Houston Porter: music and restaurants, help for a local business and ‘Burning Ham’

Burning Ham

It’s not too late to get your tickets for the 2021 Burning Ham event at Penngrove Park, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission gets each guest 10 tasting tickets and one drink ticket, with additional single taste tickets available for purchase. Along with great ribs, pork, side dishes, desserts and beer and wine, there will be live music and games at the event, with all proceeds going to a great cause. For those looking for a VIP experience, the VIP ticket gets you into the shaded VIP area, with food sampling buffet from all the competitors plus two drink tickets to use at the private beer and wine bar. Additionally, for those in a generous mood, you can purchase a dinner for a family in need as well as a “Take a kid back to school shopping” ticket through the event’s website at www.burningham2030club.com. Presented by the Active 20-30 Club, all proceeds go to help youth in our community.

Oskey’s truck is on ice

While on the topic of ice cream, which is something near and dear to my heart, Oskey’s Ice Cream Truck needs our help, literally. The truck needs a new engine, and owner Dan “the Ice Cream Man” Sager is asking for our help through his gofundme.com page. For now, Dan is running his Harley-Davidson Ice Cream-Cycle sidecar, but can carry only so much ice cream at any given time, so really needs to get his 1963 Ford F-100 ice cream truck back on the road soon. Visit Oskey’s Ice Cream Truck’s Facebook page or search “Help keep Oskey's on the road!” on gofundme.com for more information and to donate.

New outdoor patio

Scowley’s Burgers, which sits at 229 N. McDowell Blvd., and is available for delivery through Petaluma Food Taxi, has just added its long-awaited outdoor patio. Known for great burgers, including two veggie options, both of which even this meat-eater enjoyed, Scowley’s had been waiting for things to open back up a bit more in order to open their outdoor seating area. The space is well protected from Petaluma’s afternoon winds, and even offers heat lamps, so it should be a nice spot to enjoy Scowley’s great food when you want to enjoy your lunch or dinner out.

Food & Music

Over the past few weeks, I have received a lot of requests for spots around Petaluma with live music. As someone who tends to prefer lively conversation with my meals, I am not necessarily the right person to ask, but first and foremost would point readers to the Community page of the newspaper, where you will find a robust list of local live music, although admittedly, those aren’t always offered at venues with a hearty food menu. That said, two local spots were recently brought to my attention that offer both great food and from what readers report, great music.

The first is Mi Pueblo El Norte. Longtime readers Sandy and Tom D’Asto were kind enough to send me a handwritten note about their recent dining experiences at Mi Pueblo on Petaluma Boulevard N. They had just visited Mi Pueblo for the third time in a month and told me, “…the food has always been great, as well as the service, but what keeps us returning is the fantastic live music provided in their big white tent each evening by an elder gentleman and his guitar. He sings and plays a wide variety of songs – Mexican, country, pop, easy listening, ‘60s, etc. – he is just amazing and has so much talent.” They also thanked us for the Food & Drink section and all it does to help people find quality dining spots around Petaluma, but it’s readers like Sandy and Tom that make that possible by helping us food writers stay abreast of all the great food (and music) around Petaluma.

The second secret music spot is actually a little bit north, but because I grew in Penngrove, I consider it part of our same community. Penngrove Market has been offering music on their patio on the weekends and from the looks of the current September calendar on their Facebook page, will continue to Sunday, Sept.18 and Sunday, Sept. 25. For food, they always have great options from pre-made salads and sandwiches to warm soups and various delicious items out of their wood-fired oven. In fact, a couple of weeks ago we were driving through Penngrove when we remembered that we were in need of a roasted bird for the week’s lunches and find few things as delectable as their fire-roasted chickens. Penngrove Market also offers excellent family dinners on Friday nights, including this week’s special treat – king salmon dinner, with house-made ravioli with local greens in a lemon butter sauce, shaved melon and cucumber salad with feta and arugula and herb focaccia.