What is "farm bread"?

It's a dense, crusty loaf of half white, half wheat flour that Uptown Bakery sells. It makes good toast.

It makes good toast.

Better than brownberry?

Different. I'm going to have to work on an ode to toast.

I hope that loaf is fresher than those Uptown sells at the downtown Sunday market in the warm months.

I've never had a bad loaf from them. Maybe they don't bake on Sunday. :-)

For lack of a better place to post this, I just heard that a Harris Teeter is opening in Locust Point, with ground-breaking to occur this coming spring. Is that information accurate??

Please note: I am a lover of many a Farmer's Market, but am also a lover of living in Federal Hill since it was called simply "South Baltimore". I'm not satisfied with the Shoppers and would like another walkable option.

Michelle,

That rumor has been floating around since the summer, but I'm not aware of an official announcement. I avoid the Shoppers, but I'm fortunate enough to live in Fed Hill but work near Wegman's.

Supposedly the HT will be in the old Chesapeake Paperboard Company.

http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/09/03/story2.html

I've never understand the way some people rave about Harris Teeter. Back in my college days at Hampden-Sydney, I would sometimes shop at the HT in Farmville, Va. I don't remember the store being that great.

That being said, I know that the same store in one town can be dramatically different in another town. Look at the Giant at the Reisterstown Road Plaza and the Gucci Giant a mile north at Old Court.

Farmville certainly doesn't have the same demographics as Locust Point, so perhaps a HT in LP would be quite gourmet.

I've never understand the way some people rave about Harris Teeter.

That's how I feel about Trader Joe's. Similar to Robert, I've only been to one in Newport News, Virginia (while visiting my parents), but I was not impressed at all. Lots of prepared foods, which I don't buy, but lousy produce and meat selections. I also made the mistake of trying some of the inexpensive wine. Uggh!

I haven't been to Trader Joe's around here, so maybe it's better. There isn't one close to me, and I don't' feel a compulsion to travel to check it out.

Am I missing something? It is January and you are buying spinach, arugula, etc. grown by local farmers? I need to visit this market and find out how it is done.

Gardener's Gourmet has 7,000 square feet of greenhouse space.

Hal, I agree about Trader Joe's. Don't even bother going to the Towson location b/c your description of the Newport News one applies. Whole Foods may not be cheap, but offers superior products in most instances.

Speaking of Whole Foods, I just saw a sign when shopping yesterday that they'll be "banning" plastic grocery bags next month. Pretty comendable...

I make a Trader Joe's run every two or three weeks, but you're absolutely right, it's not the place to shop for people who don't eat prepared foods. I wouldn't buy unfrozen meat or produce there.

But they do have a lot of really nice selections of tasty prepared foods that I can keep in the freezer for the nights I don't want to cook, and they're super cheap as well. Yes, I buy meat at Wegmans, Costco or Whole Foods and most produce at H Mart, but if I want frozen mushroom risotto it's TJs all the way.

I get to drive around a lot of Maryland for work, and there is almost always a cooler and a basket in the back of my CRV in case I run into someplace interesting. I do a Wegman's run about twice a month, and get to the beltway west side Korean markets about once a month.

But the truth is that I get the best service from the local Giant in Bel Air, where I have been shopping for 17 years. I know folks by name, they know me, and by this point they know my interests and my peculiar habits. I swear I am the only one who cares that the poblanos are labeled passillas, but I know the velocity code. When I walk by the window near the meat case, they'll tell me when they're getting veal neck bones so I can stash some in the freezer for stock. The fish monger and I had a wonderful made-up code (at least until they closed the fresh fish counter!!!): I would ask about something, and she would steer me by saying, "Didn't you have that last week?" or "You haven't had that in a while."

Of course my daddy taught me well -- they all get a plate of homemade biscotti for Christmas (my winter holiday of choice).