The Sherlock Holmes Pub in Carmel, California is closed now, but I used to love going there for British Pub fare and a Newcastle Brown Ale.
Thank you Monterey County Weekly for retrieving this fun article about “my local” out of the archives. The review follows:
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Au Jus: The Beef and Veal Society Game Created by Ruth Paget
One of the simplest sauce you can make for any type of meal is an au jus sauce, which is the cooking liquid. I add crushed shallot or garlic, sea salt, and chopped parsley to this and spoon it over the meat and buttered mashed potatoes and vegetables like green beans. I like simple preparations.
I mostly cook pork chops, T-bone steaks, lamb shank, and now that I am older hamburgers for events like July 4th. The secret to cooking these items is knowing the weight and the internal temperature for the doneness you would like. In this game, you will learn some basic buying and cooking skills that will make your beef and veal purchases the best value for your money.
Game Objectives:
1-Describe meat cut by name
2-Memorize cooking temperatures for desired doneness
3-Identify where cuts come from using an animal map
4-Reward: Learn to grill hamburgers
Materials Needed:
-The book Meat Illustrated: A Foolproof Guide by Cook’s Illustrated
-Index cards
-pen
-tracing paper
-notebook paper
-square stove top grill
-metal spatula
-meat thermometer
-your favorite fixings for hamburger
Game 1: Describe Meat Cut by Name
On an index card, write the main meat cut name and the subcategory name on the front. On the back of the card, note in your own words where the cut comes from on the cow or calf. You will use the following meat cut vocabulary for this game:
*chuck
-chuck-eye roast
-chuck-eye steak
-top-blade roast
-blade steak
-flat-iron steak
-bone chuck roast
*Rib
-first-cut standing rib roast
-second cut standing rib roast
-rib steak
-double-cut bone-in rib steak
-rib-eye steak
*Short Loin
-top loin roast
-boneless strip steak
-porterhouse steak
*Tenderloin
-whole beef tenderloin
-center-cut beef tenderloin roast
-filet mignon
*Sirloin -top sirloin roast -top sirloin steak -tri-tip roast -flap meat
*Round
-top round roast
-bottom round roast
-boneless eye
– round roast
*Brisket
-flat-cut brisket
-point-cut brisket
*Plate
-skirt steak
-beef plate ribs
*Flank
-flank steak
*Short Ribs
-English-style short ribs
-Flanken-style short ribs
*Shanks and oxtails
-beef shanks
-oxtails
*Veal
-shoulder roast
-veal rib chops
-veal cutlets
-veal shanks
Quiz yourself on the cut names and how to describe them till you know them. This list is long, but offers hours of free entertainment.
Game 2: Memorize Cooking Temperature for Desired Doneness
Page 11 in Meat Illustrated lists the cooking time temperatures while cooking and after resting to let cooking juices distribute evenly throughout the meat. There are only 10 items to memorize here, but they will make you feel more confident about cooking meat.
Write the doneness levels down on the front of the index cards for cooking temperature and resting temperature. On the back of the cards, note the temperature for the various levels.
Quiz yourself till you know the information.
Game 3: Describe where the meat cuts come from on an animal map
Use the tracing paper to outline the cow map in Meat Illustrated. Use a number to note where the main cuts come from. On notebook paper, write down the numbers. Use the map you drew on tracing paper to identify cuts and location and note them. Use the book’s animal map as an answer key.
Quiz yourself till you know the information.
Game 4: Reward: Grill Hamburgers according to the directions in Meat Illustrated
Enjoy your burger and be ready for July 4th and summer picnics.
Happy grilling!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
The 5 Ways to Cook with Grape Leaves blog that follows looks great:
https://blog.markethallfoods.com/inside-market-hall/5-ways-to-cook-with-grape-leaves
Sautéed Greek grape leaves with lemon juice and olive oil are called Horta. A blog recipe for them follows:
https://foragerchef.com/horta/
Department of Agriculture Information on how to prepare fresh grape leaves:
https://ucanr.edu/sites/default/files/2017-08/266942.pdf
Grape leaves’ nutrient profile follows:
https://foodstruct.com/food/grape-leaves
You might want to check this information with some other sources. I used this site, because I liked the visual presentation of information.
Reposted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Organic Spinach and Blue Cheese Salad at Stillwater Bar and Grill in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
My husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I decided to eat Sunday lunch at the newly re-opened Lodge at Pebble Beach, California.
Our restaurant choice was the Stillwater Bar and Grill, which has large windows that look out over the Pacific and the 18th (5-par) hole on the golf course. The Stillwater serves American food with a great selection of seafood.
What I really wanted on the fall day we went, though, was a salad.
Monterey County grows delicious organic produce, so I celebrated fall with a “feel-good” salad as people in Detroit where I grew up were wont to say about the Greek salads we consumed in abundance during winter months to stay healthy. Stillwater’s “feel-good” salad is the California Coastal Spinach Salad is a lacto-ovo vegetarian’s dream. (Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy in addition to produce.)
This vitamin-rich salad contains:
-baby spinach
-frisée lettuce
-magenta-colored endive
-corn kernals
-red grape halves
-cherry tomato halves
-small cucumber slices
-chunks of avocado
-chunks of Port Reyes blue cheese
-toasted and sliced almonds
The blue cheese dressing ties all these rather sweet ingredients together and adds additional protein and calcium to the blue cheese that is already in the salad. Blue cheese also contains iodine and selenium, which provide several health benefits as well.
Along with this delicious salad, I ate grilled baguette slices that had been stuffed with slices of Brie cheese and mushroom slices. The baguette slices were buttered, and the grilling gave them a golden, crunchy crust. The Brie cheese inside the baguette melted around the mushrooms, making each bite an oozing bite of deliciousness.
Laurent and Florence both ate a seared sole fillet with baby vegetables and drank a Tiefenbrunner pinot grigio from Italy’s northeastern Alto-Adige region, which borders Austria. (This region has also been called the Sud Tyrol.) Both Laurent and Florence said the fish and wine together were a nice way to begin celebrating the holidays.
For dessert, Florence and Laurent shared the Valrhona chocolate cake. I ate the toasted walnut cake that was loaded with caramelized milk whip and came with candied walnuts that were flavored with lavender. The desserts completed the meal and made me skip dinner.
The meal was just wonderful and filling.
The Stillwater Bar and Grill in Pebble Beach, California is a nice spot for weekend lunches with family (several came in while we were there) and gatherings for the holidays. The Lodge has private rooms and catering facilities for large events as well.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Deluxe Bar Nibbles at Traps Lounge in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
The place for deluxe bar nibbles at Pebble Beach, California is Traps Lounge located next to Pèppoli Restaurant (25 years at Pebble Beach and counting).
My husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I went out for a bar nibble meal recently that turned into a pretty delicious light dinner. Laurent and Florence shared an artisanal cheese plate that came with sharp cheddar cheese and loads of fresh Roquefort along with organic berries from Monterey County.
Laurent ordered a very good Italian wine to go with the cheese – a 2023 Chianti Classico made by Antinori. The bottle had the distinguishing marks of a good Chianti – a rooster on the label and the letters DOCG on a ribbon label around the wine bottle’s neck. DOCG means “Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita” in Italian and designates this Chianti as having the highest legal rank a wine can carry in Italy.
The Chianti Classico was dry and tasted of dried red berries and walnuts – all good flavors to go with artisanal cheese.
While Laurent and Florence ate the cheese, I ate a jumbo shrimp cocktail with horseradish-rich cocktail sauce, which I love. The meaty shrimp whetted my appetite for more bar nibbles.
I ordered the spicy, 10-wings plate with thick and creamy blue cheese dressing to share with Florence. This wing combination was famous as a specialty of Buffalo, New York when I was growing up in Detroit, Michigan. I liked being a working class sophisticate and always ordered the blue cheese dipping sauce like it was served in Buffalo as a teen.
Laurent ordered the spaghetti Bolognese (a chopped roast boar and tomato sauce) as his main dish. He said it tasted great with the Chianti Classico. This dish also came with shaved slices of Parmesan cheese.
The next time I go to Traps Lounge, I will order the pasta Bolognese, too. The spaghetti in this dish is house made and a little thicker than spaghetti made from dried pasta.
The bar nibbles quickly became a nice meal at Traps Lounge at Pebble Beach (California), because the food was so good.
If you like upscale bar dishes, the Traps Lounge at Pebble Beach is first-rate food tourism for you.
(Note: You can buy the Chianti Classico by Antinori at the Stave Tasting Room at Pebble Beach.)
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Tonic Fall Deli Lunch at the Gallery in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget
Cool, rainy fall weather was the perfect setting for a spa lunch outing at the Gallery Café in Pebble Beach, California for my daughter Florence Paget and me in mid-November 2025.
We ordered fried calamari to start that came with a horseradish-rich dipping sauce. This crunchy treat has iron, B vitamins, and protein in it. Moderation, though, in eating is the key to keeping off weight when eating the yummy, crunchy breading.
Then, I ordered a substantial deli-style Reuben sandwich that came with tender corned beef that was not overly salty, tangy Swiss cheese, salty but not watery sauerkraut, and piquant Russian dressing made with ketchup, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce. The bread, of course, was a slightly bitter, grilled marbled rye. I like this flavor combination.
The Reuben came with a neat mound of deep-fried onion rings and a house-made dill pickle. Onions contain many antioxidants, so I always order them when give that option.
My favorite thing to drink with a Reuben is a pilsner beer, but I ordered unsweetened iced tea instead. The tea the Gallery uses is a strong black one, probably Indian Darjeeling. Black tea is an antioxidant, so I also order tea on spa lunches. (I call pretty healthy lunches “spa lunches.)
My daughter Florence shared the calamari with me. For her main dish, Florence ordered a Killer Klub. The Killer Klub was made with the usual combination of turkey, Swiss cheese, tomato, and lettuce along with slices of fresh avocado – a very California touch. (Hamburger tastes good with avocado slices, too.)
For people who enjoy cool, fall weather, Pebble Beach offers several activities to do besides golf – golf lessons, horseback riding, spa services, and walks along the oceanfront. Bird watchers can often see several species fly right over their heads and nest.
I like to visit Pebble Beach to try out the dining options in fall, so I would add food tourism to the list of things to do at Pebble Beach, California.
Enjoy the perfect sweater weather this fall with a great meal!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
King Trumpet: The Mushroom Society Game Created by Ruth Paget
Different mushroom types provide varied nutritional and flavor profiles. In this game, you will gain knowledge to be a better mushroom purchaser and/or seller.
Game Objectives:
1-Know how various kinds of mushrooms grow
2-Know where (which countries or regions) different mushroom varieties come from
3-Know the nutritional value of different kinds of mushrooms
4-Know preferred cooking methods for each mushroom type
5-Reward 1: Choose a mushroom broth to make
6-Reward 2: Make a recipe from the book
Materials Needed:
-The book Mushroom Gastronomy by Krista Towns
-index cards
-pens
Game 1: Know How Various Kinds of Mushrooms Grow
Knowing how various kinds of grow helps you identify them in the wild and in stores or markets For this entire series of games you will be dealing with the following varieties of mushrooms.
Note on the front of an index card, the mushroom name. One the back of the index card, note how it grows and what it looks like:
1-beech (shimeji)
2-black trumpet
3-button cremini
4-portobello
5-candy cap
6-cauliflower (sparassis)
7-chanterelle
8-chicken of the woods
9-cordyceps
10-hedgehog
11-huitalacoche
12-king trumpet
13-lion’s mane
14-lobster mushroom
15-maitake
16-matsutake
17-morel
18-nebrodini
19-oyster
20-pioppino
21-porcini
22-reishi
23-shitake
45-truffle
Quiz yourself on the mushroom names and how they grow till you know them.
Game 2: Know Where (which country or region) Different Mushroom Varieties Grow
Knowing the country or region a mushroom comes from helps you determine what kind of cuisine it might go best with such as French or Italian.
Note the names of the mushroom varieties listed in game 1 on the front of an index card. On the back of the index card, note the region where the mushroom variety is from.
Quiz yourself on the mushroom variety and the country and/or region of origin till you know them.
Game 3: Know the Nutritional Value of Different Kinds of Mushrooms
Knowing the nutritional value of different kinds of mushrooms helps consumers make better purchasing decisions and sellers make better marketing materials.
For this game, note the mushroom variety name on the front of an index card and the nutritional value on the back that is listed in Mushroom Gastronomy.
Quiz yourself on the mushroom varieties and their nutritional value till you know them.
Game 4: Know the Preferred Cooking Methods for Different Mushroom Types
The book Mushroom Gastronomy details the different cooking methods for mushrooms. You might want to review this section before playing this game.
For this game, note the mushroom varieties from game 1 on the front of an index card. On the back of the index card, note the preferred cooking methods for each mushroom type.
Quiz yourself on the mushroom types and preferred cooking methods till you know them.
Game 5: Reward 1 – Choose a Mushroom Broth to Make
Mushroom broths can be used as vegan soup stocks, so making them is a useful skill to have. Mushroom broths taste meaty without the expense and have good nutrients.
Game 6: Reward 2 – Choose a Recipe to Make
Mushroom Gastronomy is a well-organized cookbook, so try the recipes as a society game. The Mushroom Medley section has recipes that will work with white button mushrooms from the grocery store.
Happy Gaming!
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France