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• Area crews continue battling fires; advise clearing weeds when safe

• Blazes fueled by wind, heat forcing evacuations in Northern California

• Lodi Middle students visiting Fresno State for tech camp

• Lockeford Community Park — possibilities endless, but money needed to keep it up

• Agency supplying meals to local seniors to shut doors

• Boy suffers head injuries after being hit by car

• Regional Roundup

• Galt prepares for flat revenue in '09 and '10

• Did petition against groundwater charge qualify for ballot?

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

ADVERTISEMENT

Lodi Realtor Mitch Shannon takes a love of cooking and bottles it

Grilling season is upon us. It's all about friends, fun and food that tastes good. Many people have secret recipes to help jazz up their flaming fare, but more and more grillers are learning about and turning to one bottle.

Mitch's Oh Yeah! Spice Blend is finding a place on spice racks all over the country and it was born right here in Lodi.

Born and raised in Lodi, Mitch Shannon has spent the last 11 years as a Realtor, helping people to buy and sell homes all over the area. But Shannon's hobbies of grilling and fishing led him to develop his Oh Yeah! product.

"This was invented when I went fishing," Shannon said. He didn't want to tote extra bottles of spices when he would venture into the great outdoors to fish and cook, so he started delving into the world of spice chemistry.

"I enjoy cooking and entertaining and I've been experimenting with spice blends for years," Shannon said.

Eventually, he concocted a simple blend of garlic powder, paprika, salt, onion powder, red pepper, black pepper, basil and other spices that was mixed just right. He began sharing it with friends and family. They, in turn, began raving about it.

Shannon was urged to bottle and sell the blend. Not one to disappoint, he introduced the product in November of last year.

Mitch's Oh Yeah! Original Spice Blend has gained recognition from the TV show "Hunt, Fish, Cook" and will be featured in Fancy Food magazine. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Kevin Phillips, the vice president of operations at Phillips Farms and Michael-David Vineyards and friend of Shannon's, tried the blend.

"I love it. Ol' Mitch got me hooked," Phillips said. "I do a lot of fishing and hunting — things like that. It's phenomenal. I love it on wild game." He also said one of his favorite things about the spice is that it's low-sodium. Shannon points out that there is no MSG, and the spices are all-natural.

In fact, Phillips Farms is the one place in Lodi fans and curious grillers can buy the blend. The two varieties of Oh Yeah! (original and zesty) can also be purchased online and retail for about $5.79 a bottle.

And Michael-David wine club members are in for a special treat in their June shipments, as the blend will go out with each of this month's selections.

As the product begins to gain notoriety, something Shannon admits he never counted on, the orders are pouring in. He has gotten so busy filling orders, that Shannon says his 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter (who won't eat their scrambled eggs without Oh Yeah!) are helping him package up shipments.

This July, Shannon expects the business — merely a sideline for the dedicated Realtor — to get really spicy. Fancy Food magazine has chosen Oh Yeah! as one of its top new products to list in its July issue.

Along with that, TV personality and avid hunter and chef Scott Leysath, of "Hunt, Fish, Cook," has the product proudly displayed on his Web site, sending an estimated 1,500 enthusiasts a week to Shannon's www.ohyeahspice.com.

In a recent press release, Leysath said, "I tried Mitch's on eggs, chicken, pasta, vegetables and, of course, a mess of fish and game. I've since retired most of my other seasoning blends."

Though Shannon has no plans on slowing down with the spice blends (he's tinkering with Mexican and Southern mixes), he remains dedicated to real estate and his position with RE/MAX Gold in Lodi, having recently acquired his broker license.

"I'm a realist. I'm conservative in where I see (Mitch's Oh Yeah!) going," Shannon said. "But a lot of people see it going really far."

Contact Business Editor Marc Lutz at marcl@lodinews.com.