FLORIDA… I LOVE IT. POTATO CRUST QUICHE, APPLE VALLEY DELI.

CONCERT SCHEDULE
Marco Island, Tampa, Steinhatchee, Panama City, Destin, Pensacola, Naples.
Not a bad place to be in February. We will be crisscrossing back and forth around and through Florida for the next couple of months.  You guys have got to check out what’s up with the Ingredients.  I have stirred my band up to a frenzy, grilled em like grouper, tossed em like salad, sautéed em like peppers and onions, BBQed  em like pork chops, fried em like chicken, whipped em into shape like a mile high meringue on top of  a lemon pie. All for the perfect gumbo blues.

Potato Crust Quiche

1 large potato
8 eggs beaten
1 onion chopped
1/2 lb crumbled feta cheese
2 apples diced
1 quonk fresh spinach lightly steamed & drained
Cut thin rounds of potato.  Line an lightly-oiled pie pan with the slices of potato, and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.  Saute the onions. Mix the remaining  ingredients. Pour them into the pan and bake at 400 for 10 minutes.  Turn down to 350 for another 20 or so.  Splash with Liquid Summer Hot Sauce.

APPLE VALLEY MARKET
228 Main St. Lander, WY 82520    307-332-5536
We came in for lunch at this grocery/café in Lander, Wyoming, and had a great time with the folks there.  Homemade is the operative term.  Nestled between the emporiums and trail shops in the charming downtown of Lander, the Apple Valley Market hits the spot. The menu proclaims, “Lunch! Fill that belly.”  And that’s what they do. “$6.00 per lunch.  All soups served with homemade bread. Sandwiches made on homemade bread.” So after I’m almost done with my vegetable soup, the baker of the bread comes out and says,  “Y’all want some more bread?” Sure! Bring it on. Pipin hot, right out of the oven. Son!  Couple o soups, couple o salads, a veggie wrap and a special is the whole menu. The grocery features healthful stuff, local homegrown produce, and some of the most gorgeous pies I have ever seen. I got some local plums. Delicious. The guys running the place are nice as they can be.  You can tell that they love Lander, Wyoming.  No wonder.  ALL the inhabitants of Lander love the place.  I got so happy that I went next door and bought me a banjo.

HAPPY 2011, Orlando, key west, Bill Wharton Special, Grilled Eggplant, Pepe’s Cafe

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Sauce Boss Returns To Margaritaville (Photo: Rick Zimmer)

Orlando and key west should start the new year out with a bang.
Y’all come on down south for a good time in the sun. Here’s where we’ll be.

Make plans now to attend Planet Gumbo’s Annual Benefit at the American Legion at Lake Ella in Tallahassee FL on Saturday February 5th.  Sauce Boss Gumbo extravanganza with a silent auction of donated treasures.

PHOTO JIM MCKINLEY

WHAT A COOL GUITAR!
People ask me all the time about my guitar.  “Who makes that silver guitar?”  Here’s the story.  The guitar is a “Bill Wharton Special”.  It’s made by a friend of mine, an English gentleman,  who lives in Paris.  He hand crafts resophonic instruments.  His name is Mike Lewis, and he is truly gifted. You can see all of his models at his website, http://www.fineresophonic.com.  One of his clients is Eric Clapton.  The “Special” has been an integral part of my sound, standing up to a rocking band, delivering a huge slathering of BBQed slide, night after night. Never complaining,  always there, like a trusty hound dog, only better.  Thanks, Mike. I’m spoiled rotten.

GRILLED EGGPLANT WITH HOT & HEAVY PEACH SAUCE
Hot n Heavy Peach Sauce is the perfect marinade/BBQ sauce. If you haven’t tried it, you have led a sheltered and deprived childhood. So… Come on, kids!  Slather up yer eggplant and get cookin! This is unbelievably good.  Just slice the eggplant, dip it in the peach sauce and throw it on the grill.  Whoooooee!  ORDER HERE

OK.  If you have read this far, you obviously are willing to take a little “Sauce Boss Diversion”.  What I want to know is, while reading my last blog, did you  actually try to sing my mullet gizzard rant to the tune of “My Favorite Things”? Please let me know at boss@sauceboss.com.

Pepe’s Cafe 806 Caroline St. Key West, Florida 33040 (305) 294-7192
While you’re in key west, you need to stop by Pepe’s Cafe for a great meal.  These guys have got it goin on. Casual, down home, and classy at the same time is a winning combination, and that’s the modus operandi at this little cafe on Caroline St.  The sign proudly proclaims, “Under Old Management”.  From the bar to the entire menu, only top shelf ingredients are used.  They have great seafood, an awesome veggie plate. and if you are a serious carnivore, you might try the Steak smothered in Pork Chops. Every Thursday is Thanksgiving with turkey and dressing. Every Sunday is BBQ day. Nothing tops the BBQ ribs, slathered with Liquid Summer Hot Sauce, which you can find on every table at Pepe’s.  Here’s Julie Bowland, hangin at Pepe’s, augmenting her breakfast with Liquid Summer Hot Sauce. Incidentally, the breakfast at Pepe’s is da BOMB. By far the best breakfast on the island:>)

Is that coffee in that mug?

Back in Florida One More Time, Basil Harvest, Chorizo, Yellowstone Vacation pics, And a Great Big THANK YOU!

Home Sweet Home!

Pensacola Beach, key west, Delray Beach, Green Cove Springs, Deland,
Ft. Lauderdale.
Here’s the low down on the hoe down.

THANK ALL Y’ALL FOR THE GOOD VIBES!
I have received  hundreds and hundreds of well wishing phone calls, letters, cards, emails, prayers, good vibes, and posts on my guestbook and Facebook pages. I had a good run, and I was resigned to whatever would be, but I guess I have a few more strings to bend, a few more songs to sing, a few more mouths to feed, and a few more souls to fill with the spirit of brotherhood. I will see y’all somewhere down the road.

HEART ATTACK SPECIAL
The song “I Broke My Heart” written after my first heart attack in 2003 appears on my “Come and Get” It CD.  You can get a copy for $5 from now until December 1st, or you can get a copy free with every case of Liquid Summer (any flavor or mixed) until then too.  Bout time to think about your holiday gifts.

We recently took a trip to Yellowstone to commune with nature and do some hiking.  Here’s some highlights on Facebook.

Time to harvest the herbs.  Here’s my Basil.

Freeze the leaves in little bags and have basil through the cold months

Chorizo
1 Page Avenue Asheville, North Carolina 28801 (828) 350-1332
Asheville, North Carolina has been called the Paris of the South. You get the vibe hanging out at the Biltmore Mansion where Granny Clampett meets Marie Antoinette. The folks up near Mount Pisgah have perpetuated a somewhat sophisticated, albeit rough-hewn sensibility over the years that makes for some fine grazing around lunchtime. Organic veghead bill of fare is typical, and the charming little downtown is vibrant with artisan shops selling exotic chocolates, doggie treats, antiques, and hand made belt buckles.  The craftsmen share the sidewalk with color seekers, banjo buskers, and hillbilly rastas.  All in all, a colorful place to hang.

Hector Diaz is from the Dominican Republic.  He came to the US as a young boy, and worked in restaurants from a very early age.  He worked his way up from the bottom, and became a chef.  All of his clients said, “You need to open your own place.”  So Hector made them an offer they could not refuse.  He asked for $100 from all his friends.  He started a restaurant, and every one who gave him money was reimbursed in food. Hector Diaz is not just a regular chef.  He’s a creative and innovative artist who has perfected a Pan Latin cuisine all his own.  Local, natural chicken and pork, natural Angus beef, and organic eggs, assures that all ingredients are top notch. He makes his own bacon, sausage, and chorizo by hand.  He cures and smokes the salmon.  He makes his own habanero pepper sauce.  I like dis guy. The ever changing menu is breakfast and lunch with Senor Diaz’s fresh, savory, style. Killer salsa, great hot sauce, and wood fired organic tortillas are three things rarely available in restaurants, but all three in one place?  I’m ready to order.

NC, FL, SC, PA, and NY, National TV Appearance, Soong Thai

TRAVELING!

This tour takes us all around the East in a few days.  Sometimes, that’s the way she goes. Here’s where we are going.

SAUCE BOSS LYRICS AVAILABLE
I’ve had some inquires about the lyrics of my songs.  Over the years, a lot of singers/bands have covered the Sauce Boss.  I’m always glad to hear a different version of my tunes.  So now you can access the lyrics from four of my albums.
Here’s the link.

SAUCE BOSS TO BE ON NATIONAL PUBLIC TELEVISION
The nationally syndicated show, “My Generation” will feature the Sauce Boss.  The program sent a crew to St. Louis to film eight hours of performance and interviews with Bill Wharton and his band.  Stay tuned for air times.

NOW IS THE TIME OF YEAR TO START THINKING ABOUT ORDERING CASES of Liquid Summer Hot Sauce or our new Peach Sauce. It’s a great way to share the love.

THAI SOONG 9448 COLONIAL DRIVE, ORLANDO, FL 34761    407-822-8200

I have eaten a lot of Thai food.  I’m a spicy guy. And there’s none spicier than your Great, Great Grandma from Thailand.  Whooooeee! Deeze guys will light you up!

So when I found Soong Thai, right off the Sunshine State Parkway, right on the way to south Florida, right at supper time, with a frightful hunger for a HOT meal, I was in heaven. Truly a great restaurant.  Not too pricey, but with an attention to detail which guarantees every dish is it’s own dining experience.  Here’s their description of their restaurant: “At Soong Thai, we take great care in preparing cuisine handed down for centuries, adjusted to today’s tastes and served in an authentic manner.”

I believe em. I had to try the frog legs. My friend Jeffrey Clements said, “If I had to choose my last meal, the Soong Thai frog legs would be it”. And, believe me, my friend Jeffrey knows his food. Pad Thai as light and flavorful as I have ever had.  Tom Kai Gai Soup. Yumm. I also tried the “Amazing Eggplant”.  Made me stupid. I kept saying, “Amazing! Amazing! Amazing!”  Hence the name.

Fried eggplant, over a bed of steamed broccoli, in a big puddle of spicy peanut sauce. Garnished with green onions and red peppers. And more glistening peanut sauce dribbled over the top.  “Over the top” is the operative term here.  The dumplings are sublime. I’m looking forward to my next trip south.
Lunch: Monday – Friday – 11:30 AM to 3:00
Dinner: Monday – Saturday – 4 to 10, Sunday – 4 to 9

Kill Me Now

Check out this link.  How bout B.B. King and T Bone Walker together on B.B.s 42nd birthday.  1967 Monterey  Jazz Festival.  http://www.jazzonthetube.com/page/378.html