Call It Frisco

We recently received the following dinner party invitation from a Bay Area resident. And while we are flattered to be considered civilized enough to be asked to have a meal at the table, we simply cannot ignore that the supercilious, exclusionary attitude of this letter is precisely that of the non-Frisco caller. Do you really want to be that guy? Of course not. So lose the pretension and Call It Frisco! And while you’re at it, go right ahead and substitute dried shitake mushrooms for porcini.

And for the record, while some of the facts presented on this website may not always be entirely truthful, there’s just no way on God’s Green Earth that we could have made this one up.

***

Hello everyone! Thank you for getting back to me so promptly. As I believe you to be the most competent and trustworthy of cooks, I am about to make very specific requests.  I have spent these last few days fussing over the menu and then researching recipes.  I also went around the Berkeley Farmers Market this weekend to find out what they would likely be offering this coming week.  So if you like to shop the Saturday Berkeley farmers market (and I highly suggest it as it is amazing) you should find all the produce you need there. (Center Street, between Milvia and MLK) If you like to shop a different market during the week, you will most likely find what you need there too.  If it’s questionable, I’ve made other suggestions with my request below.  FYI, most farmers markets clean out by 2 p.m., and if it is a nice day, you can count on farmers selling out of their good stuff, so show up early if you can.  Berkeley market goes from 10- 3 pm, not certain about the one by Lakehore.  There are other markets during the week if you would rather shop those.

I don’t want to be too fussy, but could we use organic whenever possible. I
know some things cannot be found organic, so do what you can.

For most of the dishes, I have found very good recipes on the website
Epicurious.com.  If I make no mention of where to find the recipe, that
means it can be found at this site.  I have given each of you the specific
name of the recipe, so when you go to the site, just type the name in
and it should pop it up for you right away.  Call me if you have any questions
regarding this.  I would also encourage you to read the reviews.  They are
very interesting and offer some really good advice from those who have
attempted the recipe before.  Do what feels right for you.

Also, we are expecting to be 35 - 40 happy eaters in all.  Do not panic.  As
you will see below, there are many cooks among you making many
wonderful dishes.  Please do not feel like you have to make 40 substantial
servings.  Just make enough for everyone to try a little bit. The recipes should
say how many they serve, so figure it out from there.  I trust your instincts.

I encourage you to read the entire email, in order to get an idea of the full scope of the meal of which you are all co-creators. If you feel like you have neither the time nor the energy to meet my request, please do not hesitate to decline.  Together we’ll pick another recipe, or we’ll choose a different task.

So here you go:

Aaron and Michelle, you did such a smash up job with artichokes last
year I was wondering if you could you try tackling another recipe?  Sauteed
baby artichokes with oven roasted tomatoes and green olive dressing.  I know
that Phoenix Pastificio in Berkeley carries their own roasted tomatoes. I
could get someone to pick up a container or two if you want to skip that step.  Let me know.

Michael, do you and Jen want to attempt a Mushroom Panzanella? It’s a
warm wild mushroom and bread salad. It’s delicious.  I know because I’ve
made it many times.  I have the recipe.  I’ll make a copy and leave it for you
at the Working Body. Or call me and we’ll make other arrangements.  I know
I originally asked for a soup, but I think dealing with bowls and spoons might
get to be a little much.

Cydney, I love fresh green peas. The smaller farmers that supply the markets
will not have any available for another few weeks. However, I saw (and
tasted) some delicious organic English peas at Berkeley Bowl, and the
produce dept. guys swear that they are CA grown.  Do you think Anita could
do something nice with those?  I saw a few nice fresh pea recipes on
Epicurious.  I would prefer one that didn’t have meat so our vegetarian diners can enjoy as well.

Dawn and Loren, would you be willing to try the Exotic Mushroom Pate? It
sounds a bit challenging but a potentially exciting project nonetheless.  I
think it’s right up your alley.  I say take one of the reviewers advice and
substitute other dried wild mushrooms (except for dried shitake - they’re
too strong) for the porcini.  I know all the other mushrooms can be found at
Berkeley Bowl for a decent price.

Christin, could you try the Fagioli All’ Uccelletto? (italian style white
bean ragu)  Berkeley Bowl sells prebagged organic white beans.  They
have everything else there for this dish as well.   Even though the recipe does
not call for it, could you buy a lemon or two and squeeze a couple of
tablespoons of their juice into the water with the beans as they soak? I
would also take one reviewers advice and substitute stock for at least
half of the water.

Robynn, I know I originally asked you to make a Wild Mushroom crostini (a
recipe for that is on Epicurious as well), but I also saw two with asparagus
that sound delicious and got raves from reviewers.  Asparagus and prosciutto
crostini with fonduta or Crostini with roasted garlic pea puree and roasted
asparagus. Check them out and let me know what you think.

Brad, I’ll get you ramekins.  I’ll bring them to the Tea Shop on Thursday if
necessary.  I also have my friend Christina making candied kumquats for the
topping.  What do you say?  Panna Cotta?

Christina, I think just the Candied Kumquats will do.  My mom is sending a
ricotta pie, so I think a second ricotta pie type dessert might be overkill.
Thanks for the offer though.  I think the kumquats will be excellent on the
Panna Cotta.

Paul, you are making the Pate de Mason, for which I have already given you
the recipe.

Jon, thanks for agreeing to make the roasted carrots. If you need me to give
you the recipe again, just give me a holler.

Wendy, could you be in charge of the salad?  How about Winter Greens with
Grapefruit Vinaigrette?  I saw some beautiful frisee and chicory over at the
Berkeley Farmers market.  And I know for certain that the citrus farmer
there (about the 4th table from the Milvia end on the right side) will have
some perfectly pink grapefruit.  This is a nice light salad that will probably be served end of meal, so no need to make too much.

Susan, you have offered to make a chilled asparagus dish.  Thanks.

Larry, could you make a fish dish again this year for our non-flesh eating
fish eaters?  A simple preparation of your choice would be fine.  I did see
a lovely recipe for Sea bream with artichokes and caper dressing on
Epicurious.  If you just made the fish and the dressing (sans potatoes and
artichokes), that would be great.

Jen, since you’ve found sweet organic strawberries at the farmers market
last week, could you please make Strawberries with lemon sugar and lavender syrup.  I see the recipe calls for dried flowers, but if that’s a hassle, I
have made recipes using fresh lavender blooms several times with great
results.  Just pluck the tiny purple flowers from the buds.  If you steal
lavender from a neighborhood bush, I won’t tell anyone.

Ted, you got the little piggy under control.

Wow.  My head is spinning.  I think that’s it. Please call or email me to let me know if my request is doable and/or should  you have any questions. It would be great to hear from everyone before the end of the day tomorrow (Tuesday) so that I can move forward with the planning.

As you can probably guess, I am very excited and I cannot wait to celebrate
with you all!

Lots of love and sincere thanks to each and every one of you.
M.

Normally, we at callitfrisco.com have no agenda other than Calling It Frisco.  However, as we’ve said before, Frisco is the city we love and our home, and as such it makes us extremely sad to see the Frisco Bay full of thousands of gallons of nasty-ass oil.  So please, volunteer or make a donation at baykeeper.org or savesfbay.org.

Call it this sucks ass-o.

Always wanted to do your social networking and Frisco Calling all at the same time? Now you can! Call It Frisco has its very own group on Facebook, and it’s over 100 members strong. So just go to Facebook groups, search for Call It Frisco, and join your brothers and sisters.

Hello fellow Friscans! Sorry we haven’t posted in so long, but we’ve been very busy with top-secret Frisco calling activities. But to reward your patience, we have a very special treat for you today. As we learned in the Frisco Manifesto, the haters in this town will look at you as if you performed a certain excretory function on a particular item of living room furniture when you Call It Frisco. So we decided to capture that experience on film with a little thing we like to call Fart or Frisco? See how may you can get right! And no peeking at the answers!

Don’t call it Frisco.

Who farted?

Don’t call it Frisco. And I asked for a decaf latte.

Silent but Frisco.

Fart, evidently full-bodied and with a good nose in a way that only someone who won’t call it Frisco would discern.

Don’t call it Frisco. And no, I wont go to the fall mixer with you.

Fart. And maybe even a little poop.

Frisco. And for your information, it’s Ocean Beach, not OB.

We personally farted on this kitten.

A trick question to wrap things up - The guy on the left is reacting to us Calling It Frisco, the guy in the middle farted, and the guy on the right is mad because we like Picard better than Kirk.

Thanks for playing, and we’ll see you next time!

Thanks to loyal Friscan Brian S. for sending in this picture - we haven’t been down to the Ferry Building yet to see if someone actually pulled this stunt off or Brian just has mad photoshop skills, but we’re digging it either way.

We’re proud to report that the local chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club Calls It Frisco. And while none of us at callitfrisco.com are actually members of the Hells Angels (in fact, we don’t even ride motorcycles because our moms would kill us) we can only imagine how they might respond if you told them not to call their beloved chapter Frisco:

Tire iron thrashing

Moustache flaying

Leather smothering

Emasculation via scowling

Lightning smoking, heavy metal thundering

Live to Call It Frisco, Call It Frisco to live.

Giving you a nickname, but not an awesome biker one like ‘Triumph Viking’ or ‘Gypsy Jack.’ Instead, it would be a wimpy one like Little Miss Fluffy Pants.

Rock concert pummeling

To-your-butt motorcycle boot applying

Riding around you in a circle until you were really, really dizzy

Pink belly!

So ride on, our asphalt-loving brothers. Keep calling it Frisco. And if you happen read this post, please don’t hurt us.

No politics today, just this poster we found for Frisco brand vegetables. Now, before all your haters out there start flooding us with comments about how we called out the Don’t Call It Frisco Laundromat for naming their business after what they think our city should be called, and now we’re apparently supporting a business for doing the same thing because it fits our agenda, consider the following:

This poster is wicked cool.

And yes, we know it’s for a company in Salinas. And no, we don’t care, because that doesn’t take away from the sheer wicked coolness of it.

As we learned in the last post, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi Calls It Frisco.  Now his career is going swimmingly, and his support from the Call It Frisco delegation has never been stronger. But what happens when a supervisor doesn’t Call It Frisco?  Just ask Ed Jew.

On the Board of Supervisors website, Jew unabashedly states:

“My vision for San Francisco is one where you can buy a home, start a family business and send your children to neighborhood schools, and live on clean and safe streets.”

The unfortunate result of his vision for “San Francisco” instead of what he could have called a vision for Frisco?  Ed Jew is currently facing nine counts of felony charges including four counts of perjury, three election code violations, voter fraud, and providing false documents when he claimed in candidacy papers that he was a resident of the Sunset district.

Additionally, in a recent statement directly on Ed Jew’s behalf, his defense attorney Bill Fazio, said,

“[Prosecutors] are trying to prove he lived in one location, and we are trying to indicate that no, that is incorrect, his home was in San Francisco, always has been and always will be in San Francisco.” 

If only Ed Jew’s home had always been and always will be in Frisco, this entire debacle could have been avoided.

Well, Ross Mirkarimi, District 5 supervisor sure does.

When I emailed him asking his support for our noble cause, he had this to say:

Now that you reminded me, I may be one of those people who joined the
classes of “Don’t call it Frisco,” I guess I better reexamine the attitude.

Hooray Ross! You’ve got the Call It Frisco contingent’s vote!

To get your supervisor to reexamine his or her attitude about Calling It Frisco, email them today. 

We’ve been getting an awful lot of mail lately from the haters out there saying that even though we love Frisco and call it home, we still have no right to Call It Frisco because we’re not originally from here.

What can we say? This is clearly a piece of ironclad logic, and impossible to argue with. And so we acknowledge defeat in the face of truly superior reasoning, and fully endorse the view that you shouldn’t listen to anyone’s opinion on Calling it Frisco who was not born and bred in our fair city.

Incidentally, Herb Caen was from Sacramento, and didn’t move here until he was 20.