Olive Garden doesn't "heart" Kendra

The Olive Garden would like it very much if Hugh Hefner's Girlfriend No. 3 would just take her breadsticks and go somewhere else.

Funny story from The Wall Street Journal about how not all businesses welcome celebrity endorsements.

Kendra Wilkinson, one of the trio of blonde babes trailing Hef on the E! reality TV show "The Girls Next Door" - she's wearing the salmon pink dress in the photo to the right - often proclaims her love for the Olive Garden.

But it's unrequited love. Read it here.

The Olive Garden is, apparently, a happening place among reality TV people. I remember on the ABC show "The Bachelor" one of the chicks trying to win serial dater Andrew Firestone's attention also proclaimed her love for the Olive Garden and said it was the best Italian restaurant ever. The look on his face was priceless.

When I interviewed Andrew during a wine tasting he held at the old Columbus Inn - his family owns Firestone Vineyards - a couple years ago, I had to ask him about that Olive Garden line. He started cracking up laughing.

Let's just say loving the Olive Garden wasn't the way to his heart. No word on if his new wife is an Olive Garden fan, but my guess would be a big fat no.

Hey ho

The Hi-Ho Tavern, the former Newport dive bar, has been renovated and converted into a wine & spirits shop.

The site also will have take-out area offering breakfast, lunch and dinner and the separate tavern has been renamed James Street Tavern and will have a new menu. Same owners as Dewey Beach's Ruddertowne.

Read about here.

In a pickle

Quick pickling is the topic today in the Life section.

I ran across quite a lot of pickled vegetables on menus during a visit to some New York restaurants so when my neighbors Anthony and Virginia gave me a bunch of cucumbers from their garden, I was inspired to get busy making a hot brine.

(Aimee Olexy, an owner of Talula's Table in Kennett Square, Pa., shared some great pickling tips in today's story. Thanks, Aimee! Don't want to make your own pickles, but still want a homemade taste? Buy 'em at Talula's.)

But pickling is SO much easier than you imagine. There's no canning involved in this recipe and the pickles should keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks. Give it a try. I was so proud of myself after making these pickles - they are quite tasty. News Journal photographer Jennifer Corbett made the same recipe and she was equally psyched. (These are Jen's great photos.) The cucumbers in the photos came from SIW farm stand near Chadds Ford, Pa.

I'm not sure if we're ready for the State Fair, but I'm making these pickles again. My last batch is almost gone.

SLIGHTLY SWEET DILL REFRIGERATOR PICKLES
An easy recipe, adapted from one that appeared in Bon Appetit's June issue. Substituting rice vinegar (instead of cider or wine vinegar) produces a pickle that's less tart.

1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), thinly sliced
2 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds
1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped (stems included)
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons whole allspice
2 teaspoons dill seeds (optional)

Divide sliced onion between two 1-quart, wide-mouth glass jars. Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with dill.
Place mustard seeds and peppercorns in a medium saucepan. Add vinegar, water, sugar, coarse salt, allspice and dill seeds (if using). Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours. Cover glass pickle jars tightly with lids.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Keep refrigerated. Makes 2 quarts.

"Overlooked" Rehoboth? Go ahead, giggle away

A Second Helpings reader alerted me to this breaking news story: The Wall Street Journal "discovers" Rehoboth Beach.

Sorry, but I stopped reading after this opening laugh-out loud line:

"Without the cachet of the Hamptons or the familiarity of the New Jersey Shore, this Northeast beach is often overlooked."

Rehoboth is overlooked??? (Yeah, maybe by reporters who need to get out of their New York offices a little more often.....)

Sheez, judging by the crowds there this past weekend, the difficulty finding a parking space and heck, almost every weekend this summer, I'd hardly called a resort town popular with Washington, D.C., residents "overlooked."

All-in with wings

(Regular Guy Grub, by Buddy Hurlock) Most bars that serve buffalo wings also have a "wing night," and if you are a fan of both wings and poker, then Timothy's of Newark is the place for you each Tuesday night.

A normal order of 12 is $7.99, but the special each Tuesday night is 35 cents per wing. I ordered them hot, which isn't at the top of their hot-sauce scale, but plenty hot enough. None of pieces were skimpy on the meat and I liked the equal distribution of drums and wings. The wing night promotion is so popular, they've stopped taking "all drum" requests, so do them a favor and don't ask (as for me, I like the wing pieces better).

Also, each Tuesday and Thursday night here, free poker is held in the upstairs bar, courtesy Texas Hold'em Rental. It's a fun group of players, usually filling 6-8 tables, and plenty of them take a serious approach to the game, honing their skills or just enjoying a live game without having to drive to Atlantic City. Don't forget to order food, because it gets you extra playing chips, with the order usually having to be placed by 7:30 p.m. Registration closes around 8 p.m., though they'll find you a seat if you show up a little late, and the cards are often in the air by 8:15. Prizes vary.

Timothy's of Newark (738-9915) is just off Paper Mill Road at 100 Creek View Rd., also accessible by using Margaret St. off E. Cleveland Ave. For more information about the poker host, and its nightly of schedule of tournaments throughout the area, go to www.texasholdemrental.com.

In other quick asides, the mozzarella sticks at C.R. Hooligan's in Trolley Square are pretty tasty, served inside a tray made to look like a hollowed-out, large beer bottle, a nice touch, and in a trip to Deerhead Hot Dogs in Christiana last week, the plain Herr's corn chips were back. I snared four bags, which lasted less than 24 hours.

Whatever, Martha!

I've met most of the major players on the national food scene.

But there's one person I haven't - and actually don't mind avoiding: Martha Stewart. (Photo to the right: Her Highness of Haughty sitting next to Frolic Weymouth at Winterthur's Point-to-Point steeplechase races.)

I like Martha's cookbooks and I like her magazine. And I've had the opportunity to interview her. But I've passed.

Why?

Too many stories from people who have worked with Martha that all pretty much say she's not exactly warm and cuddly nor the easiest person to get along with. Sorry, but I just didn't want to put myself through that experience. A jerky celebrity experience is never "a good thing."

So it's good to hear that Martha has a sense of humor.

Well, kind of. Check out this story in The New York Times.

Restaurants that begin with the letter A

Work on "the money pit" has kept me on a short leash lately and dining out has slacked off. But this weekend I made up for it. A good reward was needed after so much manual labor.

Friday night had dinner at Azie in Media, Pa.

Philly Inquirer paid eater Craig LaBan wasn't much impressed. I just had a few maki rolls - spicy tuna, vegetable and the Azie roll- which were fine. But nothing we tried will have me running back there anytime soon. The avocado "sashimi" is very good so was my glass of Gruner Veltliner.

On Sat. night, we tried to dine at Agave, the fairly new Mexican restaurant and tequila bar at 137 Second St. in Lewes; 645-1232. (Photo to the left.)

The theme of the weekend: Restaurants beginning with the letter A.

Unfortunately, it seems that eating at Agave was on the minds of everyone else staying in Lewes.

Wait for dinner: A solid two hours. (Agave doesn't take reservations.)

Yowsa!

Every place in Lewes was mad, crazy busy. OK, now I've been hearing about the economy killing restaurant business, but you certainly couldn't tell this past Saturday night.

Saturday afternoon a lot of restaurants - and ice cream and French fry stands - were busy in Rehoboth. I got my customary Kohr Brothers twisted custard (vanilla and orange), but was saving room for my planned Agave dinner - and margarita - to come later in that evening.

But the two-hour wait was even too much for me - and the gang with me. We got glasses of wine at the tiny Half Full pizza joint (behind King's Ice Cream) and waited for take-out pizza. It wasn't a disappointment.

The gourmet pizza there is terrific - especially the corn and crab. Don't mock it, until you try it. Normally, I scoff at anything offbeat on pizza - still can't convince me there's any merit to Hawaiian pizza - but the corn was locally grown and so sweet, it worked really well with the crab.

And we got to watch the Olympics with a really good pizza and great friends.

Now, that's one good weekend.

Reader mail - update

I'm off on a "field trip" on Friday to the Green Dragon Farmer's Market and Auction in Lancaster County.

Anyone been there? It's more than 20 acres of shopping with more than 400 local growers, merchants and craftsmen. It's open every Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

UPDATE: Had to postpone the market trip until next Friday. Any tips before I go next week?

Check out 55 Hours on Friday for my review of Lupo di mare in Rehoboth Beach. I'd spend my own cash there.

Reader mailbag included some snail mail from Bill and Val Robinson, who live in Pennsville, N.J.

I'm not going to type out the whole letter, but the Robinsons, big fans of crabs, said I've got to check out Sidelines Bar & Grill at 106 N. Hook Road in Pennsville, N.J.; (856) 678-3400.

They went recently and ordered two dozen crabs ($19.95 a dozen) and they come to the table CLEANED. Diners can get regular or garlic crabs.

"We have had crabs many places over many years. These were the best crabs I have ever had. I didn't realize how much meat was in a crab. They were very heavy and fresh," they wrote

Now, that's some endorsement. I have to go check this place out.

The Robinsons even gave directions from Delaware: Go over Delaware Memorial Bridge and head for 295. As the road swings left (north) go off the exit to the right to Hook Road. Sidelines is on the left about a mile down Hook Road.

Steeped in Tomatoes

Hey all, I was just at the SIW (Stepped in What??) produce stand off Route 100 , near Route 1, near Chadds Ford, Pa.

Keep an eye out for the white "Open" sign. It's on the right side of the roadway. There's a parking lot. The actually address for the stand is 4317 S. Creek Road, Chadds Ford, Pa. (If you keep following Route 100 you'll eventually come out onto U.S. 1 - directly across the old Chadds Ford Inn, which is now Brandywine Prime restaurant.)

A lot of people just call this rural farm stand Haskell's since it's owned by H.G. Haskell. (H.G.'s pop was a former Wilmington mayor.)

Go there if you love heirloom tomatoes. Or any kind of tomatoes. I bought a few ears of corn, a cantaloupe, a half dozen ruby red beauties and some cute Kirby cucumbers for an article I'm writing about homemade pickles. NJ photographer Jennifer Corbett and I are making pickles tomorrow. It's easy. And no canning is involved. Story/recipes coming next Wednesday.

SIW usually has fresh mozzarella from Claudio's in the Philly Italian Market, but they were clean out during my visit. Employees say a new cheese shipment is coming in on Thursday. I'm there. Got to feed the hankering for caprese salad.

SIW is looking for plastic shopping bags. They like to recycle. So if you have any bags, bring 'em to the stand.

Pies, pies, pies

The baking bug has bitten hard.

Now, I can't seem to get off this pie-making bandwagon. Today, for my hardworking colleagues, I made and brought in the peach-blackberry lattice pie and the three-berry crumb pie.

Pie is good food.

Don't be intimidated by pie, especially the crust. Follow Liz Marden's recipe. It's pretty fool-proof. Here's the crust and pie recipes - as well as Liz's pie tips.

Photo above was taken by Liz's son Matt Marden. And, yes, those are pies made by Liz and her fellow pastry chef, Tom Brown. See Liz at her pastry shop in Hockessin.

I made her crust - it makes a enough for a double-crust pie and a single-crust pie - and baked two fruit pies last night after work. (I even had time to eat dinner.) The pies were cooling on the kitchen counter by about 10 p.m.

Pie baking gets easier with practice.

Or if you don't want to make crust, buy one and at least make the crumb berry pie. (You don't need to roll out a top crust and the filling is a snap.) Just make sure you use fresh fruit, not that "canned goo," as Liz would say.

Fruit is at its peak now. Go for it.