The Baltimore Snacker

Next time you park in a parking garage...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:27:00 +0000

...check to see if they still charge the same rates. The company that operates Penn Station's parking garage charged $12 a day the last time I parked there, about a year and a half ago. Today?

$20 per day!!!?!!!?!!

Because everyone knows how much more expensive it is to let people park cars on your property now. >:{

In fairness, I should have done the research - not just to see how much they charge these days, ut to find out what other places would have let me park there instead. Another stupid, expensive lesson.

Food, Inc.

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:56:00 +0000

I saw Food, Inc. last night. It didn't tell me much that I didn't already know - especially after reading Michael Pollan's excellent In Defense of Food (Pollan also appeared in the documentary a few times). And still, it disturbed and angered me - specifically the things I did not know. ~~I won't write a lengthy post about it now, except to say that~~ (Oops, looks like I did write a lengthy post about it after all!) After spending 90 minutes at the Charles avoiding all the Brüno traffic, I now have better insights into:

Just how many things have corn products in them (diapers!?!?);
Perdue and Tyson (and probably the other one or two megacompanies in "Big Poultry") do a pretty good job of mistreating not only its chickens - to make them much bigger in half the time - but also its chicken farmers - who have to go into hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to upgrade their chicken houses, even though they make about $20K a year;
I now know why unionizing workers at Smithfield's Tar Heel, NC, plant are so pissed off;
I also now know about food safety advocate Barbara Kowalcyk and her efforts to pass Kevin's Law, named after her son who was killed by E. coli tainted beef that was recalled - a month after her son ate it, and two weeks after he passed;
And after finding out how thoroughly Monsanto - the same chemical company that holds a patent on a genetically modified soybean - harasses those independent soybean farmers who refuse to use their soybeans, and considering how pervasive soy products are in the American food supply, I don't know if I can ever drink soy milk again (not that I did very much to begin with);
If you want to grow corn or soy in this country, you pretty much have to roll over for the big corporations and do what they want;
The organic food folks are pretty torn on corporations like Wal-Mart starting to sell organic food, even though it is the very type of change they are seeking. The documentary features one Gary Hirshberg, maker of Stonyfield organic yogurt, who points out that most formerly independent organic companies are now owned by the Big Guys. Tom's (that you see often at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods)? It's now owned by Colgate.

Of course, the film points out some things that both Pollan's book and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation already discuss that I already had realized:

The fundamental changes in the food industry over the last 50 years in order to quickly make cheap, tasty, though not always sanitary food (again, Kevin's Law);
The pervasiveness of high fructose corn syrup and other many and varied corn products and soy products in our food;
Because we'd rather prosecute illegal immigrants instead of the corporations that hire them, a lot of food corporations are getting away with some very bad things;
Our nation's FDA and USDA are much more ineffective than they ever were, especially since food industry big wigs have served in the upper echelons of both organizations on and off for decades, under Democratic and Republican presidents;
Perhaps the most important thing in the movie for me: so many people are too impoverished to even be able to buy the more expensive produce - they only have enough money to buy the junk food, keeping them trapped in a cycle of obesity, diabetes, unhealthy food and - again - poverty.

Mind you, it's not a paean to vegan eating. The movie visits Polyface Farms, an independent farm in the Shenandoah Valley where chickens, cows and pigs are roaming around eating the grass and not being cooped up. One guy traveled for five hours just to buy some of this farm's poultry! You will see owner Joel Salatin slit a chicken's throat on this farm. Of course, if you're a vegan you will never consider this humane. Apart from the slit-throating bit, though, this is more humane for the animals, for the workers, and for the consumers.

It's also much more expensive. Which made me realize as I left the Waverly Farmers' Market today: if you are able to buy this kind of produce, you are paying more for quality and humane farm conditions, especially for the meat, which you shouldn't be eating that much of anyway. But spending more for it will probably force me to both buy less of it, and to waste less of it. And this will probably work out to be less expensive for me in the long run, because I'll be buying less (albeit pricier) food at a higher quality, which is therefore more conducive to my health. Will I still stop at Wendy's or the Fractured Prune? Of course, but not often. And Eric Schlosser comes right out at the start of the movie and admits: it's not going to be easy to avoid all the crap in our food in this modern day and age (unless you take up a life of hunting and gathering). This goes for everyone from the ravenous meat-eaters to the uber-zealous vegans.

So what do we do? The movie may be preaching to the choir. Nevertheless, it urges the viewer to do a few things:

Write our Congressmen and Congresswomen to get the gears moving to change the system (the producers use the regulations on Big Tobacco as an example);
Go to farmers' markets and independent farmers much more often - and ask them to accept food stamps, so it's not just open those who can afford to go;
Grow your own damn food! That justifies my new upside-down tomato grower hanging off my porch railing.
If you know people that hunt, fish or crab, get some of what they bring back with them.

I've written a lot here. But please don't take my word for it, y'all. See the movie for yourself (the trailer is below). And if it's not playing locally (which it probably isn't for some of you), wait for it to come out on Netflix. It's a pretty damn enlightening documentary.

Right now on Mid-Day w/ Dan Rodricks

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Henry Hong is talking about local summer food traditions. Listen live here. Listen after the fact here (or ask for a CD of the broadcast if it's been a month since broadcast).

Today's dose of weird...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:44:00 +0000

Cathy called me up from Georgia just to tell me about this weird segment of Sesame Street, of all things. Just think "Sesame Street + 30 Rock = talking lemons".

If you've actually seen 30 Rock, the sketch actually kind of flows like an episode of 30 Rock. But the weirdest part? The lemon kind of looks like Tina Fey, if she were a lemon.

Sotto Sopra's Italian Summer Pasta Party - plan ahead

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Dara gave me a head's up about a Summer Pasta Party that Sotto Sopra is throwing at the end of the month. From Dara:

Can’t make it to Italy this summer then come to Sotto Sopra Restaurant’s Summer Pasta Party on Thursday, July 30^th where the restaurant will take on an Italian piazza feel with music, dancing, pastas, salads, risotto, wine and beer. The party starts at 8 p.m. and carries on through to midnight. Kick up your heels and let down your hair, come via Vespa, Moto Guzzi or Ferrari, and don’t forget to bring your inner Italian spirit. Summer Pasta Party ticket price of $60 includes food, wine, beer, entertainment, gratuity, tax and can be purchased at Sotto Sopra’s website: www.sottosopra.us. All other alcoholic beverages will be half price for this event. Sotto Sopra Restaurant is located at 405 N. Charles Street.

For further information call Sotto Sopra Restaurant at 410.625.0534

Again, the event is July 30th. It may be a wee pricey, but it does include beer and wine! So if you do have the lire it'll be a lively event!

Seeking Cheese-Making Supplies

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:20:00 +0000

Y'all, I need your help. Over the next month, I will be doing some kitchen experiments. One of them involves making mozzarella. I need three things: citric acid, liquid rennet and non-homogenized milk. I found the first one at the Natural Market in Timonium (next to that new Giant from the previous post). They had liquid rennet but they were out. Alas, they did not have non-homogenized milk. Apparently, it is simply not sold unless it's skim milk, and even then it might be homogenized. Really: some organic fat-free ilk specifically said "homogenized" on it.

So I know where I can find liquid rennet. It's vegetarian only (which should be alright). But still I have no idea where I can find non-homogenized milk (can't be goat milk - apparently that won't work).

Any ideas on where I can find that milk?

The new Giant near the State Fairgrounds...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:11:00 +0000

I just went in today for the first time. Dan is right (as he Tweeted not long ago): it is amazing.

Basmati Pilaf with Olives and Two Cheeses

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Here's a good use for leftover basmati rice: Take about 2 cups, chop up a 1/4 cup of olives, and about 1/4 total of whatever fancy cheeses you have laying around. I used a little sample of chevre au lait I bought at Whole Foods (from there "ends that we would've thrown away anyway" basket), and some homemade paneer. Yellow ones probably won't work as well. The rice itself already had turneric, curry nutmeg and dried cranberries in it.

It tastes good. Funny thing though, but it smells like Spaghetti-O's.

Next Food Network Star 5 Live-Blogging: Something about Rachael Ray...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:56:00 +0000

Well, I got a little away from the Food Network action with my trip last week, but I'm back! And I'm curious to test my "Katie is safe no matter how bad she fucks up" hypothesis. Probably wrong but we'll see. Even though Teddy is no longer of this show, he's still got a prominent place in the drinking game rules, in case they decide to bring him back for any reason.

Tonight's beer of choice: a Rising Moon, from the Blue Moon Brewing Company. Because it's "Yum-o."

Yes I feel so ashamed for having said that.

9:00 I admit: I will miss that cute little bummed out face that Teddy always sports when he's, you know, bummed out.

9:01 I have to admit: this is the most photogenic group of cheftestants they've ever had. And that's despite Michael! (Or because of?)

9:02 Their midterm? More like a practicum-slash-internship.

9:02 And the devil herself pops up on the TV! Did she just say "In honor of "Yum-o'?

And I have just lost all respect for Debbie.

The challenge: take adult ingredients and make them kid-friendly. Don't even go there with that.

9:04 Katie thinks this challenge is made for her. But she makes crap! And now she's making it for kids!

9:05 Smart thinking, Jamika: hide the tofu altogether!

9:06 Michael: because he's a big fat gay kid. C'mon, you know he'd agree.

You just knew Darth Rachael would come out with those little kid judges. Those kids do not look engaged.

New drinking game: drink ONCE for every time:

every time someone says "Yum-o"
every time Debbie reminds us that she's either Korean or Southern (if both in one breath, drink TWICE)

9:07 Those potatoes might actually taste good. I'm still surprised that the kids liked Katie's quinoa quap. I'd eat that stuff that Melissa is making. But I like Brussel sprouts.

9:08 Oh, I would have paid to see Teddy get all "Teddy-like" in front of these kids. That would have been funny!!!

Michael has a good knack for finishing early. Take that any way you want.

9:09 And Jeff charms again. Why do I picture Jeff surfing?

9:10 Okay, I admit it's a good idea to be cutesy and silly around kids. Jamika, however, spends all her time being cutesy.

9:11 Why do I get the feeling that Katie is sticking around for another week?

9:12 Yikes! Jamika is worried. She had trouble cooking and talking at the same time. Mastered that bubble gum thing.

OMG, the depths of hell? Well, we are talking Rachael Ray here...

9:16 Now Katie mentions that Debbie is from the South (what part of the South is WeHo in again!?).

These guys have to work in pairs. The funniest part? Katie and Debbie are together - the "Southern-Korean fusion" person and the "dietitian-y bland-as-cardboard" person. FUNNY!!

9:18 The J's are not jivin'

Homest to God, I'd much rather eat what Debbie wants to make than what Katie does.

9:19 Katie, fry that chicken for God sake!

9:20 Jeff. Jamika. Still not jivin'.

DRINK for Debbie's remark. The way she said "Yeah, that's great" to Jeff and Jamika's dishes? Again, FUNNY!!!

Jamika. Feelin' sorry for herself. Makin' copies.

9:27 Oops, did I forget to DRINK for Rachael? DRINK!

All them ideas have gotta hurt.

Why did Rach not sound all that enthused?

9:28 DRINK for Melissa's kids reference. Do we have this season's Aaron McCargo? The camera scares him.

9:29 GASP! She's out-intensing Rach! Hell, she's out-intensing Emeril! TEDDY!

9:30 How Michael Got Her Groove Back... Or, not. The M's were, hmmmm...

9:31 And now it's time for polar opposites day on The Rachael Ray Show! Coming up: healthy, blandified Korean/Southern food.

Oh, you're Korean? DRINK.

DRINK about five times for Katie's dietitian mojo comin' on.

9:31 Every whole grain pasta I have ever eaten has tasted like packing material. Y'all gotta really - and I mean really - convince me here.

Tuschie: "I was impressed with Debbie, she's so natural." Where's the compliment for Katie.

Katie's chicken" "Soooooo dryyyyy" (Lisa). DRINK TWICE!

9:35 My favorite drive-in experience:

9:36 Jeff and Jamika: bring it, pork n' beans style.

9:37 I wish they had talked about this before. Why is Jamika frozen? Jeff, give her some rope, dude.

9:38 Earth to Jamika, come in Jamika...

I think Tuschie needs a drink.

9:39 No, Jeff, she was not awesome. Why didn't you shut up for a sec?

9:40 Tuschie made a face - DRINK TWICE!

9:41 So it looks like the judges are disappointed in Jeff, Jamika and Michael. The ones who really shone: Debbie and - this is a big shock - Katie.

9:43 I admit: A1's Meat Loaf ad is pretty funny. Cheap, but funny.

9:44 I've been surprised before, but I think Jamika is going home tonight.

9:45 Katie had her head down for a while, but you know, that's something you learn.

Why does Katie still manage to look surprised whenever the judges say that her food sucks?

9:46 Wait: isn't Debbie Korean?

9:47 Debbie sheds a tear, but she's not really "crying" so no drink.

Jeezy peezy, Melissa will cry at the drop of a hat! Kind of like my mother.

9:48 El Flay-o: Alright, Jersey boy to Jersey boy, what's up, brother?

9:49 Should I start drinking every time Michael makes up a goofy word?

9:50 I see. Teddy passed the "OHBOYOHBOYOHBOY!!!" torch to Jeff.

9:51 It's all agreed: this wasn't Jamika's finest hour.

9:54 So, I wonder if the SciFi Channel's Torchwood rip-off will be any good?

9:55 Not actually sure if anyone will win, but I still think Jamika is doomed.

Ooooh, there wasn't a winner this week! But Debbie, Melissa and Jeff are safe.

Katie's still in the bottom - again. And she's crying. CHUG 'em if ya' got 'em.

9:57 That's a coop-out, Leese. Last season's winner was afraid of the camera, too. Remember what happened to him? He has a show on the Food Network now.

Hmmm, maybe it'll be Katie after all?

9:58 And Michael is safe!

And Katie goes home! Conspiracy theory unconfirmed!

9:59 Our fave Fab Fiver is back! And why is Melissa moaning about not getting any help? If she's going to get testy when people complain about helping her, then don't complain when they don't, dude!

POST-GAME ANALYSIS -

Maybe it's coincidence, but I just realized that every time I post a cheftestant's photo, he or she gets eliminated the following Sunday. Happened to Teddy, and it just happened to Katie, who's luck has just run out. I actually am a little surprised, because I really thought the judges were never going to get rid of her. But her food just got too dietitian-y one too many times. Now go eat some tofu, Katie.

One note: I will be in New York City this time next week (scored a one-way ticket on the BoltBus that only cost a buck, man! And $10 the other way). I will be a bit busy, so again I won't be live-blogging. Beats the hell out of me who is going home.

Pleasant Peach Crisp

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:32:00 +0000

Look what I just made:

The recipe comes from the back of a box of Domino's Light Brown Sugar (recipe is not on their site for some reason). It calls for about 5 cups of prepared peach pie filling. Instead, I used the peaches I brought home from Georgia - which I did not at the time realize were from South Carolina. The peach crisp was a little wet inside, but I spooned it out. It went great with some ice cream.

Carlyle Club

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:35:00 +0000

I don't think I've written about the Carlyle Club since it changed its menu from Lebanese to what I would call "haute South Asian" (more specifically, South Indian). I don't know why. I've eaten there twice, and both times I was quite satisfied. Last night I went with friends who live in walking distance (lucky bastards). It was pretty slow last night, but heck, it's a holiday weekend.

Eric & Alan got wine, but I went for a podina lassi ($4) - a mint, honey and cardamom lassi (yogurt drink if you're unfamiliar) that filled me up just like the milkshake it so closely resembles. Of course, I had help from our appetizers and my entrée. We all shared two appetizers and a salad. The salad was made of arugula and acorn squash ($6), and was a pretty simple and satisfying salad at that. Added to that was a helping of cochin calamari (also $6) - I'm assuming it's calamari flash fried a la Kochi, Kerala-style. It comes with a smooth tomato chutney and is not the kind of calamari you'll find in Little Italy. It's different, and tasty, but went too fast. The other appetizer was just a helping of onion pakora (I didn't catch the price). I've found most pakoras to be a little on the tough, gritty side. This one wasn't tough, and was only a little gritty, and otherwise quite tender. Yes, I'm saying you should order this when you go. It's one of the better pakoras I've had.

My entrée was a dosa, but I'm afraid I caused a little confusion - almost exclusively for myself, since I can't make a decision to save my life - by wanting to mix two dosas together. Their dosas make for good appetizers, but for someone with a small stomach and bank account it can be a very good choice for your entrée. I ordered the habanero and mango dosa ($9), which had a traditional filling of onions, lentils and potatoes with an habanero and mango sauce on the side. But I wanted some paneer as well, so the waiter proposed putting some paneer in with the traditional filling. I don't know why I am so dense, but I was the only at the table who didn't quite understand this at first!

The dosa was served not like a crepe, as I've seen it other places (such as at the Mango Grove), but was instead decoratively shaped in a cone sheltering the filling that sat on the plate. I thought the filling could have used a small dash of salt, but it otherwise tasted delicious. The dosa itself had to be filled like a tortilla, in which you put food and then eat it with your hands (at least that's how I ate it). It's a tasty dosa and a tasty filling. The Indian pickle ($1.50) I ordered on the side was a nice, sharp, salty and tangy contrast to the dosa.

What I ordered cost around $20 to $25. The guys just asked me for a twenty. I didn't ask questions. I'm looking forward to going back again sometime.

NB: Starting with this post, I'm going to begin using the "locally grown" tag when I talk about restaurants. What I mean is that the restaurant in question (in this case, the Carlyle Club) goes out of its way to use local ingredients, such as plants and meats, as part of its menu. For now I will try to use it with restaurants as well as markets. Things that won't be lumped in with tag include beers and wines (those will get the "Maryland products with pride" tag instead. It also won't include crabs, because it's assumed that those will be local. For my purposes, "local blue crabs" means Chesapeake - Maryland and Virginia crabs, not ones from North Carolina, even though those are good, too. If a local crab house does not primarily use local blue crabs, I'll be mentioning that (*COUGH**COUGH*Phillips*COUGH**).

Because it's the Fourth of July

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:05:00 +0000

It's amazing what they can do with Peeps these days.

Call it a hunch...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:46:00 +0000

I have this very strange feeling that Katie is going all the way to the end.

Okay, stop laughing.

Seriously, here's why: apparently, she's been either at the bottom or just missed being there pretty much every friggin' episode. The woman has - and I mean this in the least mean way possible - a cockroach-like ability to stick around. I think the producers have had it planned all along that they want a nutrition-y show on the network (to counteract all that other, fattier food they reguarly feature).

So my hunch is that, unless she breaks out a katana and slices Tuschie's head off, the producers have decided that she's untouchable.

Okay, crazy I know. Yeah, I'm probably wrong and she'll probably go home - in fact, this weekend I will probably predict her demise. But if I'm wrong, and she survives next week - and the following week, and the following week... - well, y'all heard it here first.

Food finds I haven't gotten around to posting...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:29:00 +0000

Just a few odds and ends - things that have gotten away from me over the last month or so. I meant to write about 'em but I never bothered.

1. Poorman's Mess

You remember that little old lady who kept talking about Depression-Era cooking on YouTube? I made Clara's recipe for Poorman's Meal. It really doesn't taste very good. But hell, are you gonna care about that if you're living through a depression? Considering that, it's damn near haute cuisine!

2. Kroger's Deli
The Cincinnati-based Kroger's food chain spans much of the Midwest and South. The one in Hinesville, GA, has just about the best ready-to-eat food of any spermarket deli counter I have ever ordered from. I got three BBQ ribs (which actually amounted to six), mac & cheese and Western fries. I could only finish half of it.

3. Southern BBQ done right

My sister and her husband introduced me to the delicious BBQ at the Clubhouse in Rye Patch in nearby Ludowici.

The fried pickles were definitely different from those you might find at Sonic: saltier, lighter, picklier, a little less greasy. This is the type of thing that I would eat all day, even though I know it would kill me.

Their sampler plate was very filling, and again I could not finish half of it (I left for home before I could finish it, and James finished the rest for me). The meats really outshone the sides - the cole slaw was tasty and had a flavor I can't quite place, though the mac & cheese was okay. I just can't begin to describe the ribs, sliced butt and chicken. Soooooooo good.

4. Mrs. Holmes' Boiled Peanuts

You can find these at convenience stores all over Georgia and South Carolina, in the same type of hot containers you might find nacho cheese. Margaret Holmes' Boiled Peanuts - I got a small container for about $1.50 in several places. Available in original or Cajun. Oh good Lord, I feel like I'm shilling for peanuts now.

5. In-N-Out

We may not have a Sonic closer than 50 miles to Baltimore, but we could one day. We will never have an In-N-Out anywhere near us. For my last meal before setting foot on the plane to BWI last month I had to stop at the Ontario Mills In-N-Out, the fabled hamburger place that makes everything from scratch and to order, and makes the BBQ ribs I got from Kroger's look like health food. Some of you may know that In-N-Out serves three value meals, and that's it: the hamburger, the cheeseburger and the fabled "Double Double" (two patties). By default, each comes with tomatoes, lettuce, thick onion slices and "special sauce" (it's Thousand Island Dressing). It comes with fries that are cut on site from actual potatoes, and a drink that is either soda or milkshake. Their milkshakes are fabled, too.

What's perhaps as famous is their "Secret menu" that isn't listed on their drive thru menu. Instead, you have to be a local "in the know." Or else find it online, either on In-N-Out's website or listed by others (such as this compilation from Badmouth.net). I didn't get too secret-menu-ish, and merely order the burger "toasted" - that's a regular burger on a toasted bun - with "light" (underfried) fries. I wasn't too crazy about them.

I wanted to order the Animal Burger - a patty with mustard mixed into it, and extra sauce. But I forgot the name so I didn't want to sit there for five minutes trying to remember, holding up the drive thru line and missing on dropping off my rental car and, from there, catching my flight.

I devoured the burger in the airport, plus half of the lackluster fries (I'm not a fry person anyway). And you should've seen me suck down that milkshake, since they wouldn't have let me take it through the security line. Ice-cream-headache-induced painful bliss, that's all I can say.

You should've seen the milkshake-related pun I was going to use to segue into the next bit...

6. Gay Pride Block Partay!!! (and Parade)

Unlike most major cities, Baltimore's Gay Pride Parade is kind of, um, (What's the word I'm looking for?) low-scale. Though I did get pelted by paraders throwing both Mardi Gras beads and Tootsie Rolls in festive rainbow-colored papers. Was I the only one who thought it strange that Chipotle had a float? Ah well, at least we're in the age when corporations are more likely than they used to be to even show their faces in a gay pride parade! And you gotta love that slogan - yes, the guy's T shirt does say "¿Homo estás?"

My friends were right, though - the Block Party is better than the following day's festival, which I didn't even bother with. After flitting back & forth between the Hippo and the Central Station, with some quality time in Minato for supper - I didn't even want to bother.

Mind you, the food was pretty lackluster at the Block Party. I mean, LGBT pride events aren't exactly known as culinary meccas. But this one sign was just too strange to pass by:

What famous Thai Mexican Food do they mean, anyway? Much better was the gelato I got at Marie Louise Bistro (I'm glad I gave them a second try), though their mimosas were pretty watered down for my tastes.

7. Stuff what was shipped to me from California

Because it wouldn't fit into my luggage, I had to mail some food back to Baltimore. Most of it was from the Chinese-American supermarket chain 99 Ranch and the British-based supermarket chain Fresh & Easy.

My last day in SoCal last month, I went crazy with non-perishable groceries in the Fresh & Easy. I haven't had a chance to try any of these goodies yet, but I did score some brownie mix, raspberry-chipotle and peanut sauces, chai and chocolate black teas - all Fresh & Easy brand - and Singapore Noodles from the Sof'ella Food Company, whose products I have never seen this side of the Mississippi River. I look forward to trying them all, especially the brownie mix. I had an actual brownie from Fresh & Easy, and if it's from the same ingredients then the mix should be good.

From 99 Ranch, I picked up some loose tea in a lovely decorative jar (Gil already had some and made some for us at his place). I also picked up two cans of Chaokoh coconut milk, a highly recommended brand, before realizing that you can, in fact, find this brand in Maryland after all. I also got some desserts. One was a confection of taro paste covered in white chocolate. It tastes better than it sounds. Actually, it tastes pretty good.

The other thing I got was a heart-shaped plastic container filled with - you won't believe this - candied olives.

Yes, candied olives.

In a moment that I can only describe as Andrew Zimmern-esque in its bizarreness, I bit into the candied olive, an uncured olive coated in sugar, with the pit still in it of course. I can proudly say that I tried it. I can firmly say that I not only will not be eating this again, but I that I could not even finish the one olive I bit into, and threw it and the rest of the container away - but only after spitting out what little was in my mouth. I mean, yeeeeekhkh.

Soylent Feet Is Chicken!!!

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:58:00 +0000

This at Giant: for the shopper that isn't quite sure if chicken feet are a meat product:

Wonder no more.

One Night in Raleigh Part 2: Chocolate and Cha Chiang

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Before heading back to Bawlmer, I wanted to see what downtown Raleigh had to offer during the day. Since I am a museum person, museums were the logical option. And Raleigh has a few nice museums in their downtown area, plus a public parking lot that only costs $1 an hour, max of 8 hours. Two of your best options are the state history (which I had no time to check out) and natural history museums. I swear, out of all the state museums I have ever seen, the North Carolina Museum of Natural History is one of the best in terms of its layout, subject matter, location and exhibits. To wit: the massive skeleton of the whale hanging from the ceiling of their North Carolina coastal life exhibit, or the recreation of a woodland mountain habitat that you can see taxidermied animals staring out from! (The Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman also has similar exhibits, but I liked NC's just a wee bit better. Does Maryland have one, or do we just use the Smithsonian as ours?).

Perhaps their keystone exhibit - similar in focus to the Smithsonian's elephant in the rotunda - is the skeleton of Acrocanthosaurus, the celebrated "Terror of the South," having freshly attacked a life-size model of a Brachiosaurus. One mother had to coax her kid into the exhibit (this one under a four-story tall glass rotunda room). Press one little button, and the injuries that felled this most complete specimen of Acrocanthosaurus magically light up!

Beware, kid!

Of course, I came because they had a special exhibit on Chocolate! They wouldn't let me take any photos, as is the case in so many special exhibitions of stuff.

This was the only thing they would let me take a picture of. Wow.

This was all for the best, as I would never have been able to figure out what to photograph first. So here are the highlights of this very cool exhibit (all text was in English and Spanish):

life-size model of a cacao tree with dissected model cacao pods
the ancient history of cacao, highlighting the importance and prestige of drinkable chocolate to the Maya (especially in the first millenium) - that includes replicas of Maya chocolate drinking vessels, and a verybrief introduction to Mayan hieroglyphs (basically, that they represent actual words, which I knew, but hey, not everybody does)
the more recent history of cacao, including how the Aztecs used the beans as money, how the Spaniards exported it to Europe, how chocolate (as prestigious to Europeans as to Mesoamericans) profitted from the African slave trade, and how it finally became available to the masses.

I was allowed to take whatever I wanted from the exhibition store, so long as I paid for whatever I took. I bought some locally-made chocolate caramels (25¢ each), some chocolate-covered cacao beans from Nahualli Trading Co. ($9 - how's that for po-mo redundancy?), and locally manufactured "HOT South of the Border" bon bons from the Carrboro, NC-based Miel Bon Bons ($4 for a bag of two). The ckeckout person noted that I was adventurous. These were chocolate bon bons coated with pineapple and chili pepper, and they were chewy, soft and spicy all at once. These were very good bon bons, and I would get them again. Miel Bon Bons also makes a habanero bon bon, which I would've tried had they had any. I wonder if they do mail order? As for the rest: I could've stuffed those caramels in my mouth all day, and the cacao beans were what I expected, even though I had never eaten a cacao bean before: bitter coated with sweet.

Afterwards I had a few options for lunch. There was one BBQ place I wanted to check out - where else but in Raleigh can you find both types of North Carolina BBQ, the sparse vinegary whole-hog pork BBQ of the East and the sweet tomato/ketchup based shoulder-only BBQ of the West? But I wanted to walk, and this was not in walking distance. I had choices of sandwiches, burgers, Pan-Asian, Chinese, sushi, Southern, deli, Irish - the choices were dizzying. One place, the Duck & Dumpling, continued to pop up in small adverts everywhere I went (the hotel, the museum, etc). When I found that I was only a few blocks away I hoofed it on over.

Duck & Dumpling is a very sleek, very stylish Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant with snappy service (the regulars next to me got their cashew chicken almost immediately). It has a small yet eclectic menu styled by Chef David Mao. What specifically drew me in was the $12 prix fixe lunch menu. Let me say that again: $12 prix fixe lunch menu. What a great, frugal find for a guy who just wasted $40 on a motel room he didn't even use! I was all up for that.

As with most restaurants in our own Restaurant Week (coming up in early August, by the way), Duck & Dumpling offers three courses (appetizer, mains and dessert), with your choice of one of three to five dishes for each course. For the first course, I could have had a salad with ginger dressing, but the waitress described a most intriguing edamame hummus (probably the first time you have ever seen those two words in the same sentence) with taro chips.

The chef simply made a hummus out of edamame instead of chickpeas. I was too curious to pass this up, and I'm glad I got it. It tasted surprisingly more like hummus than the waitress described it, and it was substantially thick. I've never been that crazy about edamame, but this was good.

For the main course, I ordered the only noodle dish on the prix fixe menu, the cha chiang noodles: a savory dish (Savory noodles? Go fig.) of thick noodles covered in ground pork and finely julienned cucumber slices.

I asked for spicy sriracha sauce on the side. The pork was indeed savory and slightly salty, which I liked, and the cucumber pieces gave a nice, refreshing contrast to all the savoriness. I kept on dipping my chopsticks into the sriracha and mixing it around in the noodles, to slightly spice things up.

I originally wanted flan for dessert, which they had run out of. So instead I ordered a Kahlua chocolate souflée. I waited a while for my dessert when my waitress comes out and tells me the chef just made more flan! But I stuck with the souflée, and it was a good choice.

From every place that I stuck my spoon, piping hot choclate sauce oozed out into the soft, moist cake. It was a delicious way to end my meal, and strangely appropriate considering the Chocolate! exhibit I had just spent half an hour not taking photos of.

The meal came to only $12 plus tax, and the sweet tea (they also offer unsweetened - which I normally order and then dump a whole lot of artificial sweetener into it anyway) was apparently part of the cost. Either that, or they forgot to charge me. Anyway, it was a good way to prepare for the mammoth 5 hour drive back to Baltimore, towards which my GPS sent me via US 1 to I-85, not straight up I-95 as I expected. It was more scenic, I must admit. Plus I got to stop in a Food Lion and buy another six pack of Fat Tire!

Other photos:

Yep, they have these guys, too

And this is what they look like when they're babies. They're baby blues!

Don't look up!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Unsuspecting dinosaur, you have no idea what that Archocanthosaur is gonna do to you...

REALLY don't look up!

Er, don't look down?

for Duck & Dumpling

So I missed The Next Food Network Star...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Catch the recap that's much funnier than just watching it through the first time.

Photoshopped graphic courtesy of Minxeats, home of the aforementioned recap.

One Night in Raleigh Part 1: Burgers, Beer, Best Western

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:47:00 +0000

I (and, thankfully, my car) got back from my mammoth road trip from Georgia yesterday. Mind you, the trip took a detour overnight in Raleigh, a reasonable midpoint between Baltimore and the greater Savannah area. I rolled into North Carolina's capital city on Sunday night - later than I had expected. Things went even later after I checked into my scary-as-hell Motel 6, packed back up five minutes later, and went across the street to the Best Western Raleigh Inn & Suites on New Bern Avenue (plus, I had one of those free coupon books you get at the rest area, lucky me!). Apparently this Best Western used to suck, but I was very satisfied with the room I had, which was very nice - a real bargain with the coupon I got (NB: even if you booked somewhere, ALWAYS PICK UP THOSE COUPON BOOKS!) If ever you are in the Raleigh area, don't go to the Motel 6 on Maitland. The clerk was nice, but that's the only plus. I've never been worried for my safety in a motel before - and that includes some real dives I stayed in Mexico and that horrible hotel in Amsterdam last year. I'll never see those $40 I spent at the Motel 6 again. It was a pricey lesson. Make sure you do research on your lodgings before you book!!!

By the time I got settled in, it was 9:00. Pretty much everything that wasn't fast food was closed except for the Waffle House across the street. So it was settled: quarter pound cheeseburger with hash browned potatoes for dinner!*

This is what I was working through while I was watching Life After People: The Series instead of The Next Food Network Star.

To commemorate the Stonewall Anniversary, I stopped in a small and friendly little gay bar in the downtown area (which like most downtowns in most cities, including our own, was pretty much dead on a Sunday night). Flex, like many Research Triangle gay bars, is technically a "club" but I was able to get in anyway (I doubt they would turn anyone away). All I will say is that people will happily chat with you there (this is more Raleigh's answer to our Phoenix than to our Central Station), one bartender joked with me about how many cards I had in my wallet, and a regular offered me some hummus and pita that he couldn't finish. And yes, they have Fat Tire! But since they ran out, I ordered a Carolina IPA which was nice and hoppy. Oh for future reference: don't follow up a Guinness with a Newcastle, or the latter will taste like feet. I told several people this while I was there, to prevent any future beer mishaps.

Coming up: chocolate, cha chiang noodles, and the dinosaur those museum folks call the "Terror of the South"...

PS - Oh I forgot: after I told the bartender about my Newcastle discovery, a guy from across the room bought me a Magic Hat #9. It went down much better after that Newcastle.

* By the way, here's a creepy statement about the state of the internet today: just on a hunch, I decided to see how many Waffle Houses there are in Maryland (not many). I clicked on their "Advanced Search" link, expecting to see a list of states or a map of the US. It instantly showed me three Waffle Houses in Frederick and one in Dumfries. Okay, so we have Waffle Houses in Maryland - but I didn't tell it my zip code. Big Brother much?

Georgia on My GPS Part 4: On to Raleigh

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:00:00 +0000

As you are reading this, I am heading back to Baltimore (I love auto-scheduled publishing). I wanted to go to Atlanta, but I've been hemming and hawing for a while because I wasn't sure I'd have the time or the money, or that my car would be able to take the extra driving (this trip pushed it over the 150K mark). That, and Atlanta is too fabulous a city to devote just one quickfire night to exploring - and I'd rather have seen it on a Friday or Saturday night when more bars are actually open!

So Atlanta is off my itinerary for this road trip. But it'll still be there when I get back (since Cathy's moving down here at some point, that isn't too far off), and I can spend a good few days in the ATL. But I've already planned for when I do get back. I asked Leslie at the Southern Social blog what is best to eat in Atlanta (thanks, Leslie). She quickly recommended a favorite Chinese restaurant off of Buford Hwy., Chef Liu. From the photos I've seen, this place looks like a dive from the outside (as many good places do), but serves delicious authentic Chinese - think more Mandarin Pork Cakes and Soup Filled Dumplings, and less General Tso's Chicken and Crispy Orange Peel Beef. Atlanta's Blissful Glutton blog corroborates Leslie's recommendation, in this post from four years ago. Since this place has been making damn good food for a while, and since it was recommended to me, it'll be the first place I stop when I finally do get to Atlanta.

But alas, I am instead heading back up the 95. I had already planned a stop in Raleigh - ATL trip or not. Raleigh is about a half hour off of I-95, but it's the perfect place to stop for the night since it's about halfway between Savannah and Baltimore. Besides, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has this amazing looking exhibition about chocolate that I would be a damn fool to miss.

Note about NFNS5 Live Blogging tonight

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:45:00 +0000

Because I don't know what my internet access, Food Network access or nightly activities will be this evening, I cannot promise that I will be live-blogging The Next Food Network Star 5 tonight. Check back around 9. If I'm live-blogging, great! If not, you know why. In that case, just do what I'm gonna do and catch Minx's recap tomorrow.

I still think either Katie or Teddy is doomed, though the way they edited the ad it looks like any of these remaining seven yahoos have a lot to worry about tonight.

Now THIS is just wrong...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:33:00 +0000

A purported Burger King ad made by an ad agency in Singapore is raising people's ire here. It irritates me, too. Or maybe I've just gotten too puritanical lately (which would surprise my friends). But people wondered if it was, in fact, a joke.

The joke?

I'm not sure what icks me out more: the not-so-subtle (the understatement of the year) sexual imagery, or the fact that this thing probably has enough calories to feed a small village for two days.

Georgia on My GPS Part 3: Moon River Brewing Company / Savannah Candy Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Today we finally got out to Savannah. We weren't there long - we had a late start. My brother-in-law offered to bring me back late but I wasn't sure I'd be up for it.

Still, with this short visit there is much to mention. Too much. It's not a fun city to drive around, that's for sure, especially when you get stuck behind the minivan that's afraid to drive down the bumpy brick-paved River Street anywhere faster than, oh, 2 miles per hour. It is indeed a fun city to walk around, despite the heat and humidity (no, we have no idea what that's like back home). And it's a lovely city to look at - at least the downtown historic area, which is where most tourists end up.

My sister and her husband sprang for dinner and let me choose. I went with the Moon River Brewing Company, Savannah's only microbrewery. It may not be the fastest service, but it had a very impressive sampler of 7 of its microbrews. Most were very good, but I had my favorites: the IPA and the chocolaty stout. My brother-in-law James also got it, and had much the same opinion. They also had one they created for an employee who just got married. He should hope his marriage is not as forgettable as that beer. One particularly unforgettable brew, however, was aged in wine barrels. It tasted and smelled like whiskey, and was about as strong as any beer I have ever drunk.

Microbrews Parts 1...

...and 2

For appetizers, we got a standard quesadilla and some crinkle-cut sweet potato fries. The fries came with a cinnamon-chipotle dipping sauce that was wonderful. I will need to figure out how to make this at home because it went quickly. It was a favorite of the meal.

Sweet Potato Crinkles

For our entrées, we went in different directions. I saw crab cakes on the menu, but I knew these would not be the type I am familiar with. Two tenets of seafood in the Chesapeake are that you never boil anything, and you always put the breading inside the crab cake, not outside. Lowcountry cooking dispenses with that first tenet, though Old Bay is still quite popular throughout the South (Did you know that Old Bay makes a seafood boil bag?). That second tenet is pretty much thrown out the window as soon as you get a reasonable distance away from the Chesapeake Bay, north or south.

These are not in the running for "World's Biggest Crab Cake"

The blue crab cake platter ($17) threw both tenets out the window and into the Savannah River. These three small crab cakes were accompanied by Carolina cole slaw and Lowcountry rice, along with a roasted red pepper salsa. The flavor of the delicious special crab meat (who says you always have to use lump? I don't - not as sweet) was creamier than a typical Maryland crab cake, because - again - the bread was on the outside. The coating, a cornbread-type coating, was firm and flavorful and was a nice addition. Would I take this over a standard crab cake back home? No, of course not. But for what it was, it was still a tasty crab cake. The long grain rice was kind of a dirty rice, and I could eat it all day. Same with the slaw, though I have had as good slaw elsewhere.

On the way out, I stopped in the Savannah Candy Kitchen. Most people will only be able to see it in the Atlanta Hartsfield Airport (the busiest in the world). With four locations in Georgia and South Carolina, it is a damn dangerous place, because you will spend money there. Lots of money, on delicious candy. That goes quintuple for their pralines, freshly made on the premises (Do they do that at the airport? I would suppose not). And yes, they give out free samples. One praline is pretty big, so you will either eat just one for dessert, or break off pieces and eat them here and there (like me). Today they offered a free 1/2 lb of pralines (or 1 lb of taffy) for every 1 lb of pralines bought. So I went in on that deal: 1 lb of regular pralines, plus and extra 1/2 lb of chocolate ones (sssssssiiiiiiinnnnnnnful). Total so far: $17. Then I got an extra 1/2 lb of fudge (also $17 per lb). Grand total: $25. But I don't usually get down here to buy this stuff, so it was excusable.

Free samples!!!

Oh, did I mention that Savannah Candy does mail order?

Epilogue: You may be wondering if I saw Paula Deen's restaurant. Yes, we did drive by it. It was about 4 PM, and there was no line! That was soon explained by the big sign saying "Sorry - We're booked for tonight."

Yup, they're all full up, y'all.

Big shocker there.

In Memory of Our Forequeens

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:29:00 +0000

It was 40 years ago this weekend: the Stonewall Riots, one of the first big steps in the gay rights movement in America. Named for the Stonewall Inn in New York City (which I hope to visit next month), at a time when police raided known gay and lesbian establishments to harass the patrons and arrest so-called "perverts." On June 28, 1969, the gay and lesbian patrons had had enough and fought back.

I could continue to drone on about this, but Varla Jean tells it in a much more entertaining way.

Georgia on My GPS Part 2: Snacking around Augusta

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:29:00 +0000

I just got back from visiting my cousin's family in Augusta. Mostly it was just going around running errands with his wife and the girls, but I was happy - the important thing is that I got to spend some time with them. Much of what we ate was in house, so not a lot of eating out. But my cousin's wife discovered by accident a very good way of making your pork loin extremely tender (we're talkin' cut-with-a-fork tender): cook on about 250°F for 30 minutes before cooking at normal temperature. I didn't catch the normal temperature (note to self: call or email her and ask her what it was). It was about two pounds, enough to feed five people and then some. That, and her neighbor just dropped by and gave us some homemade manicotti. It was a nice appetizer.

One thing I am kicking myself over not having done was stopping by the various produce stands in Augusta and on the extremely scenic drive back to the Savannah area. One thing that I really wanted to peruse was a stand of fresh strawberries and peaches (they don't call it "the Peach State" for nothin'). Yeah, I know we have fresh produce stands in Maryland, too. But here's the thing: you're going to find what is locally grown. Our peaches probably won't be as good as Georgia's, though you can still find them locally grown in Maryland. The same goes the other way for our blue crabs. What bums me out is that I rarely get the chance to support locally grown produce away from my own home. So before I leave Hinesville (near Fort Stewart, where my brother-in-law is stationed) in a few days, I must root out the local produce. I am determined to bring some locally-grown Georgia peaches home with me (easier since I drove instead of flew).

Oh, in case you decide to make the 3 hour drive between Augusta and Savannah (especially if you have made that drive before), be prepared for the following: Unlike the drive between most of Georgia's major cities, the drive between Augusta and Savannah is not connected by any major interstates. But at least it's mostly 55 mph. To wit, some photos of life along Hwy 196 and US 25:

I got more of those delicious boiled peanuts at the Dixie USA while pumping gas. I'm getting better at eating them while driving, though splitting them with your teeth isn't really the correct way to do it. Oh, don't eat them while driving.

Down a street in Claxton, GA - a thrift store, an income tax preparer, and a Chinese restaurant. Jennifer 8. Lee was right: there are Chinese restaurants everywhere in America!

A kudzu-encoated silo along US 25. Kudzu: the scourge of the South

Along the way, I got to see where golf carts are born.

Um, where am I again?

I didn't get to visit Augusta's Salsa's Bar & Grill, but it is one of many Mexican restaurants in the area. In fact, it was perhaps the most common cuisine I've seen in either Augusta or Hinesville.

Teddy Redeemed?

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:21:00 +0000

From the blog Degustation, some insight into the real Chef Teddy Folkman, still of The Next Food Network Star 5. H/T Minx.