Soaking it all in

“On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese “I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed….” Ah, all the old and mostly lost (thank goodness) nursery rhyme songs about food from my youth. That one was a classic and I can still recall all the lyrics even today. If you listen to the rest of the song the meatball rolled on the floor, out the door, into a bush and turned into mush that the songwriter apparently TASTED. The rest of the meatball eventually grew into a tree the next summer all covered with beautiful moss and spewing forth big meatballs and tomato sauce. It sounds like this song writer might have tasted a few magic mushrooms, if you ask me. But a huge bowl of spaghetti with meatballs all covered in Parmesan cheese would really hit the spot right now. The music industry has a long history of songs inspired by food or about food that people may not realize. Many food songs are geared toward children. Growing up I can recall a ton of children’s songs that were used ...

I’ve been craving a perfectly fried hogfish sandwich, the one you can only get from the Hogfish Bar and Grill in Stock Island, Florida. You’ve never heard of hogfish? You’ve never been to the Hogfish Bar and Grill? You are truly missing out! Listen, this place is worth a weekend trip just for the ambiance, but when you add in the fresh seafood, it is a must do destination if you’re planning a trip to Key West. Stock Island is a strip of land that serves as an entry-way to Key West and hosts some of the last commercial fishing fleets on Safe Harbor. The seafood at the Hogfish is literally hook-to-cooked, and outside patio dining allows you to take in the breathtaking scenery and sunshine. The hogfish is a funky looking sea creature with a long “pig-like” snout. It uses this snout to root up crustaceans from the ocean’s sediment. Crustacean is the hogfish’s main diet. Because of its funky snout it is rare to hook a hogfish on a regular fishing line. Most hogfish are caught by spe...