Recipe Software - MacGourmet Deluxe

It's intuitive, easy to use, and otherwise a great solution for maintaining recipes. But here's the problem, it takes time. Like anything else, you need to type. You need to organize photos, you need to organize your thoughts. Do I recommend it? Absolutely. MacGourmet Deluxe is awesome.

Here's a screenshot of my start page. As you can see, I've only added a few recipes, but it's nice having so much information in a single screen.

And another screenshot once you click on a recipe. It comes up with all the information about your dish. A couple of strange things - my image is sideways. I don't see a fix for that in the program itself, so you probably need to edit it before it goes in. Also, it has plenty of defaults like Tablespoon and ounces, but then there are other basic things missing in the list. Oh well.

So, I'm not a pro reviewer, and that's all I have for you. Try it out.

Brock

Corn Blinis with Papaya and Roasted Serrano and Garlic Salsa

I've been on a corn kick for a while. I think it's a pretty versatile ingredient, and compliments or champions just about any style or genre of cooking.

For this dish, I wanted something simple to travel. My wife's parents were up at their local house, and I wanted to make a snack for them before dinner. I did most of the prep before I left home (made the blini mix, roasted everything for the salsa, etc.). Having a picnic basket on hand was the perfect travel partner, so I iced it, packed it, and took it there.

Corn Blinis:

1 cup drained corn, processed and in a large mixing bowl.

add 1/2 cup flour

Pinch of salt

1 cup heavy cream

Mix well. If it's too wet, add flour. If it's too dry, add more corn and a bit of water. Think about pancake batter and that's the consistency you're shooting for. In fact, you'll cook them like pancakes, except you want a slightly lower heat because they take a bit longer than pancakes to cook.

Roasted Serrano and Garlic Salsa:

1 pound vine ripe tomatoes

1 head garlic

6 Serrano chilis

On a baking sheet slathered in olive oil, roast garlic, tomato and chilis (sprinkle some salt and pepper over) for about 45 - 60 minutes. If the chilis or garlic start to burn up, remove them before the tomatoes. You want the skin on the chilis and tomatoes to blacken. The garlic will mostly look browned and pale.

Pop the garlic out of its wrappers, take off the stems from the chilis and tomatoes, and blend all of it in a large processor. Squeeze juice from 2 limes, add some kosher salt, and a table spoon of vinegar. Blend again and cool for use.

Chop Papaya into pea size chunks.

Take the blinis and stack them with papaya and salsa. It's good stuff!

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Italian and Asian Crostini

It's been a long while since I've written a recipe. Not because I haven't wanted to. Not because I haven't cooked. In fact, I've been cooking a ton. So much so, the backlog is too much for me. Hopefully I'll catch up at some point, but it's doubtful. I read recipes all the time, but haven't followed one in years. Actually, that's not true. I follow the recipe for my crepes because I can never remember the proportions. But other than that, I don't. The problem is, I can't remember how to make things I cook. Truth be told, I often forget by the time I sit down to eat. Now that sucks.

But this is a simple one. A handful of ingredients and you can pretty much see them in the picture, so it's easy to remember.

Funny thing about this recipe is it's the midnight snack, although it's only 9:30p and that's been my cutoff for eating for the past three years. For a midnight snack, you need to make things with things you have on hand. Nothing serious, not too much prep. But you can't need anything you don't have. You must use as much of what you have on hand and be creative. That's the ticket.

Asian Crostini:

1 bunch of spinach, blanched 30 seconds in heavily salted water, roughly chopped
Thinly sliced watermelon, pan seared with olive oil
Ginger-Garlic Vinaigrette: small amount of fresh ginger, minced; 1 clove garlic, minced; dashes of chili oil, couple tablespoons of brown rice vinegar, tablespoon or so of Ponzu. Mix well.
Toasted crusty bread with olive oil. I lather both sides of the bread with olive oil and broil on high until browned.

Lay the breads out, arrange watermelon on top, pinch some spinach on top, and give it a dose of vinaigrette.

Italian Crostini:

Blackened corn: drained can corn, 1/2 small onion, chopped, 1 clove garlic. Add some olive oil to a pan and heat til smoking. Add the corn and onion, and let it turn black before a quick stir. Blacken the other side. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, remove to a bowl.
Sun-Dried Tomato: If they're in oil, drain and chop. If they're dry, put in some hot water for 10 minutes, drain and chop.
Stock corn and tomato on crostini and top with a bit of olive oil and finishing salt. I had some truffle salt on hand, and that was good.

Oh yeah, I shaved a little pecorino over.

I think the Italian version would have been much better with a small amount of meat. Maybe fried pancetta or regular bacon.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Taiwanese Burrito...or spring roll or Luin Bia or Lumpia

I've heard it called all those things, but there are a few things I know for sure:

1) It's Taiwanese

2) It needs Chinese sausage to be complete

3) It's amazing

4) It's healthy

5) You don't need a special reason to make it, but it's a common dish at special occasions

So first off, you need to know the parts you won't find at Stater Bros. Ha Ha Ha. My first choice is usually 99 Ranch Market, but there are plenty of good Chinese grocery stores out there, so find your favorite and go for it.

This is a picture of the items you'll need, which may be hard to locate. In the picture you see the skins (top left), sausage (top right), peanut powder (bottom left), and baked tofu (bottom left).

So there's a lot of slicing and chopping, so get out a large cutting board, some large bowls, the items you see in the picture, and also:

1) 4 large leeks

2) 1 head cabbage

3) 5 eggs

4) 1-2 pounds bean sprouts

5) 1 pound pork loin (option- I don't care for this)

6) lima beans (option - I don't care for these either)

And here's the breakdown. It's a decent amount of prep work, so you might want all four burners going at the same time, as well as your toaster oven. That way it will all be warm when you're ready to eat:

Sausage:

Thinly slice and broil until cooked through and browned (maybe 4-5 minutes)

Eggs:

Beat well with a pinch of salt, then make think omelettes. Cool and slice into long pieces about 1/4" wide.

Cabbage:

Slice into 1/4" x 2" pieces and pan fry with a bit of salt on medium until soft, caring not to brown.

Tofu & Leek:

Cut off green part of leeks and bottom. Slice white part into think slivers, horizontally across the shaft. Pan fry these on medium for about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, slice your tofu into very thin strips (check the picture above for detail). Add these and continue to fry until softened.

Bean Sprouts:

Drop into a large pot of boiling water and bit of salt for 1 minute. Drain, run under cold water, drain, and plate.

Peanut Power & Powder Sugar:

Mix about 2/3 powder sugar to 1/3 peanut powder.

Skins:

You need a steamer for this. I have a Chinese steamer, but you can make one yourself if you have a large pot (big enough to hold a plate inside). For that, you take a large pot, you but a heat proof bowl upside down on the bottom,

and put a plate on top of the bowl. On top of the bowl, you lay a clean kitchen towel. You place the skins on top of that, and you cover with another clean kitchen towel. Fill the bottom with water, but below the plate. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer to steam. The big issue about steaming the skins is that you don't want too much moisture.

The Hot Sauce:

You absolutely cannot have this dish without this particular hot sauce. And, you can't just have this sauce, you must have minced or pressed garlic stirred in. I'm giving you the picture, because you can't mess this one up.

The Spread:

Once it's all ready to go, you plate it.

The Burrito:

And then you stuff it like a burrito, fold it and chow down!!

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Chinese Fried Rice

There are so many ways to make fried rice. So many cultural influences and ingredients that can make it amazing, spicy, complex, and enjoyable. My fried rice is probably more of family-style, simple, yet flavorful arrangement. It's perfect for the days when you want a quick meal and have a few things on hand: cooked rice, eggs, onions, meat/shrimp. You really don't need anything else, but you can add many other things.

So here's the rundown.

Cook 2 cups of rice according to instructions. I use a Japanese rice maker by Zojirushi. It makes perfect rice. I used to refrigerate my rice before making fried rice, but I'm starting to like fresh-cooked fried rice. Try it both ways (cooked and cooked, or fresh cooked) and see which you prefer.

The other thing about making fried rice is you need all your ingredients chopped and ready to go in bowls/plates beside your cooking pan. This will keep you from burning one thing while you're getting something else ready to go.

And now onto the ingredients. I'm going to list my basic requirements, but you can substitute some or pretty much all of them. I'll drop in some reasons and alternatives as we go.

Yellow onion, sliced. You can't really replace the onion. I don't think shallots would do the job. You could use white or sweet onions, that's not a problem. You could also dice or chop the onion, that's fine too.

Chinese sausage. This imparts a significant component to my fried rice. It's sweet and savory, hearty, yet not overbearing. I use a Taiwanese brand, but you could use a Chinese or even Vietnamese brand. I suggest going into an Asian market...Chinese, Japanese or Vietnamese, and trying a few different brands. Pick the one you like and go with it. If you don't want to use sausage, or you're scared to shop for it, opt for some chopped ham.

Corn. If you use frozen, defrost it and get rid of the liquid. If you use canned, drain it well. Fresh is best if you want to cut it. Some people use small chunks of carrots or peas, or even green beans. I think many people use the bagged frozen kind, which is ok. I will use a Trader Joe's bagged white corn for this dish sometimes.

Shrimp. This is up to you, because it doesn't so much impart flavor to the rice as it is just a nice addition to the dish.

Green onion. Chop this up and leave it for the very end, uncooked. You toss this over your rice when it's done, or during the last 20 seconds of cooking.

Egg. Scramble 2 eggs with a bit of milk and sugar. Eggs are a must, but you can also just scramble them without milk and sugar.

Fish cake. Go into any Asian market and you'll find fishcake. You can try just about any type, and all are good...I've tried fried rice with every type, including the pink and white, and everything else. The fish cake isn't an absolute must, but I think it's a great addition that keeps you from going too American on this dish.

Flavoring. I prefer a bit of soy sauce mixed with oyster sauce, but I've tried it many, many different ways. Here are some thoughts. You want saltiness...you can use salt, or even granulated chicken bouillon . I've used that with great results. I also like to add crushed red pepper. You can make a quick and easy fried rice with just soy sauce as your flavoring. You can also add a bit of ketchup, which I've seen in a handful of Japanese-style recipes.

Once I have all my ingredients ready to go, I put them all in bowls and plates near my pan. I heat oil on high and cook each thing on high at a time. I start with my scrambled eggs, and keep them soft, just cooked and drop them into a large bowl. Then onions, corn, etc. As you cook each one, add it to your bowl. Then you fry your rice on high for a minute or two, add your flavoring, mix well, then add in all your cooked ingredients and mix well. Pour out back into your large bowl, sprinkle green onion. You're ready to go.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Seared Scallops with Miso-Sake Sauce, Corn Cakes and Roasted Maitake Mushroom

Getting all this in a format suitable for plating was tough. In fact, I'm not convinced this was the best presentation. Actually, I know it's not. It's sloppy and looks too heavy. But oh well! Cooking is sloppy, isn't it? I mean, what's the point of cooking, of learning, of growing as a cook if you can't mess things up...make it look like crap once in a while. Not that it's your goal, but if it happens to occur, live with it!

So I knew I wanted seared scallops and I knew I wanted corn, but building a dish around those two items is easy and tough. Easy in that you can do so many things with scallops or corn. Hard in that you can do so many things with scallops or corn ;).

I originally wanted to do something of a stack with the corn, but I imagined a drier approach with a chopped corn, not whole kernels. I couldn't come up with something for that, so I chose the next best thing - corn cakes.

I'm also really into mushrooms at the moment. Every time I walk into a grocery store these days, I'm checking what they have in stock. On this day, I came across this beautiful little floret of a Maitake mushroom, and instantly knew I had to cook it with olive oil, salt and pepper. In retrospect, I probably should have done some sort of chopped approach to the mushrooms, because that's what really threw this plate off. You have a nice corn cake, you have four seared scallops, you have a nice sauce...then you have this big chunk of a mushroom hanging out on the plate with nowhere to hide. If you try this dish, maybe do everything I did, but then take the mushroom and chop it, and set it on top of the corn cake?

You already know how to do seared scallops, so let's get to the miso-sake sauce and corn cakes.

Miso-Sake Sauce:

1 Cup sake

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbs ponzu sauce

1 tsp miso paste

Boil the sake until reduced by half. Add broth and boil for a minute, add ponzu and miso, stirring well. Reduce heat to low and reduce about 10 minutes. Off heat and add 1 Tbs butter, mixing before you use.

Corn Cakes:

1 Cup corn (if you use frozen corn, make sure it's completely defrosted and drained)

1 piece of wheat bread

1 egg white

1/4 shredded parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic, through a press

In a processor, turn the bread into fine crumbs. Add corn and process until chunk, but not a paste. Scoop out into bowl and add egg white and cheese. Add a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic.

Form into cakes, and pan fry for a couple minutes per side.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Fried Chicken Roll (Gi Jien)

This is a famous dish at our family Thanksgivings. A Taiwanese favorite, this is a hearty dish commonly wrapped in tofu skin instead of seaweed. But, I learned it from my wife's family and they do it with seaweed. I've done it both ways and will tell you about it.

From a taste perspective, I don't have a preference - they're both really good. From a prep perspective, the seaweed is much easier to work with, and your margin for error is much higher. Seaweed needs a simple bit of moisture to be pliable, and it can be overcooked, undercooked or perfectly cooked without any problems. Tofu skins, on the other hand, require a much longer moisture transfer (usually by a wet towel), and if they're not cooked long enough or on a high heat, the skins are tough and chewy.

My advice is to try both, and see what you like. If you use tofu skins, you might prefer a partial deep-fry (i.e., 1/2 deep of oil in a pan), instead of a slightly-oiled pan fry that can work with the seaweed quite easily, but doesn't provide ample oil coverage for a good, rounded cook of the tofu skin.

Also, if you want to prepare this dish, you're going to need to get into an Asian grocery store. Granted, I don't think Koreans or Japanese have this dish, but you can still find all you'll need in any variation of Asian markets.

You'll need:

1 lb Fish cake

1 lb Ground pork

3 Tbs Chinese cooking wine

1 large or 2 small Carrot

1 Onion

4 Tbs cornstarch

3 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs sesame oil

salt & pepper

seaweed and/or tofu skins

First thing you want to do is chop up the fish cake into tiny little pieces. Some people make this dish with fish paste (purchased from an Asian market) instead of chopped fish cake. I prefer chopped fish cake, but again, try both and see what you like. Put the fish cake into a large bowl, add the ground pork. Finely shred and chop a carrot and onion, and add that into the bowl. In a small bowl, mix the cooking wine, sugar, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Pour that into the largest bowl. Mix all of this really well.

Get a large cutting board and lay a damp paper towel on top. Have an extra damp paper towel nearby. Lay a sheet of seaweed down on the towel, then lay the other paper towel on top. Moisten the seaweed until pliable.

Scoop a portion of the fishcake mixture onto the seaweed and roll it. For you people out there aware of how to roll a burrito, now's your chance to use the skill on a Chinese dish. Roll it, set it aside, and do it again.

Once you've rolled all your rolls, you'll want to heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, and put a few in, side-by-side. Roll them ever minute or so, and you'll take about 7-10 minutes to cook them through.

Once cooked, remove them to a cutting board, and slice into thick rounds. These are really good with catsup for dipping.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Mushroom and Chive Dumplings with Plumb-Habanero-Sake Sauce

There are times when you're in a store, or maybe at a farmer's market, or maybe even at a friend's house, and you see something. Some food item that just blows your mind. This is the genesis of these dumplings.

I was walking in SF Market in Rowland Heights and saw these amazing mushrooms. Oysters, Kings, Shitake...loads of them, and they were all fresh and looked amazing. So, I grabbed some Oysters and Shitakes, and moved on. Boom - chives! Beautiful green, and you never find these in Stater Bros!! And as I walked towards the checkout, there they were - ripe plumbs. I had no idea what I was going to do with all this stuff, but I knew it would all wind up on the dinner table.

When I got home, I remembered I had some sweet rice dumpling wrappers I had picked up from a Korean grocery store a few days earlier. Instantly, the entire thing came together. Perfect for a starter or side, but would also work as a main dish. That's the beauty of these dumplings - they're flexible.

Mushroom and Chive Dumpings:

Take all your mushrooms and chop. You can use any combination of fresh mushrooms, but if you use dried, you need to soak them for at least 15 minutes in hot water before using. Set aside.

Chop a handful or two of fresh chives. When I say chives, I'm not talking green onions. Set aside.

Pour a bit of olive oil in a large pan and heat and swirl. Add mushrooms and stir well. Cook these up a bit, stirring occasionally. After a few minutes, you'll notice they're starting to shrink down a bit. Add a swig of sake. Stir again. Cook the mushrooms for a few more minutes, allowing the liquid to release and cook off. Pour this into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, cook up a handful of chopped pancetta. Trader Joe's had a nice little box of chopped pancetta ready for use, and you can use that whole box. I dropped it into a small frying pan with a couple cloves of minced garlic. When this is cooked, pour it into your mushroom mix.

Press 3 cloves of garlic into your mushroom mix, and add some kosher salt. Mix well and set aside.

Wrapping the Dumplings:

Take your wrappers and have them right in front of you. Get a small bowl of water nearby. Take a wrapper, spoon in as much filling as you can fit in the middle of the wrapper, then take a finger into your water and run your watery finger along the inside edge of the wrapper. Fold over, then squeeze it together with your fingers. Here's a good video on wrapping dumplings. Place these on a sheet of wax paper and don't let them touch each other, or they might stick together. Set aside until ready to cook.

Cooking the Dumplings:

The great thing about dumplings is you can cook them multiple ways, depending on your needs. Steaming sounded good to me, so I steamed. I have a multilevel steamer pot. But, you could just as easily use a bamboo steamer, steaming basket, or any other solution for steaming (I've used a plate on an upside down bowl inside of a large pot for certain steaming uses, like large fish). One thing you'll want to do is put down wax or parchment paper, or some form of leafy vegetable, like Napa, and put the dumplings on top so as not to stick to the steamer. Be careful of using things like bamboo, banana, or taro leaves, since they can impart a strong aroma that may not be consistent with the dumpling ingredients.

I also like to put some aromatics in the steaming liquid. Given the ingredients in my dumplings, I figured a combination of lemon rinds and ginger chunks would impart a nice essence to the dumplings. I was right, and it made the kitchen have a great smell!

Plumb-Habanero-Sake Sauce:

Take about 10 fresh plumbs. Clean and take out the seed. Drop these into a pot with about 1/2 cup sake and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce. Add about 2/3 cup sugar and mix well. Let this break down about 20 minutes, mashing the plumbs with a fork or potato masher every few minutes. By this time, your plumbs should be super tender. You're going to use a wand mixer and break this down into a sauce. If it's too dry, add some more sake/water. Add some chopped habanero, according to taste. Cook another 5-10 minutes. Check for taste. You might need to add salt, sugar, or water, in order to adjust.

Assemble your dumplings on a plate with the sauce in a small bowl for dipping. This can be a single plate for everyone to share, or individual plates for each guest.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Grilled Tilapia on Garlicky Pea Tendrils and Wild Rice with Apricot Cream Sauce

Aaaaaah, complexity. The sauce alone was a burst of 'every which way but loose.' But together? The fish? The pea tendrils? Garlic?? This dish blasted the palette with emotions.

I started thinking about it when I bought the pea tendrils. As stated in the link, you can pick these up at a Chinese grocery store. I bought a huge bag and had to share them with my friend. Got those, check.

Then I wanted to swirl those around and place them on top of a starch. Maybe mashed potatoes? Nah. But colorful brown rice? That was the ticket. And while searching the cupboard for wild rice, I stumbled across some dried apricots that have been yearning to be turned into a sauce. Boom! Meal 3/4 together.

A main? Could have been shrimp or scallops, but the thought of plating led me to want a substantial piece to lay against the tendril and rice stack. In retrospect, I think having evenly spaced seared scallops surrounding the stack would have been amazing too, but that's for next time.

Now, down to business:

Grilled Tilapia:
Rub some olive oil, ample salt and black pepper into all sides of the Tilapia fillet. Let it sit out of the fridge for about 15 minutes or so, while your grill heats up. You'll want to grill this about 3-4 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

Garlicky Pea Tendrils:

5 cloves garlic, minced
A pile of pea tendrils, washed and drained (should pile about as high as a sourdough loaf)

Pour some olive oil in a large pan and heat on high. Add garlic and fry about 30 seconds. Add pea tendrils and stir quickly and constantly. Add kosher salt, stir. Add about 2 Tbs water and fry for another minute. To serve, you'll want to twist this with tongs and then left out, allowing the liquid to drain back into the pan before you plate it.

Wild Rice:

I buy this in bulk from Henry's Market. I use about 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. Actually, I tend to use part chicken broth, part water. It's your choice, though. Bring the water to a boil (don't have your rice in it yet). Add the rice and 1 Tbs of butter. Mix, and bring back to a boil. Cover and lower heat - cook for about 40 minutes.

Apricot Cream Sauce:

Chop 1/2 large red onion
Chop 1 large handful of apricots
Chop 1 large carrot
mince 3 cloves garlic
Slice 1/2 ring of lemon
mince 1 tsp fresh ginger
Chop 3 stems chive (or use leek- about 1/4 of the white part, sliced in rings)
1 can chicken broth
Sake

Heat olive oil in a small pot. Add onion and fry for about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, stirring another 30 seconds or so, until fragrant. Add apricots, fry another minute. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add carrots and chive. Pour about 1/4 (or 1/2 cup) of sake into the mix and continue boiling. After about 5 minutes, reduce the heat til it continues to bubble. Cook this way for about 15 minutes. Strain the liquid into a bowl, rinse out the pot if any chunks remain, and return the strained liquid to the pot. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat and cook another 10 minutes. Pour in a small amount of heavy cream and continue cooking another 5-10 minutes. Off the heat and drop in a small amount of butter, and swirl to melt. This is your sauce.

Enjoy!

~ Brock

Yard House + Round It Up America = Good Work

Months ago I blogged about Yard House's new social justice campaign, Round It Up America. Initially, I saw the campaign and thought it could be better. Apparently, Yard House was alerted to my post and I received a call from the President of Yard House, Harald Herrmann, the same day. After speaking with him, I blogged again, sharing my content in learning that Round It Up America was designed to be a broad campaign, adoptable by every restaurant in America. Great plan!

And, Yard House moved on...so did I.

But a few weeks ago, Mr. Herrmann's office called me, inviting me to attend an award ceremony for the program. I thought the invitation was peculiar, but rolled with it. "Sure," I said. Then, a few days before the event, I received another call, asking if I'd be willing to hand over one of the checks to a recipient non-profit. "Sure," I said.

And Thursday morning I show up to this event. I don't know exactly what it's for, or why I was invited. But, I liked Harald and I like the program, so I was curious enough to jump in with both feet. I check in, grab some coffee and grab a seat at the bar. About 40 or so people milling around. All professionals. All smiling. And they all seemed to know each other. Everyone except for me.

So a woman walks up to greet me, and after introducing myself, she lets me know I'll be giving the first check. I'm really starting to wonder, "what is going on, and why me?" I've at least come to realize that there's money going out to charities today. I got that. And, it seems to that everyone there wants to be there, but I still haven't quite figured out my role in this little gala event. And then she asks me if I've met Harald. "Only by phone," I say.

I'm rushed away to meet him, his VP of Marketing, a founder of Yard House, and a few other people. And it turns into story time. Harald introduces me to everyone as the guy that wrote an email, challenging the model. And, he introduces me as a guest of Yard House. I'll be handing over a check to the first charity on behalf of all guests of Yard House. The people who actually 'round it up.'

Then it starts to come together.

The ceremony begins. Harald explains how this program came together. The difficulties. The hurdles. The impossibilities. How it took a village to raise this baby. And I see the look on his face and see the sincerity and I'm blown away. "This guy is for real!" He's excited because a program designed to give is actually working!! I look around and the people in the room are excited too. They're a part of something that works. Something that gives back to society. And they built it with their own hands, blood, and sweat.

I suddenly feel proud to be part of this little soiree.

You see, in retrospect, I've had people talk to me about pushing social justice in the business context because it's good for PR. Giving is the new keeping. It's a bandwagon. So you can understand if I'm a little skeptical. But what I saw with these guys was legit. At least Yard House. At least Harald Hermann. And legitimacy is the new...legitimacy.

The good news, Yard House did listen. To me? Who knows, but they listened to something bigger than their bottom line. And that's all I care about. They did remove their own branding and allow other restaurants to participate without competing (and without a reason to create their own charity campaign). The result will be bigger donations and bigger checks to charities. Broader participation and broader branding. It's brilliant.

Congratulations, Harald, and congratulations, Yard House. Nice work.

Next time you go to a restaurant, ask if they are part of Round It Up America. If they are, round it up. If they're not, ask them to visit Round It Up America and join. It's worth it and it's easy. And easy is the new easy.

Brock