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May 14, 2010

True grits

Grits

In this week's Free Market Friday post, Robert of Cross Keys takes up that age-old question that nags many a Baltimorean: are we Southerners or Yankees? RoCK's grits supply suggests the former. But his grits consumption, not so much. Here's RoCK. LV

I try and pass myself off as a Southerner. While I have some of the attributes, ranging from a weakness for bourbon and country ham to a crazy, great-great-great-grandfather who spent the first month of the Civil War in the Tennessee Calvary and the next four years in northern POW camps, one thing marks me as a Yankee: I didn’t grow up with grits.

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 10:59 AM | | Comments (17)
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May 7, 2010

Chinese that RoCKs

Dim Sum

Robert of Cross Keys gives up a lazy Sunday for good Chinese in this Free Market Friday post. Here's RoCK. LV

Normally, Sunday mornings are me time. The wife sleeps in, and I walk the dog around Cross Keys. I get a coffee and dwell on the demise of various things: western civilization, country music, the Orioles, etc. ... Mr. Jefferson lays territorial claims throughout the neighborhood, making particular efforts at those evil complexes that forbid dogs.
 
Every now and again, however, the wife makes an effort to wake up early to go to the Target in Timonium, which is where we went a couple of Sundays ago. Afterward, we went looking for brunch. There’s not much in the way of brunch options up that way, and after a rather lackluster meal at the Nautilus Diner on a previous Sunday morning Target trip that featured cold eggs and tasteless chipped beef, we really weren’t looking to stick around the York Road corridor.

I was thinking either Asian Court in Ellicott City for dim sum or Red Springs Café downtown on Calvert Street for soul food. I had never been to Red Springs, but I knew they put on a brunch special featuring all the BBQ and catfish one could eat, so I suggested we go there. Unfortunately, there was no brunch being served. I’m not sure if they stopped serving brunch all together or just that particular Sunday.

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:59 AM | | Comments (7)
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April 26, 2010

RoCK to Tio Pepe: Stay with me

Tio Pepe's sangria

Here it is Monday, but it feels like a Friday. In one respect, anyway: I've got a fresh Free Market Friday post from Robert of Cross Keys for you. He sent this to me Friday, but I had to be out of the office most of the day and couldn't post it. I tried to make it up to RoCK by crediting him for a frog photo Meekrat took at Asia Market, but that wasn't good enough. He asked me to hold the post until today, when you'd all be back at work, goofing off, reading the blog. So here's RoCK. LV

Last week I went to Tio Pepe’s with a gift certificate . . . from 1982.

It was around 1982 that I first became familiar with Tio Pepe’s. I didn’t go there back then. I was a kid in Aberdeen and at that time my restaurant world was comprised of the Cloverleaf Diner and the Golden Corral. For fancy occasions, I might end up at the Colonel’s Choice. My parents, on the other hand, would go there for dinner parties or business meetings. I can remember asking to go, hearing: “You wouldn’t like it, it's not for kids.”  In my mind, Tio Pepe’s was the adult restaurant.  It was sophisticated and, if you’ll pardon the Ron Burgundy lingo, classy.   

I never did make it there as a kid. I went to Tio Pepe's for the first time a couple of years ago -- last week was the second. I enjoyed both meals, but something was missing. It was not that they were great once, and now they are bad. It wasn’t Rod Stewart with The Faces compared with Rod Stewart solo. We’re not talking about going from the heights of "Stay with Me" to the depths of "Young Turks." No, this was more like the Rolling Stones. You can still get your fill of the old favorites, but that magic you either heard about or experienced won’t be there.

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:18 AM | | Comments (15)
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April 9, 2010

Pennsyltucky cuisine

AsparagusIn this week's Free Market Friday post, Robert of Cross Keys finds out there's more than Utz potato chips and Snyder pretzels north of the Mason-Dixon line. LV

Sometimes I am wrong. Yes, it is true. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that I would be a fan of NPR, Lyle Lovett, and Joe Lieberman, but they all turned out to be great. Last month I found a couple of restaurants that confounded my expectations about Pennslytucky and North Avenue. This week I’ll discuss the former and next week the latter.
 
Pennslytucky is the land in between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that James Carville once described as Alabama. When it comes to food, it is the home such fine products as Lebanon bologna, shoe fly pie and Owl Meat Gravy. Sure, everyone loves them, but they’re hardly gourmet.
 
Well, I found gourmet in Pennslytucky at the Sheppard Mansion in Hanover, which is about an hour north of Baltimore. Not only did I find gourmet, but I had one of the finest meals of my life. I’ve been to the Inn at Little Washington a couple of times, and I’m putting the food at the Sheppard Mansion in the same class.

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:24 AM | | Comments (27)
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April 2, 2010

RoCKing Passover

Mr. Jefferson at Passover

In this week's Free Market Friday post, Robert of Cross Keys contemplates a mixed marriage -- and a mixed cupboard. Here's RoCK. LV

So here we are in Holy Week.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in a mixed marriage in more ways than one. About 10 years ago when I just started dating my future wife, I went to services with her. I was talking to one of the members and mentioned that I wasn’t Jewish. She responded that was OK, but asked if I was a “D” or an “R.”

Thinking that she was asking about my denomination, I responded that I was an “L” for Lutheran. My future wife said: “Robbie, she’s asking if you are a Republican or Democrat.” When I told her that I was an “R” she was quite saddened. I guess it’s acceptable to date outside the faith, but quite the shonda to date outside the party.

A few months after those services, I experienced my first Passover Seder. In those days, the wife would clean out her kitchen beforehand and send a box of traif over to my parents' house.

Now that we share a home, it is not quite as ... uh … kosher for Passover. This year, as we were preparing the meal we eat during half-time of the Seder, I noticed that in the refrigerator next to the matzo ball soup, the charoset and the gefilte fish mousse was that hardware store ham that has taken up permanent residence in my kitchen. The matzos were kept on a shelf with Irish scone mix, White Lily Flour and Milk-Bones.

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 8:26 AM | | Comments (8)
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March 20, 2010

It's Saturday. Really.

springLet me assure you: Friday really is behind you, even if Robert of Cross Keys failed to cough up his usual Free Market Friday post. He writes:

"I'm sorry, but I did not get a chance to write this week. Crazy at work + NCAA basketball + 70 degree weather = no Free Market Friday."

We understand, RoCK. We all have a little spring fever.

Enjoy the weather this weekend. Then get your nose out of the crocuses and back to the grindstone next week.

 

Photo by Getty Images

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 5:37 AM | | Comments (2)
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March 12, 2010

RoCKing the Web

Rep. Eric MassaRobert of Cross Keys sets out to master the art of Search Engine Optimization in this week's Free Market Friday post. Let's see if it works. LV

It has been a tough week at the office, so I wasn’t able to get around to writing about some of the things I’ve wanted to opine on.

When I woke up this morning, it appeared that Friday had arrived, but there was no Free Market Friday to turn in. Realizing that my imaginary Internet salary was at risk, I had to throw something together.

My first inkling was to create a clip piece, like on TV when they throw together a bunch of old footage and tie it into some story about reminiscing. "Family Ties" used to do this about every other week when Michael J. Fox was off making things like "Teen Wolf."

Yes, a clip piece. Maybe bring together some hardware store ham and cranberry sauce with the can rings for the food. Wardrobe selections would be T-shirts with either “Best Buns in Town” from Tony Packo’s or “Nice ____. Can I ___ them?” from RA sushi. Embedded music links from Journey or the Little River Band would provide the background music. It would great, or at least good.

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:33 AM | | Comments (4)
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March 5, 2010

RoCK and roe

shad roeIn this week's Free Market Friday guest post, Robert of Cross Keys savors a local delicacy. And no, it's not Pigs' Feet Yat Gaw Mein. Here's RoCK. LV

This week I finally get a taste of shad roe.  
 
For years I have been searching for the classic spring treat once commonplace on Maryland menus. The only place I knew that carried it is some restaurant in Emmitsburg called Shamrocks, but unless you are on a pilgrim in search of a Grotto, how likely are you to find yourself in Emmitsburg?
 
I always figured the Valley Inn in Brooklandville would offer it. They serve up many old school dishes for the WASPY set, like turkey tetrazzini, so shad roe would fit right in.  Of course, the Valley Inn is so old school that they don’t have a website. Since I’ve never gotten around to stopping in there – go figure, since I’m a wannabe member of the old school, WASPY set – I’ve never had the chance to look at their menu and confirm my hunch.
 
Anyway, I did find it, or more or less stumbled onto it, at the Chameleon Café. The run is on in Hamilton!

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Posted by Laura Vozzella at 11:17 AM | | Comments (13)
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February 26, 2010

Potted shrimp, dinner of champions

Potted shrimpRobert of Cross Keys' Free Market Friday post is loaded with buttery and deep-fried inspiration for a good exercise program. Here's RoCK. LV.

This week I started to think that the bourbon, ham and cocktail parties were starting to take a toll, so I started a fitness program. The program is ... ahem … a work in progress.

First thing was to join a gym. 

Continue reading "Potted shrimp, dinner of champions" »

Posted by Laura Vozzella at 4:29 PM | | Comments (11)
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February 19, 2010

The history lesson

Middleton.jpgI love this post. It may be the last Free Market Friday that I publish, but I'm hoping Robert of Cross Keys won't stop writing guest posts for the blog. Here's Robert. EL

Last week I went to Joe Squared.  While talking to the owner, Joe, I mentioned that I am Robert of Cross Keys.  He responded with disbelief.  “You’re RoCK.  No way.  I thought you were like 50 or something.”
 
I’ll admit that I was probably born after my time. I spend a lot of time thinking about the past and what life used to be like.  Now, I’m not talking about what was life like in medieval Europe or colonial America, I’m talking about what adult life was like . . . when I was only a child.   
 
At work I find myself seeking out the veterans and asking what was Accounting like back in the 70’s or what was going on in Human Resources during the 1980s. Most of these conversations end up with me going on a rant about how lame office parties have become.  I’m not sure why, but somewhere around 1985 the highlight of these festivities moved from Seagram’s 7 to seven layer dip. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:54 AM | | Comments (15)
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February 12, 2010

RoCK on the cocktail hour

antrim.jpg

No, Robert of Cross Keys and I did not discuss our dovetailing posts today. It's just, of course, that great minds think alike. Here's RoCK. EL

I go to conferences from time to time, and I’m noticing that the number of people participating in the cocktail hour is dwindling.  Instead, the attendees make a bee-line to the buffet.  Often times they are setting up camp in the dining room an hour before the meal service is even scheduled to begin.   I’m not sure why.  The food is usually something like chicken parm and eight different kinds of pasta.  (These are not AIG conferences.) ... 

Continue reading "RoCK on the cocktail hour" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:52 PM | | Comments (18)
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February 7, 2010

More snow food: country ham and bourbon

RoCKsSnowFoodRobert of Cross Keys' fine Free Market Friday guest post got postponed a couple of days this week, but hasn't everything? I laughed out loud at his description of his ham. Here's RoCK. EL

A day before this little weather incident occurred, I decided to go the grocery store.  I went to the SuperFresh in Hampden.  Crazy. I walked in and walked right back out.
 
I thought it wouldn’t be that big of a deal.   After all, I still have most of that ham I bought at the hardware store in Smithfield.  I also have a bottle of Rebel Yell Bourbon.
 
My ancestors were among the first settlers of both Virginia and Tennessee, and a country ham and a bottle of bourbon would have lasted them a winter, so surely it would be sufficient for me to get through the weekend.

I made my meal plans for the weekend. I would have country ham spread along with a pasta dish my wife found in an old Charlie Palmer cookbook that features orecchiette, country ham, peas and goat cheese. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 12:28 PM | | Comments (13)
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January 29, 2010

RoCK will work for food

Rocksfish

 

One of my favorite parts of Robert of Cross Keys' fine Free Market Friday guest post today is that he felt he had to include the word "accidentally" in the last sentence. Here's RoCK. EL

On a recent trip to Portalli’s in Ellicott City, I step out of my normal menu routine and order a whole fish.  ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:20 AM | | Comments (19)
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January 22, 2010

A diet meal at Ruth's Chris

img_salad_chopped.jpg

I've lost weight just reading Robert of Cross Key's Free Market Friday guest post. EL

This week the wife takes me to Ruth’s Chris in Pikesville.  The last time she took me here was when we were shopping for engagement rings at J. Brown across the street.  I figure she thought some prime meats in my stomach would fill the void in my wallet.  This time she brought me along on a dinner to try some of the specials on the winter menu along with some classics.     

I realize that I’m not likely to win the Presidential Fitness Award this month.  Between the bourbon, the country ham and the Lexington Market feast, I have been running my liver, kidneys and heart through the gauntlet. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:04 AM | | Comments (6)
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January 8, 2010

RoCK hams it up

RoCKham.jpgThis is one of Robert of Cross Key's best Free Market Friday guest posts yet, and it continues today's piggy theme. He calls himself a poor carver, but those ham slices look pretty good to me. EL

Right before the holidays, I went in search of ham. Not that tasteless flesh sold by Hillshire Farms and Hormel -- I’m talking about real ham, America’s prosciutto, country ham.

I’m a recent convert to country ham. I didn’t grow up with it, and like many who didn’t, I found it to be too salty. Over time, however, I developed a taste for it. There are few things that have as much flavor as country ham. A paper-thin slice of country ham fills the mouth more than a pound of city ham.  It is intense, but it is also incredibly satisfying.   

My desire for country ham took me to the place that is synonymous with the product: Smithfield, Va. Smithfield is to country ham what champagne is to sparkling wines. Lots of places make country ham, but only those hams that are made in Smithfield are Smithfield hams. Put another way, and I’m paraphrasing from something I read in a Junior League cookbook, all Smithfield hams are country hams but not all country hams are Smithfield hams. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:05 PM | | Comments (28)
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January 1, 2010

RoCK's Lexington Market feast

FaidleyOysters2.jpg

As far as holiday eating traditions go, Robert of Cross Keys has us all beat. EL 

Back in the 1970s, around the time I was born, my dad and uncles started going to Lexington Market just before Christmas.  Originally, the intent was to buy fresh turkeys and Rheb’s candies for holiday parties, but it soon became an afternoon of feasting at the market.  We haven’t purchased turkeys for years, and last year was the last for Rheb’s at Lexington Market, but the annual pilgrimage of gluttony continues.  ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 8:04 PM | | Comments (10)
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December 25, 2009

RoCK's Season's Greetings to the Sandbox

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The cast and crew of Free Market Fridays would like to wish a merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to the Dining@Large community.

Robert of Cross Keys, the Wife, and Mr. Jefferson

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:43 PM | | Comments (14)
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December 18, 2009

RoCK sips a little bourbon

Colonel%20Masters4.jpg

Guest poster Robert of Cross Keys leads a most interesting life. I wonder what he does for his real job? Here's RoCK's Free Market Friday. EL

Last week I was at the Chapeze House in Bardstown, Ky. for a bourbon tasting and dinner at the Hospitality, Kentucky Style show with Colonel Michael Masters, the host of Kentucky and also a distant cousin of mine via the Boone line.

When you have some Boone blood in you, you are probably related to most everyone from Kentucky – somewhere John McIntyre just winced at the prospect that we might be kin. Unfortunately, the evening didn’t go as planned. The bourbon bottle let me down. ...
 

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 2:27 PM | | Comments (36)
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November 28, 2009

Robert's Thanksgiving: brisket, stuffing and cranberries with strife

CranberriesWithRings.jpgRobert of Cross Keys' guest post, Free Market Fridays, is a day late. Blame your mayor. I didn't get a laptop for yesterday because the trial is still going on. Oh well, some things get better with age. Here's Robert. EL

I never cook Thanksgiving dinner, and this year wasn’t any different.
 
A few weeks ago my mom injured her foot, which meant that she would not be able to stand in front of the stove on Thanksgiving.  This development led to a request from my parents that the wife and I help out.  Since both of us like to cook our way, but hate the mess it creates in our home, we welcomed the opportunity to be creative in a kitchen other than own.   
 
My parents, however, saw the situation playing out a little differently.  They were hoping that we would make their recipes in our house and then bring them up with us on Thanksgiving.  Of course they didn’t come right and say that.  The hint, however, was played out over the last week. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 6:43 AM | | Comments (13)
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November 20, 2009

Robert goes Hawaiian

RoysMahiMahi.jpg

Robert of Cross Keys eats better than I do, and I'm the restaurant critic. Here's RoCK with a Free Market Friday guest post that's making me hungry. EL

This week the wife had a business lunch in Harbor East.  She decided to bring me along. I was already off for Veteran’s Day, and a downtown lunch beat my original plans for the day of watching reruns of The Golden Girls on Lifetime.

My normal weekday lunch routine is going to the American Legion in the burbs. (I should say that American Legions are great places to go for lunch.  Where else can you get soup, sandwich and a beer for $4?)  On this day, however, I went to Roy’s, where I got some Hawaiian with a touch of the Philippines and even a little bit of Baltimore.

One of the things I like about Roy’s is that there is some discretion over the menu that allows for the chef to add some unique items to be mixed in with the standard menu items.  At Roy’s Baltimore, the chef is from the Philippines; and you can see some of the culture in the menu....

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:52 AM | | Comments (24)
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November 6, 2009

Almost seduced by the dark side

RedEmmas.jpg

I'm worried about Robert of Cross Keys. I'm afraid that associating with all the degenerate characters on this blog, including its writer, may be getting to him. Here's Robert and today's excellent Free Market Friday. EL

Right now I’m sitting in Red Emma’s -- yes, Red Emma’s.   I’m trying to write my Free Market Fridays, or Fascist Fridays as my wife calls it, but it is hard to focus in here.  I feel like the Jewish mother in “Fiddler in the Roof” when she goes into the Orthodox church looking for her daughter.  As I sit here in my Brooks Brothers shirt and sushi tie, I truly know the feeling of being a stranger in a strange place. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:31 AM | | Comments (14)
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October 30, 2009

Comfort food in the burbs

testudo.jpgRobert of Cross Keys has made my day, maybe my week, with this fine guest post. My Pikesville source, a guy who tells my husband about restaurants to pass on to me, has been going on for a couple of years about a fabulous Chinese restaurant called the Wigwam. Chinese, not American Indian, which is a little weird. Every time I'm in Pikesville, I look for it but have never found it; and it's not listed in the phone book. Now I know how to find it. Thanks, RoCK! EL

My wife had some projects this week in the suburbs that required my driving out there, so that's where my dining out took place. I visited the Diamondback Tavern in Ellicott City and the Wing Wah in Pikesville. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:14 AM | | Comments (19)
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October 23, 2009

Who knew Detroit was a food mecca?

AlAmeer.jpgHere's part two of guest poster Robert of Cross Key's eating adventures on his recent road trip. His photo and descriptions are making me hungry. EL

Detroit is not a food desert.
 
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the demise of Detroit has been greatly exaggerated.

Don’t get me wrong, I saw a lot of hurt in the city.  There are many vacant and boarded-up homes.  There are a lot barren fields that seem out of place in an urban environment.  There are numerous abandoned factories.

I went into Detroit, however, expecting to see much worse.  I wasn’t expecting to see crowded museums, or rush hour traffic in a city with such high unemployment, or restaurants of all types filled with diners. Nevertheless, that's what I saw. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:04 AM | | Comments (12)
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October 16, 2009

Of Hungarian food, homemade ice cream and more

RoCK1016.jpgAnd to think I once worried that Robert of Cross Keys' guest posts wouldn't have enough food in them. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, wait till you get to the third paragraph. I'm expecting next week's guest post to be on the South Beach Diet. Plus, it has high drama. Here's RoCK with an excellent Free Market Friday. EL

Ohio Amish, Hungarian-Canadians, and Jamie Farr
 
This past week I went on a vacation to Detroit. Yes, Detroit.   Now I’ll get into what I actually did in the Motor City next week.  For now, I’ll touch on some of the places I found on my way out there. ...

Continue reading "Of Hungarian food, homemade ice cream and more" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 11:23 AM | | Comments (8)
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October 2, 2009

Thanks be to cod

FishChips.jpgI have to say this excellent guest post by Robert of Cross Keys gave me a pang of guilt. My poor abandoned husband is probably having a Nathan's hot dog with a stale potato roll for dinner tonight. Here's RoCK. EL

Last week my wife went to New York to share a few meals with her friend and noted food writer David Rosengarten, which she wrote about in her blog.

Not to be outdone, I set out to create my own New York experience. I stayed home with Mr. Jefferson, and we ate Nathan’s hot dogs.  The hot dogs were not bad.  The same could not be said for the potato rolls I pulled out of the back of my freezer. ...

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:19 AM | | Comments (12)
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September 18, 2009

Rehabbing with bison, truffles and trout

Jeffy.jpg

 

Robert of Cross Keys is back, with a new guest post, a new category for his posts (you can now go back and read his earlier posts by clicking on "Free Market Fridays" under the categories to the right) and best of all, with ruminations on, well, you'll see. Here's Robert. EL

Over the past few weeks I have been trying to excise the demons from my trip to Jacksonville, meaning I’ve been trying to get the rail gin and fried conch fritters out of my system.

I started my rehab at Boordy’s Vineyard, where I went to a late summer, outdoor happy hour that features their wines along with local foods. ...
 

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:48 AM | | Comments (16)
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August 14, 2009

Kicking it Old School

Valley%20View%20Inn.jpgThe only thing missing from this excellent guest post by Robert of Cross Keys is the recipe for the dish he's taking to his pool party. Here's Robert. EL

Last week my wife let it be known that I live in the public eye.  And like many other elected office holders, I am getting ready for the big political event that takes place this week.  

Yes, I do serve.  I’m on my condo’s board of directors.  And this week, of course, is the annual Cross Keys pool party.

As perhaps the only Republican office holder in all of Baltimore City, I realize that I am vulnerable, even in Cross Keys. It is imperative that I bring my A game to this event, and by that I mean I have to impress with my covered dish. ...

Continue reading "Kicking it Old School" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:54 AM | | Comments (27)
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August 7, 2009

What Republicans eat

CheeseWine.jpg

 

Actually, today's fine guest post by Robert of Cross Keys is about what Republicans and Democrats eat, but that was a little long-winded for a headline. I couldn't talk him into a photo of himself and his wife in their partisan outfits to illustrate it, by the way. So instead of a photo of a wine-and-cheese-loving Republican, we have to make do with just the cheese (puffs) and wine. Here's RoCK. EL

This week I went down to the farmers market under the JFX.  As I walked around I was offered a socialist newspaper.  I said no thanks, I’m a Republican. 

The activist seemed a little surprised. Not so much at my terseness, but probably by the fact my appearance belied my ideology.  See, I had an eco-friendly canvas bag, a two-day shave, a pair of olive drab shorts and a t-shirt listing the top 10 insults from Shakespeare. (It is a great shirt for the venue on account of the No. 1 insult: “Sell when you can, you are not for all markets.”)  ...

 

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Posted by Elizabeth Large at 10:55 AM | | Comments (82)
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July 31, 2009

Missing Willie Nelson and McDonald's

concert4.jpgI was thrilled when Robert of Cross Keys said he wanted to write a guest post for us. I was even more thrilled when he asked what the rules are. No one ever asked me that before. I love rules (which is why my guest posters tend to migrate to Midnight Sun).

I told him there were only two rules: Only Owl Meat can be weird, and he has to have more food in his posts than Bucky did.

Well, one out of two ain't bad. You always get one free pass when you're new. Here's RoCK. EL

This week took me back to Aberdeen, my boyhood home, to see the Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan concert.  A one word review: disappointing. I only got to listen to two songs from Willie, and I had to listen to Dylan’s entire set plus his encore.

When it comes to the short Willie set, I have myself, my wife and falling barometric pressure to blame. ...

Continue reading "Missing Willie Nelson and McDonald's" »

Posted by Elizabeth Large at 3:02 PM | | Comments (60)
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About this blog
Richard Gorelick was appointed The Baltimore Sun's restaurant critic in September 2010. Before joining the paper staff fulltime, he contributed freelance criticism and features articles about food to area and regional publications. Along the way, he dispatched for short-distance trucking companies, shilled for cultural non-profits, and assisted in cognitive neurology research – never the subject, always the control.

He takes restaurants seriously but not himself, and his favorite restaurant is the one you love, too.
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