a different pew.  I wish you well, and I will be there looking for you. 

Sincerely,

Melinda Brett
St. Petersburg

Melinda,

Heh. You said “hump.” And “pew.”

On a more sober note, thank you. And thanks to everyone who took time to write. It means more than you’ll ever know.

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In a lot of ways, this baseball season has been about faith for the Tampa Bay Rays. Faith in their teammates. Faith that the ownership would find better arms for the bullpen. Faith that the fans would flock once the team started winning.

Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox in game four of their American League Divisional Series in Chicago. Perhaps the victory may be directly attributable to manager Joe Maddon‘s faith in his hometown pizzaria before the White Sox series began.

Compared to the White Sox, the Rays were sitting around for three days since playing their last game. Joe Maddon’s pre-Game 1 meal pretty much was, too.

Before managing the Rays in their first-ever playoff game, Maddon munched on a slice of Senape’s Original Pitza, his favorite Italian bakery as a kid back home in Hazleton, Pa. It was hand-delivered as a surprise during batting practice­ from none other than the former N.B.A. referee Ed Rush, a fellow eastern Pennsylvania native and friend of Maddon who forked it over about two hours before game time.

“This is today’s secret weapon,” Maddon said delightedly.

Clearly purchased at least 24 and perhaps as many as 72 hours ago, the small box arrived rather rumpled and closed only with twine - hermetically sealed, it was not. But Maddon confidently downed a slice before the game, in part because Senape’s is apparently known for how its slices ­ perhaps like the Rays, who opened up a 1-0 lead in the second inning ­ can be even better cold.

According to Mary Lou Marchetti, the owner of Senape’s, the store (primarily a bakery and not a restaurant) uses a special type of cheese that keeps far longer than typical mozzarella. What type? “I’m not telling,” she said in a telephone interview during the game.

Somewhat unimpressed by Maddon’s loyal palate, she said that Senape’s has traveled far further than Tampa: “It’s been to Desert Storm,” she said.

“I don’t know him very well,” Marchetti said of Maddon. “I only know he likes my pizza.”

Maddon might currently be the toast of Tampa Bay, but he felt even better with a little bit of home inside him.

“As a kid, I would ride my bike there to buy bread after school,” he said. “It was like 15 cents a loaf. My aunt would have a bottle of hot peppers that I would take and destroy from that loaf of bread. It’s a part of me.”

It would be borderline gluttonous to wish for better fortune than the Rays have experienced this year, but perhaps Maddon’s pizza consumption could have pushed his team to the World Series had he chosen to dab the corners of his mouth with a new product called the Jersey Nap. In case the name isn’t literal enough, it’s a napkin that folds into the shape of a sports uniform.

I might be way off-base here, but I don’t think these are selling well in Chicago this morning.

As the company explains:

For consumers

• Unfold them to see more cool stuff inside
• Stand them up for a great table decoration
• Collectible and perfect for autographs & framing
• Clever hamburger holder
• Awesome coaster

Just the thing for tailgating, parties and everyday use.

JerseyNaps products are created in the U.S.A. at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in northern Wisconsin.

Utilizing proprietary technology to combine and emboss 2-ply tissue, JerseyNaps are produced on custom designed machinery engineered and built by C.G. Bretting Manufacturing, recognized globally as the leader in the manufacture of paper converting equipment.

From quality tissue paper sourced from the shores of Lake Superior to the latest in flexographic, food grade printing inks formulated in Illinois, each component required to produce JerseyNaps is proudly made in the U.S.A.

And, to beat the dead horse into sawdust, is a visual aid to explain the process:

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Went to the new Aldi discount grocery store that opened in Brandon to see what the hubub was about. (They’re opening a ton of stores in central Florida this year.)

As the Tribune’s Laura Frazier wrote last week about the Brandon opening:

BRANDON - Shoppers bent on bargains jammed the parking lot and packed the aisles Thursday at the grand opening of an Aldi grocery store at Brandon Boulevard and Kingsway Road.

The German grocery chain opened five stores in the Tampa Bay area the same day and is set to open five more by Nov. 10. The chain asserts its prices beat those of mainstream supermarkets by 40 percent and big-box and discount stores by 16 to 24 percent.

To cut operating costs, customers bag their groceries and pay a 25 cent refundable deposit to rent carts.

Dodging cars and customers in the parking lot of the 16,000-square-foot store, Matt Cradick, Aldi’s director of operations, said he was thrilled but not surprised by the turnout.

“There are a lot of savvy customers here today who appreciate the opportunity to save some money,” he said. “It’s going gangbusters.”

After a tour through the aisles, I came to a conclusion: Apparently they cut back on the verbiage and pass the savings to you.

Mmmm. Love me some spheres.

They were going to label it “Italian-Flavored Carbohydrates,” but that seemed extravagant.

It’s the quicker-sizer-upper.

There’s a woman at my workplace who would not appreciate this coincidence.

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“Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin,” by Kenny Shopsin and Carolynn Carreno (Knopf, $24.95)

Kenny Shopsin‘s dilemma: how to cook only the food you want to cook and do it only for the people whom you choose, all while operating a profitable restaurant. That Shopsin has been able to accomplish this in New York City’s Greenwich Village while hurling obscenities and verbal insults and kicking out unwanted customers for almost 30 years is a testament to the quality of his cooking. It’s so delicious that those who have eaten there say they feel lucky to have survived the assault. This fascinating book captures Shopsin’s profane essence in what amounts to a hybrid memoir, cookbook and culinary philosophy.

“Secrets of the Red Lantern,” by Pauline Nguyen (Andrews McNeel, $40)

Sitting squarely in the genre of memoir cookbooks, Pauline Nguyen has produced a powerful account of her family’s flight from war-ravaged Vietnam, its settlement in Australia and how members stayed true to their culinary roots while opening the Red Lantern, one of the country’s most celebrated restaurants.

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In August, Whaley’s Market on Howard Avenue closed after 75 years on Howard Avenue.

That closing has had a trickle-down effect. Today, Charlie’s Wine Cellar and Wine Bar, located next to Whaley’s at 533 S. Howard, announced it would be closing next Saturday after 18 years in business due to the loss of business following the Whaley’s closure.

Onwer/operator Glynn Giacone sent this e-mail out this morning:

Charlie’s is going out of BUSINESS!

Last Tasting Friday!

To our patrons, it is with great sadness to inform you that after seven years, we’re closing our doors. With the closing of Whaley’s we simply lost too much of our business.

It has been my pleasure, my honor, but most of all my good fortune to not only get to know many of you, but also to watch your good times in the smiles, and especially the laughter with friends.

To provide a setting for a brief escape from everyday challenges where everyone went home a little more happy, hopefully a little more informed about wine, and maybe even a little entertained was not a bad way to spend the last seven years.

Thank you to my staff, Dixon (contact him for catering at ), Mike, Meghann, Nicole, Sarah, and Elizabeth. I would especially like to thank Karen, my partner in wine, for her support. We all gave you our very best.

So what’s next? Perhaps I should heed the song lyrics by a college fraternity brother with whom I played guitars with long ago:

“Yesterday’s over my shoulder, So I can’t look back for too long, There’s just too much to see waiting in front of me, And I know that I just can’t go wrong,”
- Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, Jimmy Buffett

However, this all happened quite fast, and unfortunately, playing in Buffett’s band is not an option. So as I explore opportunities, if anyone knows of a contact that could use communication and marketing skills (in or out of the wine business), please let me know at

So many heartfelt thanks and memories,

Your wineguy,

Glynn

Charlie’s will host it’s last wine tasting on Friday. For more details, call (813) 250-1967 or go to http://www.charlieswine.com.

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