Weekend Wamblings..

I think the economy must be recovering.. yesterday the line at Starbuck’s was back to the end of the counter, with the usual crowd awaiting their triple foam, soy double shot, extra hot, hazelnut macchiato (whatever the heck that is). Being Sunday, I toughed that out and then decided that a bagel and a cream cheese Danish might be nice so veered into Panera. Line was literally into the foyer to get into the place. No thanks. On the way back to the digs, I noticed Dunkin’ so veered across three lanes and went in there only to find another line, but with three people working the counter it went fairly fast. $3.45/gallon for gas? No problem, just pass the crullers..

And, at the risk of another round of “welcome to the party, stupid” we also went into BJ’s so MFO could get some bulk cookies for an upcoming historical function. We eventually wandered around to the meat section, and I was impressed by the variety of meats and cuts available. Sure enough, you could by a half of a steer, but there are also many selections of a few pieces of beef, veal, pork, poultry, in lots of different cuts. Short ribs, veal cutlets, chicken in something other than boneless, skinless pieces, legs of lamb or chops, ready cut filets of beef, and so on. We got some fairly nice pork chops (can you find any with actual fat marbling anymore?) which I grilled with apple smoke chips. And, I believe that there is a human that will actually cut some meat for you if you want thicker steaks. Who woulda thunk.

And yet another publication crossed our door, a little magazine called “Imbibe” which is all about, well, drinking. Many articles on boutique beers, cocktails, spirits, wine, coffee, teas, etc. This issue was “the Southern Issue” concentrating on the “south” which includes Texas and Virgina, but no mention of Maryland. Very trendy, the “south” these days. Anyhow there was a pretty informative article about “bourbon” with some very nice photography and the history of the drink along with the recent resurgence of popularity. Their glossary contained some interesting entries: “X” years old – if the bottle bears an age statement, that’s the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle; Special Reserve or Family Reserve or Reserve – Sounds nice don’t they? That’s their only function, this term may be safely ignored; Old Special or Old – see “special reserve”. Anyway, it’s a down to earth article. There’s a time line on the bottom of the pages and there are names like Hayden who settled in Bardstown, KY. MFO informs me that a large number of people who left St. Mary’s County settled in Bardstown. There is also a nice little Q&A column with John T. Edge, the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a group dedicated to the food and culture of the south.

And lastly, somebody sent me a link to a film clip of Julia Child making an omelet. In these days of celebrity chefs (Bobby Flay has a new reality show about the next big restaurant and appears on the cover of the Wash Post TV guide for God’s sake) it is pleasing to watch. I include it for your viewing pleasure. Not so much about the chef as about really teaching about food. Refreshing…

and we finished the weekend by attending the Spring Concert of COSMIC, our local orchestra. Nice as always to hear real music. came home through driving rain, but was rewarded for our harrowing drive with a DMOTRWAT before we got

DFD