Everybody likes spicy sausage balls!

I spent the weekend at my Mom's with the intention of making sausage for The Party. Sadly, or Fortuitously depending on your opinion, we were plagued with disasters from the word go. First the sausage machine we bought for the occasion was a piece of crap. Second, the old sausage machines were and continued to be crap and unusable. Third, Schulze the Sausage King gave us the wrong casings: sheep intestines instead of pig intestines (too thin). Being infinitely resourceful ladies, we decided to salvage what we could and make little cocktail meatballs out of the tasty sausage. Everyone likes meatballs, right?!

I also got a chance to try out New Sammy's Cowboy Bistro, which I had been curious about since I found out about it. According to some, it is one of best restaurants in the West. It is owned and run by a couple from SF - she used to work at Chez Panisse and he was a wine importer. They had a very well-regarded restaurant north of SF, but it crashed and burned rather spectacularly and they ran to Oregon with creditors and the IRS nipping at their heels. Now, NSCB is supposed to be a down-home French-style bistro where they grow most of the herbs and veg out back. Mom had a bad experience there some years ago (attitude!), so she has not been back. I finally convinced her to give it another shot.

Disappointing, in a word. My starter, grilled calamari stuffed w dungeness crab and rhubarb-kumquat relish, was boring and flavorless. I had lamb loin chops (gristly and tough) with blackmint risotto for my main. Both would have been ok if Mom had made them at home, but they were both expensive so I sort of hoped the dishes would get up off the plate and do a little dance for me. Mom and Victor ordered a goat cheese ravioli with wild leeks and served with a truffle flan. Except there was no truffle flan. Then the response when asked was "oh there was a miscommunication between me [the server] and the kitchen" - I file that response under "Your Problem/Not Mine". The answer in this situation is always "Sorry, how can I make you feel less like we just pulled a fast one on you". Anyway, by that time we were underwhelmed by the whole experience (although the suggested Cotes du Rhone with the lamb was fab) so we skipped dessert (! I know!) and toddled off. Ashland has much nicer comparably priced restaurants to put up with that drama. I shant be back.

On a separate note, some people have asked me about a friend of mine who is currently going through a bit of a tough time. He's ok. Thanks for asking.