George Geary Tours Presents: New Orleans 2015!

Award Winning George Geary Culinary Tours:

Presents the 22nd Anniversary

"The Great "Nawlins Tour"

March 6th - Match 9th, 2015

Brochure!         ggeary@aol.com 

www.georgegeary.com      #chefgeary

France... Here we Come May 2014!

Award winning George Geary Tour Company will be traveling with a lucky group of people to the 18th season to the South of France in May 2014 This trip is all new all exciting! Nothing like any of the previous years! Everything but your flight is included! And the pricing is the same as 2009. Years prior you would have to have a rental car.. Not now! We pick you up at the airport and off to the Adventures of France. If you have any foodie friends that you think would enjoy this trip please pass on the information!

Here is a link to the brochure    France 2014 

Norway.... Waffles

The Waffles of Norway

I recently returned from a 7 day cruise of The Netherlands and Norway. We started in Rotterdam the home port of Holland America Lines and also the ms. Rotterdam. We sailed to Oslo, the Fjords, Flam and a few places in-between.

Many places served waffles. cold waffles. I am used to a nice crispy hot butter melting waffles. Not the Dutch or Norwegians. They make waffles and stack them up with just a towel on top to keep warm. Served with a nice raspberry compote and thickened cream or sour cream. Here are the waffles I had above Flam, Norway

Norway Waffles

America in Summer

Last week I was in Chicago judging contestants (James Beard winning chefs to home chefs) for a new show called The Taste with Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson it will be on ABC in the fall. It was exciting to see the process for the first 20 contestants. Then… I was tired of the same “point of view” everyone had. Nobody was original. Everyone used the words.. Fresh, localized, close to home, organic, farm to table etc. It was like everyone heard it and penned it! I questioned most of them on the view they had. Fail!

Now I ask restaurateurs if you are into farm to table and nothing being grown/raised further then a 50 (or what ever you have chosen) mile radius, what about your supplies such as dishes, pottery, tables, linens, glassware etc.

After the Los Angeles Open Cast Call I drove to Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice, CA to a wonderful place that carries pedestal cake plates and domes. Speaking with Sue the owner of Bountiful, she told me that the cake plates come from one of only two American glass manufactures left in business. She carry’s about 40 different colors, shapes and sizes. All in all the shop had hundreds stacked all over the place! It’s a site to see. I picked up a Buttercream colored plate.

I love road trips! This past July 4^th weekend I set out to show the Midwest to Neil and Jonathan. Neither had been to the areas we setout for. We started at Cedar Point on the 4^th. What says America then a rollercoaster ride off of Lake Erie? Small towns of Ohio to the big cities, we covered hundreds of miles in 6 days. A goal was American Products and small towns.

Last June I was impressed with the new “Made in America” campaign from Starbucks. Many products are coming to market and a great heavy mug that I gave to my father for Fathers day. It was made at the American Stein and Mug Company in East Liverpool. This area that overlooks the Ohio Rver and borders West Virginia is in dire need of production factories to return. Only a few pottery makers were still in operation.

Homer and Hall had tours and a warehouse with seconds, remainders and first run pottery. I bought too much to where we had to ship boxes home. The Homer Pottery was packed with hundreds of shoppers looking to get the great deals.

Put your food on US Made pottery! It will taste so much better…

Homer Laughlin Co. “Fiesta” Pottery  

http://www.hlchina.com/

Hall China Company

www.hallchina.com

Bountiful

1335 Abbot Kinney Blvd

Venice, CA 90291

310-450-3620

www.bountifulhome.com

Italian Limonchello

Here in Southern California it seems most homeowners have a citrus tree of sorts. I have 5! When my lemon tree is packed with fresh lemons I love to zest, juice and save the bounty. This year I decided to make a recipe that I got from my former tour guide that used to work with me in Italy. Maria Teresa... She was a very special lady!

One warm night in Rome a group of us sat at a family owned trattoria.. After the feast of roasted vegetables, pastas and the like the son brought a bottle that had been in a block of ice to the table with little glasses for each of us. Limonchello. I was hooked. You can only take a small bit, but refreshing it is! I created a lemon cake that we soak in the lemonchello and serve with fresh berries.

The Recipe: Italian Limonchello