Bill's Bottom Feeder: here and there

Not too much earth shattering but just a few snippits.

Would you like cream, sugar, or …… Butter??

I often have some interesting conversations at Starbucks while waiting for my daily Latte. The time available for yakking varies of course depending on the lines. Anyway, the franchisee guy knows I am interested in food as is he to some extent, so that usually works its way into the conversation. So the other day he asked if I had heard of “Butter Coffee”. Well, no I had not. Is it a new ploy by S’bucks to boost sales? Nope. Apparently there is some guy in the Northwest who is what is called a “blohacker”, someone who I find out “uses science and technology to make his or her body function more efficiently, and whose numbers are about 100,000 worldwide. He has a website called Bulletproofexec.com, which drew over 6 million unique visitors last year in addition to 200,000 who follow Facebook and twitter. He used to weigh over three hundred pounds and when exercise and limited diet didn’t work he started looking elsewhere, and came up with a recipe for the coffee he’s drinking—blended with butter made with milk from grass-fed cows and a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil derived from coconut oil. Drink it, the name implies, and you’ll feel invincible. “Fats and caffeine help stimulate the brain,” he says in his office, taking another sip. And guess what? He’s opened a “BulletProof Café” and written a book. His discovery resulted from a trip to Nepal and Tibet where he discovered yak – butter tea. Anyway, keep your eyes open for it.. Amazing.

Crabby in all senses

And, after reading my little piece about Sandgates the other day, an alert reader questioned my remark about Stoney’s NEVER making my list (at least the “Just Right” list, although they might make another). I replied that my JR (crab house) list kind of requires an establishment to be in place for a number of years, serve primarily the local population, etc. Stoney’s doesn’t qualify there, and IMHO exists to live off tourists, brandishing their Washington Post “award winning crab cake” medallion for all it is worth. I will readily admit that crab cakes tend to be somewhat objective, but I have always found theirs to be primarily filler and non-descript shredded crab, generally undone in the middle of the spherical ball served up. I believe they now have at least four properties locally, the most recent acquisition being the old “Clarke’s Landing” spot in Hollywood. I have not been there since they took over (and won't), but I have generally enjoyed a visit there in the past incarnation. So, I was interested to see a posting on Facebook lately (yes, I lurk) that related a recent experience at the newest location. Here’s the original posting and “comments” following a picture of Stoney’s Clarkes Landing sign

“Dinner tonight was horrible. The juice in my cocktail was fermented and watched people toss (sic) there cigarets in the sand where we were eating. Since when did we go back to smoking in public spaces?”

“Never liked the food. Got one of the "famous" crab cakes. It was greasy and cold.”

“Was better under original owner”

Obviously I won’t divulge the author(s) but I will tell you I know the original poster and can vouch for the palate.

Trying to be a bit positive, I do like the wooden carvings at the various establishments.

Lots of B’s

As I did last year, I volunteered for a shift of beer pouring at the 2^nd Annual Southern Maryland Brew & BBQ a couple of weeks ago. I cleverly signed up for the noon to three shift on Sunday, (correctly, as it turned out) figuring that attendance would be light at that time. Of course the combination of beer and BBQ is time honored, and they featured a lot of both. Brews included 10 so called “domestic beers” one of which was Stella (??), and of course included Bud and Coors along with their “light” versions; and eleven “craft Beers” from some of the better known breweries such as Flying Dog, Heavy Seas, DuClaw, Devil’s Backbone, and Sam Adams (hold on there! isn’t that “domestic”?).

Anyway no matter how you characterize them there were quite a few to taste or guzzle. My station included two brews from Devil’s Backbone in Virginia, and two from Sweet Water from Georgia. DB’s selection were Vienna Lager and Eight Point IPA; while the Georgia entries were 420, an Extra Pale Ale, and Hop Hash Double IPA, tipping the alcohol scale at an ABV of 7.8%, and an IBU (Bitterness Rating) rating of 100, right at the top. In other words that would blow your head off. In contrast, the Vienna Lager a more reasonable 4.9% and an IBU of 18. I am not a big fan of Hoppy Brews, but that’s me.. an informal survey kind of indicated the lighter versions were more popular. Next year I’ll be more informed before I show up. I couldn’t answer questions about the IBU

On the other “B” side, most of the big boy (more “B”s) cookers left on Saturday and Sunday only had the Backyard Amateur competition. I guess I would qualify for that moniker, although it sounds kind of demeaning. Still, it’s fun to walk around and see the gear and the vendors.