Come and have chili!

I'm judging chili at the annual E. G. Simmons Park Chili Cook-off Saturday in Ruskin. Wish me luck. For the sake of my stomach, I hope there will be less than 15 competing pots of the spicy stew.

Come and get in on all the fun, including live music, a flea market, classic car show and lotsa chili!

E. G. Simmons Park, 2401 19th Ave. N.W. Ruskin, FL

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19

Cost is a $2.00 park entry fee per vehicle and $3.00 for a bowl to sample the chili.

Call (813) 671-7655.

Strawberry pizza, baby

Want something different as a topping for your next pizza? How about strawberries?

I went to Goodson Farms recently with a craving for strawberry shortcake; that is, until I saw the sign for strawberry pizza.

Ohhh... talk about heaven. It was love at first bite!

I shot these pictures last week during my visit to Goodson's. I polished this puppy off in no time!

Eat your hearts out non-Floridians... It's strawberry season!

In today's SouthShore News & Tribune, look for my column and a scrumptious recipe for strawberry pizza.

Goodson Farms

12405 C. R. 672, Balm

(813) 634-7790

Say "I love you" with carats... or carrots.

It's good to have a twin sister. And when your twin sister is really talented, it's even better.

Here's a simple Valentine's Day menu item you still have time to pull off.

Tonight she's serving her guy bison sirloin steaks with these sauteed sugar peas and heart-shaped carrots.

Carrots are rumored to help you see the object of your desire more clearly. I think I've just found my Valentine's Day menu.

Riverside Bar & Grille

From today's column in the South Shore News & Tribune, I got the recipe for Chateaubriand with Wild Mushroom Madeira Sauce from Chef Ted Hastings at Riverside Bar & Grille in Ruskin. It's his Valentine's Day dinner special on Saturday night and the ideal recipe for a romantic dinner for two.

Actually, the dish is quite easy to make at home. But, there'll be dirty dishes to clean before the candles burn out.

The Riverside Bar & Grille team: Michael Rauda, Silbano Gonzales, Chef Ted Hastings, Courtney Hastings and Tess Harden.

Riverside Bar & Grille

1 Pier Drive

Ruskin, FL 33570

(813) 641-1600

Amateur chili cooks can win at E. G. Simmons Chili Cook-off

It's time for chili enthusiasts across the county to gather their spiciest ingredients, get into the kitchen and perfect their best recipe for this year's ultimate test: the annual no-holds-barred E. G. Simmons Park Chili Cook-off on Feb. 19.

You'll find a recipe for cornbread wafers in my Table Scraps column in the SouthShore News & Tribune. The column also includes more details about the cook-off.

Also, there was no winner in last week's guess-where-I-ate lunch contest. The restaurant was Chef Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill inside Caesar's Palace in the city of sin, Las Vegas.

The dish, by the way, was a crispy preserved duck salad with spicy pecans and a Concord grape dressing.

Thanks, everyone, for playing. Better luck next time.