The Story of Kismet and Other Major Breaking News

If you’re not familiar with the word kismet, it means fate, or destiny. It’s one of those old, beautiful words that you never hear, until you do, and then you hear it all the time. It also happens to be the name of a property in the wine country where Michele and I will soon be moving the show, and eventually our lives. 

That’s right, after filming more than 1,800 recipes in San Francisco, over the past 12 years, we’re heading to a little slice of heaven just outside Sebastopol. To hear the story of how this all came to be, is to understand the true meaning of kismet.

The seasonal pond at "Kismet," as it looked
several decades ago.

While we both adore San Francisco, for the past few years we’d talked about finding a nice, quiet place “in the country,” where we could work, relax, and enjoy fruit and vegetables grown on our very own tiny farm. It was a wonderful dream, but with northern California real estate prices such as they are, we feared that’s all it would ever be. Yet, we persisted in our search, driving out of town almost every weekend to attend open houses for any and all of the fixer-uppers in our budget.

These homes always looked great in the photos, but deep down we knew as we drove through the picturesque valleys of vineyards and fruit trees, that it probably was too good to be true. And, it always was. There are great houses in the wine country, and there are affordable houses in the wine country, but there are no great, affordable houses in the wine country. It was during one of these particularly disappointing trips that fate and destiny smiled upon us, and we learned about a local property, which would eventually, somehow, against all odds, become ours.

There are grapes.

After driving up from the City, on a beautiful autumn day, we arrived to a locked, open house. I don’t know much about real estate, but I do know the house is supposed to be unlocked, with someone in it to show you around. Anyway, while waiting outside for the realtor, we started chatting with a lovely woman who mentioned she might be putting her mom’s home up for sale in the spring. In case you’re wondering, the realtor finally showed up, and the house was predictably terrible. Anyway, she said that since we were already in town, we were welcome to swing by and take a peak. She gave us the address, and told us to look for a large wooden sign over the drive that said, “Kismet.”

These are called Naked Ladies, and they are flaunting
themselves in front of our persimmon tree.

Yes, believe it or not, the way we’d heard about “Kismet,” was literally the definition of kismet, and as we pulled into the drive, and looked up at the sign, we both knew instantly that this was the spot. Our euphoria was short-lived however; as we realized that even the most dilapidated fixer-upper in this area, on two-acres this gorgeous, was probably beyond our means. Actually, not probably – it was beyond our means, which will help explain the rest of the breaking news in this post.

For the first time in Food Wish history, I’m going to try to generate some extra revenue from the channel. And no, that sponsored instant mashed potato video doesn’t really count. I could have, and maybe should have, done this a long time ago, but I honestly never felt like it was something I had to do. Now, I do. You may have already noticed we’ve just started hawking t-shirts and other swag underneath the videos, and that’s part of this effort, but the much bigger, and way more important part is that we’re going to start offering a premium Food Wish membership for viewers who want to enjoy some additional content, and other fabulous perks.

This is the pear tree under which
I saw a tarantula hawk wasp.

I’ve never really done this kind of thing before, but I’m told by people who have that a certain part of the audience might get upset. No one can explain why. If you’re one of these people, don’t be. Not only will all the free content you’ve come to know and love still be free, you’ll also be getting something viewers have be clamoring for since the channel started… a link to a fully formatted written recipe, with ingredients AND detailed instructions! This link will be included in the description box under every recipe upload going forward, whether you’ve joined as a member or not.

I’d like to think that after sharing free videos for a decade plus, a certain number of people would join no matter what these extra offerings might be, but that little bit of passive-aggressiveness aside, I really do want those of you who are able to support this effort, to get your money’s worth. So, besides the obvious karmic benefits, here's what the membership gets you. 

All About the Recipe with Chef John: While everyone will have access to the written recipes, the blog posts that accompany the recipe videos will be moving to the membership platform. I realize that only a small percentage of people who watch the videos actually follow the link back to the blog post, and most of them are just there to get the ingredient amounts, but still, I really do enjoy writing these posts. I love being able to provide some additional, and hopefully entertaining background info about the recipes, along with assorted tips and tricks, and so having access to this content will represent the most significant perk of joining as a member.

Live Chat Q&A’s: Twice a month, I'll do a live chat with members, where you’ll get to ask me anything. Literally anything. Of course we’ll talk about food, music, and sports, but I’ll also answer your questions about life and love. What could go wrong?

Embarrassing Outtakes and Bloopers: Who doesn’t enjoy listening to, and/or watching other people’s disastrous failures? Whenever things go terribly wrong, I’ll post the raw footage for all to see.

Keeping Up on Kismet: Come along with us, as we embark on this great adventure! We’ll share videos and photos of the new kitchen studio progress, as well as our attempts to landscape, garden, and possibly farm things. Not only will you be able to see what we’re doing, and criticize it, you’ll also be able to offer us much needed advice, and guidance, since there’s a good chance you know more about this stuff than we do. For example, how do I keep wasps out of my carpenter bee traps? 

Let me finish by saying I hope you find these perks compelling enough to join, but even if you don’t, I hope you join anyway. Whether it’s long term, or just for a month or two, your support will make a big difference. By the way, I’m going to need this week to set up the membership platform, as well as the new system for providing written recipes, so we won’t be able to upload any new videos until next week, when all this goes live. Thank you for your consideration, and, as always, enjoy!

Click here for the direct link to join!

 

Hilah’s Happy Hour featuring Chef John’s First Podcast

That’s right, I did a podcast! Which, come to find out, is a great way to learn what those are. It’s basically like listening to the radio, only more complicated. Anyway, I appeared on Hilah’s Happy Hour, with the lovely and talented Hilah Johnson.

As you’ll hear, she does most of the heavy lifting in this free-flowing interview, but you'll also get a few behind-the-scenes tidbits from me, as well. I had a lot of fun doing it, and invite you to follow this link to check it out on her blog, as well as check out her highly entertaining recipe videos. Enjoy!

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2016 Super Bowl Prediction Using Chicken Wing Bones

Welcome to this year’s installment of “Get Rich Quick with Chef John,” where you cash in on my mystical method for picking Super Bowl winners, using the lost art of wing bone reading. I know it sounds crazy, but if you think this is some kind of joke, think again. In the 49 years I’ve been doing this, there hasn’t been a single (major) university study proving these results aren’t 100% accurate. Not one single study. 

Sure, we’ve had a couple of recent, very minor “discrepancies,” but instead of wasting time arguing who's at fault, or who lost who’s college fund, I prefer to look toward the future. This year the bones point to a decisive Carolina victory, and while I’ll be personally rooting for Old Man Manning, if you want to win money, you’ll put everything you have on the Panthers. 

I’m just glad the Patriots aren’t in it. They’re shady. Anyway, good luck, and I’ll apologize in advance for any income tax issues that pop up after this windfall. Good luck, and as always, enjoy!

Next Up: Something with Peach

I think I’m going to start a new tradition, where the first video I post after a vacation, is whatever the most delicious thing I had during my time away was. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but I can tell you it involved peaches, and was amazing. Stay tuned!

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Have a Great Fourth of July Weekend!

We’re going to take a couple days off for the holiday, but wanted to wish you a very safe, and festive 4th of July! 

Fabulous summer cookouts are just one of the many things that makes America great, and I hope you’re involved one of those tomorrow; preferably serving something you saw on Food Wishes (like the no-baked cheesecake flag cake pictured here). Enjoy the food, the fireworks, and possibly the adult beverages, and we’ll be back next week with brand-new videos, as usual. Stay tuned! 

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Celebrating Memorial Day – Paying Tribute to Those Who Literally Fight for Your Right to Party

Photo (c) Flickr user Vince Alongi

I always feel a little guilty grilling on Memorial Day. Being surrounded by all kinds of tasty food and cold beer seems inappropriate considering the holiday's solemn meaning. Maybe it would be better to honor our vets by eating what they had to survive on while defending our country.

What if instead of gnawing on a stack of sticky barbecued ribs, while sitting in a lawnchair, we dug a hole in the ground, and enjoyed something squeezed out of a pouch instead? There aren't many delicious things that come in squeezable pouches.

So, if the chicken get a little dry today, or whoever made the beans was just going through the motions, don't think of it as a disappointing meal; think of it as unintentional tribute all those brave souls who sacrificed for our freedoms. Enjoy!

Attn: Lads and Lasses

I just wanted to take a break from the buffalo and bacon meatloaf video I'm working on to share a few St. Patrick's Day menu ideas. I know it's going to be hard to concentrate after hearing about buffalo and bacon meatloaf, but if you can pull it together, take a peek at some of my favorite Irish-inspired recipes below. Just click on the title to see the original post and ingredients. Enjoy!

	Irish Pork Stew with Baby Cabbage Okay, so they're Brussels sprouts, but still, this was one of the best Irish stews I've ever had.
	Shepherd’s Pie A classic comfort food your flock will, well, flock to.
	Coconut Milk Corned Beef and Cabbage I gave the most traditional St. Patrick's Day recipe a little twist. Actually, a pretty big twist.
	Colcannon  The name has nothing to do with viking-killing leprechauns.

Happy National Pancake Day!

Since there is no National Mancake Day (yet), I decided to use today’s National Pancake Day celebration as an excuse to repost this mucho macho variation. 

These bacon and cheddar corn pancakes were created as a Father’s Day brunch special, and have been very well received. I hope you give these “mancakes” a try soon, like tonight. Click here to see the original post. Enjoy!

What’s Your Foodie IQ?

My friends at Allrecipes.com have been working on some online food-related quizzes, and wanted me to check one out to see what I thought. I was hesitant at first, since I was obviously going to get all the questions right, and have to tell them their test was way too easy, thereby possibly hurting someone’s feelings.

However, much to my chagrin, I only scored a 15. Apparently, the quiz is not too easy. Do you think you could beat Chef John’s score? Find out here!

2015 Super Bowl Prediction Using Chicken Wing Bones

Once again, it’s time I let you cash in on my magical method for picking the Super Bowl winner, using the ancient art of chicken wing bone reading. I can't tell you how I learned this, or why anyone would take it seriously, but I can tell you the bones are NEVER WRONG.

As you’ll see, the Seattle Seahawks will beat the New England Patriots. It's a guaranteed lock. Bet the farm, the house, and the farmhouse. Many people are saying that the Pats are going to lose because of bad karma, but that can’t be the reason. Have you ever seen a Bill Belichick press conference? If that were true, they'd never win a game.

Anyway, good luck, and I’ll apologize in advance for all those relatives bothering you for loans after you collect your winnings. Good luck, and as always, enjoy!

Going Butternuts

I’m not sure when National Butternut Squash Day is, or if that’s even a thing, but if it is, I bet it’s right around this time of year. Things like sweet corn and vine-ripened tomatoes are now a distant memory (except in bad restaurants where they just serve that stuff all year anyway), but thankfully we have this delicious and nutritious winter alternative to tide us over.

My friend Carl Hanson has put together a great collection called, “One Winter Veggie, 11 Deliciously Inventive Recipes,” which I invite you to check out. You’ll see a few old Food Wishes favorites, as well as some new offerings. Enjoy!
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Culinary School in a Box, and Too-Good-to-Eat Christmas Cookies

My friends at Allrecipes.com have put together a series of online cooking classes, which could make a great gift for the foodies on your list. Whether they admit it or not, we all know your friends and family are envious of your culinary abilities, and secretly wish you’d teach them some of your skills.

Since that’s not going to happen anytime soon (hey, you’re busy, and they can’t afford your rates anyway), why not do the next best thing, and make them learn themselves? With any luck, they’ll practice their “homework” on you. Plus, think of all the time you’ll save wrapping a present.

In case you’re wondering, while I completely stand behind this offering, I'm not personally involved in the course instruction, nor do I directly profit from subscriptions to the school. For more info, head over to cookingschool.allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

Christmas Cookie Decorating Ideas

I’m not much of a cookie guy, and even less of a decorating cookie guy; so, since I’m no help, I thought I’d pass along this great post by Karen Gaudette, called “21 Fun And Creative Cookie Decorating Ideas. Because Christmas.”

Ironically, the ultimate goal with this kind of thing is to make a cookie so amazing, so intricate, and so visually arresting, that no one would dare bite into it. “How were the cookies? No idea, they were too nice to eat.” Just imagine. Enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce Like a Boss

Just in case you’re still deciding on which of the roughly one million different cranberry sauces you’ll be going with this Thanksgiving, here are a few ideas. Technically, the Cumberland isn’t a cranberry sauce, but it’s close enough, and serves the same delicious purpose. If you're tempted, just click on the bold titles, and away you go. I hope you give one of these great sauce a try, and as always, enjoy!

	Tangerine Cherry Cranberry Sauce Could you just use orange, and call it "tangerine?" Sure, why not, it's only your family you'd be misleading.
	Ginger Pear Cranberry Sauce This one just sounds like it will be great with roast turkey. In fact, when you tell people what it is, they'll say, "Oh, that sounds great." Try it, and see.
	Cumberland Sauce Do you think they just name any old sauce after the Duke of Cumberland? Well, they don't
	Maple Walnut Cranberry Sauce As you'll read, there was a time when I didn't think putting nuts in a cranberry sauce was a good idea. I've evolved on the issue.

I Love New York

The recently posted Beef on Weck served as a reminder of just how many great regional recipes come from Upstate and Western New York. Here are a few of my favorites that you may have missed. To see the full post and recipe, just click on the title, and away you go. Enjoy!

	Chicken Riggies The pride of Utica! Easy and delicious, this is Italian-American comfort food at it's finest.
	Chicken Spiedies This sandwich hails from Binghamton, and besides learning a great, new chicken recipe, you'll also learn what "zuzu" is.
	Syracuse Salt Potatoes Not only is this Syracuse salt potatoes recipe one of the most delicious ways to cook baby spuds, it’s also one of the most interesting.
	Cornell Chicken Despite being invented by an Ivy League professor, this simple grilled chicken recipe is nothing short of amazing.

Does This Count?

As I recently mentioned, I'd really love to make it to Video 2,000, and I just thought of a way to do that a little quicker than seven years. I may start doing golf tips on off days. This is me demonstrating my famous backwards-between-the-legs shot. I couldn't take a normal stance with the ball so close to the edge of the sand trap, so this was the only option. My father-in-law Al is on the green, and my sister-in-law Jennifer is filming. We were playing the gorgeous, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club. I don't remember if I made the put. ;) Enjoy!

Video 1,000! Your Most Frequently Asked Questions

As I joke in the video, this little Q & A should serve as irrefutable proof that I’ve made the right decision to stay off camera. Talking while being filmed isn’t that hard; it’s the part about making sense that’s the real challenge.

And if you’re thinking I took the easy way out here, just sitting around, talking to the camera, think again. These things are like a hundred times harder than a regular recipe video, so you’ll have to pardon all the questionable editing techniques. Despite the challenges, I really did enjoy finally getting to solve some of these mysteries for you.

By the way, if I didn’t happen to get to your question in this video, I will be doing the same thing for video 2,000, so hold that thought.  A heartfelt thank you for all the support you gave during the first 1,000, and we’re on to the next one. Enjoy!

Chef John is on Vacation!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be on vacation this week, visiting family in New York (my last one this year, I promise). Of course, we’ll continue to publish your comments and questions while I’m away, but I won’t be around to answer them. That means you’ll have to rely on your fellow foodwishers, which I’m sure will work out just fine. 

By the way, many of you have been contacting me with suggestions for my 1,000th video, which is only a few uploads away. If you have an idea, please pass it along. Thanks, and we’ll see you next week!

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Tasty Blasts from Summers Past

Just a little warm weather reminder for a few of my personal favorite summer recipes. If I had to, I could survive exclusively on corn, tomatoes, BLT's, and strawberries...at least for 3 months. If something strikes your fancy, click on the title and away you go. Enjoy! 

	Tomato and “Dirt” Salad With a name like "dirt salad," you know it's going to be great!
	Homemade Strawberry Soda The video Big Soda doesn't want you to see.
	Mexican Grilled Corn aka “Elote” This is the best way to eat corn. Not one of the best. The best.
	B.L.T. Pasta I know, it sounds too good to be true.

I’ve Been Parodied!

This hilarious video comes from the lovely and talented, Helen Rennie, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Fellow YouTubers Laura Vitale and ChefSteps are also given the business. Great job, Helen! 
 

Chef John is on Vacation!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be on vacation this week. We’ll continue to publish comments and questions while I’m gone, but I won’t be around to answer them. So yes, it will be very similar to when I’m not on vacation.

I can’t say for sure where I’m going, or what I’ll be doing, but I’m posting this beach picture to show one place I won’t be headed. I didn’t have any photos of me at the beach, but this one is very close to what you’d see (although, the giant cross would actually be a clock).

By the way, I have nothing against the beach, or walking around barely dressed, but the “Hey, who called a cab?” jokes get a little old. Hope you have a great week, and as always, enjoy!

- Photo courtesy of Flikr user Mr TGT. 

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