Say hello again to fried green tomatoes

I just learned from Julie Cockerham, owner of The Fish House in Ruskin, that classic Southern fried green tomatoes will be back on the menu, starting this week. Huge news for me. They're a favorite of mine.

The firm fruit wheels are fried up golden and crispy and served with two choices of dipping sauce — creamy ranch or a zesty, Southwest chipotle dressing.

Last month, I wrote an article about The Fish House for "In the Field Magazine," which can be read at the following link: http://issuu.com/inthefield/docs/hill_oct.09finalconverted. See page 46.

The Fish House

South side of Shell Point Road West, 1.4 miles west of U.S. 41 in Ruskin.

(813) 641-9451

Open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Acropolis Greek Taverna, opa indeed!

Greek food is always a treat. Their food culture is based on doing things generously, hospitably and tastefully. This is exactly what I found when I dined recently at the Acropolis Greek Taverna in Riverview. I wrote about the restaurant in this weeks Table Scraps newspaper column.

The place was overflowing with everything Greek, from servers dancing...

to flurries of napkins tossed in the air...

to even a few broken plates. Opa!

And the food was delicious. My dining partner and I immediately dove into the incredibly good Saganaki cheese. Served with pita, the dish is brought to the table, where the cheese is then ignited.

Not-to-be-overlooked is the Falafel, hummus, eggplant dip and fried kibbe'. This appetizer platter, which had them all offered a sampling of the classics. Come hungry!

Next came very tender chicken breasts sauteed in a lemon sauce with artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and topped with crumbled cheese.

For dessert, layers of chocolate cheesecake and cake, topped with chocolate chips and then drizzled with chocolate sauce. It was crazy delicious.

Acropolis Greek Taverna

6108 Winthrop Town Center Avenue

Riverview, FL

(813) 654-2277

Here fishy, fishy, fishy... recipe.

OK, it's clearly Ruskin Seafood Festival weekend — just look in my backyard. The annual event celebrates every ocean creature imaginable.

My earlier post told you a little bit about it, but here's the deal I didn't tell you about. Bring me your favorite seafood recipe. You'll find me at the Table Scraps booth — the one that looks a little like Island Paradise meets Gilligan's Island. Any adult who brings me a favorite recipe gets a chance to win dinner for two at your home catered by almost-famous moi. You'll also receive a seabuck to use in the festival's fabulous food court.

If you're any kind of seafood lover, I strongly urge you to make a day of it! There's lots to see and more to eat!

21st annual Ruskin Seafood Festival

Nov. 7-8

E. G. Simmons Park

2401 19th Ave. NW, Ruskin

For additional infromation, call the Ruskin chamber at (813) 645-3808 or visit http://www.ruskinseafoodfestival.org/.

What ever happened to peanut butter kisses?

I just ran across a fun Web site called Old Time Candy, candy you ate as a kid, which listed some of the candies I remember buying at Reed's Drug Store when my family lived in Golden Valley, Minnesota in the late 1960s. Mom and Dad wouldn't allow us to chew gum or buy candy, so we sometimes saved our lunch money to go buy it, and then sneak the contraband into the house.

Two of my all-time favorites were on the site's list of discontinued goodies: Bub's Daddy bubble gum ropes and Bonomo's Turkish Taffy. I especially loved the banana-flavored version.

Drawing by Sherry Thurner

The reason I went candy surfing on the Internet, though, was to find out what happened to a Halloween favorite of mine. You know, the taffy-like chewy things with peanut butter in the middle. They were wrapped in either black or orange wax paper. I wasn't able to find them anywhere this Halloween.

I wonder if they were part of the products that were recalled from a Georgia peanut factory last January?