Jesse and Maggie talk about her visit to Casablanca Mediterranean and Jesse’s reveal of a special VIP ticket for the Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival coming February 23 through March 1st.

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Jesse Blanco: Hey, hey, hey everybody. Good morning and welcome to Mondays with Maggie. My name is Jesse Blanco, host of not only this podcast, but Eat It and Like It with Jesse Blanco, you can find that weekends, WJCL television here in the Savannah/Hilton Head area, or on YouTube, EatItandLikeIt1 is our channel. On the other end of the situation here is my dear friend Maggie–Margaret, we call her Maggie Crenshaw; I almost said Maggie we call her Margaret, I have never called you Margaret, even when I’ve been upset with you. “Margaret Crenshaw you come here this instant!” Good morning, how are you?

Maggie Crenshaw: (laughing) Good morning, I’m doing well. How about you?

JB: Good, and I just paused for a second and my brain was (brain calculating noise), I have never been upset with you. We’ve known each other what, three and a half years? Maybe almost four now?

MC: Yeah, we don’t… What would we be upset with each other about?

JB: No, exactly, exactly. Never, never. Yeah, but you say things like that, like, well, no, that’s actually never happened. We’re, as the kids like to say, besties!

MC: BFF!

JB: (laughing) Hashtag love you mean it! How’s your weekend?

MC: (laughing) It was good, it was, you know, some work and some play and some cooking. Always cooking.

JB: Yeah? What’d you cook?

MC: Oh gosh, I made chicken enchiladas, I made chicken piccata–

JB: Did I see piccata somewhere?

MC: I did, I made piccata… Saturday night maybe. It was a good batch. Good batch. I’ve gotten away from making my homemade chicken stock as much as I’ve been making homemade veggie broth.

JB: Ohhh, any particular reason?

MC: No, it just—I always have vegetables on hand, and sometimes you don’t have chicken. I just started doing it one day and I thought, what if I’ve been putting chicken in it this whole time? You know?

JB: Perfect segue. I don’t know if you saw my Facebook post, but I spent the weekend down in Orlando at the Orlando Home and Garden Show with the Eat It and Like It cooking stage, cooking up a storm. Had two demos on Friday, two demos on Saturday, and two on Sunday. Yeah. I shared my secret–it’s not a secret, it’s posted on my website–black bean recipe, I made chicken tortilla soup, we did some eggs with peppers and onions, and brunch and pastries and orange juice and all kinds of stuff the whole weekend. Well, yesterday, my last demo of the weekend, I’m making chicken tortilla soup one last time. And there are a lot of people who sit down, and they are interested in what I have to say, and how I prepared this soup. There are a lot of people, and I watched them because I’m standing on the stage, a lot of people who have absolutely no interest in what I have to say, and they circle around, and when they see that I’m wrapping up and I’m starting to pour samples, all of a sudden they try to run to the front. It’s like, yo, step over there. The people who have been sitting here listening to this get first crack. Well, we get this one lady with two young boys that were probably at 10-12 years old each. She was one of them, because I was seeing her, she was kind of floating, waiting until it was time to pounce on the food, having no interest in anything else that was going on there. And as soon as she sees me handing stuff out, a few people who were up front got their samples, she comes walking briskly right up to the front and she says, “what did you make?” “Chicken tortilla soup.” She goes, “does it have meat?” “Yes.” She didn’t even say, okay, thanks, or have a good day. Nothing. She just turned and walked like I had insulted her, with the boys in tow. Like, you know what? There are nicer ways to handle that, but, it takes all kinds. All that to say, you just said I didn’t do chicken broth, I did vegetable broth. Well, I made chicken tortilla soup with chicken. How about that?

MC: There you go. That is, that’s really interesting. 

JB: Yeah, ingenious, isn’t it?

MC: As title would infer, yes, there is chicken, which is a meat. So yes, the soup has meat in it.

JB: The recipe by the way, I know a lot of you who are watching or listening to this weren’t there, but I did post the recipe right now. You can find it this red hot instant on the homepage of eatitandlikeit.com if you scroll down about two thirds of the way down the homepage, you’ll see the Eat It Florida section. And since I was in Orlando, that’s where I chose to share this content. You’ll see it right there, it’s a little talk–you and I have discussed this before. When you cook, if I’m doing something from a recipe, I’ll spend two days looking at 15 different recipes for the thing I want to make. And you take what–oh, I like how they did–ooh, I wonder what that tastes like–and you kind of blend it together. Well, I did that to an extent, and I explained it in the recipe that I’ve posted, but there was one main recipe that I used as kind of my monorail, if you will, to borrow a pun for central Florida and Orlando. And I played with it a little bit, but I explained that.

So it’s there, my chicken tortilla soup recipe, which I will also be making, perfect segue, at the Low Country Home and Garden Show. That’s coming up January 23, 24, 25, 2026, here at the Savannah Convention Center. It’s always a good time. We do cooking demos, not just me this time, I bring in chefs from the area and they come and make stuff and hand out samples and we have fun, and I spend a lot of time, a lot of time, especially last year–the last two years, I should say–a lot of time talking to people from the area about the show, about this podcast, about everything that we do here at Eat It and Like It. It is a really good time. It’s a way to–because I just sit there after we’re done with the demos, I sit on the stage and everybody always has questions or they want to take photos or whatever, talk about the food scene, talk about, do you like this restaurant? Hey, have you heard about this restaurant? And there’s a lot of shop talk and good energy that surrounds that stage. So I look forward to it every year. I get a hug sometimes from people who have been loyally watching for many many years. So It’s always cool, looking forward to it. So yes. Do have to mention, as I bust my chest out here—how could I not? Today is January the 12th, one week from today my Miami Hurricanes will be playing for a national championship in the college football realm. We are very excited about that. 

MC: Yes.

JB: Yes, you’ll be watching, right? Of course you will.

MC: Yes, yes, you guys brought it home.

JB: Yes. So you got out. You were on the streets last week eating and liking, yes?

MC: Oh yeah, I was pounding the pavement.

JB: Where’d you go?

MC: I did get out. You know, we have talked about this a million times. I have been wanting to try Casablanca, the Mediterranean restaurant that is, for folks familiar with the island, it’s where the Panera, which is closed now for business, but it’s in that little shopping area where Panera is, between Social Bakery and Local Legend. And I wasn’t familiar with the format of the restaurant. had no idea what it looked like, but people do rave about their food. I’m a huge Mediterranean food freak, I love It’s Greek to Me, I love Greek salads, I love the cleanness of the food and the flavors, without adding too much fat. So yeah, so I met a real estate friend and we went and I had no idea… it’s charming in the sense that it’s not charming. You know what I mean? And I’m not disparaging, but you just walk in, and there’s a counter where you order, and then you sit down and they bring it to you, which is, I like that method. I really do. 

JB: I don’t mind if for lunch, that type of style, it kind of keeps it moving. I’m okay with that. 

MC: Yeah, yeah it does. It keeps it moving. You know, it’s not this formal situation where you’re being waited on or whatever. But at any rate, I ordered a Greek salad with some gyro meat, and it was delicious. It was delicious. Their Greek dressing they serve is a creamy dressing, and I’ll have to say, I do prefer the more oily, vinegary one that they serve at It’s Greek to Me. But still, I mean, delicious salad, it was really great, and it wasn’t like, so much salad and a little bit of meat. It was actually the opposite. I mean, it was just piled with gyro own meat. And it was delicious.

JB: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the pictures look good. I like that. I haven’t been there in a couple of years, but when he first opened, I went a few times. It’s good, I enjoyed it. Of course, they now have a location in Bluffton as well, for those who want to try it and aren’t familiar with the fact that they–you do have options. They’re way over there in the Buckhalter area, over by the movie theaters. Is the movie theater still there? I think it is. I drive by it all the time.

MC: Sea Turtle, yeah. I didn’t know they had a Bluffton location, so that’s good to know.

JB: There you go. Yeah, way up there. They do a nice job. I do enjoy it. There’s them, there’s Greek to Me, and then over in Moss Creek is Olive and Fig. Is there any other Mediterranean on the island?

MC: You know, I knew you were going to ask me that question. 

JB: I don’t think there are.

MC: There was one in the harbor at Shelter Cove, but I don’t know if it’s still there. Didn’t you and I eat there before the theater one night? Or maybe that was somebody else?

JB: No, we went to the Mexican place, San Miguel’s.

MC: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. No, but there was, I meant to look that up because I knew you were gonna ask me that. Shelter Cove, there was a Mediterranean restaurant, and I don’t remember the name. And it could still be there and it could not, I just, I don’t know. 

JB: My brain is scanning the island.

MC: You know, it seems like restaurant closings and openings are just swirling these last, you know, as long as you and I have been doing this, and I can’t keep up with my island anymore. You know?

JB: It has become fairly aggressive. Try following that here in Savannah. It’s like, woo, woo. It’s nuts. But it keeps me in business, keeping tabs on all this. 

MC: And keeps us fed!

JB: Yes, yes, yes, yes. So it was good, Casablanca gets a thumbs up from you?

MC: It sure does. And what we also observed while we were there, not many folks came and sat and ate, but the DoorDash people kept coming and picking up and coming and picking up, and a lot of folks came in and took their food to go. I mean, the door kept opening, you know?

JB: Uh huh. I guess offices or whatever, ordering lunch delivered, I would guess. Yeah, and then the location is convenient, Greek to Me is down by a Coligny, correct? Yeah. Over there.

MC: Yep, that’s on Lagoon Road, right across from the port.

JB: So these two are both south side. If you’re on the north end of the island, you are kind of halfway between them and Olive and Fig, so you could take your pick if you’ve tried one and not the other. But I’m a big fan of Olive and Fig, big fan of Casablanca as well. They all do a nice job.

MC: I’m a big fan of Olive and Fig. Olive and Fig and Casablanca, totally different format, totally different.

JB: Correct, correct. 

MC: But, you know, good stuff. I’ve decided that we shouldn’t use the word delicious anymore. I think we overuse the word delicious. I think we need to look up in the thesaurus what other choices we have for delicious and make from–starting next Monday.

JB: New Year’s resolution, no more delicious? 

MC: (laughing) That would be my only one.

JB: How about scrumdilly-ish-ous?

MC: We could make up words. Let’s make up words.

JB: No, I didn’t make up that word. I did not make up that word. You know where that word comes from? That’s actually a word that is made up in old pop culture. Cause you know, we’re on the other side of 45. That was a word that Dairy Queen had when they did a promotion ages ago with Dennis the Menace.

MC: That’s right. That’s right.

JB: And just by saying Dennis the Menace puts a big ole, OLD stamp on anything I say here. 

MC: Do you remember Dennis’s girlfriend? 

JB: No.

MC: Her name was Margaret.

JB: I was gonna ask you, [I thought] it must’ve been Maggie, but it was Margaret. How about that? Dennis and Margaret. Yes. So, Dennis the Menace had scrumdillyishous. So okay, we won’t say delicious anymore, ever. One year ban on the word delicious.

MC: Yes, we’re going to use more sophisticated words.

JB: I’m Cuban, I don’t know that I can dig up sophistication. We don’t roll like that. 

MC: We could say delicioso!

JB: Hey! Hey, a week from today for the Cuban Bowl down in Miami, we will say delicioso. I’m going to make a big spread.

MC: (laughing) There you go!

JB: For that game, I’m gonna make a bunch of Cuban food. I don’t know what I’m gonna make yet. I spent a lot of time in the car yesterday thinking, well, I don’t wanna make too much food, because it’s just me and Sheila. And I’m not inviting friends over, the bigger the game, the more I need to be alone. Leave me alone, stay away. Don’t text me, don’t call me. Yeah. 

MC: That’s right. Pay attention to the game.

JB: 1 million percent. A couple of weeks ago, New Year’s Eve, I had a relative call me at halftime of the game, and I responded, “Sorry, DND.” He said, “what’s that? I have no idea.” And I didn’t respond. Next day I text him, “hey, DND is do not disturb. I’m at church. Leave me alone.” “Yeah, I was calling to talk to you about the game,” I said, “you were probably drinking, I had no interest in anything you had to say. So just don’t do that.” Anyway, I get very–you do too. It’s a big game. You’re locked in. No distractions.

MC: You have to be. I mean, I don’t want to chit chat. I want to watch every single play.

JB: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Speaking of every single, every single day of the Hilton–(laughing) that’s heck of a segue. Every single day of the Hilton Head Seafood Festival, coming up February 23 through March 1st, there is an event. I’m about to blow your mind. There is an event every single day beginning Monday, February 23, Monday through Sunday. The kegs and eggs event at Lincoln and South Brewing is the Sunday event of the Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival, always a good time. Well, in conjunction with the good people of that event, we were having a conversation last month. “Hey, would you like to offer”–one of the organizers [said], “would you like to offer a special Eat It and Like It ticket?” And I said, “yeah, sure.” She said, “what would that look like?” And I said, “well, you know, if it’s going to be an Eat It and Like It ticket, you should be able to enjoy the seafood festival as I would.” And she said, “I love that. What does that mean?” And I said, “well, I’ll tell you right now, I never wait in line.” And she goes, “okay, that’s good.” 

MC: Fast pass! 

JB: Yeah. She said, “do you get special seating?” I said, “not really, I mean, I suppose I could if I wanted to, but I don’t usually worry about that, for the seminars and the book signings and the instruction and all that stuff,” I said, “no, I usually am a ‘back of the class’ guy who likes to observe and watch a room and see how people interact and whatever.” So we came up with, long story short, we came up with a Eat It and Like It ticket for the Hilton Head Seafood Festival, that includes signed books by the celebrity chefs, which I can’t say–I know who they are, but I can’t share, because I haven’t seen them share who they are yet. There are two really big names that people are going to be excited about. Signed cookbooks by them, reserved seating at the seminars, skip every line, tickets obviously to every event. You get into every event, you skip every line, and then Thursday, ahead of their Zero Forks Given [event], Thursday night at the Omni, we’re gonna have a little wine and munchies reception leading into that event that night, there at the Omni, at a location to be determined, there on the hotel property. So you get admission to every single event of the week. You get reserved seating at the seminars. You skip every line. We get the wine reception going into Zero Forks Given. And we get to hang out for a little bit as part of that week. One ticket–oh, and a big ole… I have to approve the design, it should be a big ole lanyard that you hang on your–with my logo, and the whole thing, gives you super VIP access that week for one price. And I’m not gonna share the price, you’ll have to go to eatitandlikeit.com if you are interested to see what that price is. But I will tell you, if you try to buy tickets to every event individually, it’s over $750. So there’s that.

MC: Is that what you sent me to share? No. No, you just… Okay, this is new information. 

JB: No, no, I sent you the 20% off promo code.

MC: That’s right.

JB: Yeah, that expired today. I think you might be able to try it today, but that’s why we were staggering these things. There was a 20% off promo code that existed last week. And then now we are–and there are only 10 of them, by the way. These Eat It and Like It ticket packages, there are only 10. And it will get you super VIP access to the entire week of the Seafood Festival.

MC: That sounds amazing.

JB: It should be! It should be a lot of fun, and we’re looking to give you–like I said, if you buy everything that I just said every single day, it’s over $750, and we are offering the ticket at a really healthy discount. So go to eatitandliket.com to find out all about that. It will be there. So that said, we’ve run long, young lady.

MC: Wow.

JB: What do you think of that?

MC: I think we just always have so much to say. It’s hard to be succinct.

JB: Yes. So join us at the Lowcountry Home and Garden Show, go check out Casablanca, check out the special Eat It and Like It VIP ticket to the Hilton Head Seafood Festival… and let’s have some fun. Let’s eat. Work for you?

MC: And like.

JB: (laughing) Yeah. If we don’t like it, we don’t talk about it. I get asked all the time,what happens when you go somewhere and you don’t like the food? I say, “it’s never to be spoken of again.” Cause it happens. 

MC: That doesn’t happen often.

JB: It happens enough. I eat a lot of bad food in search of good. People don’t realize that because I never talk about the bad, but as we have established, I do not talk about it because there are a lot of people out there that like the food I don’t like. And it doesn’t matter what I think in that regard. Have a wonderful week, I don’t know that I will see you this week, I’m building up to Savannah restaurant week, but if I do, I’ll let you know.

MC: Sounds good! All right!

JB: Have a good one. Talk to you later.