Bountiful Browsing

Well, I gave you a little info on the Friends of the Library book sale last time, but tomorrow the "real" show begins.  You might remember seeing the empty tables and filled boxes.  Now there are empty boxes and filled tables!

Notice the table in front contains books near and dear to the Feeder’s heart

With the recent “boom” in cooking and food, our cookbook table just gets bigger each year.  In the interest of capitalizing on the tidal wave, every chef you ever heard of has a cook book, and many of them eventually find their way onto the book sale table.  There is always a bunch of Rachel Ray cast offs, but there are also quality books by Julia and Jacques, if you look for them.  How many of you remember this guy, one of the early, early pioneers of TV chefs?

To make sure the Galloping Gourmet is still with us, I just googled him and he is still alive (in his early eighties), probably wine glass in hand, hopefully cooking something.  Notice he was parked next to a more recent celeb, The Barefoot Contessa.

The cookbooks range from serious to frivolous, with tips on how you can have a different chicken dish every day of the year (which i can't imagine)

Or, if you want more variety, you could take home these two beauties, for a mere four bucks and have 5 years (2000/365) of recipes.

I suppose that there might (hopefully should) be some overlap between the 1000 “classic” and the 1000 “b-word” version.  One would hope so.  I always wonder how the publishers come up with that many recipes.  

I was not sure how to interpret this one:

Meaning “easy to make”? or jump on the trendy band wagon, a la Dana Carvey's church lady:  "how conveeeeeeenient!"

The volunteers who unbox the books try to get them kind of arranged in groups on a particular subject.  One of the areas I always look for is the bar tending section, a small portion of which looks like

I enjoy looking in the older volumes, and generally check for the Feeder’s Favorite, a “Dry Manhattan”.  I was pleased to see at least two of them had the correct recipe

This is the recipe I prefer.   

Another was close:

but an olive garnish?  And notice the recipe for the “regular” Manhattan, just above the (dry) version.   No mention of bitters, now considered standard for Manhattan.

Anyway, it is always fun to browse, and you never know what you might find (I'm sure nearby Craig Claiborne is spinning in his grave)

Apparently she doesn’t have to worry about how to

DFD

Come and see me this weekend, in the Non-Fiction building..

Sometimes you feel....

...like a blog and sometimes you don’t.  Aside from our luncheon at “Zee” the other day haven’t had any food experiences worth noting lately, and for once we haven’t traveled anywhere exciting either.

But, a couple of things over the weekend that were fun, plus maybe a few notes from one of my latest magazines might be worth your time.

Books

Every year the Friends of the (St. Mary’s County) Libraries (FOL) holds their book sale at the Fairgrounds wherein thousands (yes, thousands) of books are for sale that helps to support the libraries.  It was pushed back a month this year to avoid the seemingly unavoidable bad weather that seems to haunt the sale.  This year it will be the 22^nd through the 24^th of April.  As usual there will be a building full of fiction, non-fiction, children’s, and rare and unusual books.  For a couple of bucks you can get a full fledged hard cover book (usually) in pristine condition, or paperbacks for less.  Amazing values, which attract dealers from all over the eastern seaboard.

I pretty much yak about this every year, but it is worth your time and treasure if you can fit it in.  Although the sale is next weekend, activity began last weekend.   All year, people bring books to the back end of the Leonardtown Library which gradually fills up

We got there a little later than usual this year, and this represents about a third of what was there originally.

Volunteers with strong backs help load them into a couple of box trucks

And an armada of “friends” vehicles

Including the MOMSTER

Then take the short drive over to the Fairgrounds, where they are unloaded into the correct building,

This week will be spent in unboxing, and sorting the books into categories on the tables.  You normally can find the Feeder helping with the cookbooks.

Anyway, hope you can come out.  Friday is “members only” day, but you can join the FOL on the spot and get first crack at the books.  During the sale I hang out in the Non Fiction building.  On Sunday,  with help from volunteers from Lexington Park Rotary Club, ALL leftover books are loaded in Gaylords, put in trucks, and taken up to another Rotary Club in Parole who then distribute them to various schools, libraries, and charities, service people, etc.,  world wide.

So each year, the FOL starts with zero books and still fills up the Leonardtown libraries "back room"

Chapel

After spending part of the morning at the Library and Fairgrounds I detached and went down to Historic St. Mary’s City to fulfill the Docent Duty I signed up for, sitting at the Brick Chapel and telling the story to people that visit.  Always a crap shoot on numbers of visitors, and in the first few hours, this was typical of the patrons

However, a few two legged folks showed up.  By the way, the famous Lead Coffins are now on display back in their original location under the floor of the left (or right) transept.  Funny about church geography; it always kind of hinges on if you’re looking AT the altar, or ON the altar looking at the congregation.  Anyway, the coffins are on the side toward Route Five, which of course was not there in 1667!

MFO found a new piece of “Office Furniture” for me which I debuted Saturday

You might notice the chairs in the background inside the chapel

Which was set up for…. no not a service, but a concert by the St. Maries Musica choral group, which was scheduled for three.  So, along about one forty five or so, the performers began to show up, and eventually rehearsed, sort of giving a preview

The interior acoustics of the chapel are not suited to screaming kids, but they are lovely for such vocal groups, string quartets and the like..  I stayed and listened to most of the concert, but departed for the end after a long day.  By the way, there is ANOTHER concert this coming weekend, performed by Ping, the choral group from St. Mary’s College.  I believe that starts at one.

No Show’s and Factoids

I think I’ve mentioned that one of the little print magazines I get is Restaurant Hospitality which is kind of geared to the business side of running restaurants.  What millennials really want, how to increase menu interest, etc.  The editor usually throws out a question for the readership.  

This month he was talking about the issues of “no-shows”, a constant problem for the restaurants.  How many times have you sat waiting for “your” table, watching empty tables created by the thoughtless people who don’t cancel if they know they can’t make it.  That sort of thing leads naturally to “over booking” to cover their butts.  Editor recounted an experience at an (unnamed) restaurant in DC where he arrived with three friends for an 8:30 reservation, only to find that the place was a madhouse with apparently every (overbooked) group showing along with walk ins.   After waiting for an hour and a half in the bar, it appeared that they were no closer and left.  Then, at 11:30, he got a call from the hostess stating their table was ready.  So his question to the readership was: “how do you handle no-shows”.  Will let you know, and don’t do it!

the ‘toids:

-A little box on page 18 says look for beef prices to be dropping 10 – 17 percent this year for all primal cuts.

-Like everybody else in the world, they bestow “Editor’s Choice” awards.  They do, however, have some unusual categories, samples:

• Best Restaurant Name:  Sexy Tacos/Dirty Cash (Harlem, NYC)
• Most Creative Cocktail Menu:  Butchertown Grocery, Louisville.  Menu is based on lyrics of Tom Waits; “Stirring my Brandy with a nail”; “get behind the mule”.  A bit esoteric for me
• Ingredient of the Year:  Whole Roasted Cauliflower; kind of looks like a bloomin’ onion.  Several places, Domenica NOLA; Etch, Nashville
• Best Chef Tattoo: Mindy Segal (James Beard 2012 Pastry Chef award winner) of Chicago; whole back devoted to a reproduction of her grandmother’s china.  Picture included….
• Best use of Leftover Product:  Chef Franey of Monterey’s Restaurant 1833 makes his own ricotta cheese, resulting a lot of left over whey byproducts.  Fabricated the cocktail “No Whey” of that along with Remy Martin Cognac, lemon, and simple syrup. 
• Cleverest Blog Closing:   DFD

Okay, I made that one up..

Zee.... but NOT Ttop.

      

1637??

Well, as alert readers know I fancy myself as relatively knowledgeable on our County’s history, but I got a good lesson last Friday.   As you might remember, I wondered aloud why the “new” Bollywood "Pine Sine" has 1637 attached to their new tap room.  Well, I found out!  On the way to a pre-cataract doctor appointment  (another story), I dropped off the HSMC BeerFest food vendor forms at (the new location of) Bollywood.  Their food is always a big hit at BF.  Anyway, I asked if the envelope could be passed to Sunny, and it turns out he was there!  After a hello, he said: “So you want to know why we used 1637 on our sign?” I was pleasantly taken aback, and pleased to hear he always reads my blog, hence the question.   Also taken aback some when he explained that he appreciated the fact that Lenny’s was a large part of our county’s history, and wanted to keep that link.  And, since his establishment was in St. Mary’s County he wished to maintain the connection.   So, he reminded me, although St. Mary’s CITY was founded in 1634, St. Mary’s COUNTY was established in 1637! Which translated to the sign.   He hopes to put some historical pictures around and will consult MFO.  Anyway, a great guy, and nice to see he’s so conscious and respectful of our history.   Plus, they supply very nice Indian food to our community!

Zeeking Zee Best

Nice segue to food, eh?  Although my fellow traveler on the road to finding “Just Right” places has expanded his business base to include Florida, we still get together once in a while to explore candidates for the list.   Those who drive up and down on Rte. 235 may have noticed the little blue and white place on the western side of the highway by Laurel Grove Park.  I don’t know its complete history, but it has had a few occupants from liquor store (I think) to fine dining (didn’t last long) and is now the (legible sign on right)

We met there last Wednesday for a lunch and an evaluation.  It is very close, but I’m afraid I can’t quite add it to the list.  It just doesn’t have the longevity which I think is an important criteria.  IF there were a “nice (independent) place to get a good solid lunch without frills” list, it could go on that.  The interior seems freshly painted in bright cheery colors (not quite a criteria)

It is clean, and the service is efficient.  We didn’t get the “Hi I’m…. of you” speech, but during our session we were variously referred to as: “gentlemen, dear, and honey (or maybe it was sweet heart)).   She was friendly and maybe a third of my age, if that.   The place was eventually pretty much full, with some carry outs going out the door as well.  So the “nice place” tag seems to be true.

Okay, as to the mechanics:

Plastic laminated menu?

Check

Right stuff on there? Burgers and Subs; Reuben’s; grilled cheese (with bacon); open faced hot sandwiches; Chef Salad;  check.  

For me a negative was the lack of a tuna melt or a hot ham and cheese sandwich (which did appear as a sub…negative, too much bread).  Plus some interesting additions such as a Bison Burger (maybe from nearby Summerseat!).   

Anyway, I ordered the Patty Melt and my companion got the Bison Burger, and he added the optional Hand Cut fries ($2.99!) but I kept the home made chips which came with it.

Red plastic basket? Check!

Plenty of condiments?  Check!

why is Ketchup always "Fancy"??

Good Food? (bison burger pictured above:  “very good!”), the fries were nicely done..

As for the patty melt… good with minor reservations:

Sources are divided on whether a “classic” patty melt should contain Swiss or American cheese. This version was Swiss (personally I would prefer the cheddar), but the caramelized onions were very good, sweet and smoky, and the rye (although marbled) was fresh and nicely crunchy.   To be very picky, the ratio of meat thickness to bread thickness was pretty high.  But, all in all a very tasty sandwich.

Bud Light pared well!

Service remained attentive and friendly (see names) despite she being the only one in a lunch rush.   My total bill: $10.12. Good value…Upon leaving there was an encouraging sign of attention to food out back, although I don’t know how much they actually get used.

So although they are still too fresh for my “Just Right” qualifications, they certainly are worth a visit if you are in transit or don’t mind a bit of a drive.  They are also open for dinner, and I think there is a "Too" in LaPlata.  I'll check ten or fifteen years from now for Just RIght, although i will probably visit sooner...

Dessert

And on this visit, while we didn’t take time for dessert, I did have a chance to try a Maryland specialty the other day

One of the benefits to pushing words around about food is that occasionally I get some “donations”, like the still untried Soba noodles, but also the lovely slice of Smith Island Cake, created by a friend who knows her way around the kitchen pretty well.  Yes, there are ten slices of (yellow) cake and the requisite chocolate glazy frosting.  Since it appeared during MFO’s absence for the “ladies” on Amelia Island, it was much appreciated.   I probably stretched the definition of

DFD

Lagniappe:  The Wilson Brothers who are moving into the Café Des Artiste corner are apparently changing the name of the place from “The Gull” to La Rive Breton (on Facebook) meaning “The Breton Shore”.  Opening in early June.  Stay tuned

Of this and that

(blatant self praise) did you enjoy the last post? i thought it was pretty clever, anyway a few this's and that's

“The” sign

Okay, an apology sort of is in order.  After I published the picture of “Lenny’s” sign in total disrepair, denuded of the Neon, bare metal patches... not so fast!  here is what it looked like the next day

I am kind of mixed minds about this.  Yes, it is the original “Lenny’s” historical sign, but it seems to be kind of a paradox.  Pine trees and Indian food don’t seem to quite go together.  Well, good for him for preserving the hardware, anyway..

Noodling around

A friend of mine (the one who offered to get me some Soba noodles) said that they were meeting friends at Len….. er, Bollywood for their opening lunch, and that he had the noodles and I could get them there.  So I journeyed out there and got the shot of the “new” sign.  I also took the opportunity to go inside and look around. For those of you familiar with the layout of the previous occupant, it hasn’t changed a lot.  Immediately to the left inside the "old" dining area is their buffet set up, and I didn’t bother to see if there were more options. I probably wouldn’t know anyway.  The lady owner was the greeter at the door, and she was dressed up in impressive (I assume) traditional formal Indian dress.  Quite impressive.   The “tap house” will occupy the old “banquet room" on the southern end of the building.  Still under construction.  Why it is called "the 1637..."  will be further investigated and reported.  There were quite a few guests on their opening day..  Good luck to them.  Anyway, I met my friend and got the {Soba) noodles

The subject of an experimental future food preparation, in an effort to unravel why there is such a devoted cult of the said buckwheat noodle.

Food Research and Chicken

As most readers know (or should), MFO and I have cocktails most every evening, and I usually use the relaxing time to do food research while enjoying little nibbles (and my DMOTRWAT)

Among the extensive library, one of the magazines I sort of reluctantly keep subscribing to is

Although I have kind of denigrated it in the past, I have to admit they have made welcome improvements from its stodgy “old south” crinolines and parasol approach to having some interesting things.   You might remember I had a picture from the Adams Burch show of cast iron cookware.  So the following recipe caught our eye.

I include it not for the recipe which you probably can’t read, but the fact it called for cast iron.  Well, guess what? Somewhat unbelievably maybem we don’t have a skillet, just a Le Cruset casserole.  But, MFO made the dish in a simple fry pan.  It really turned out well despite being in the not recommended pan

Side note: believe it or not, I am still kind of struggling with food pictures, they sometimes look like a pile of glop, but to the eye are appealing.   I will continue to experiment, but believe me the dish looked nice to the eye, and tasted very good.  Can’t beat lemon, capers, and wine.  Yes, the dish is classically prepared with veal.  This version is pretty good.

Mustard Confusion…

I never have understood this:  "Ground" is the past tense of "grind", right?  which is defined as:

Grind: reduce (something) to small particles or powder by crushing it.

So one might reasonably assume that the contents of the little jug would be mustard in  “small particles or powder” after being “ground” by stone.  Well, here is what it looks like when you spread it on bread

 Powder? Small Particles?  Sure looks like whole mustard seeds to me..which never saw a grind stone.  I don’t get it.

Road Warrior

I think I have mentioned this before, but MFO has kept in touch with four friends from High School, calling the mselves the “Green Candle Club”.  Every few years they get together someplace and catch up.  Last time was a Road Scholar Program in Louisiana which was music and food centered.  This year they are doing another around the Georgia Sea Island, kind of centered on Amelia Island.

So, last Friday she, and the MOMSTER departed for Fernanda Beach.  I’m doing the “did you remember; think about; plan for; include;…. Etc.” thing and she just kind of ignores me, gets in the car and off she goes..

So the Feeder will be “batching it” as we used to say for a while.

Bball

So tonight I will do my best to see some of the NCAA championship basketball game. DAMN those people!   Don’t they realize that a good percentage of the population (yes, on the populous east coast) go to bed on a week night by ten, at least? A tip at eight would be almost palatable.  I don’t much care who wins although Nova would be a nice change.  I hope they didn’t use up everything in the semi final

Okay, enjoy

DFD

Come Gather ''Round People....

Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

(Robert Allan Zimmerman)

and...they are a-changin’… or phases and stages or any other song title or lyric that occurs to you.  We all know nothing is forever, including us, but especially so in the food service industry. Independent restaurants come and go, leaving the chains who are supported by national organizations to survive.  There’s been a lot of movement around lately so I thought I would kind of do a random informal survey.

San Souci plaza near us used to be home of a lot of restaurants, I think at one point there were 13 or 14 (and this might be as far back as when “chef’s” was operating).   With apologies (if necessary) a couple of the flag ships were Monterrey and Bollywood Masala.    Both offered pretty good food with an international flair the latter more so, I suppose as Tex Mex is pretty prevalent, Indian, not so much.  Anyway, here’s what Bollywood looks like today (or yesterday)

Which, next to the vacated Monterrey leaves pretty much that whole side dark

With only ghosts to remind us of the past.

Both places still exist in different locations with Monterrey changing name to “Plaza Azteca” in the old Damon’s sports bar location, and Bollywood filling the recently emptied Lenny’s.

Besides the restaurant, there is supposed to be a “Tap Room” associated with it, not sure where that is in the floor plan.  As we all know, Lenny’s was a piece of the history of Lexington Park, going back many years from when it was the “knotty pine” as I recall (perhaps erroneously).  A landmark stood out front for years and years

And, while local preservationists have made attempts at preserving this bit of history, the new owner says he will retain the sign, and while respecting its past, will use it for his purposes..  Could be, but here is what it looked like yesterday stripped of it's Neon and paint..

We’ll see.

And it’s not only the buildings that changing, so is the landscape.  There used to be nice wooded area on Route 4, just across from the “back end” of First Colony.  For years, there has been a “coming soon” sign there.   Well, soon is now

A huge Tyrannosaurus Rex like machine is busily gobbling the trees

Taking down in minutes what nature took decades to accomplish

And Lexington Park (really California) is not the only place undergoing changes.  A “most convenient place” (AKA Leonardtown) is not immune.  For instance, the cornerstone (pun partially attended) Café

Will be replaced by (English Translation) “The Gull” in the near future, which is reportedly to retain some French traits,although with more of a Mediterranean bent.  And I can’t be critical about losing the Café, Karleen and Loic were wonderful tenants for a long run, bringing us a great dining experience and lovely food (like Foie Gras), so they richly deserve their retirement, and Loic has hopefully found us a worthy successor.   And keeping with the “corner” theme, on the other end of the same block, the old Pet Store is being transformed into……..what???

We know that it will be the trendy “mixed use” plan, i.e. residences above and retail below pretty well known to be a restaurant.  Despite tapping my best sources, I still can’t tell you what kind of restaurant it will be.  Heard many iterations.  Have to wait and see.   Further up Washington street there is no doubt that a Dunkin’ Donuts is being built right next to the old Winegardner Used Car facility which is also being transformed into that “mixed use” model..  A quick grab shot from my (not distracted driving) car

You can still see the used car sign off to the right.

I guess I would say that those buildings are enough separated from the “quaint” part of town that their designation as “one of the best small towns in Maryland/USA(?)” will not be overly sullied.  And they are not without their piece of the pie or land being gobbled up by the “developers” with more forested land being cleared for more town houses/apartments, kind of near Ryken High School between Fenwick Street and Route Five.

It’s hard to watch what’s left of our rural character being slowly transformed from woodlands to parking lots, multiple family dwellings, strip malls, and so forth.  I realized the other day that I have been here 20 years(!!) and while that certainly doesn’t qualify me as a “County Boy” it has been long enough to see the changes, moving us I am afraid, closer to a “Waldorf South” look.  We do have a planning and zoning commission and a Department of Economic Development,  I hope they will pay attention to bringing something besides dollars to the region.

Okay, just to end on a brighter note, thanks to all those who took the time to congratulate MFO on her Woman of the Year award.  She doesn't Facebook or blog, but i have been passing them alongt.

Next time I post it will be about food.  Have something in the works, so you might be thinking of how you will

DFD

PS, my own supply of Soba has been secured… stay tuned (Different from the above teaser)