Well, imagine my surprise last week when I went to my local Stater Bros. to pick up ingredients for making butter pecan ice cream when I spotted a lone bottle of Broguiere's egg nog sitting on the shelf in the dairy case.

Perhaps someone high up in the Stater Bros. chain of command saw my plea from last year.

Whatever the reason, it took about a half-second for me to grab it off the shelf and throw it into my cart.

It's not cheap -- Stater's sells it for $6.99 a quart -- but it sure beats driving to Montebello to pick it up directly from Broguiere's dairy, as I did last Christmas Eve.

I had a second surprise when I sat the bottle on the conveyor belt at the checkstand and realized it was one of the Huell Howser bottles.

You see, Broguiere's has several different designs printed on their glass bottles, and since Huell did a pair of his "Visiting..." shows from there, so they decided to use his image as one of them, as a "favorite visitor."

Anyway, if you are an egg nog fan and want to try some delicious, good old-fashioned nog, you really should give Broguiere's a try.

I had quite a difficult time finding it last year, but in addition to Stater's, I hear it's available at Gerrard's in Redlands and Wolfe's Market in Claremont. Good luck.

Any other Inland Empire sightings? Feel free to comment below!

Dine 909 favorite (before Dine 909 even existed...yes, their number is programmed into my cell phone) Alfredo's Pizza and Pasta is offering a very generous bargain to frugal diners.

Sunday through Thursday, buy a meal and an appetizer at regular price and get another meal of equal or lesser value for free!

Yep...buy a lunch and an appetizer and get a free lunch of equal or lesser value. Ditto for dinner.

Alfredo's has always been generous with their deals (I don't think I've ever paid full price for a pizza there), but this is the first time I've ever seen them offer any kind of bargains during their lunch hours, so you'd be wise to take advantage.

If you've never been to Alfredo's (which has been in San Bernardino for three decades), where have you been?

The food is delicious, the service is friendly and the portions are huge!

Tonight in Norco, Bob's Big Boy got the boot.

Actually, a pair of boots and a cowboy hat.

What seemed like half the town of Norco showed up to celebrate the culmination of a two-year journey for the Western-clad statue.

When the restaurant was in the planning stages in late 2007, the planning commission of "Horsetown USA" didn't think the iconic mascot was Western enough. So they requested a makeover.

The restaurant's headquarters, having complied once before by putting a Tyrolean hat on the Big Boy statue in Alpine-themed Gaylord, Mich., agreed to the change.

The restaurant opened in March of this year, but without the customized Big Boy.

The statue finally arrived late last month and the date for the big debut was chosen.

Tomorrow (November 17), the Original Graziano's Italian Restaurant and Bar is hosting a fundraiser for Saint Peter and Saint Paul school in Rancho Cucamonga.

The event will take place from opening to closing at the restaurant, 1615 N. Mountain Ave. (at 16th Street).

All you need to do is mention the school and Graziano's will donate 20% of your purchase to the school.

Grazie, Grazianos!

Jamba Juice will offer free flatbreads to the first 150 customers starting at 2 p.m. Tuesday. The new California Flatbread comes in four flavors -- Tomo Artichoko, Smokehouse Chicken, Mediterran Yum and Four Cheesy.

Everybody knows the 21st birthday is the best.

Celebrate it with Wahoo's, on 11561 Foothill Blvd. in Rancho Cucamonga next Saturday starting 11 a.m. The first 21 guests will receive a special goody bag. Gift cards and coupons for free meals will also be handed out. 

Now that we are sliding into the holiday season, several Inland Empire eateries and grocery stores are inviting customers to help out the less fortunate.

First up, we have Victorville's Johnny Rebs', which is sponsoring a Thanksgiving food drive. Those who bring at least two canned or boxed foods suitable for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner (e.g. a box of stuffing or mashed potato flakes, a can of gravy or cranberry sauce, etc.) will receive 15% off their meal.

The donated food will be given to the Victor Valley Rescue Mission, which will be holding its Thanksgiving Banquet for the needy from noon to 3 p.m on Wednesday, November 25. Last year, the mission served nearly 700 Thanksgiving meals, this year they expect to serve over 1,000.

In other words, your donations to Johnny Rebs' will definitely be put to good use.

So, if you want to help the hungry and "put some South in your mouth" at the same time (and get 15% off!), visit the Victorville Johnny Rebs' at 15051 Seventh St.

Also, if you are interested in donating a turkey to Victor Valley Rescue Mission, please call (760) 955-5958.

Another quickie, this time from the Daily Bulletin and the Upland Now blog:

The Pomona Moose Lodge will be holding a Taste of Fall dinner and raffles event at 6 p.m. Friday (November 13) at the lodge, 916 N. Central Ave., Upland.

Now, I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason why the Pomona Moose Lodge is located in Upland, but who am I to judge?

Just a quickie from the pages of the Daily Bulletin:

The Rancho Cucamonga Woman's Club is holding its annual "New to You" and Bake Sale today (November 11) beginning at 11 a.m.

The event will take place at the clubhouse in Alta Laguna Mobile Estates, 10210 Base Line Road.

According to the club, "It's a great opportunity to get some holiday shopping done, buy some yummy goodies and meet some of the wonderful women who devote their time, efforts and love to so many worthwhile projects."

Click here to read the original blurb.

From the Ontario Now blog today, we learned that an Ontario fresh & easy has an opening date: Wednesday, December 2.

The store at 2645 E. Riverside Drive (at Archibald Avenue) is now accepting, as per usual, nominations for their grand opening $1,000 charity donation.

If you have a local charity you'd like to nominate to receive the money, click here to do so, but hurry! You've only got until next week to put in your nomination. Employees at the new store will select which charity will receive the donation.

Click here to read the original post at Ontario Now.