Is that the Helmand's baby pumpkin appetizer?

It's the pumpkin appetizer from The Helmand.

OK, this was too easy. EL

Did you decide against 10 best individual Mexican dishes? I guess it would be May 6th, not May 5th, but good Mexican food is a year-round endeavor...

I'm glad you brought this up. I thought we could do that Monday, not as a Top Ten but just asking for suggestions, since I couldn't come up with 10. EL

I thought you weren't going to say, EL. I guess it was a little too easy. It's my favorite appetizer at The Helmand and makes me hungry for a nice meal there.

You've probably done something similar in the past, but how about best places to take tourists (that are not tourist traps),

I'm thinking places that showcase Baltimore either in cuisine or ambiance...or, preferably, both.

Good idea. I should do a Top Ten Best Blog Posters' Names. Yours and Voodoo Pork's would definitely be on it. EL

OMG, Voodoo Pork, and now Jay C. Please come back. I miss your unique view of things. (Yes, even Jay C's.)

Trouble, I like that idea. I have a friend visiting from out of town right now, and have been trying to think of where I should take her to eat (she isn't as adventurous as I am).

Your Majesty ... do you realize that you latest comment regarding Blog Posters' Names could result in a veritable tsunami of regular contributors with albeit "boring" names to scramble about seeking for a more creative handle? Sure, Voodoo Pork is cute and there may be Trouble (in River City), but RtSO, RoCK and I - the KeyMan, hehe - will resolutely stand by our monikers regardless of your suggested Top Ten. Am I right, boys? Anyone?

Certainly Piano Rob would be one of the Top Ten. :-) EL

I guess it may be a little early for this but maybe for the future... Best Places "Downy Ocean, Hon"

Piano Rob said: ...there may be Trouble (in River City)...

...trouble, with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Piano.

I liked the suggestion from a day or two ago of top ten places for tea, though that may be one that's difficult to come up with ten for.

Ooooh... I like the people watching idea. Although that might combine with the "Downy Ocean, Hon" spots. I mean, does anyone else find it hilarious how the boardwalk is basically set up specifically for people watching?

You could also do a top ten D@L Monikers, if that hasn't been suggested yet.

As the idiot who thought I had to use my real name when I joined the sandbox, I envy you guys with your colorful, capricious, comic nomenclature. But I figure it's too late to take on a new identity, even for a shot at an EL top ten list. So I'm stuck with the boring monicker I've borne since birth...darn it!

Here's a timely topic - What about best places to take your mom on Mother's Day?

Since I live in an apartment now and no longer am a slave to my yard and house on weekends I like the idea of places worth the drive. Like Isabella's in Frederick my favorite restaurant in Maryland, The Dogfish Ale House in Gaithersburg for grilled pizza and great beer, a little farther away Victory Brewing in Downingtown PA worth the drive for the Hop Devil on hand pump and very tasty pizza to boot, the Laurrapin Grille in Havre de Grace, and the carryout chicken place in Chestertown whose name I can't remember.

Nonsense, Mr. Gray. Your moniker adds a touch of class to the Sandbox.

Doc EC: Perhaps I could hide behind a different name such as Prof. Harold Hill!

CKisMom ... Excellent idea re: Mother's Day places. Brunch or dinner or both?

Michael A. Gray you could always go the Owl Meat Gravy route and abbreviate, MAG!

Can I put in a request for the top 10 summer cocktails served at local establishments?

Everyone loves cocktails! (And by everyone I mean me)

wait, wait, don't tell me -- foie gras from Salt!

right?

I think I saw OMG and VoodooPork playing frolf in Patterson Park yesterday. I sense a conspiracy developing.

YES! EL

Top ten places to take your girlfriend -- where you won't run into your wife.

and YES again!!!!!! EL

Love the idea of a top 10 nightly or weekly specials -- like $5 burger nights or something like that. It brings back fond memories my having my foodie tendencies trapped by my starving grad student budget.

I am afeared of a new round of madness. This morning I was awakened by the none too dulcet sound of "WAKE UP TO GRAPPA!". The horror, the horror!

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

Michael wrote But I figure it's too late to take on a new identity, even for a shot at an EL top ten list.

Michael, I was Janet Morrissey, then Janet, and now Rosebud. If the spirit moves you, it's never too late to change.

OMG = Jesus? Could it be?

Voodoo - so nice to see you!! Hope your wife doesn't see that.

HIs wife, I believe, is Amanda C. Unless, of course, she's another character in his play. EL

Chimichurri!

Sometimes I fear that I am a figment of my own imagination. Maybe that's just the tranya talking.

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if youll only hold me tight
Well be holding on forever
And well only be making it right
Cause well never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I dont know what to do and I'm always in the dark
Were living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forevers gonna start tonight
Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now Im only falling apart
Nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart

Let the games begin!

It's amazing what a conciliatory game of frisbee golf (frolf) can do. Time wounds all heals. Welcome back owlies and piglets.

Maybe that's just the tranya talking.

I'm sure that's a Star Trek reference.

OMFG!! You are back!!!!
Please disregard the exclamation points

Owl Meat Fun Guy

OMM?

They're ba-ACK!

;->

OMFG indeed. Welcome back Owlie. Leading off with a power ballad? A questionable if not unsurprisingly odd choice. Chimichurri? Now you're going to make me google you.

Judging by the torrent of goofiness from the Animal Farm, can we presume that the city is out of lithium? Tranya? Is that a mispelling?

I like these, mostly because I think I suggested them when I was Umberto. I particularly like the fantasy restaurant one.

* Places good for breaking up
* Restaurants you'd like to exist that don't
* Top ten signs that you have a bad waiter
* Top ten signs that your meal will not be good
* Top ten signs that you are a bad customer

How about the top ten people you would like to have dinner with (one at a time) and what you would eat and where?

I want to do top ten places you wish existed but didn't (I must have missed it if it has been done).

I want a restaurant that serves small plates of differnet ethnic foods. It is hard to convince people to try ethiopian or middle eastern or some other stuff (even if most of the people here consider it passe) so small plates offer the chance to experiment without the worry of wasting a lot food or money on a dish you just have no idea if you will like it.
the cuisine could change every few months - guest chefs in each cuisine to create great food in smaller portions.

The posters who have joined in post VdP and OMG--and let's not forget MRS. Pork, aka Amanda C.--are now about to find out what's been missing that they didn't realize that they were missing.

Welcome back--it felt like years.

What it is, Rev Ed, is...the mucky-mucks took this pleasant Friday off (at least in my bailiwick), so the mice play while the cats are away. Works for me.

Nice to see Voodoo Pork and OM[F]G (...whatever...) again--missed y'all!

And Rokchik, too! Now in the more laid back guise of Rock Chiclet. Must be the warmer weather--?

Hmmm, we've gotten Owl Meat, Voodoo Pork, and Mrs. Pork back in the Sandbox, and all on the same day and commenting on the same topic. How shall we describe them? The unholy trinity? Or, perhaps, the ultimate ménage[rie] à trois?

OMG, VPk, Mrs. VPk (aka Amanda C), together again. What a nice day it has been. Welcome back. You were missed.

OMFG!

Where have you been, feathered friend?

Missed your insanity much.

The bourbon tastes better tonight.

If only a girl could be made of bourbon ... I'd be your tumbler.

I'll tumble for ya. Seriously OMG are you slipping into dorkland with Bonnie Tyler and maybe a Culture Club ref or are you the guy that can wear a Vagina Monoligues t-shirt to a club and make it work? Hmmm. If you're having a crisis, a little Einstürzende Neubauten will clear out the cobwebs. Rock it out be-atch!

Dagnabbit, you young folk don't know about Tranya? Why it's a classic cocktail from the original Star Trek: A delightful orange colored beverage used to welcome guests aboard the Fesarius by a member of the First Federation named Balok. Balok was the frighteningly jovial baby played by Clint Howard, Ron Howard's brother.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Balok

Hmm, sci-fi food? Intriguing. Other than tranya, all I remember is that Klingons eat really disgusting things. I'm sure some trekkie will help us out.

gagH, voodoopork3000, is live worms. There is also rokegH blood pie.

There was also that poison tea ceremony in the second season of TNG.

Galaxy Quest did a take-off on Klingon food.

Speaking of SF food, there's breen and spoo from Babylon 5.

OMG and Voodo Pork are back after a prolonged absence? Well the Governor must have been giving out pardons this weekend.