Monday, March 20, 2017

Half a dozen


Just a bunch (well, six) of stuff that has been "piling up” with a little rant included

First: Well, have you had your fill of roundball?  Between men’s and women’s NCAA, NIT, and so forth, there wasn’t much on except that (with a few European soccer games here and there).  And this year for the first time in a long time I have not participated in a (for recreational purposes only) “bracket” group.  I found it strangely liberating… For once I can root for a team based on heart, not head.  I don’t have to root for a team I really dislike just because my head say they will advance.  Just as well, because my Spartans have bowed out early again.  Last year was one thing, they had a very (on paper) competitive team and got bounced by Middle Tennessee State for goodness sake (no disrespect). This year’s “rebuilding” team won their first game, and then got schooled by Kansas.  Since MFO got her advanced degrees at the “other” school in Ann Arbor (home of fabled Zingerman’s deli) we kind of jumped on that bandwagon. To be honest I never thought they would beat Mr. Pitino.
Speaking of (basketball) victories in a way (I’ll change subjects soon), I was browsing Facebook this morning and was kind of surprised to see all the posts celebrating the loss of Duke.  No reason given, just glad they lost.  I suppose that reflects the “break up the Yankees” mentality just because they win a lot.  Now the fact that I am happy (sorry, Domer) that Notre Dame is back in South Bend is rooted in long years of interaction with those above mentioned Spartans of my Alma Mater..

Second:  I am happy to acknowledge that I got some feedback reinforcing my thoughts on Daylight Savings Time being irrelevant or stupid.  One respondent (who lives in Arizona) even suggested moving to Arizona where they don’t mess with it.  He also included some interesting info that the Navajo reservation there DOES observe DST, but the Hopi reservation (which is within the Navaho reservation) does.

Third:  back to Facebook for a second, there is also a fair amount of posts that denigrate Windows 10.  Our new IT suite includes that across the board, and actually I find it isn’t that bad.  Of course I do my best to configure it to be like Windows 7.  I can live with it.

Fourth:  main point and back to food sort of, and a little bit of a rant.  Locals know that over in Leonardtown they have recently “upgraded” a portion near the intersection of Route 5 and Hollywood Leonardtown road.  The old Winegardner used car facility and lot have been transformed by a local contractor to install a stand-alone Dunkin’ Donuts and a “mixed use” building that contains Jessie’s Kitchen and Urban Barbeque among other occupants.  I find out that the Jessie’s Kitchen is now owned and operated by the person who used to own the Tea-rrific Café over in Souci.

Ranting begins… and this is a bit contrary to the Feeder’s normal philosophy.  Is anybody else getting tired of the “farm to table” and “locally produced” restaurant craze?  I am all in favor of using locally produced food and produce, both for economical and gastronomical reasons… BUT…  I am getting a bit over the practice of putting on the menu that the salad I am about to enjoy comes from the 8th through 10th plants in the third row in Plot B of the NW acre of “Bob’s Produce Farm”, or my pork chop is from the hind quarter of Porky, who lives in Bacon Barns, who never heard of an antibiotic or fence.   Now, that being said a discreet statement on the menu someplace (which some venues do) that meat products come from Happy Acres, and produce from Leafy Meadows Farm is good enough for me.   So, back to Leonardtown and the new Urban Barbecue. 

An alert reader sent me an email from said Urban (sic) Bar-Be-Que Company promoting the (relatively) new outlet of smoked meats.  I won’t try to cut and paste it, but it is in the form of a panel that is boldly entitled: Local FAMILY TRADITION – How Southern Maryland Natives Opened Urban Bar-be-que.  Then it goes on to say “Welcome to Our House” and explains how they had a “dream of opening our own UBBQ’ in 2014, wanting a gathering place around great food.  Then “we started construction on this spot in 2016 and grew our dream into reality”, with the aim of serving the best BBQ in St. Mary’s County.   Concluding with the old saw of “the first time you’re here a guest and…..you’re family” and signed by the owners with a picture of (presumably) their kids.

First of all, I pass by that location a fair amount and I NEVER recalled seeing anybody with shovel (we started construction...) other than bulldozers, front loaders, grade-alls and other heavy construction equipment.  Secondly, throwing all the “local” words around leads one to believe it is an independent operation.  Wrong.  By clicking the “view our Menu” button you are thrown to a site that lists one location in Virginia, and ten more in Maryland with two more “coming soon”.  Going to each location you find the menu is exactly the same, beginning to end.  So it is NOT (IMHO) a "local” establishment at all,  it is a Chain.  They are franchisees.   I have never seen any smoke issuing from the building so I assume that the meats are delivered, since the same menu is at all 11 locations. 

If you ever enter say, Smoky Joe’s or Bear Creek, there is no doubt that their meats are prepared on site. So I guess my gripe with Urban is that they are (apparently) trying to appear as if they built the place with their own hands, and serve “local” products (perhaps other than sides).  I think not.  Now, as a caveat, I am glad for the franchisees that they are trying to bring a variety of foods to Leonardtown, and I hope they do well for those cute kids, but don’t try to pass yourselves off as a little BBQ shack by the side of the road.  Chain.  It kind of ruins the credibility of places that do serve local foodstuffs (like Elements). I have not done a feeder visit, but second hand reports are not encouraging. 

Fifth; Almost every year about this time, we’re visited by Northern Gannets, a wonderful bird that “patrols” at an altitude of over one hundred feet, and when they spy a fish they do a spectacular “plunge-dive”.   Why they don’t brain themselves is a mystery to me.  But a welcome visitor this time of year.  Pretty bird...




Sixth:  Extra Credit:  who is this person (now deceased), what did he do, and what was his nom de plume?

Hint: you can be sure he was

DFD


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