Spicy Alaskan Flounder (Sole) Sandwich at Popeye's in Gilroy (South of San José), California by Ruth Paget

Spicy Alaskan Flounder (Sole) Sandwich at Popeye’s in Gilroy (South of San Jose), California by Ruth Paget 

Salinas dwellers like I am can take a quick 30-minute drive to Gilroy, California (south of San José on 101) for seasonal spicy Alaskan flounder sandwiches at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen. 

Popeye’s is famous for its generous portions in their fried chicken sandwich combos and their fried shrimp combos, but when Alaska flounder is in season, I always order their large spicy flounder combination meal. 

The large flounder filet is deep-fried and served on a brioche bun with spicy mayonnaise, thick pickles, and lettuce. The large combination comes with two side dishes. I always order the red beans and rice and thick and creamy coleslaw made with chopped cabbage, onions, and carrots in cream dressing. The beans and rice and flounder sandwich are spicy and get toned down by the coleslaw. 

Popeye’s offers lemonade among its beverage choices. The lemonade is tart, which l like a lot. I imagine the tart flavor comes from the Vitamin C in lemon juice. 

Popeye’s headquarters is in Miami, Florida, but the restaurant’s theme is Cajun food from Southern Louisiana. Cajun food is eaten throughout the southeastern US and is now spreading to California. 

After eating a delicious spicy flounder sandwich meal, you can stop in and buy books at Barnes and Noble, which is in the same shopping center. My daughter Florence Paget ran in on our last trip to buy The Poppy War series by R.F. Kuang for her mom, who was an East Asian Studies major in college. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Great Deal on British Food Book Today on Kindle by Ruth Paget

Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook of British food is $1.99 today on Kindle.  It has 650 recipes and is 2,372 pages long.  This is a deal, if you like British food.

I own this book and reconnect with my British heritage as I read through the recipes.  Other readers might enjoy it for this reason as well.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

University of Chicago Press Book Sale and Odyssey New Release by Ruth Paget

The University of Chicago Press has a book sale now through June 15, 2025 and a new release of the Odyssey translation out by Daniel Mendelsohn.

University of Chicago Press Sale Information

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Thank you Mercado Libre in Argentina for carrying my book by Ruth Paget

Thank you Mercado Libre in Argentina for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Visiting Mozart's Childhood Home in Salzburg, Austria by Ruth Paget

Visiting Mozart’s Childhood Home in Salzburg, Austria by Ruth Paget 

When my husband Laurent and I lived in Stuttgart (Germany), our daughter Florence Paget came to visit us when she was on a semester break from Juilliard for three weeks. 

She was studying playwriting, but I thought she really should visit the Mozart House in Salzburg, Austria for school spirit. (Stage mom Ruth was the one who secretly wanted to visit Austria again.) So, we set out for Austria in our car and enjoyed driving through Bavaria east to Salzburg. 

Salzburg, which means salt city, is close to the German border. Once we arrived in the Altstadt, old city, where Mozart’s home is located, we went out for a walk. This area has soaring Baroque architecture, which may have inspired Mozart on carriage rides or walks around town as a child. 

Mozart’s home is not elaborate which reminds you that music requires a lot of practice to master the basics before you delve into creativity. Mozart was a child prodigy, who no doubt practiced a lot, but he must have been motivated to achieve what he did at such an early age. 

I like to think that he was motivated by positive rewards such as performing in beautiful clothes for the emperor and aristocrats on big occasions, but for the everyday motivations I think the pastries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire might have been ample rewards for getting practice done. 

The big three desserts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire might have encouraged Mozart’s creativity I think – Sachertortes, Dobostortes, and Linzertortes. I used the Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague cookbook by Rick Rodgers (496 pages - $2.99 today on Kindle)  to look up what is in these pretty pastries in the window:

-Sachertorte – This pastry is the culinary symbol of Vienna, Austria. It is a chocolate glazed cake with horizontally split layers with apricot preserves placed between the layers. 

-Dobostorte – This pastry is a Hungarian dish from Budapest. It is made of five thin layers of chocolate cake layers with chocolate buttercream filling and topped off with caramel. 

-Linzertorte – This is a pastry from Linz, Austria. It is a fruit preserves pastry like a Danish with a lattice crust. 

Positive feedback in the form of pastries might well have been the daily motivation for practice for young Mozart. 

All this is speculation, of course, to discuss while enjoying a pastry and coffee with whipped cream during a typical Austrian jause, coffee break, in Salzburg, Austria.

(Note: American music students can be rewarded with sorbet, Mangonafa, or ice cream!) 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Curried Fried Rice Meal by Ruth Paget

Curried Fried Rice Meal by Ruth Paget 

A fast lunch I prepare for myself is curried fried rice. The inspiration for this meal is Chinese. However, the Chinese add more ingredients like peas and ham or shrimp, especially in restaurants. 

For everyday lunches, I use the following recipe: 

Serves 1 

Ingredients: 

-2 tablespoons olive oil 

-2 teaspoons Madras curry powder or another brand 

(Look for turmeric in the curry ingredients. It is a good antioxidant.) 

-1 (7.4 ounce) container of cooked Bibigo sticky Korean rice 

-2 beaten eggs 

-salt and pepper to taste 

Steps: 

1-Heat olive oil and curry in a sauce pan till steaming. 

2-Add the cooked sticky rice. Break up the rice and turn it to coat with the yellow cooking oil. 

3-When the rice is steaming, add the beaten eggs and turn for 2 to 3 minutes or until cooked. 

4-Remove the rice and eggs from the heat. Season them with salt and pepper and serve. 

As a dessert, I eat two or three clementines after the curry rice and drink a small carton of whole milk. 

This meal is fast and easy and still relatively inexpensive even with the higher price of eggs. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Pancake Supper Fundraising in Detroit, Michigan by Ruth Paget

Pancake Supper Fundraising by Ruth Paget 

I learned about pancake supper fundraising as a child when I attended pancake suppers at my family’s Baptist church in Detroit (Hazel Park), Michigan. 

The entire congregation came often with friends to eat pancakes and raise money for children’s programs. The cost was around $5 per person plus any voluntary extra donation in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The following items came with the pancake supper: 

-3 pancakes 

-3 packages of maple syrup (This was easily obtainable in Michigan.) 

-3 butter packages 

-a fruit salad for dessert 

-cold, sweetened iced tea

-lemon wedges, if requested 

-a silverware and napkin packet

Our church had a cafeteria-style kitchen where we would get a tray and be served our pancakes, fruit salad, and silverware packet. 

At lunch tables covered with paper tablecloths, servers would bring us our sweetened iced tea on trays to avoid spills. The fruit salad was low-calorie and pretty nutritious. 

 The fruit salad was made with the following items: 

 -canned, no-sugar-added mandarin orange sections with the can juice

 -fresh apple cubes 

-slices of fresh banana 

The fruit contained Vitamin C, and the pancakes made with milk and eggs contained protein and calcium. 

Sometimes the teen group would perform a skit from the Christmas play. Little children sang Sunday school songs. 

Pancakes cost very little to make, if made from scratch. Pancake fundraisers are profitable and easy fundraisers if organized well. Check if you need catering insurance to do this for your organization. 

I always enjoyed going to pancake suppers as a child in Detroit, Michigan and think these events might do well in the 2020s as well. 

(Note: Pancakes have their origin in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, but the Dutch are credited with creating their modern version.)

(In Salinas, California, you can sample many kinds of pancakes at IHOP on West Davis Road.)

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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