The extended hand waving goodbye is from FOJTE and wife as they
departed after a lovely visit over the 4th of July weekend. The first time we had seen them on our “turf”
for a while, and we had a great time. The
supposed highlight of the annual fireworks display on the Solomons was pretty
much a bust this year, even though they were able to hold it after a line of
thunderstorms passed. From our vantage
point on our hill, ourselves and about 20 or so guests were treated to what might be
called a display of “colorful backlit smoke”.
There was no breeze, so firework A’s smoke hung in front of firework B’s
explosion which then only compounded the problem. Of course some were occasionally visible, but mostly they
were shrouded in smoke. That didn’t
however dampen our lovely dinner which included all American hamburgers, hot
dogs, “Bill’s Brats”, MFO homemade potato salad, and lovely handmade and
decorated patriotic cupcakes for dessert (which were so good that the mouths
beat the cameras). Of course before dining, you have to have appetizers and beverages, and we had a great curried
cream cheese dip/spread topped with what else, bacon! Doesn’t get more American than that!
But, “the kids” weren’t here to just languish on vacation,
no, no! As responsible aging parents, we had a ‘list” of chores waiting for our
children. Much work by them resulted in
This is the “after” condition when FOJTE and W organized the
wine cellar. I would not want you to see
the “before” shot, it would be embarrassing.
Not only did they stack the wines, they are now categorized as to grape,
country of origin, body, and so forth, each with a little label. Rummaging around in a (neglected) wine cellar
is always interesting and they came up with some interesting finds
Neither are now available, but the course of their visit we did sample both, and while
they were "drinkable", they didn’t display the original character, although the Zin
(no longer made) wasn’t too bad, kind of bricky as you might expect. The Cab
showed a little of its old self, but not much and faded quickly. RIP.
It wasn’t all work (for them) and no play, we did eat out a
couple of times, visiting the Ruddy Ale House on St. George Island as well as
Sunday brunch at one of our favorite haunts, the Dry Dock on the Solomons.
Crab Benedict, a quiche were enjoyed and MFO had a lovely seared scallop Caesar salad..
As an aside, people sometimes ask the Feeder for places to get Seafood around here, and both of the above restaurants are excellent restaurants, your choice maybe
somewhat driven by your geography. They offer
a “just right” combination of view and reliable good food. Of course the king of SOMD local seafood
remains Courtney’s which is in a class by itself. There are other choices for good dining, in
Leonardtown, and the “new” Elements in Lexington Park (pretty much a dining wasteland) is gaining traction here.
Anyway, we had a wonderful time, much appreciative of their
help, and bonus, we’re expecting FOJTY and wife, later in the month including
“Stanley” our granddog. Stanley recently
cleaned up the OKC dog show, now being one point short of “Champion” status,
whatever that means. They know..
Foodie notes
Nice Doggie, doggie
Speaking of dogs, July the 4th always brings the
Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest on Coney Island. It is always kind of a uncomfortable thing to
watch, but fascinating, like the old train wreck analogy. The big news this year that the perennial champion
Joey Chestnut (“Jaws”) was upset by “Megatoad” Matt Stonie who consumed 62 dogs
to Jaws total of 60 (in ten minutes). With
the boom in foodie things, this contest has grown and grown and is now
televised live on ESPN. On the distaff
side Miki Sudo defended her championship over Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas, with
a “score of 38 to 31.
Breaking news from
Florida!!
And finally a stringer from Florida forwarded me a link to a
story from “FloridaToday’, an online site.
It was to a story by a Suzy Fleming, their food and dining editor. I could scarcely believe my eyes (and ears,
since it made you hear an audio version).
The headline was “Why are folks so excited about WaWa Food?” Apparently the Pennsylvania gas station
chain (which grew from a dairy) is invading Florida now. Okay, I thought this will be a sarcastic dig
at yet another convenience place that sells cigarettes, gas, beer, and grab and go
food. Nope, oh, Bottom Feeder, it was a
serious piece celebrating the fact that WaWa food was coming to Brevard County
(around Melbourne):
“the appetite for Wawa has grown into a feeding
frenzy, heightened last month when signage went up announcing a Suntree
location”
The general manager
of the store gave them a tour, guaranteeing an objective “review” of the place
(yes sarcasm here), and she tried a Philly Cheesesteak:
“It only took one bite to
realize the bread was fresh and delicious. I've never eaten a Philly
cheesesteak in Philadelphia, but I know devotees insist on bread from
Amoroso's. (Manager) Carragher said Wawa gets
its hoagie rolls from a Central Florida commissary kitchen that worked with
Amoroso's to duplicate it's equipment, processes and recipe. The rolls — as
well as doughnuts and pastries — arrive fresh daily at each location”
In other words: “we truck in our food”.
I suppose the citizens of Brevard County will be ecstatic to dine out at
a gas station. And I bet there will be lots of tropical shirts so they can
DFD
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