Ho Hum....

Just another boring evening last night in the land where there isn’t anything to do.

We started out by meeting a friend at Courtney’s for dinner. I really don’t have anything much to say about Courtney’s that I haven’t said before. That’s because you can go there last week, last month, next month, next year, last year, and it will be the same. Same Bud Light Lime banners hanging from the ceiling, same tropical fish poster on the wall, nobody in the bar, tables in varying states of readiness, the same menu, and the same service. The same. And, that is the joy of the place. When our friend asked Tom if clam chowder was still available, he said “I’ll check” and went back to the bowling ball hot pot, checked and came back and said “there’s about three bowls left, and it’s the good stuff at the bottom!”. How can you not like that. When asked about the fish, we were told the rock fish is the best, and then a little story about how he has a license in Virginia which enables him to keep supplying fresh fish. So there was an order of fried and broiled, and I took the oyster platter. Good, says he, I shucked them fresh this morning.. we did get bowls of the chowder, and it was almost gone which meant it was also pretty glutinous but pepper helped that. MFO took the crab soup which was reported as spicy. After more conversation and watching other food come out (part of the expectation, so okay) our food eventually arrived. Once again, the same. Both rockfish dishes were cooked just right, the fried with a crispy batter yet creamy and moist inside, the broiled nicely displayed on a bed of a buttery sauce, but again the flavor of the fish was the star. It’s so rewarding when the main entree need no help. My oysters were plump and cooked just enough to let the batter crisp while the oysters remained tender inside. Presented on a nice bed of lettuce and maybe some home made cocktail sauce. Very enjoyable, tasty food in a "just right" setting. Be sure to go, despite our wishes nothing is forever (as much as we may wish it so)..

After that, we high tailed it up the road to the college and Cole Cinema and barely made it in the door for the movie “Fresh” presented by the Maryland Department of the Humanities. The film took a look at food production in America, from the “mass produced” feed lots, pig farms, poultry factories that produce thousands of “products” on a single farm, to the newer (and really older) “sustainable” and organic farm approach to farming that are gaining traction. The film was pretty one sided in favor of the latter approach with many clips of farmers who do (for want of a better term) natural farming, involving rotating pasturing for beef, letting them eat grasses instead of feeding them grain, free ranging chickens, pigs, etc.. This was contrasted against pictures of unbelievable numbers of chickens (cows, pigs), all jammed into close quarters, feeding on antibiotic laden “unnatural” feeds etc. There are two sides to every issue, like can the (relatively) smaller farms “feed the world”?. Being on the side of nutritious and flavorful food (those “natural” pork chops had actual fat in them….imagine that) the approach more aligned by how nature wants its creatures cared for seems best. There was interesting discussions after the meeting with a lot of (to us) “young people” involvement. This is good…Buy Local...

Anyway an evening of food for the body AND soul. What more can you ask for down here in Godforsaken Southern Maryland.

Watch out for the flooding today, and when evening comes,

DFD