Bill Lee vs. Great Castle

After 3 months in Drilling Fluid School in Houston, I came to Bakersfield as a Mud Engineer in 1981. It was the first Monday in January, cold and foggy.  I was assigned to a deep well being drilled just north of Taft Highway in the North Coles Levee field for ARCO.  I remember trying to find the rig in the dark fog, not being able to see the lights of the rig and I had to stop my car, rool down the windows and listen for the diesel engines roaring, the draw works whining and the pipe and tongs clanging, so I could figure out which dirt road to turn on.  Bakersfield was a lonely town to a single young man of 25 in a strange town back then.  Since my life is about finding comfort in food, I found a few restaurants where I felt comfortable, friendly people and good food.  La Cabana had a restaurant on Oak Street and Truxton.  They had great menudo on weekends and chorizo con juevos like at home.  And Mossmans had a comfortable restaurant on Brundage that was kind of homey.  I also found Bill Lee’s for a hot Chinese meal.   I recall the waitress, Helen.  She was middle-age in 1981 and I used to ask for her table.  Maybe she reminded me of my Mom.  Bakersfield was not so lonely after Betty joined me in Bakersfield in April. 

My favorite meal at Bill Lee’s was the Wo Won Ton Soup.  A beautiful clear broth loaded with shrimp, chicken, pork, vegetables and won tons; it is great on a cold winter night in Bakersfield.  Eventually, I discovered the Hong Shew oysters and it became my new destination dish.  I ordered it every time we visited on New Year’s Eve when we took the girls out on our anniversary.  The dish is an exotic mix of fried oysters, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, green onions and ginger root in tasty oyster sauce.  The dining room has been remodeled over the years and they have kept the hand carved wood panels.  The carpeting in the dining room makes for a nice quiet dining room and the staff is always friendly and inviting.

 

Overall Bill Lee’s is a Bakersfield classic and a nice dining experience.  Most of the dishes I have tried are like old school Americian/Chinese food made for a mid-west palette that is kind of plain and bland with lots of noodles and rice.   For more authentic Chinese food in Bakersfield, if there is such a thing, I now prefer the Great Castle on Union Avenue.  The dishes are more robust in flavor with some really spicy dishes that I love, like the crispy garlic beef and hot and spicy eggplant.  And the walnut shrimp is as good as advertized.  Everyone should have a favorite Chinese Restaurant.  And in Bakersfield, the options are limited, especially now that Grand China on Ming and Real has been closed for a few years.  The family reopened in Hong Kong in Chester Ave, but it’s not quit the same since the owner/chef that passed away is not there.

Try the Hong Shew oysters at Bill Lee’s and try the walnut shrimp at Great Castle and find your favorite.

The Ultimate $7.00 steak dinner – a good summer for tomatoes.

To my blog fans, I apologize for not providing my usual standard of entertainment recently.  However, I have not been inspired enough to share any dining experiences until tonight. 

I have obtained the status of “Maintenance” at weight Watchers.  And I have to maintain my “goal weight” for 4 more weeks so I can become a life time member.  To me this means that I will not have to continue paying $42 per month to weigh in.  This losing weight is a piece of cake.  I’m down 30+ Lbs and continue to reduce.  I am thinking that I will try to hit 199 Lbs.  I obtained a note from my Dr. that says 210 Lbs. is a healthy weight for my frame.  From 240 Lbs, it’s been a great journey.  I have lots of tips and recipes that have helped me to get to this point.  Maybe I’ll share my experience and recipes in a separate edition.  Basically, it’s classic, eat less and exercise more. 

BJ’s Brew House revisited:  I was inspired by a horrible luncheon experience at BJ’s Brew house on Stockdale Highway to start my Food and Wine Blog over a year ago.  (See my first blog post in the archives)   I tried BJ’s again for lunch and had a very pleasant experience and I got my salad and it was good and everything was fine.  I have to comment that BJ’s is a bit more pricy than my favorite luncheon spots.  My favorite lunch spots are the Salads at Tahoe Joe’s, Steak and Grape, Champs Bar-b-que and the Elephant bar.  I was at the Elephant Bar with customers recently and I wanted a salad with salmon.  I was treated to a side salad with an entree size portion of glazed salmon.  It cost $15.00.  It was a great low cal. meal that the waitress was gracious enough to put together for me.  The luncheon salads at Tahoe Joe’s are fantastic for $9.95.  And the seared salmon salad at Steak and Grape is a great meal for $13.95.  The salads at Champs are beautiful with your choice of bar-b-q meat on top.  Champ’s has a light and flavorful vinaigrette dressing.  I like to squirt their bar-b-q sauce over the top also.

The picture below is my Ultimate $7 steak dinner.  On my way from dropping Betty off at the airport this morning, I stopped at Albertsons to load up on fruits and vegetables.  I picked up a Manager’s Special rib-eye for about $6 (this means it’s old and ready for quick sale.  To me, it’s been aging in the meat case).  The portabella mushroom was $1. The tomato and basil are out of my garden.  The wine is out of my wine cellar.

I trimmed the steak of excess fat.  And I stuffed some small garlic cloves into the fat that is found in the middle of all rib-eyes.  I make my own seasoning blend and applied it generously to provide sweet, salty and spicy flavor to both sides of the steak. 

On the side I sautéed the portabella in garlic-olive oil, soy sauce, wine and spices.  This cooked down and the liquid reduced to offer amazing flavor to the steak.  I have started keeping garlic-olive oil available for everyday dishes.  I dice 4-5 cloves of garlic and add a cup of olive oil to marinate with the garlic.  The oil has great flavor that is awesome on meats, popcorn and salad dressings. 

Pop-Corn?  For a great after dinner treat, I make pop corn in the microwave.  Add ½ cup of popping corn in a plain brown paper bag.  Pop it in the microwave.  Dump it into a bowl and add a tablespoon of garlic oil and sprinkle parmesan cheese over it.  Garlic-Parmesan-Popcorn, it’s great with a movie on TV with a small side of chocolate.

Tonight I mixed this same garlic oil with some blue cheese and topped my rib-eye steak after turning it on the grill.  Be careful that the steak doesn’t burn with the oil melting on the grill. 

The tomatoes and basil are from my garden and vine ripened.  I sliced parmesan cheese and layered it with tomatoes, garlic oil and fresh basil from the garden and balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  It makes a great low-cal side dish to the ultimate $7 steak. 

Now for the wine.  My favorite winery is Le Cuvier.  Last night we opened a bottle of 2002 Le Cuvier Zinfandel.  It was barrel aged for 3 years and cellar aged in my cellar for 7 years.  It is 16.82% alcohol and very fruity and velvety.  But it has a kick, so be careful.  I had a little left from last night.  My favorite new wine club is Paoletti Winery.  Paoletti is in Calistoga at the north end of Napa Valley.  They grow and produce Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.  They just started a wine club and I joined without reservation.  You can get more information on Paoletti and other Napa wines in my blog on Napa from last summer.  The 2007 Paoletti Bella Novello Napa Cab is great.   And with a little Le Cuvier 2002 Zinfandel to finish off, I tried some blending.  A few wineries will blend Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and zinfandel in various proportions. I added < 10% of Le Cuvier 2002 Zinfandel to the Paoletti Cab.  The small addition of Zinfandel added additional ripe red fruit to the Cab. As well as softening the finish.  It was great with the medium-rare spicy rib-eye with garlic blue cheese on top.  And as the basil and balsamic vinegar from the tomatoes mixed with the steak and sautéed portabella mushrooms, magical.   I ate every bite.  This is a great meal for a deprived body.  I’ll have to go for a brutal bike ride tomorrow night to work it off.

Manny’s Tam O’shanter, Valentien’s and garlic-parmesan  popcorn

“I feel like a gangster that gets the entire restaurant to himself.”  And then I told Betty, “I feel like Alice in Wonderland and we just fell down a rabbit hole into this surreal dining room where we are the only one’s here on a Friday night.  What a trip this place is.”  The last time we were here was about 1988 when we entertained a couple on business.  The dining room is lovely and clean with table cloths and new red booths.  It’s very old school, 70’s vintage with wood paneling and stained glass windows.  Frank Sinatra was crooning at a pleasant level in the back ground.  There were 3 other people at this restaurant: Manny Mendez the owner, the waitress and the chef.  “It’s kind of weird being the only one’s here.”   But look at the good side, there are no obnoxious jerks and no noisy kids.  One guy walked in wearing surfing shorts and flip-flops and he picked up an order to go. 

Manny comes to the table and explains the menu.  I never had bone-in Filet mignon before, so I decided to try it even though it was $60.  Betty ordered the stuffed shrimp, but they were out, so she had the chicken cordon-blue.  We ordered wine by the glass.  The glasses were topped to the brim and only $6.  The red wine was quite good especially after it had a chance to aerate.  I picked up lovely notes of cherries and dark chocolate.  Betty enjoyed her Chardonnay.  The salads were extra but they were fresh and crisp with a wedged tomato and just the smallest slice of red onion.  The fresh rolls were warm and the waitress felt obligated to inform us that the green butter had food coloring in it.  Toward the end of my wine I could smell my 22 oz. Angus filet mignon cooking.  It was served hot with garlic mashed potatoes and sliced veggies, both of which were delicious. The steak was seasoned nicely and it was very tender and the sauce on the side was like browned gravy and added extra flavor.  I ordered it medium rare to medium. It was cooked closer to medium to medium well and a little longer than I would have prefered.  It was a bit rarer along the bone and over-all a very nice steak.  It is not a $60 steak through. 

The chicken cordon-blue was a large portion and served with the same sautéed veggies and rice pilaf.  Betty enjoyed it very much and we both cleaned out plates.  The restaurant.om gift certificate took a bit of the sting out of the high prices.  If you google Manny’s Tam O’shanter, you’ll find most reviews are not as generous as mine.  But it was a quite night out for us.  And it inspired me to cook my own steak and open some of my favorite wine for a great meal at home next time I want a great steak.

We also recently went to Valentien Restaurant and Wine Bar on Truxton Avenue recently. 

http://valentienrestaurant.com/

It is one of Bakersfield’s gourmet restaurants.  We had filet-mignon there also.  The food at Valentein is a step up the gourmet ladder and along with the Brochelle 2010 Zinfandel that we had there, the meal was superb.  The dining room at Valentein’s is kind of bland, however.  Our table was small and the concrete floor makes the atmosphere seem a bit cold and informal.  The service at Valentein’s is great and the food is wonderful.  If you get a chance to go I recommend the Brochelle Zinfandel.  The current 2010 vintage is a Brochelle classic and will make the meal an extra special occasion.  It is such a big wine and goes so well with the steak.  The tannins are almost non-existent, so the wine goes great by itself.  We ordered a side of cheese to pair with the wine also.  It’s $50 for the bottle at Valentein’s.  The basic wine club at Brochelle is a great way to get 6 bottles of the Zinfandel a year.  And wine club members, like me, also get the Ridge Top Reserve Zinfandel that is even more special. 

http://www.brochelle.com/

I have started making garlic olive oil and keeping it available to use in salad dressing, topping a steak and now over pop corn with parmesan cheese.  I dice up about 5 cloves of garlic and add it to a cup of olive oil and let it marinade in the fridge.  It’s great on salads and over meats.  We have been making pop corn in the microwave.  It pops in a brown paper bag beautifully.  Transfer it to a bowl and add a few spoons of the garlic oil and shake generously with grated parmesan cheese.  You gotta try it.  It’s even low cal.

Steak and Grape - Lunch with a Friend

Steak & Grape – Lunch with a friend

I was 26 years old when I went to work for Betz.  I was hired as the sole pioneer to go after the accounts in the Midway Sunset field by Taft, Fellows and McKittrick.  Troy worked with a team of technical sales guys handling the lucrative Kern River account.  They seemed to have a lot of fun together as I heard them talk on the 2 way radios we used back then.  I was struggling in a remote area with customers that didn’t really like our company much, with products that didn’t perform all the time.  Either the cobalt catalyst in the sodium sulfite didn’t react fast enough to reduce the oxygen in the steam generator feed water or the emulsion breakers couldn’t produce dry oil in the heater treaters like my competitors.  One time a Unocal Foreman told me, as I was starting my oil treatment chemicals, “if your chemical makes my treaters reject, you better be able to eat crude oil and shit dollar bills, God damn it”.  Those old foremen were a tough breed.  And it made me rough around the edges at a time when I should have been mellowing as I raised 2 daughters. 

I got one of them back one day when a demonstration backfired.  I tried to get the water treatment business in one particular plant for years.  I felt I was close and wanted to go in for the kill with a demonstration of my desire to do a good job.  I got a jar of oysters at the store, the big Pacific oysters.  I trimmed one up so that it resembled a round fleshy ball.  I put it in a sample jar with alcohol, but the oyster dissolved.  So I got another one, trimmed it up and put it in a jar of tap water.  I sealed it up and took it out on a Friday to one crotchety old foreman that took my cocktails and lunches for years, but never gave me any business.  I put the jar, with the oyster in it, on his desk and said, “I want your business so bad that I’ll give you my left nut”.  And it really looked like a testicle that was just cut out of a scrotum.   He thought that was the funniest this he ever saw.  He put it up on the window sill behind his desk.  But when I saw him in the field on Monday, he was mad as hell and wanted to kill me.

“What the Hell was that fuckin’ thing you put in that jar?” 

“ I told you it was my left nut”.

“You son-of –a –bitch, it exploded over the weekend and my office smells like shit”.

It was a good thing that the housekeeper cleaned up the mess, because we both ended up getting a good laugh out of it.  Funny thing is that he did award me the account after years of trying.  And the day that I went to the office to tell my manager the good news, he gave me my notice and fired me.  It was not related to the stunt I pulled, we all thought that was great.  “The numbers don’t work out”, he said.  8 weeks later, I was back out at Unocal selling Pall filters.

Troy and I talk and laugh about such stories from our young selling days.  We need to do it more often. 

The new Steak and Grape restaurant on Coffee and Hageman in Bakersfield was a very nice surprise when I met my friend Troy there for lunch today.  The last restaurant in that location was the Basque Café, formerly Maitia’s Basque.  The interior has been tastefully redone with nice carpet in the dining room, which makes it quiet for visiting, unlike so many new restaurants with concrete or tile floors that are so noisy that you can’t even enjoy a conversation. 

http://www.steakandgrape.com/

I had a rare occasion to meet “Troyski” because I made a wine delivery to him.  Along with my club shipment of Brochelle 2010 Zinfandel, I brought back some extra.  I first discovered Brochelle Zinfandel in 2006 when I was perusing the wine at my favorite wine cellar at Luigi’s.  I read the back of the label which describes Brochelle as… “ tucked away on a steep hillside on the west side of Paso Robles, CA… warm days and cool nights… head pruned and dry farmed vines, produce low yields and intensely flavored fruit… neither fined nor filtered and opens up beautifully when decanted…”

That sounds like how Le Cuvier is made.  I tried it then and found it to be a rare wine that hit me with a “WOW” When I tasted it.  I recommended it to Troy and I remember him telling me it was the best wine he ever had. 

http://www.brochelle.com/

Café Med used to carry it also when their wine selection was more extensive.  Betty and I had the Brochelle 2010 Zinfandel at Valentien Café and Wine Bar recently.  It was $50 at the restaurant, which is a bargain compared to rest of the wine list.  It was the perfect accompaniment to our filet mignon’s that night.  The Brochelle 2010 Zinfandel was the highlight of the meal.  Brochelle also produces a Ridge Top Reserve Zinfandel which is extremely limited and only available to the wine club members – like me.

With our modest transaction out of the way, we ordered lunch at Steak and Grape.  Troy ordered the steak sandwich ($13.95), which was served with lovely sautéed vegetables and a small bunch of grapes.  The steak looked delicious cooked medium rare.  I had the salmon salad ($12.95).  I ordered it with spinach instead of greens.  The salmon was a generous 6 oz portion, pan seared perfectly, almost crispy on the outside and just done in the middle which left it moist and tender.  The spinach was tossed in Champaign vinaigrette and the vegetables were sautéed.  The salad was also topped with artichoke hearts and sliced avocado.   Both the steak sandwich and the salmon salad were large meals that neither of us could finish.  I highly recommend Steak and Grape for lunch and I look forward to a dinner experience.

The Biggest Loser

It’s official.  I broke the 30 Lb. barrier, my total weight loss since January is 31.8 Lbs.  To coin a phrase from a friend of mine, I made Weight Watchers my Bitch.  It is simply a mental commitment to eat less and exercise more.  And tracking points works for me. 

During the winter I had cabbage & vegetable stew either for lunch or dinner almost every day.  And when I went out for lunch, I usually had a salad and most times only eat half of it.  And I switched from blue cheese dressing to vinaigrette and cut out the bread and butter.  Now that it’s getting into summer, I eat a spinach salad almost every day.  I think Popeye had the right idea.  I’m looking forward to our summer tomato pie, only this summer, I’ll have to make it without the crust.  And the topping, shredded cheddar cheese and mayonnaise will have to be light and sparse.

My favorite summer dinner is a generously seasoned and grilled steak with tomato pie and a bottle of Le Cuvier Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel.  The tomato pie is only worth cooking in the summer when tomatoes are vine ripened.  I have found that the summer fruit stands and farmers markets are the best places to find good tomatoes if you can’t grow your own.  And the vine ripened Roma’s are excellent because there is less juice and more flesh with richer flavor for the tomato pie.  Here is our receipe:

Tomato Pie

Start with a pie crust in a pie dish.  Brush it with egg yolk and bake until the crust is partially cooked, about 15 minutes at 350.  The egg yolk will be fully cooked.  This seals the crust from getting soggy with the tomatoes. 

Meanwhile, par boil the tomatoes (usually 5-6 medium) enough so that the skins can be removed (you’ll know when the skins crack).  When the tomatoes have cooled, remove the skins and squeeze out as much juice as you can.

Take the crust out of the oven and sprinkle with fresh chopped basil and green onion tops.    Slice the tomatoes into the pie shell and fill the pie crust.  Add additional basil, green onion, salt and pepper (a little oregano is good also) on top of the tomatoes.

 In a separate bowl, shred a ½ Lb. of cheddar cheese and mix in a ¾ cup of mayonnaise.  (This mixture also makes a great dip for crackers and makes killer baked cheesy bread on a French roll)  Cover the top of the tomatoes with the cheese mixture.  Press with your fingers to seal the top of the pie to the crust.  Bake for about an hour until the top is browned and bubbly.  It’s best to let it sit for a while to cool as the melted cheese and tomatoes hold the heat and can cause 3^rd degree burns in the mouth.  Blistered skin in the mouth takes away from the enjoyment of the steak and the wine.  The Tomato pie is actually better the next day.  Reheat it in the oven not the microwave.  I like to reheat it on the top level in the barbeque. 

One of my favorite places for lunch is Tahoe Joe’s.  They have killer salads for $10 that includes lean steak or chicken and a nice light vinaigrette dressing.  The last lunch I had at Tahoe Joe’s I tried the seared Ahi tuna appetizer.  It had a generous portion of tuna and a small bit of greens.  It costs $10 and is a delicious plate of protein.  I tried the same thing at The Padre Hotel in the bar at happy hour.  The portion of tuna is half the size, but the salad portion is larger.  The price at the Padre is $13.  And at happy hour we had that, 3 slider burgers 2 glasses of wine and a margarita.  It wasn’t much to eat and cost $46.  However, we made up for it at the Fox Theater for Flicks at the Fox and had a large bag of popcorn.  The bar at the Padre was really noisy that Friday night and was not a great happy hour experience for me.  I much prefer Café Med for happy hour.  The Padre has the 2^nd floor rooftop lounge that is open at 6 PM and during the week has good deals for drinks and food,  And if you can catch a night when they feature Jazz singer Candace Freeman, that is a real treat worth attending. 

http://www.thepadrehotel.com/?gclid=CIH97uz_4a8CFQF7hwodpGIR-Q

The Scorpion at Luigi's

The Scorpion at Luigi’s

Luigi’s is one of the best lunch experiences in Bakersfield. It has been family owned for over 100 years. On Friday, my last day on the job with Cameron, the Pall filter guys took me and my inside salesman to lunch. I know they wanted to pump me for information while they still had a chance. That’s cool, I have a legendary 26 years of information that I will not be using any longer. Friday at Luigi’s can be very busy. It’s not uncommon to have to wait an hour for a table. So we arrived early and got a table on the patio. It was a beautiful spring day with the flowers on the patio in bloom. I ordered the Friday seafood special, sautéed salmon topped with candied walnuts and a small Giovanna salad (instead of pasta). My inside guy ordered the mussels.

We ordered a side of blue cheese and pickled tongue to go with the rolls that are also served with a few slices of Italian cold cuts and cheese. The sugar in the candied walnut topping made a sweet and savory crust on the salmon. The generous portion of salmon was delicately cooked, delicious and moist.

As we all were being seated, I got an e-mail message that a customer needed some filters.  We did not have them in stock, but we had everyone at the table to make things happen.  The distributor sent a text to check on his inventory in Houston.  They had stock and could still make a shipment that afternoon when UPS picked up.  My inside guy gave a verbal PO and I e-mailed the customer that he would have filters on Wednesday.  Even though it’s my last day, I’m still excited to see the transaction happen from the table as the blue cheese and pickled tongue is being served. 

I commented, “I can’t believe that I give a shit about this order, it’s my last day.  That is why Ross and Pat call me the Scorpion.”

“What does that mean?”

I explained that when we were all taking cuts in commission and benefits at my last job, I kept on selling and working hard over every prospect and every sale while some of the other salesmen worked only half-heartedly.  When they asked why I was still working so hard, I would say, “I can’t help it, it’s in my nature.  Like the Frog and the Scorpion.”  And I explained, as the story goes, the frog and the scorpion were on the river bank one day and the scorpion asked the frog to take him across the river on his back.  The frog said NO, you will sting me and I’ll drown.  The scorpion says, I promise I will not sting you.  If I sting you then we will both drown.  So the frog agreed and half way across the river, the scorpion stings him.  And as they are sinking into the river, the frog says, why did you sting me?  Now we will both drown.  The scorpion says, “I can’t help it, it’s my nature.” 

I got the story from the Soprano’s in the episode where Tony takes over the sporting goods store from his friend as payment for money loaned in a poker game.  As Tony and his crew is selling everything in the store and charging the guys credit cards to the limits and the guy loses his family, his livelihood, his inventory and is sleeping in the store in his last sleeping bag, he asks Tony, “Why did you do this to me?”  Tony says, “It’s in my nature” and tells the story of the Frog and the Scorpion.  It’s a lesson that we can all learn from when judging someone’s character. 

Barns and Nobel

For years I would go to Barns and Nobel to search for new music that I could listen to samples of on the head sets they provided.  I could scan the bar code on the CD and tell if I liked the music or not.  I have found a lot of great new music this way.  And as a result Barns and Nobel sold me many new CDs.  Some time ago some “genius” in the Barns and Nobel corporate office decided to remove the listening devices from the stores.   When I complained to the store manager in Bakersfield about this bad decision, she told me to call the corporate office in New York.  And this week in Houston, I found the same thing.  Only this time I got the corporate phone # (800-THE-BOOK).  I’ll call on Monday and suggest that they provide head phones with a credit card or drivers license deposit at the counter.  That will protect the equipment and keep the riffraff out.  Please, join me and call the Idiot at Barns and Noble and ask them to put the listening stations back in their stores.  I wonder how many books they would sell if you couldn’t open them and sample the text.

Nicole Henry - Embraceable

My intuition was working when I bought the CD “Embraceable” by Nicole Henry without the benefit of hearing a sample.  If you like easy listening jazz vocals and love songs, I highly recommend it.  It was a lucky guess on my part.  I recognized some of the song titles, “Just a little lovin’”, “Since I Fell for You” and “Embraceable You”, my favorite song on the CD is “Waiting in Vain”.  It’s a song about a woman waiting for her lover to commit.  It’s a sad song, slow and beautiful.  The whole CD is great music for a Sunday morning or to enjoy while cooking with a glass of wine (preferable, Le Cuvier).  The CD is a bit peppier than Diana Krall which can be a little too slow sometime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncE35lIFWa4

Pawn Star

Pawn Star

Palm Springs is in the Colorado Desert east of Los Angeles and is HOT most of the year – except in the summer months – when is unbearably HOT.  The hotels and resorts run great specials in June because no one in their right mind would want to go during that time.  Hence, the sales managers of the company I worked for in 1995 decided to have a 3 day sales meeting there in mid June. 

Sometimes, it’s difficult to recall the date an event has taken place 15 years later.  However, I distinctly recall this sales meeting in Palm Springs in 1995 because I rode my new 1995 Harley Davidson Heritage Soft-tail.  Leaving early that Saturday morning in anticipation on beating the heat of the afternoon, the Tehachapi pass on Hwy 58 was still cool, but my leather vest was enough to keep me comfortable.  Through the Mojave Desert in mid morning, over the Cajon Pass on I-15 and through the remote high desert, I took the back roads as much as possible.  By 1:00 PM I was riding down out of the high desert into the Palm Springs basin and the temperature got hotter and hotter as I approached the low desert of I-10.  By the time I got to the destination “resort”, I was parched and exhausted from the 115 F dry desert airs at 75 mph. 

I left my Harley parked out in front of the lobby, checked in and joined the other type-A personalities that composed our sales team who had already started to coalesce at the only reasonable place, at the pool.  The beers tasted good and the pool was instant refreshment.  Something happened to us when we got together.  We were all remote sales people and had been friends for years so getting together was a time to compare stories and share opinions.  Everything was funny and nothing was off limits.  Especially reminiscing how cheap our managers were for having an annual meeting in Palm Springs in June.  Did I say it was 115 degrees?

Tory finally shows up by the pool with a cool little portable bar.  Thank God, because the drinks are expensive and there were no managers out yet with an open tab.  You’ve seen these portable bars, a cheap plastic case holding some glasses, a cocktail spoon, jigger, strainer and shaker.  Tory’s bar also included a bottle of Jack Daniels and a little bottle of maraschino cherries.  I don’t drink the hard stuff anymore (I don’t drink any less either).  He started making Manhattans, a glass of ice filled with Jack Daniels and a spoon of the cherry juice.  The sweetness of the cherry juice took the edge off the whiskey.  At the time I had not remembered tasting a cocktail so good, so refreshing – around fun people, in the pool, telling stories.  Man, the first one was so good.  I’ll have another, and another.  The 115 degree heat that ended up being closer to 120 F in the late afternoon, the fatigue and the cocktails were a deadly combination.  I should have taken my dad’s advice about cocktails: “they are like a woman’s breasts, one is not enough and 3 are too many”.   Especially when they are in a 6 oz glass, in 120 degree heat and the afternoon sun and having too much  fun to keep count. 

I survived with no mishaps and a great memory and recipe for Manhattans.  Sometime later I saw a portable bar in an antique store.  This one was from the 50’s and in perfect shape.  Not cheap plastic, but leather like with brass hardware and locking clasps.  Now I can make the Manhattans at the next party.  I kept the bar in my home office ever since, on guard for the next party.  I never used it once.  Now in 2012, I’m moving back into my home office for my new job.  Betty put my prized portable bar out for the next Goodwill run.  I really could not object.  I hadn’t used it once and I don’t dink the hard stuff anymore (or any less – an old joke).  I loaded everything up and made the drop off at the Goodwill, but I just couldn’t dump off the bar.  I can sell this thing.  It will just get ruined at the Goodwill.  It’s not like I need the money.  It represents a fond memory and if I can sell it, it may give that memory some more value.

I can sell it to an antique store.  That’s where I bought it.  I went to the Curiosity shop on 19^th street.  I like to old guy there in the wheel chair.  He seems like a man who could appreciate it.  I’ve bought a couple flasks from him over the years. 

He looks at it, “what’s missing?” he asks.

“It’s missing one glass” There were only five glasses of the original six, gold rimed I might add.

“No, these empty places?” Looking at the glass shaker with the cocktail recipe’s on it.

“That’s where the booze goes, Jack Daniels, Scotch and gin” I point out.  “It’s a self sustained portable bar.  It carries the booze and everything you need but the ice”.

“It’s nice.  But I have no place to put it and if I leave it open, people will just steal the stuff out of it or break it.  The most I would give would be $25.  But I can’t use it”.

“That’s cool”.  I didn’t want to sell it that bad anyway.

So I tried the Wooden Nickel where the crack heads fence the stuff they steel from breaking and entering.  The guy there says, “That’s cool” and tries to find some kind of value on his computer.

 “What do you want for it?” he asks.

“You have a cheap plastic one with nothing in it for sale on the shelf back there for $29.  You can sell this one for at least $60.  I’d like to get $25”.  I figure like on “Pawn Stars” these guys will really low ball you, so I better ask double what I would be happy with.  If I can get $10, it’s better them schlepping this thing around downtown Bakersfield any longer.

“Sorry, I have to pass” he decides. 

After my Dr’s appointment, I thought I’d give it one more try.  I went to the Pawn shop on 19^th street just east of Chester.  Waiting in line behind the druggies, the guy behind the glass calls me over and asked to take a look at the case I was carrying.

“What do you got”? 

“A portable bar”

I open it up for his perusal, “That’s cool”.  It’s the common assessment from everyone that saw it.  “Where is the rest of it?”

“It’s all there.  The gold rimmed glassed, the shaker, the cork screw, spoon, jigger, keys for the lock.  These places are for the booze, Jack Daniels, Scotch, Gin.  Everyone that comes in here looking for one of your guitars will want this bar to take with him on his gigs.  Every rock star needs a portable bar”.

“What do you want for it”?  I could tell he liked it. 

“$25 dollars”. 

“I’ll give you $10”

“How about $20”?  You know it’s cool.

“I’ll give you $10”

“Can you do $15?”  This guy is not going to budge.   I guess we all watch the same show on TV. 

“I’ll give you $10 dollars.”

 “Come on man, you’ll sell this for $60 dollars here.”

“I doubt that.  I’ll give you $10 dollars”

“OK.  You’ll probably take it home with you, it’s so cool” I said as he took it from me.

I took the $10 dollars.  It’s better than leaving it at the Goodwill.  Maybe someone will make some memories.  I’m such a Pawn Star. 

When I told Betty about it and that it was my next blog, she says, “did you take a picture of it for your blog?”  When your readers see how cool it is, they would give you more that $10 dollars for it” 

“Now you tell me”.