Category Archives: Restaurants

When He’s 64!

So yesterday was my husband’s 64th birthday. As for that needing or feeding part of the Paul McCartney reference, I at least fed him well.

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Part of it was even local! We tend to stay home for birthday dinners, and break out the good wine, and make something fairly simple but matching the wines. Last night it was a simple lamb chop dinner. I should have gotten the lamb from Mt Airy, but the Whole Foods lamb looked good. It did end up having a little too much connective tissue and fat, but had a good flavor. Simply sautéed with a red wine reduction. Marinated earlier in some rosemary and my roasted garlic. We split a baked potato. And, I made some of those Baugher’s Brussels sprouts. Not that difficult to make, and just the right amount. The dinner rolls were also from Baugher’s bakery.

As for wine, we didn’t do local. We did old.

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A special Chateauneuf du Pape, from the year we went to Provence. 2003.

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Memories of those caves, and the time spent eating and drinking locally produced market fresh foods. It is what created our appreciation of good food and wine from local farms.

We did go out yesterday, on the spur of the moment for lunch at Ananda. In Maple Lawn. An Indian luncheon. A treat my husband loves. Which is Indian food. Thanks to HowChow and his followers for letting us know about this new addition to Howard County. It certainly is a lovely restaurant with very good food. We will be going back for dinner, that’s for sure.

I think my husband had a pretty nice birthday. I certainly fed him well.

My Favorite Pizza

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Inspired by a visit to Napa and Sonoma. Made even better using the arugula from my garden.

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My prosciutto, goat cheese, fig, scallion and arugula pizza.

Made last night after a very lovely blogger happy hour at Seasons 52, on the new “Main St-like” outdoor area at the Columbia Mall.

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Outdoor dining there has absolutely fun views. No storm water management ponds or cars parked three feet from your table.

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Their flatbreads reminded me that I had the ingredients to make an awesome rectangular pizza. I had an “under the weather” husband at home. Dinner out wasn’t an option. I enjoyed the company of my fellow bloggers. And, will return to have some of their seasonal foods.

I came home, and very easily stretched out some fresh pizza dough from Harris Teeter. Added figs, goat cheese, scallions, prosciutto, olive oil, salt and pepper. Baked at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. After removing from the oven, I dropped some of my newly grown arugula on top.

Simple, quick, tasty dinner.

Tidbit Tuesday Again

Lots of random small talk today.

How about housekeeping? As in cleaning out the garden, getting ready for fall, and cleaning up my web pages.

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The Malabar spinach is going to seed. The big question is whether I will save seeds and replant in the spring. I didn’t use much of it. It did act as a very strong pollinator attracter though. Well, so did the basil.

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I imagine that the Conservancy bees got lots of pollen from the basil in the garden. Some days it was covered in honey bees.

Sometime this weekend I will be harvesting all the basil and there will be a pesto making marathon in my kitchen. I hit Whole Foods Sunday morning to get almonds and Parmigiano Reggiano for my pesto. Go early before the breakfast crowd shows up.

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It is almost time to plant the garlic. I have about two dozen cloves ready to go into my back yard garden. Once the trees start dropping leaves, they will get enough sun all winter and spring to grow and be harvested in early summer.

We are completely reconfiguring the Conservancy community garden plot. There will be four large squares instead of four rows. One for herbs. One for tomatoes. One for peppers, leeks, shallots and onions. And, one for everything else. I did plant some arugula and lettuce for fall. We learned quite a bit this year.

Keep the onions away from the corner where the hoses are. The excess water rotted a few of my onions.

Put paths around the outside. It keeps down on weed infiltration.

More on gardening in the near future. Let’s now turn to the other trivial things I have done. I updated a few items on my pages. Adding a couple of blogs I read. Making sure the farm page is up to date. Checking that I didn’t forget anything on my food preservation page. I still need to update my local resources, and to add my new page, still in draft, on HOCOBIZ. This will be my page that highlights small businesses in the area where I find really good service. These businesses are mostly family owned, but aren’t my food sources. Places like Kendalls, Clarks Hardware, British American. Oh, and restaurants. I will be putting a restaurant category on that page.

Yep, it’s time to do that fall cleaning. Like leaf raking. And weed removal. And, putting those wintery things in the cars. Where are those stupid ice scrapers anyway? Just hoping not to find too many days like this.

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So Far This Week

Not even halfway through, and already we’ve had our share of exciting times. Right here in the heart of Howard County.

Tonight, it was a blog party at Nottingham’s. When we lived in Columbia we used to enjoy going there and relaxing at their Tiki Bar.

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Even though they are located in an office complex, they hid the bar quite well so you don’t get the parking lot/storm water management pond views.

I like their pool tables, their Wii system, the laid back, kick you shoes off and enjoy yourself atmosphere. We were in the Event Room tonight. About 40-50 of us, talking, enjoying the Happy Hour and doing our networking thing that the local bloggers do.

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Thanks to Nottingham’s for the hospitality. It was a good “Hump Day-eve” event.

Earlier this week also saw me doing major time in the gardens, for the Conservancy auction basket collection, and the Food Bank harvesting. Still I had time to check out the bee interest in my garden.

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It does remind me however that I need to whack back the basil and get the pesto done for the winter. I spent time harvesting, cleaning and doing a little bit of planting. I put in arugula and lettuce. And pulled out the last of the peppers.

Next on my agenda is the removal of the spent tomato vines.

As for my other wanderings this week, I did food delivery to my better half who was ground crew for tower maintenance. He spent Monday at W3LPL’s helping him on one of the towers.

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For the record, he says he can see Dulles Airport from up there. We’ll take his word on it.

It’s only Tuesday and we’ve just scratched the surface of things going on around here. I still have naturalist training later this week at the Conservancy, and my husband has more antenna support work plus some tower procurement and a radio contest weekend.

Oh yeah, I’m helping my mom move in my “spare” time.

I need to go back to work. I could use the rest.

Event Overload Again

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The third weekend in May. Absolutely one of the most overbooked event weekends around here.

Wine in the Woods. Both days, Saturday and Sunday.

The Preakness. Saturday is the race in Baltimore, and the Balloon Festival at Turf Valley the 15th-17th if the weather permits it.

The Columbia Triathlon is Sunday morning. Our love/hate relationship with this event depends on whether we need to get anywhere by car that morning. We live right off the bike race route.

The EC Tasting Gallery Pop Up at Bistro Blanc is Sunday night.

There is a Family Open House at Belmont Saturday morning 10-12, with guided hikes and other goodies. The Howard County Conservancy is providing environmental educational programs at the Belmont site.

We are volunteering for Big Cork at Wine in the Woods.

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Been fans of their wines since they opened the winery. Love the chardonnay, and really am looking forward to the release of their first red wines this fall. And, their new building out in Rohrersville.

As for that pop up dinner, we will be there. I can’t wait to see what the EC chefs and Chef Johnny at Bistro Blanc create in a culinary culture tour.

If I can drag myself out of bed Saturday morning to see the mass ascension at Oh-Dark=Thirty up at Turf Valley, I will be doing that too.

Belmont does interfere with Wine in the Woods. Darn. Van Wensil is leading two guided hikes which should be wonderful to do.

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Sunday morning finds us cheering on the leaders in the triathlon as they pass the Royal Farms at the circle where Dayton and Glenelg meet. We like heading up there for coffee and bagels and to watch the world class athletes as they head out, and then back, from their loop out to Triadelphia.

And, can’t forget to sit out and watch the Preakness while sipping a Black Eyed Susan. Last year they changed the recipe for the cocktail. Sounds really interesting, if you have St. Germain around the house.

What are you doing this weekend? Are you guilty of event overload, too? I’ll need a week to recover from all this entertainment.

Oh, and the azaleas at Brighton Dam are still blooming. If the rain the next two days doesn’t mess them up.

#hocoblogs

Out and About Again: Petit Louis Bistro

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Not the one in Roland Park. The new one on the lake in Columbia.

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Last Thursday we had the privilege of participating in the opening of the patio on the lake at PLB, as it is known for short. A really lovely addition to the community and to the people who already enjoy Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman’s other restaurants in the area (like my favorite celebration restaurant, Charleston).

Exquisite tastings were offered.

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Besides these beet and chevre bites, there were cheese pastries and a game bird terrine. Inside, four wines were being sampled.

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My favorite was the rose from Provence. Probably the place on earth I would most like to live. If only my spoken French was better than it is.

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Meet Will Napier. Will is the sommelier at PLB. Two seconds after meeting him, my husband found out he once worked at our favorite Virginia winery, Linden. Of course, the winery that makes wines in the French tradition. Small world, isn’t it?

And, Le Comptoir. That little side venue where you can indulge in brunch, or lunch, or maybe a petit dejeuner.

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There will be a petit dejeuner in our future.

As it was, we made a reservation to stay and dine. Dinner, excellent. I did refrain from being geeky and taking pictures. Truite aux amandes was my choice. Saumon grille was my husband’s. Followed by a cheese plate, French press coffee and a pastis.

I almost felt that I was back in Provence.

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With markets that would make this locavore one very happy person.

Thanks again, Petit Louis Bistro for hosting such an enjoyable event.

#hocofood

Too Tired to Post

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That would be a strange occurrence for me, but after just downloading 90 photos and editing them, I realized how much we had done in just a few days. The camera had pictures from:

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Grilling the last of the venison.

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Finishing the tilling and pathway construction of the garden.

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Picking up the Friends and Farms basket.

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And, socializing and dining at Petit Louis Bistro.

There will be individual posts on each of these topics coming up, but in closing tonight, before I collapse on the sofa to watch Elementary, a reminder that Lake Kittamaqundi is a special place. Go enjoy lunch or dinner there, or stop by Le Comptoir for breakfast.

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I may have left Columbia nine years ago, but the lakefront is special.

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Somewhere, not far from the People Tree is our brick, celebrating that move to Columbia almost forty years ago.

#hocofood

Out and About: Gadsby’s Bar American

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What a great way to spend a Thursday evening. Watching a master of mixology (aka Beverage Mercenary) create craft cocktails for a small group of local bloggers.

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The venue. Gadsby’s Bar American in the northeast corner where Columbia meets Ellicott City. A little difficult to find, but very convenient right off Route 100. I like individually owned restaurants where the food is made from scratch, and there are many local ingredients, wines and beers on the menu. Gadsby’s delivers in this respect.

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Chad Spangler, who obviously loves his craft, and excels at it (he makes one very tasty Sazerac as well as the five craft cocktails he made for us. All while explaining the art surrounding his craft. Right down to making their own tonic syrup for their Gin and Tonic. Their own simple syrups. A lavender foam. Yes, you read it right. Creating the foam using a stabilizer, like lecithin. Science in cooking. What isn’t there to like about it?

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This was our introduction to a restaurant where we will return, as the menu looks very tempting. As does the wine list. I was happy to see Herman Wiemer’s wines on the menu. One of our long time favorite Finger Lakes producers, of dry Riesling and Cabernet Franc.

Other little goodies are enticing as well. Just take a look at the tasting trays they put out for us.

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Thanks to Chef Gadsby (you were robbed in Iron Chef America), Chad Spangler, and Michael the bartender, and to Jessie Newburn, our hocoblogs den mother who arranged this demonstration.

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If you live around here and want a new place to try that isn’t a boring chain restaurant, check out Gadsby’s. And order their seasonal cocktails, made with rhubarb.

Or, if you like your Manhattan a bit smoky, this one is a treat.

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#hocofood

Looking for Local …

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… in all the right places. And sometimes finding it. And sometimes not.

Case in point. Looking for local wine to take to my brother’s house for Easter. This year I am bringing deviled eggs. Local eggs from the Friends and Farms basket. I have been saving eggs to get them old enough to hard boil. Old eggs are easier to peel.

I am also bringing wine. Which I do for every holiday gathering. I almost always bring local wines. From MD and VA. This year no exception. We are having ham, so this is what I am bringing.

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Barboursville Brut Rose and Linden Rose. Ah, but here’s the twist.

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This sparkling wine is imported. I suppose I wasn’t paying much attention to those details on our visit to Barboursville in September.

I think I was too busy buying seeds from their selection of exotic vegetables, in order to expand my garden. Like these cardoons.

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The large leafed seedlings are the cardoons. I also bought Malabar spinach seeds. They will go in the ground once we ever get past the frost and freeze seasons around here.

So, are cardoons and Malabar spinach local? They are definitely not native to this area. But, if I grow them in my garden, they become local, at least to me.

The Malabar spinach intrigued me, in the kitchen garden at Barboursville. They maintain a garden to supply their restaurant.

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It grows up the trellis and takes over the area if you aren’t careful with it.

After all the discussion, it comes down to this. I try to think locally and regionally. But, I don’t get all obsessive about it. My mantra, everything in moderation. Besides, being a conflicted locavore/foodie makes for a more interesting life.

Crossing my fingers that the veggies turn out great, because those Virginia wines certainly are winners.

#hocofood

Cabin Fever

When you wake up many mornings, too many in fact, to a variation of this view …

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… you start thinking about the Jimmy Buffett song “Boat Drinks” particularly that line about shooting holes in the freezer.

Thankfully, the Howard County blogging community has a cure for cabin fever. Another get together, this time at the newly opened White Oak Tavern, on Route 40, in the Enchanted Forest shopping center.

The party is tomorrow night, the 27th. 5:30-7:30 pm. White Oak Tavern is a farm to table restaurant featuring lots of locally sourced items. The type of place I like to see succeed here.

A few of their sources, lifted from their winter menu.

Wagon Wheel Ranch – Grass-fed Beef, Free Range Chicken,
and Pastured Berkshire Pork

South Mountain Creamery – Dairy products from grass-fed cows

Mozzarella, peach ice cream and provolone from SMC

Hilltop Acres – Pastured Berkshire and Mulefoot Pork

Chapel’s Country Creamery – artisanal Cheese

Zahradka – Produce
Tuscarora Produce
Atwater’s Bread Co
Vann’s Spice Co
Zeke’s Coffee

I am intrigued by Vann’s. I have thought of going down to Rockville to Penzey’s, but might try ordering a few of the harder to find spices from this locally owned family business.

Come join our friendly local Howard County bloggers for a pint of ale, some good conversation, and maybe a burger and fries, or some ice cream from just up the pike.

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