Cheesed on the Weekend...

We’ve stated before that cheese may in fact be the perfect food. I reaffirmed that opinion on Saturday night as I enjoyed the fine weather and took cocktails on the pool deck.



I decided to have some of the special goat cheese from Cherry Glen Farms in Boyd, Maryland. I selected their Monocacy Gold – which they describe as: “The curd for the Gold is drawn at higher pH than the Silver or Ash. Not as heavy as Brie, this delicate, mild flavored cheese is smooth and silky.” So armed with the cheese, some crackers, reading material, and the all important Dry Manhattan, on the rocks, sans the twist (do you know how much lemons cost these days?), I settled in.



The cheese indeed was “gold”, silky as they said, and the rind added just a little crunch and a bite. A little messy, but worth every smear



It’s just so good in your mouth, just savoring the smooth delicate flavors that unfold. Not much trouble finishing the whole thing



as I nibbled and sipped, I had some passerby's



In the process, I greatly enjoyed reading my latest edition of “Sauce” that restaurant paper from St. Louis. Some stuff to pass along, but that can wait another day. And, after the wonderful goat cheese, guess what I had for dinner?



Not just your blue box Kraft (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but the Beecher’s edition (imported from Seattle). It's a just great cheesy spicey dish. The “Mariachi” is sort of jazzed up with peppers and stuff, and gives your palate a nice ride. Good stuff is just good stuff…seek it out!!

Cheese Math

You remember my little contretemps in Panera over the price of cream cheese last weekend? Well, I decided to do a little further checking. Panera will sell you 2 ounces of the stuff for $1.30, equating to 65 cents/oz ($10 a pound!). Or, you can go to Giant, and get 8 oz. of the Philly brand for $2.19, which is only 27 cents/oz. So you’re paying two and a half times for the product at the bread store. Of course you get immediate satisfaction for your $1.30 on your 99 cent bagel, so that may be worth a little premium, but I guess Panera would consider the cheese a high margin item.. Just a thought…

And, on my patio, I didn’t have to

DFD, just DFC(ocktails)

Here we are....

People sometimes ask me “why do you continue to live in Southern Maryland?”. The acclaimed fine dining restaurants are up in DC or Annapolis, out of season produce is a mess, people with “I Love you Dale” stickers in their back window cut you off, “merge” is a mysterical concept, and you can’t find a parking place at Olive Garden (when you’re here, you’re family, well, sort of, maybe).

I’ll tell you why. Tonight I went over to Leonardtown for the First Friday events. I found a parking place easily, went over to the North End Gallery, enjoyed looking at the art, a glass of wine, and saw several friends. Then I went down to the Front Porch, which was crowded, met some more friends, and finally elbowed my way to the bar, eventually ordering “the drink”, which was executed correctly, although I had to tell the barkeep that I didn’t need bitters as he groveled under the bar. Meanwhile, outside somehow got to be ground zero for Governor O’Malley’s arrival greeted with an entourage dressed in green T-shirts, and the stoic guys in black suits and sun glasses (sun was down, by the way). He made some remarks (it’s an election year, you know) about looking forward and not back, which I guess has some pointed meaning.

I wandered back to the main street, visited the catering place, and meanwhile the Gov and his party followed along, sticking their noses in the various shops and stores. Café Des Artistes was crowded inside and out, and Chef was making his appearance felt. Eventually people gathered on the square, and then the Governor drew the winning ticket for the Primanateau or whatever the hell the thing is, and despite about 8 tries (you need to be present to win), I didn’t. Then the local band began to play and they asked the Gov to sing. Now, I don’t know your politics nor mine, but dammit any governor who comes to Leonardtown, visits the local shops and sings “The City of New Orleans” is okay in my damn book.

So there you are. You can live in fashionable Alexandria with your bistros and café’s, but can you stroll the streets, meet friends, have a hot dog from a cart, or listen to the Governor do a Steve Goodman song? That’s why we live in Southern Maryland.

And of course we always
DFD

Fabulous First Friday..

In case you’re wondering what you can do this evening, here’s a quick reminder that today is the “First Friday” of August, so there is the hoopla in Leonardtown. No competition from the River Concerts anymore, so that at least frees up one pressure.

While every first Friday is fun, tonight is a special edition dubbed “First Foodie Friday” in honor of Restaurant Week(s) which will conclude this weekend. All the local restaurants will be doing something, wine tastings will be available, there’s a new exhibit at the North End Gallery, the “hot dog guy” with his classic cart and red umbrella will be there. The mind boggles.

On top of that, the author of “Dishing Up Maryland” (as opposed to “dissing” Maryland), a cookbook featuring local recipes will be there, and if you buy the book, she will sign it.

But wait, there’s more! Those of you who frequented any of the businesses in Leonardtown lately may have been asked to fill out a little red ticket giving you a chance to win a portamanteau chock full of goodies. I must admit I never knew there was such a thing. If you want some fun, Google it and see what you get. Other than some word related definitions about juxtapositions of two words into one, it’s a hinged trunk that was made by the local Amish leather maker folks, it’s quite a deal.

And, if you act now, you will be able to see Governor Martin O’Malley pull the winning ticket. Gosh, what more can there be? Well, how about some live music? Fortune’s Turn will be playing on the square from 7:30 to 9:30. I guess the Gov’s band will not be playing.

All the details can be found at the First Friday Link. I found out there is something called Big Larry’s Comic Book Café. How about that?? What's next?

See you there!

Giving the Devil his Due

Well, stretching the point a bit, but the local cultural/restaurant documentor Mr. Mercer has a very nice piece in today’s Enterprise. It’s all about restaurant week, buying and dining local, with quotes from several of the restaurateurs. At least his heart is in the right place, if occasionally his palate is not.

Given the weather, you’ll have to figure out how to

DFFF

oh, a little postscript: I found out that we are not original with the concept of first friday's. many other communities have them..

Alone!!!!

It happens to all of us. You’re on a business trip, or temporarily relocated away from home, maybe you just live by yourself, or your wife is in Wisconsin. You’re tired of cooking, eating things wrapped in paper ordered by number through a speaker, or doing room service.

So, you’re faced with going out, and here you are a party of one (there is another whole story of business travel with the “group eat” syndrome – for another time). The first thing you have to decide is whether you want to “dine” or just “eat”. This is quite important, because there’s a world of difference. Just putting fuel in your body is easy (number two with a coke, please), but it’s a much more difficult problem if you would like to have a nice culinary experience. Maybe it’s just me, but I always enjoy food more when there is somebody to share with. If you’re sitting by yourself at a restaurant table, you can’t lean over to the next one and say “Wow! Look at the presentation of my Salmon!” or “Try this great sauce on the rack of lamb”.

So, I have found dining alone in a big deal restaurant is pretty much a waste of time. Sure, you get to see a special place, and the food might be wonderful, but you’re relegated to examining the presentation, tasting this and that, and just staring around or eavesdropping on adjacent table conversation between courses. Not so fun. This is where the restaurant should earn its stars. Do they seat you at a two top next to the station? Do they clear the extra place settings? Are you treated as an afterthought by your sever as he/she takes care of a larger party? An experienced server should take the time to “read” you and determine if you would like to chat occasionally, or just leave you to your thoughts (and please, please, not blackberry or cell). Hopefully a rated restaurant will recognize all these things and make your experience as pleasant as possible, since next time you might bring a party of four. Even though you don’t generate as much revenue (or tip) as a larger party you should be treated with respect. But, by and large you walk away with an empty feeling with only a story to tell somebody at a later date.

IMHO a much better solution is to seek a restaurant where you can eat at the bar (with hopefully the full menu available). First of all, your drink is almost immediately served, and you have a built in opportunity for conversation with the barkeep, not to mention with others in a similar situation who somehow always seem to gravitate to the bar. A lot of very nice restaurants also have a very nice bar, and you don’t tie up a table. If you like the place and food, and the opportunity exists for a re-visit, you’re on your way to becoming a “regular”, get a friendly greeting and pass the evening more easily.

Just a thought, and even though you’re solo, you must

DFD

Reality Bagels....

Happy Monday....we seem to be on edge lately....

Well , somehow the Nation survived the recent crisis of “who is LeBron going to play for?”, but now there is an equally distressing situation facing us. This may be of even more importance than LeBrawn, we’ll have to see. The oil disaster pales in comparison to “who will the new judges be on American Idol?”. Apparently somebody named Simon is leaving which may mark the end of our civilization as we know it. NBC is spending countless hours analyzing the importance of this event. Oh, did I mention that the show airs on NBC. Once again I must be in the cultural backwash of the country since I am unaware of the recent incidents on “Big Brother”. Continuing in seedy “reality” culture I hope those of you local enough to see the Sunday Washington Post, read the piece in the Arts section regarding the upcoming series of “Real DC Housewives”, featuring none other than the queen of Sleaze herself, Michaele Salahi. It’s an interesting piece, excoriorating the show, the network (have you ever heard of Bravo?), and her in particular. A good read with good points.”The home kitchen, that ancient, hearthy symbol of oppression and chores, is useful to Real Housewives on when, say, “Janet Jackson’s personal chef” is coming by for an exclusive cooking tutorial: how to marinate in your own sauce”.

With MFO on the road, I decided to stop at Panera on Saturday morning to get a bagel to go with my Latte. I am particularly fond of the ET version with lots of bits of stuff on it. I also get a chance to marvel at one of the triumphs of mechanical engineering, their automatic bagel slicer. Have you ever seen that thing work? Pop the bagel in the top, and in barely a second (really) it drops out the bottom sliced. How it chews through the (somewhat tough, as it should/could be) crust in that short of time amazes me. Anyhow, I walk up to the counter and say I’d like a sliced ET bagel please (It was probably 8:15 by this time) and was told: “we’re out”. Somewhat daunted I surveyed the rack and finally settled on the sesame seed variety “Sliced by not toasted”. She fed the hapless bagel into the machine of death, and then popped it in a bag, and said: “Do you want cream cheese or butter with that?”. Butter on a bagel? “Cream Cheese please”. During the scanning of the bagels I noted that the price of one was 99 cents. So she added the cheese to the bag, rang it up and said “that will be $2.45”. What? The bagel is only a dollar. Well, guess what, the “Cream cheese with that” costs you an extra $1.45!!! They would be better served to sell you cream cheese and ask if you wanted a bagel with it. I asked for it to be removed, which it was after a haughty trip to the back to get the register key. Nice try, Panera. Let the buyer be aware!. Oh, when I finally got home, the little machine succeeded in slicing only maybe a quarter of an inch off the top. Sigh. Nothing is forever.

Enough for a Monday morning, capping a weekend with (for once) livable weather and no particular culinary events (save above). Hope to get out and support restaurant week this week. Maybe I’ll have to

DFD