Ready for something new? I understand this wine is new to the retail market in town, so this will be particularly fun tonight. Thanks to Bill Huddleston at Southwestern for choosing it and trusting us to give it an evaluation. Tonight we begin rating the wines, too. At the end of the tasting, each of us will give the wine a 1 to 10 rating. So come on back at 7 tonight, and think about how the wine rates while you're tasting it. See you back here later.

It's that time. I am going to be on a tear this weekend getting my pickles made for the year. Last year I made so many different ones because readers sent in so many great recipes for a story I wrote (there's a link to refresh your memory and inspire you to get those cans out at the bottom of the story).  

This year, I'm going about it differently. I love, love, love the spicy dills that I made and the bread and butter pickles sent in by Si Janna (both in the story). I found those were the ones that aged well and that I reached for all year--I still have one jar of the bread and butters and would have some of the hot dills if Megan hadn't discovered she liked them and ran off with a few quarts.

I would consider a third pickle, but with reservation. Anyone got something so good I can't miss it?

The picture is a view of the spicy dills take by photographer Ben Fant at last year's pickle party. This year I'm pickling alone, but am hoping for a chowchow party soon. Here's the link: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/aug/26/pickle-passion/

I came to like okra late in the game. My grandmother was a fantastic cook, but she sure made slimy okra--it makes me gag thinking of it! But my husband loves it and eventually I decided to try to cook it. This is the best way I've found--I eat as much as it as he does. Click here (http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jul/28/okra/) to read Richard Cotton's story about okra in today's Food section, enjoy my recipe, and tell me: Are you a lover or a hater?

Oven-fried Okra

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 lb. tender okra, stems removed, halved lengthwise

1/2 cup corn meal

1/4 cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Pour the oil in a rimmed cookie sheet in and put in a preheated 400-degree oven. Allow oil to heat. Meanwhile, mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and toss the okra in it. Let stand a few minutes, then carefully remove hot pan from oven and add okra in one layer. Return to oven and give it a good stir after about 10 minutes. Cook about 7 to 10 minutes longer, until some of the smaller pieces are starting to brown. Most of the cornmeal will stay in the pan, but there's enough on the okra to give it a good crunch.

Tomorrow's column will be about how lucky I've been to share in a bumper fig crop this year, but I couldn't wait to get the photo out to y'all. Would you have a look at this?? This is a bit over 10 pounds of figs! My friend Sherry has this insanely productive tree and she and her husband don't like figs. On the day I picked these, there were five of us picking, so just imagine how many figs we're talking about. I didn't pick all of these--I've had a bum back for a few days--so I'll give a great deal of the credit to Megan, who wouldn't eat a fig if she were starving. Me, I love them and plan to go back for another picking or two this year.

I made a fabulous fig bread. What do you do with figs.?

Sorry there's no burger for today, but I've got other things. First off, here's a link to today's review of the Trolley Stop Market in GoMemphis: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2010/jul/23/dining-review-trolley-market-puts-emphasis-on/

Also, on Sunday the review will run in our Going Green section online, where you can read a Q&A with co-owner Jill Forrester. Go to goinggreen.commercialappeal.com and sign up for the digital edition.

On Saturday, head over to Winchester Farmers Market for Japanese Food Expo. From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. vendors will be set up for demontrations and there will also be free food samples. They'll be back on Sunday at 10 a.m. and will stay until 3 p.m. The WFM, which is a large ethnic grocery with huge produce department, is at the corner of WInchester and Kirby, across from the church with the Statue of Liberty. I love the place.

For a little foodie fun on Sunday, call Whole Foods Market (also WFM) and see if there are spaces left for the first run of the local farm tours. The bus for Tims Farms in Ripley leaves Memphis at 9:30 a.m. and you return at 2 p.m. after a farm tour, Q&A and lunch. It's $20 per adult and $10 per child. Call 685-2293. 

Is everyone ready to celebrate something today? Good if you are, but there's no reason to save a bottle of bubbly for a big day when they're so affordable. Benito is with us, and that means we all end the hour a little smarter than we started! Come on back at 7 tonight for the cava tasting, and don't forget your little bottle of creme de cassis. I bought a bottle in Florida at the fourth liquor store I tried--no one at the first three even knew what I meant and I had to buy a bottle big enough to last me a lifetime at the fourth. I thought that was strange.

See everyone tonight at 7.

My servers would never correct anyone's pronunciation of a word--and it wouldn't matter who's right.

Let's just imagine someone--oh, we'll say it's me--places an appetizer order by saying, pretty simply, "We'll start with the bruschetta," and calls it bru-sketta. Correctly.

A good response would be "Good choice." Another would be, "I'll have that right out to you," or just "Certainly, ma'am." While "No problem" would NOT have been a good response, it would beat this one:

"OK, the bru-shetta."

I just smiled, instead of correcting her correction, but I was glad I wasn't working. First, as far as I know, "ch" is "k" in Italian. Think of all the similar words, such as radicchio, zucchini, Pinocchio, finochio, and so on. (And I think the "H" behind the "C" trumps the "S" in front of it, though I would welcome explanation or correction from someone who is fluent in Italian.)

But I don't welcome correction from my server, even if I had been wrong. She delivered our bruschetta, again pronouncing it with the soft middle--and later repeated my wine order to me differently than I gave it to her. I don't remember the wine, but I knew it and suspect I pronounced it correctly. Maybe I didn't. In my restaurant, though, the server would say, "I'll have that right to you."

This doesn't even approach the perfume offenses, but it's what I've got for this installment and I do think it's worth mentioning. I'm not asking servers to repeat the order with an incorrect pronounciation, but to talk around it. I'd hate to see someone on a date or at a business meeting embarrassed, and we want everyone to feel at home at Chez J.

OK, I admit I was listening to a lot of Jimmy Buffet. (A lot. Does anyone remember the song "Fruitcakes"? I believe I could recite every word if asked to right now.)  There was a bit of "Cheeseburger in Paradise" encouraging my carnivorous craving, but I can't really blame this on anyone. The truth is, when I am around a Whataburger, I eat a Whataburger. It's a family tradition.

I put aside all thoughts of eating more vegetables and less meat while I was gone, and I ate whatever I wanted. And Whataburgers, I wanted. I had THREE in one week. The last day we ate there (lunches only), 8-year-old Lily wanted to order a second one!

Now, if we still had a Whataburger here, I'd never even think about eating burgers while on the coast, but we don't. In my family, we'll call each other if we're out of town and in a Whataburger city, just to rub it in that we're going to eat a Whataburger. Pitiful.

I have a friend at work who plans her trips around Dairy Queens. What's your out-of-town must when you go on vacation?

OK, I am having blog problems and if I lose another post, I am DONE for the day! I swear, catching up after vacation is enough to make you want to either never take it or--better--go back.

Anyway, the beaches: They were clear and beautiful. The water was a little murky with seaweed where we were on South Walton, but we were so close to Panama City that we drove in to go to St. Andrew's State Park most days. The picture shows you how clear the water is in the "kiddie pool" there. The pool is probably about 1,500 feet long and extends about 500 feet from the beach. It's very shallow and protected by jetties on two sides, so there are only gentle waves. It's a place where you can float all day and that's what I did a lot of (though I did get swept out by a freakish current one day and had a brief moment of panic--I hate that feeling!). You should make a point to get there if you're in the area. You can relax in the pool, snorkel around the rocks (a decent-sized grouper will entertain you), watch the pelicans fish, then walk a couple of hundred feet to the other side of the jetties to ride the waves.

The first day we were there, a swimmer took three black rocks to one of the workers walking the beaches for tar balls. He asked if they were tar balls and the worker plucked one from his hand and said, while pointing at the others: "This one is a tar ball, that one is charcoal and the other one is dog crap."

And that was our sole tar ball experience.

We had two regrettable meals out--I had no WiFi and couldn't get the names of the recommended restaurants--but mostly ate in. I will admit, however, to thoroughly enjoying a particular food, which you'll find in the next post...

So what if it's the first day back from vacation? Maybe I'll pretend I'm still on the beach tonight and whip up a blender of these for the household. I'd hate to let National Daiquiri Day pass without notice!

About five years ago I bought a box of mangos at the Winchester Farmers market for $1--the then-owner was throwing out the ones too ripe to sell, but he assured me there was nothing wrong with them. They were just soft. The mango daiquiri was borne from that excursion. It was never complicated, but it's been even more simplified over the years. Here it is, along with a photo of an actual mango daiquiri from my house, taken by CA photographer Dave Darnell.

Trip food/water/update report tomorrow.

Mango Daiquiri

2 very ripe mangos
1 1/2 cups gold rum
1/4 cup Triple Sec
6 oz. frozen limeade
Ice to fill blender

Remove flesh from mangos, discard skin and place flesh in blender. Add other ingredients (I always add rum last). Process until smooth and taste. Serves 8.