Bill's Bottom Feeder

Go West...

2012-02-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

You know it’s not a good day when you wake up on your travel day, and the first thing you see on television is Jim Cantore at O’Hare reporting on the hundreds of flights being canceled, with repercussions all around the country, and your itinerary takes you through O’Hare on the way to San Diego.

We make one big travel day a year, planned months in advance, and on that day, all hell breaks loose in the weather department. High winds and “strong thunderstorms” at our departure point, and the mess in Chicago half way. The only thing going for us was that we were leaving later in the day, and since they were calling the storm a “Saskatchewan Scooter” or something like that we hoped it would move out of the Chicagoland area prior to our arrival. In fact MFO called the airline and (get this) actually spoke to a person who said they really thought that the afternoon would be okay. One of the reasons driving us to accept O’Hare as a waypoint was the fact that we didn’t have to be at some distant airport at o’dark thirty. We also chose Reagan because we could get a “real” airplane from American Airlines. Since we were using moldy frequent flier miles we got first class all the way (yes, living well is STILL the best revenge).

So, around ten we loaded up the rent-a-car, and with some trepidation drove up to Reagan. We had not flown out of there for a few years, so the navigation was a bit rusty. But, we successfully negotiated the “local traffic” side of the Wilson Bridge, found our way up route one, got gas, and somehow by luck eventually got to the return facility. Wrestled the bags on and off the shuttle, did a curbside check in, participated in the security dance, and eventually wound up in the Admiral’s Club, a little travel luxury we have continued to allow ourselves. Being in our nation’s capital, I suppose there is a higher population of “important people” there than maybe at others. At least their mannerisms and demeanor indicates they think they are. The ones who weren’t on their laptops were thumbing the smart phone. One lady had one of those “ear bugs” plugged in and was working her laptop while carrying on a loud conversation with space. I want this, get me that, what are the numbers….. blah, blah.

A check of the various boards still kept telling us that both flights were on time, so our confidence began to build that we might, in fact, see our friends in San Diego that same day. To help pass the time (and your money) the admirals club does offer food and drink. The “wine list” offerings

Given the length of our day, we decided to forgo the temptation, and since we would be up front in the jet it would be supplied for no (additional) cost. Amazingly enough as take off time approached, no delays were announced and we proceeded to the gate. Rain began falling but we boarded and after a long wait to get airborne with advisories from the pilot that it would be “bumpy” on takeoff we finally managed to get airborne. Fortunately it wasn’t as bad as predicted and after we got up a bit it was actually fairly nice.

And then the lovely lady began asking the question “may I get you something to drink?” while offering a warm towel.

The airplane was a 737-300 and almost had that new airplane smell. It was quite comfortable, and had plenty of space, and even offered “available” wi-fi connections which of course a lot of the important people took advantage of. It actually was a fairly nice ride over to O’Hare and by the time we landed the snow was pretty well handled.

We rested in the Admirals Club there for a while and when it got to be within a half hour of the (now delayed) boarding time for the SAN flight we went down with the masses to see

And then found out that there was another half hour delay. All in all, I think we boarded about an hour late. This time the jet was an older version, but still had roomy seats in first class. As the plane slowly filled the aisle seats directly in front of us remained empty. And just before the door closed a young couple came aboard each with a toddler in arms. OMG, they settled into those empty seats! Mild piercing eruptions were shushed by mom and dad, but the thought of four hours of the famous “screaming kids” was not a happy prospect. Long story short, the little persons were fairly quiet and napped a lot with only occasional outbursts.

Anyway, on this flight the little info card said “dinner” which by this time was welcome since we had not really eaten all day. Once again the nuts were served, this time with a pleasant scotch on the rocks (care for another, sir?) and life began to look better. Also on this leg, music was available so classical music drowned out the little episodes directly ahead of us, and things were good. The drinks were served in real glass by the way, even MFO's wine.

After a bit of calming, the lady came around and asked about dinner. Choices were cheese ravioli or salmon. We each chose the salmon. I must admit that it was a pretty good meal (although the seat cushion would have tasted good by this time)

The shrimp were pretty good, that salmon had flavor and it was on china and real silverware. A white wine was also offered and that was okay. A nice ride the rest of the way into the San Diego airport, bags came out relatively soon, and our gracious hosts and friends here picked us up at the curb. So a long day, but not a bad day (despite my angst over weather, schedules, gate changes, etc.) brought us to our friends house which has this view.

We spent most of yesterday recovering, and may do likewise today, although we did some birding in the afternoon. We dined in last night with some lovely chicken tortilla soup and a gorgeous Tarte Tatin. She is quite an accomplished cook. We will do well, and whether or not we continue to dine out or in, we will be appropriately

DFD

Lite Wednesday...

2012-02-22T15:07:00.002-05:00

As time before our departure for San Diego grows less, so does the time for blogging (whew, you say), so just a quick couple of notes for your Wednesday.

Gras of Mardi

Thinking about packing is hard work, always causing a thirst. So, in order to keep healthily hydrated we joined some friends at a local watering hole for replenishments of fluids.

Feeling somewhat more fortified after that, we stopped by St. Andrews Church and visited their annual Fat Tuesday dinner. In addition to the traditional pancakes, they also were serving jambalaya which was advertised as being the recipe used at Saphron Restaurant. Since low country cuisine is their specialty I was kind of keen to try it. So we paid our eight bucks each, asked for carry out, and got one of each (cakes/sausage/applesauce and jambalaya/warm greens/apple dessert)

We brought home the food and enjoyed it. MFO allowed as how the cakes and sausages were good. I have to admit I like my jambalaya a bit more “soupy” (an exacting culinary term), and I don’t believe there were any shrimp in it at least that I found. I was just nicely spiced not hot at all which I appreciated. I will have to go up to the Saphron and try it up there…

More Dinners…

I have often extolled the virtues of “church lady” cooking (which applies to the males as well in this usage. Another source of “local” food around here are the American Legions, and also the various civic clubs. This weekend (while we are dining in San Diego), the 7th District Optimists are holding their annual dinner. On the menu will be Fried Oysters, Spiced Shrimp, Stuffed Ham, Fried Chicken, (and healthy vegetables). I don’t think you could find a more Southern Maryland menu that that!! And you won’t even have to drive “down to the seventh” as it will be held in the Mechanicsville Fire/Social Hall. You need to support these things, to keep local food alive and also your funds go to do good things!

Where’s Jerry?

This “Jerry” thing is getting interesting. I drove down great mills road today and sure enough here’s

And I have heard there is one (I think I already noted this) in Lusby of the “& Son” variety. At least a couple of locals have told me they liked the food at (this) Jerry’s. So we will stay tuned as Jerry’s Bistro evolves.

Where are those suitcases? Have to fill them so we can

DFD

travel note: not sure where or when next edition will appear, on the road always presents technical difficulties.. but we'll surmount...

A Day(s) in the Life

2012-02-20T18:07:00.000-05:00

Gosh here it is almost Tuesday! Had a couple of interesting and rewarding things since then…
Friday Fun
I zipped down to St. Mary’s College to hear a short concert of a string trio with piano accompaniment. Alert and musically inclined readers may know them: Jose Cueto (violin); Jennifer Rende (viola); Suzanne Orban (cello), all from the college. The guest pianist was Simone Sarno, who is visiting from Italy and is involved with the college’s musical activities in Alba. The strings presented a Divertimento by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (kind of an odd name methought). It was lively performance and nice to watch. Mr. Sarno then joined on the second piece, a Klavier Quartet in E flat Major. It’s interesting to watch them pass phrases around and echo each other (venturing into engineer music appreciation again).

During the latter number I kind of thought that the piano didn’t have the punch and crispness that I have become accustomed to when listening to Brian Ganz. This then got me to wondering about the old problem of association. It comes up in wine and has some parallels. Does this bottle of wine taste great because you see the label of Screaming Eagle and of course any wine from them HAS to be good. Does Mr. Sarno not sound as good to me because he is NOT Brian Ganz? They get around it in the wine world by doing the blind tastings occasionally, so maybe we could organize a blind piano playing (well that doesn’t sound exactly right, but you get my drift). Play the piece twice with a curtain concealing the pianist kind of thing. Pre-conceived notions are nasty and tyrannical things.. Anyway it was a pleasant hour.
Saturday Soirees
MFO and I attended a program at our (Lexington Park) library. It was part of the celebration of Black History Month, and was a presentation by “Frederick Douglas” who is interpreted by Walter Jones Jr. Mr. Jones recounts the story of Frederick from the time he was a young slave on the Eastern Shore until he escaped to freedom. He is a talented actor who portrays the story through storytelling and punctuates it with playing guitar and singing (also talented). He is African American as was the majority of the audience, with a lot of school children. The theme of the story was that Frederick gained freedom through learning to read and becoming educated. It was a fascinating performance. If you ever hear of him doing it again, attend.
Sunday Swervings and Swats
My leisurely morning started out with my normal trip to Starbucks, and on the way there (over the treatd roads in anticipation of Snowmageddon) I noticed the fluttermobile wanted to swerve off to the right. I had noticed the tendency the previous day, but put it down to crowns in the road, etc. I didn’t think too much of it until I came out with my Latte and approached the car from the right hand side. Guess what? The right front tire was “squished”, almost flat. Scenarios started flashing through my brain (probably aided by the caffeine) but, as the car seemed drivable, I headed for home. Wait a minute, stupid!! (thank you chemicals) you’re only a quarter of a mile from Mr. Tire!! Why get stranded at home? So I gingerly herded the flutter mobile to their parking lot and was relieved to see they were indeed open on Sunday, in fact within a few minutes. A call to MFO resulted in being picked up in the MOMSTER. So, a couple of hours and twenty five bucks later, the car does seem to track straighter. No reason for the flat was given by Mr. Tire. It’s always something.

(the swat part):
And I hope the sporting contingent had a chance to see the finish of the LA Open (oh, excuse me the Northern Trust Open) at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades. Phil Mickelson had managed to kick it around for three rounds and stay in the lead and had a couple of strokes going into yesterday’s final round. He was paired with Keegan Bradley, who by the end of the round had me distinctly rooting against him. Talk about Mr. Fuss and Fidget! Address the ball, waggle, back off, go behind the ball, recheck the line, tap the ground with the driver about twenty times, go back to address, whiff a couple of practice swings, settle into stance, backswing to twenty degrees and back to ball, repeat for thirty, forty, and FINALLY strike the shot. By this time I’m screaming: “Just HIT THE DAMN BALL!”. Anyway of course Phil being Phil squandered the lead, allowing young Bill Haas to pass them both and hold a one shot lead in the club house over Phil and Twitchy who were coming up the 18th fairway. Both needed Birdie to tie for a playoff. Phil (amazingly) hit a good drive, but a relatively poor (for him) shot to the green ending up some twenty feet behind the pin in the fringe. Twitchy hit a pretty good shot maybe 16 feet hole high. As Phil got ready to putt, all the announcers (Faldo, Feherty, McCord, Nance) were going on about how he had to make it, and what a low probability putt it was, downhill, breaking, out of the fringe, etc. The last word from McCord was: “But, it’s Phil”. Guess what? Center cup. The place went nuts. And then amazingly enough Bradley rolled his ball in right on top of Phil’s. Three way playoff ended on the second hole when Haas rolled in an eighty footer. Great stuff.

Monday Motoring

So finally today we took the MOMSTER up the road (along with the other thousands of holiday shoppers) to Annapolis and Nordstrom’s to punch up the wardrobe for our upcoming trip to San Diego. I think I have mentioned this before, but I always find the clerks in Nordstrom’s (at least in gentleman’s clothing) to be extremely nice and helpful. Service takes on its intended meaning there. “We’re interested in looking at some dress shirts, probably in ecru”. Answer is not ‘they’re over there”, rather it is “sure come on, let’s go take a look at some”. Do you like these? Or I think there are more over here, let’s go see. Between slacks and shirts (sweaters were a bust, who wears those things?) we must have spent over an hour going here, going there, trying them on, alterations, everything. Of course last minute us waited until today to address the need, and nominally we would like to take them with us on Friday. Okay, no problem, we’ll put a rush on the alterations, and give the address of where you’ll be in California, we’ll ship them and they’ll be there for you to wear. Sigh.
And when they are I can be nicely

DFD

Trifecta....

2012-02-16T11:26:00.002-05:00

Whew! By the time I shut up this got long. Maybe like a good meal it might be taken in courses, or consumed a bite at a time..

With MFO out of town, one is faced with sustaining the body. Choices consist of cooking for one, hoping a caterer shows up at the door, getting invited over for dinner by caring friends, or going out. With the exception of the caterer, all the other options were realized. Home cooking always takes first place, so friends was number one, and sadly cooking for one took last place which leaves me with “going out”. Over the past few days, I had the chance to visit three places…

Dock of the …. Back Creek

Not too much new to say about The Dry Dock, it is always a pleasant place to be, and the food is reliable (we’ll visit this subject a bit later). I generally stick to the seafood and have not been disappointed within recent memory. The evening I was there I had pan roasted Rockfish over the seemingly ubiquitous “hoppin’ john” rice, and the chef kindly substituted some sugar snap peas for the asparagus normally plated with the dish. I’m sorry, I know it’s a favorite even of serious foodies, I just never developed a taste for it.. The fish was served skin side up so it had a nice crispy top. I normally sit at the bar, so service is not an issue. I try to remain objective and not automatically like everything just because it’s the Dry Dock, but they really haven’t given me any reason to not like it lately.

The Tide is Rising….

I was invited to join some friends for a night out, and by the time we juggled everybody’s schedule we found out that Café Des Artistes was completely booked, which is sort of our go to in Leonardtown for a nice dinner. We’d been to Front Porch enough lately that we didn’t want to return there and so the suggestion was made we try The Tides. It’s easy to fall into ruts, and save for the odd appetizer at the bar I have not had a seated meal there in quite a while. And to be truthful those quite a while ago experiences weren’t enough to beckon me back even though it’s minutes from the digs. So it was with a bit of apprehension that we chose it. I happened to arrive first so went and sat in the bar. And when you’re in the bar, it is only courteous to order a drink, so out of duty I asked for a DMOTRWAT. I will give the bar lady credit, she immediately said “I’m not sure how to make that!” instead of just blindly taking her best shot which usually results in sweet vermouth and a cherry. So I explained what I wanted and she made it.. One more barkeep educated!

Of course two sips in, the rest of the party arrived and we decided to adjourn to the dining space. The host led us in, he carrying dinner menus, special drinks menu, the available Valentine menu sheet, and maybe the wine list. Quite the stack of reading material! We were offered a table in the “private” room, but decided to stay in the main area. Besides that gives the Feeder a chance to observe. Speaking of observing, when I was in the bar, the lady made a Martini using Hendrick’s Gin.. Hmm, I thought I know somebody who is partial to that spirit, and sure enough he and his wife were seated near us.

Our server came and asked about more drinks, and I am pretty sure no speeches were made, and off he went. Of course by the time (more than you might wish) he returned I had finished my drink so he had to make a return trip to the bar. They still do the olive oil in the little dish with balsamic and cracked pepper if you wish. I don’t really like that, always afraid of the drizzle factor on the DFD. I also wish they would cut the bread all the way through instead of making you tear it off, always leaving a hunk at the bottom. So after more conversation we began to consider food. As I said, I haven’t been there for a time, and maybe not under the current managership, but I did like the menu, a nice mixture of seafood, fin, and hoof. Although come to think of it, I don’t recall a vegetarian option. Hmmm…

There is some confusion around ordering, you have to choose a blend of salads or sides or combinations thereof (mine probably not helped by the second DMOTRWAT). We wound up asking our server about various preparations, and so forth. Finally I settled on a cup of crab soup, a Caesar Salad (with Anchovies, please), and the peppercorn filet with scallops (with rice and potatoes). The rest of the table accounted for a “stacked” tuna appetizer, some roasted vegetables, macadamia crusted mahi-mahi, and the spiced grilled salmon.

Since I am as usual running off at the keyboard, I won’t recount each dish. All the food was very well prepared, and had good flavor. My only complaint was that my salad, although laden with anchovies was mostly composed of small bits of heart of romaine, and maybe just a bit overdressed. But the main dishes were quite good. The beef was flavorful, and the scallops done just nicely, only just into opaque. Service was good, with maybe one too many “how is everythings?”, but it was well meaning. I was disappointed in the DFD condition of the place, there was a wide variation, and mercifully the one party in jeans, tee shirts and cap decided after they were seated, that they would be happier in the bar. I think we all were. And finally, upon leaving we called upon the (lovely) restrooms off the bar where we discovered yet another couple of friends (big night for friends). In the course of conversation they confided in me that a visit to the (above mentioned) Dry Dock in early December was disappointing on all fronts. I was sorry to hear that, but I might suggest they give it another shot.

So overall, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food at The Tides. This opinion was confirmed by “Hendrick’s” and another couple we knew in the dining room. I certainly will return, much sooner now than I would have without this refresher. The Tide is indeed rising.

Wind in the…

Willows. I took advantage of an invitation of sharing a lunch with a long time reader, and we settled on “trying” the Willows. He is also a discerning food person, so we thought a visit would be informative. I had not eaten there since it opened and many readers have asked about it so there were a lot of reasons to go there. I arrived near the agreed upon time of noon, to see only one car in the parking lot, causing me to wonder if the “open” sign in the window was true. There was also an interesting sign in front that kind of brought me up short. It’s a bit confusing to me. Catering to the NASCAR folk I suppose.

Testing the door confirmed they were indeed open, so I went inside. The lonely car must have been staff as my friend had yet to arrive. I was the only person inside the place (besides staff). And boom! I was transported back many, many years to the John Nucci time, although I think the walls were changed from dark paneling to drywall which lightened the place considerably. There is still the bar in the middle of everything and maybe twelve to fifteen tables scattered around. Also absent was any hint of cigarette smoke which I always associated with the place. Décor is sparse, there was some kitchy stuff on the walls along with some prints. I was told from behind the bar to “Sit where ever you like” so chose a four top near the corner. Behind the bar came over and offered me a menu, and asked about a drink. I verified they served (at least) beer and asked what varieties they had. After plowing through the usual suspects from Bud and Coor’s, she came to Yuengling, so I stopped her there. Good enough. It was brought to the table with a chilled mug, and just as I poured my friend appeared. He ordered up one for himself. We enjoyed conversation for a while (we were still the only customers there) and then got down to considering lunch. The menu is a typical tri fold affair with pages slipped in those plastic sleeves. It’s a “one menu does all” approach and it took a bit of hunting to find the list of sandwiches among dinner entrees, salads, soups, etc. I didn’t pay too much attention to those, but the list of sandwiches were about what you would expect. Burgers, crab cake, reuben, steak and cheese, pretty standard stuff. My friend settled on the crab cake after asking behind the bar (now at the table) if it was good. Yes. Have you actually eaten it? Yes. Okay. For some reason I decided I’d do the club sandwich, where upon I was asked if I wanted turkey or ham.

My memory of a club sandwich (possibly colored by the good one a the old Officer’s Club on base) was that it was multi layered, separated by bread, with at least two kinds of meats, usually also bacon, and then lettuce and tomato. So taken somewhat aback by the choice of meat, I said turkey. There also was no option given for choice of bread. Both of our orders were responded to with “are fries okay?”. They were, so not sure what happens if they are not. More conversation and sips, and eventually the dishes arrived. The crab cake was on a Kaiser Roll (plus points) and of fairly good size. Before digging in, he forked up a couple of bites and confirmed it was blue crab and fairly tasty. My sandwich was kind of interesting. It contained only two compartments with three slices of (toasted white), one with the (shaved lunch meat) turkey and a little lettuce and the other with bacon, whitish tomatoes, and more lettuce. The portion of turkey was pretty good. Somehow club sandwiches tend to run large, and this one followed suit. I could only eat two of the four skewered portions. The fries had that faint aroma of oil, but were edible. Somewhere in here another couple showed up, ate, and left before we finished. We were having such nice conversations we decided on another brew to continue. It was an enjoyable respite, and we decided to convene another time, probably in another place.

All in all we were there almost two hours, from noon till one thirty or so, and besides the other couple we were the only customers spanning the normal luncheon time period on a Wednesday afternoon. If I were in the area, I might stop there, but there are more options up the hill in Leonardtown. I suppose their challenge is to draw you away from there. I think they have their hands full. I am not hopeful of their future, but of course this is one day, one time, at lunch. Maybe dinner is better attended,

Who’s Jerry?

My photo of Jerry’s Bistro and wonderings about who exactly was Jerry, got a reply from one of my trustiest county cultural history readers reminding me there is a “Jerry’s” on Great Mills Road. Maybe he’s moving up town…time will tell...
Okay, last course is complete. And you didn’t even have to

DFD

Wednesday's this and thats

2012-02-15T09:07:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update since I know you all are on the collective edge of your seats. Well, plans do change and the dinner I was going to add to the list of restaurant reviews disappeared, but will be replaced by a luncheon at a spot people have been asking the feeder about lately. So stay tuned….and patient with your hard working food critic..

Couple of odds and ends..

Since MFO has been gone lately, I have had the opportunity to watch some TV and there are a couple of commercials that have really gotten under my skin. Far and away the worst is the one for the ATT 4G/smartphone. Have you seen it? There’s a couple versions, both involving a couple of idiots sitting either in an office or a tailgating situation side by each, both thumbing their phones and staring at them. A self gratifying smirk is on their faces, and they delight in the fact they might get a text message a whole 17 seconds before somebody else, with slogans like “that is so 17 seconds ago”. One scenario has a fellow office worker (and why aren’t these guys working, one might ask) come by saying “did you hear (somebody) got engaged?” they condescendingly peer up just as (somebody) walks by with flowers saying “thanks for the flowers”. Are you kidding me? Flowers delivered in less than 45 seconds? Impossible. And am I a worthless person because I don’t get a text message a few seconds after somebody else does? What have we come to??
Then the other one that drives me nuts is the series of commercials from AAMCO. Each one has some fool imitating some “noise” complete with insane body gestures for the clean cut smiling AAMCO man, who eventually pleasantly tells him “don’t worry, it was just a flabbergoogle valve” much to the relief of the gullible customer. And then there is also one where the lady marvels in astonishment when she learns that the little yellow outline of an engine on her dashboard is a “check engine light”. Egad. Mute – mute – mute……

While those are sort of “in your face” approaches, the folks from Subaru take a different tack. They’re not selling cars, see, they’re selling warm fuzzy, cuddly little moments with cute dogs or animated butterflies. Or goofballs who lose their sunglasses in caves. Love. Who cares what the car does… flower power lives.

Last Bite

Watched the “Finals” of the Westminster Dog Show last night. Although to them it is the “Best in Show”. I won’t spend much time on the handlers, although God knows I could write paragraphs on them (and have in the past I believe)… who dresses them, anyway? Are there mirrors where they can see themselves? But the focus should be on the four footers. After a couple of class finals, they got down to the best in show activity where winners of each of the various categories compete. There were some pretty classy dogs; I thought the German Shepherd, the Doberman, and the Irish Setter were nice. Real Dogs. But I suppose you know who won, a little six inch tall mop at the end of a rope, Malachy the Pekingese took the cup or whatever it was. You couldn’t even see the face of the little mutt. And I won’t even say anything derogatory about the lady judge who chose her/him/it. In this case it was the dogs who were

DFS(how)

MFO returns to the digs today!!

A Piece of Pi.....

2012-02-13T17:36:00.000-05:00

I visited a couple of restaurants over the weekend, but I want to add yet another so will forestall reprots until list is completed..

Due to the “obligations” above, last night was the first opportunity to investigate the new Pizza outlet nearby, Pepperoni’s (Pizza & Subs)

I phoned in my order about ten of seven, and the telephone person was pretty friendly, in my experience a rare occurrence for pizza phone answerers. Anyway the standard twenty minutes was quoted, and I busied myself preparing cocktails (for one). My plan was to sort of have everything in place for Downton Abbey which started at nine. So after a few minutes I hopped into the flutter mobile and headed over to the “new” shopping center. (I gotta find if there is a formal name for it). Noting that the Golden Chicken place and sports clips was now open, I pulled up in front of Pepperoni’s and went inside. There are about eight or nine tables/booths available and only one was occupied. Right inside the door is the counter for order/pick up and one of those cute tall things with rotating pizzas by the slice in them, a requirement for a pizza dive. Mostly the staff seemed to be having conversation among themselves; which, under the circumstances, is probably justified. These days when entering a new establishment, I do a body art/piercing check of staff (not that they don’t have the right). Art was low, but piercings were medium. This, of course is only personal observations (and private opinion).

Anyway, there was only one box under the lights, and surprisingly enough it was for me! I had selected a medium “All Meats” specialty Pizza, composed of the usual list of artery cloggers. I also splurged on $1.25 worth of added black olives, a weakness of mine. So after giving them $16.15, I put the box in the back seat wrapped in my jacket and headed back to the digs.

Maybe because they are new, I was surprised that they have sort of a vanilla box without advertising

I put the box in the wonderful warming drawer (every home kitchen must have one) and proceeded to enjoy cocktails. Finally I was ready and got the pie out of the drawer. It probably could have been refreshed better with a quick trip through the oven on our pizza stone but by this time I was hungry so put it on the cutting board and prepared to partake

What a lot of yakking about a takeout pizza! Anyway, I guess I would have to say (not a great critic here) it probably is as good (or bad) as any around here. As I said, there seems to be an unlimited market for any pizza. Personally, FWIW (I’m a social media guy!) I still really like the fired ones at Ruddy Duck, but that’s too much a hike except for special occasions or circumstance. Throw a dart at the rest. Distance from digs is usually the deciding factor.
Culinary Confusion

Relatively alert readers will remember that I reported a new establishment “Coming Soon” on our corner that advertised the somewhat odd combination of “Chinese Food & Sushi & American Food”. That was a while ago, and I noted that progress seemed to be made as the odd van and truck was outside. Well, I looked today to see

It is left to the Feeder and the Reader(s) to figure out what the heck that is! Would you think a Bistro would feature Chinese Food & Sushi & American Food? No, I would expect French (ha ha) or more likely Italian. And who, exactly, is Jerry? Is Jerry expanding his location from Prince Frederick (and how would he handle the floor show in two places)? Or is it an expansion of the nationally franchised Jerry’s Subs and Pizza’s (not more, please) that occupy a lot of gas stations? Perhaps could it be another place entirely? But then why does the Chinese Food & Sushi & American Food banner hang on a space that says “For Rent”?. Ah, sweet mysteries of life.. Time will tell all..

And to further the confusion what will be the proper

DFD

MFO arriving Wednesday...

Aging with Grace...

2012-02-10T15:29:00.000-05:00

What started out being a planned blog about Pizza, ended up with a blog about wine.

Last night with MFO still working away in Wisconsin, I decided I was going to try the “new” Pizza place nearby in the “new” shopping center that contains Kohl’s and the sporting good place (and, incidentally, the newly opened golden whatever chicken place). That will have to wait.

I also decided since we’ve had a lovely moon rise lately I would try to get some shots of that, and dragged the tripod downstairs to hold the camera. Just as I was getting ready to do that, I got a call from a friend who sort of needed something to do. So he came over and since he also takes pictures we decided to do the moon together. Besides being a photographer he enjoys the glass of wine and has a great palate I already had a Pinot selected,

So I opened up my cellar and told him to find another wine to try.

At this point I have to admit that as a wine collector, I am of the “not now” school. If I have what I consider an exceptional bottle, I will end up essentially hoarding it, because every occasion is “not now”, and we’ll just wait for a better time. Well, that results in a cellar full of wine that may or may not be “over the hill”, passing their peak while waiting for the “now”. Anyway, my friend is good at goading me to not do that; and convincing me that indeed it IS time for “now”. So when he returned he had chosen:

Stifling a gasp, I shut up. Alert readers will know that Chateau Montelena is a legendary California winery and is the one that stunned the wine world by winning the gold medal against a bevy of French wines in the 1976 Paris Tasting (as recounted in the movie “Bottle Shock”).

We began with the Pinot, which proved to be luscious, probably in its prime. Gorgeous nose, lovely fruit, good structure, great balance. Over a period of time we managed to finish off that, and then (mentally) genuflected and pulled the cork on the Montelena). This wine had lived in St. Louis for a while, then eventually was ferried to Maryland where it endured probably not optimum storage conditions for a while. None the less, it was in great shape. No hint of brick on the edges, lovely color, and the nose left no doubt it was a big boy Cab and still “there”, 23 years later. Amazing. So when the evening was done, the generations were standing shoulder to shoulder..

Oh, see the little yellow square on the Montelena? That’s the price tag. In case you can’t read it, here it is (and there is a period in the middle lest you're confused)

Oh yeah, sometime in there we did go out and shoot the moon, where I had mixed results. Getting the right balance of the bright moon, reflections in the water, clouds, and lights on Solomon's isn't easy. Apparently. It’s going to take me more practice to get some worthy shots of that. Here’s one that was okay..

Anyway, it was a fun, unplanned, unexpected evening.. and, there are more elderly wines in the cellar. So when we get back to the Pizza, we’ll worry about

DFD

Wednesday Wanderings..

2012-02-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

Just a few idle things to take away part of your Wednesday, some informative and interesting, and then a final almost rant on a couple of things..

Pork Fat Rules!

Jack in the Box has launched a bacon-flavored milk shake as part of its "Marry Bacon" campaign. The meaty-sounding beverage is made with Torani bacon-flavored syrup, making it safe for vegetarians as well as pork lovers, the company says….

Do we still have a JIB around here?

At Your Service…

Some factoids from an interesting article I found about food service entitled “Creating a Great Customer Experience--great service makes up for mediocre food every time. However, great food can never make up for poor service”

too true..
Some quoted stats about the impact of “service”:

“when you consider the reasons businesses lose customers, you realize how important service and hospitality really are,"

Those reasons include:
Death, 1 percent
Customer moves away, 3 percent
Customer is influenced by friends, 5 percent
Customer has been lured away by a competitor, 9 percent
Customer is dissatisfied with your product, 14 percent
Customer was turned away by the "attitude of indifference on the part of a company employee," 68 percent
"Sixty-eight percent of customers leave because of something that can be avoided by going back to the basics. Teach service, encourage it, edify it,".

If you’re interested the whole article it’s here.

leaving the foodie world (and probably the informative part)..

Gimme....

When motoring about in the Fluttermobile or at home with TV off, I mostly listen to WETA (or sometimes WSCL) to get classical music to calm the psyche and avoid the usual drivel on the radio. Back (way back) when I was in college, there used to be something called “hell week” and it was associated with fraternities’ or sororities hazing young pledges and generally making their lives miserable for a while. Well, WETA has something equaling that, called “pledge week”. It’s when they beg the public to contribute to the station to “keep them on the air”. In fairness to them, I realize the need, but boy it is pure heck to listen to them. Two minutes of music and five minutes of chatter about how important we are, on and on. Sheer torture. I do “subscribe” to the station at a healthy level so don’t feel the need for extra contributions, but it is a bad couple of weeks.

Bowl fallout:

Even though the game is over, you still have to hear about it!! Endless replays, analyses, debates on the “ranking” of Eli in the panoply of quarterbacks, why this, why that, ad nauseum. And not only sports shows, now there are “people/access” type shows going over and over Mrs. Tom Brady’s stupid remarks after the game. I know she was probably worked up over the game, but just shut up, lady. Leave it on the field.

And then I caught a piece of an interview with Mario Manningham. I presume it was right after the game and he was pumped with the victory and rush of winning, and he is relatively a young man. I know he attended University of Michigan and hopefully attended a few classes, but apparently (IMHO) not the one on class. He was in an ill-fitting T-Shirt that probably said super bowl champs, and he had a hat on his head. I am not making this up, it was turned ninety degrees, such that the bill was sticking out the side of his head. On top of that it was those trendy hats that has a bill flat as a pancake. That’s bad enough. But then, I swear during the 3 or 4 minutes he was talking he used the word “man” about 400 times (and I’ll bet “you know” was in there too). For the sums of money these guys get they could at least respect the fans enough to look and speak civilly. Maybe I’m just old, or maybe I’m just old.

He certainly was NOT

DFD

A Super Weekend...

2012-02-06T14:04:00.000-05:00

Well, for most of it anyway

It began in Leonardtown on Friday night when a group of us met to “do” First Friday.. a communal decision was made to begin with some fortification, and despite lots of people in town, we somehow got our favorite table in the bar at the Front Porch. One thing (drink) led to another along with some snacks and before we knew it most of “first Friday” had shut down. Undaunted, we walked over to Fenwick Street anyway, and the ladies just got under the wire (figuratively) in the Chocolate Shop, and the male side went to the bookstore where the band was preparing to leave. I had hoped to hear them play, but at least I got to talk to my friend who is one half of the band. Most of our conversation was in the fairly empty street.. then we also closed down the North End Gallery, but got a chance to talk to some of the artists and saw the “show”. Nice stuff, recommended. So a great Friday night was a prelude to a great

Saturday

Which started by meeting a friend for coffee in the Coffee Quarter in San Souci. The “back room” was occupied by a bunch of ladies doing some sort of class, so we sat up front. Good conversation. After that, we journeyed over to Loveville and went into Loveville Leather Store. If you haven’t been there (I admit I never was before Saturday) I would highly recommend a visit. The owner (Elam) is very friendly and great to talk to. Not surprisingly, most of the stuff there is “horse” related, with saddles, bridles and other pieces of equine gear. But there are also belts (for humans), leashes and collars for dogs, and many other things out of the ordinary (at least to me). Everything I saw seemed to be of very high quality. The real reason for this visit aside from the adventure was they are phasing out their bird feeding things with a “two for one” sale. So we got a couple of bags of this and that. Oh, I also saw a large bag of Horse Treats! You never know what is out there.

That occupied the rest of the morning, so rested a bit and then mid afternoon I went over to a “whiskey tasting” at a local gourmet store. While “wine tastings” abound, it is fun to have a chance to try other things and expand your horizons. We must have tasted six or so different spirits, all from the High West Distillery. It’s located in Utah, which I generally think of as mostly “dry” state. Obviously not! Most of their product is from Rye, which I think is kind of an acquired taste. It’s okay, but I am more used to good old sour mash Bourbon. High West does give it a nod, and they also have a spirit that is a combination of Bourbon and Rye. It’s called “BouRye”. Kind of a take on the Marine phrase… They also have something called “the 36th vote” which they call their Barreled Manhattan, made with Rye Whiskey and Sweet Vermouth. Sort of a liqueur I suppose. Anyway it was fun to sample.

With MFO in Wisconsin, I had sort of planned in my mind to finish the day by going over to the Dry Dock for a dinner, having had my fill (so to speak) of my own preparations which were sort of in the “left over” category. Upon arriving home from the tasting, there was a phone message from some neighbors inviting me to accompany them to the Brian Ganz concert that evening. What??!! A quick internet session confirmed that indeed Brian was to play through his complete performance of Chopin compositions that he will be playing on the 11th at Strathmore. What will be upwards of thirty bucks at Strathmore is free in Southern Maryland, so what a great opportunity! But that sort of posed a dilemma with my dinner plans.. I was pondering this decision when it dawned on me that since the concert started at eight, maybe I could have my cake and eat it too (always thinking of food!). I figured if I got to the restaurant early enough, I might be able to make it back for our planned “sevenish” departure for the concert. So risking an “early bird” appearance, I hopped in the fluttermobile and arrived just after they opened at five thirty.

I had a DMOTRWAT (which I now don’t have to order, they know), and a very nice piece of grilled Coho Salmon over “hoppin’ John” rice and some snap peas. As usual everything was nicely prepared and presented. And at six thirty five or so, back over the bridge, and I arrived home just as my friends arrived to pick me up!! Nice to have it both ways…

I have waxed eloquent many times on the talent of Brian Ganz, so won’t spend much time here, but it was a wonderful concert. There were eight pieces, Polonaises, Fantasies, Impromptus (Chopin’s not Brian’s), waltzes, and Mazurkas. The final piece was “Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22”. It was an amazing work and I won’t demean either of us by trying to describe it. Get it on a disc if you can. As far as this engineer’s ear goes, it was a flawless performance, lasting over an hour and a half, and there was not one sheet of music. All from memory. I wonder how many notes there were, I suppose thousands, and they were all at his fingertips – so to speak.

So concluded the first part of a typical “nothing to do in St. Mary’s” weekend, with the small exception of: First Friday, Coffee and Conversation, a trip to the Mennonite Leather/Feed Store, a Whiskey Tasting, a Very Nice Dinner, and a Wonderful Concert, too bad there isn’t much to do around here.

Sunday
And then yesterday was of course Super Sunday. I’m so glad it’s gone and we can mercifully stop talking about what’s his name,s “high ankle sprain”. How many times did you hear that in the past two weeks? Sheesh. Of course you can’t have Super Bowl without snacks and stuff, and although I didn’t go overboard (for one person? not so much fun).

First course was (enhanced) bacon horseradish dip, (whole) cashews, and smoked almonds

Oh, and eagle eyed readers will note the lack of the “T” in the DMOTR, an unfortunate circumstance… you know how much lemons are these days?

Anyway, that was followed by Second course

With the lovely ’08 Kali Hart Chardonnay, a second label of Talbott Vinyards. It was obtained with the help of FOJTE on one of his trips to California..

The third course consisted of “Bill’s Brats” always a winner. I didn’t get a decent shot of them, but they were tasty as usual.

(virtual image of beautifully cooked brats here)

This was spread out over the first half of the game and into half time. Fortunately I was outside grilling and dealing with the Brats while Madonna was cavorting around the stage. Before a quick note about the game itself, I can’t help but comment on the pre-game singing of America, and the Anthem. Again. What is it with these people? Why does everything have to be “country” these days? Does it have to be “Mautin’s Maagisti” and “Freuuuted Plaaaaan”, or the “Rockits’ Read Glaarr”. Just sing the darn songs without a drawl..

As to the game itself, I suppose it lived up to the hype, could have gone either way.. I know it can’t finish in a tie, somebody has to have more points on the board, but I certainly wouldn’t call the Pats “losers”. was a good game to watch. None of the commercials knocked me out of my chair, although i did like the Geico one with the teen age girls...

and i was

DFSB (i.e., comfy)

Power to the People!! or not...

2012-02-03T13:16:00.001-05:00

You know it’s not a good day when one of your streets looks like this:

And there are utility workers standing around conferring

And one of the close by intersections is crammed with more trucks

And, in fact there was trouble. On the way to the digs, there is a smallish hill at the bottom of which the road bears left. Most of the dwellers around here tend to “cut” it if there is no oncoming traffic. If there is, and you must stay in your lane (or do it anyway because it is the right thing to do) you need to be going fairly slowly. If, at the top of the hill, you closed your eyes (not recommended) you would go down the hill and drive straight into a power pole. I’ve always wondered about the placement of that pole, but they didn’t ask me. Well, yesterday for whatever reason, a car did essentially that. Was not there, but heard the SUV ended up on its roof, and the pole was sheared off. Don’t think anybody was injured, but about five minutes before MFO left for Wisconsin our power went off. That was about 8:30 or so. The road was closed at that intersection most all day, with power finally being restored about 3:30 in the afternoon. Fortunately, the weather was such that it was only an inconvenience. I have never seen so many trucks and equipment in one place.

In driving in and out, I chatted a bit with the person manning the pylons directing you onto another street. He told me that on top of everything else, when they bored the hole for the new pole, they bored straight through a water main, much to their surprise.

Funny thing about power outages, I can’t tell you how many times I flipped a switch yesterday. Anyway, things are fine today and we have a brand new pole standing proud

.........just waiting for the next time…

You’re On the Air….

This was going to be the headline today until the power incident pushed it off the front page. On Wednesday, a friend alerted me to a talk show on WAMU that was to be about food photography. Intriguing thought, photography on the radio. Our FM radio couldn’t do well with the airwaves, so I resorted to the “listen live” option. One of the talk show hosts there is a Kojo Nnamdi (another is the more renown Diane Rehm). His show that day was called: “Say Cheese” and featured phood photographer Rachel Tepper, and a food stylist Lisa Cherkasky. I suppose some find Mr. Nnamdi entertaining but I thought he was a bit unctuous. Anyway, they did talk about photographing food, some of the “tricks” used by the stylist, and the ethics of shooting food in restaurants. Apparently some restaurants are asking people not to (“it’s just food for God’s sake!), while others encourage it “take all you want and publish everywhere”. Two edged sword there, as bad pictures don’t do much for publicity. Ms. Tepper says she lugs along her big Canon and will take up to 20 shots of a dish. Not often, but she does do it. I don’t think I learned much, it was interesting but kind of shallow. I did find out she uses a macro lens.

But what really drove me nuts was the use of another of my pet peeve words (a la “yummy”, “you guys”, etc.) as they talked about restaurants and chefs. They repeatedly referred to them as “restauraNters”. Arrrrgh! By now the readers who have stuck around the Feeder long enough know the word is “restaurateur”; there is no N in the word. It is unfortunately used in its bastardized form enough that it is becoming common. But, it is my mission to stamp it out and use the correct form. Finally, I had enough! Although I am accused of “hiding behind my keyboard”, I actually sprang into action and dialed the “800” number. It was almost at the end of the show, but the screener answered and asked if I wanted to be on the air. Yes, I said, I have a question and a comment. What is it? And I told him I wanted to ask about the angles the lady used most for food, and then said I wished to point out the correct form of the word. Okay, he said, I’m not sure I can get you on, but we’ll see. While "on hold" you hear the show over the phone. To my amazement there was a click and Mr. Nnamdi said let’s hear from “Bill from California, Maryland”. With a non-quavering voice I said about the question and the comment, and then asked about angles she uses for food photography. She said she pretty much likes three quarters (there were some of her shots on the web), but also does vertical, kind of depends on the food. Good question! What’s your comment? I just wanted to point out there is no N in restaurateur. Oh yeah, I think that’s right. Thanks, Bill!

So I struck a blow for us!!!! FIght the good fight!

Roadster

Last view yesterday of MFO and her MOMSTER headed for Wisconsin

SITREPS from the road are that things are going well, although she did report that our usual RON spot in Richmond, Indiana which is about 45 miles from Indianapolis, charged 50 more bucks for the room. Wonder why that was??

First Friday tonight in Leonardtown, if you go

DFD

Wings and things...

2012-02-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

There are a few variations, but generally it is believed that Teressa Bellissimo, an owner of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo was faced with fixing something for hungry late arriving parties, and only finding some chicken wings in the pantry, deep fried and sauced them, and thus the ubiquitous “Chicken Wings” were born. They were probably aided in popularity and attention by the Buffalo Bills string of Super Bowl appearances. Anyway, they are now part of our (snack) culture, a must in sports bars, and even giving rise to chain restaurants (the premier of which inserted “wild” in the middle). There are now festivals and competitions, and I believe that Bobby Flay has done a “throw down” with somebody, with the result that they have achieved somewhat a cult status in our society. Recipes abound, arguments about sauces and so forth. I suppose restaurants love them, since instead of being headed for the stockpot or trash, they are now a menu selection. I would rather imagine there’s a pretty good margin there.

But that’s not why were discussing them. I was listening to the radio the other night and there came on the air a commercial from the McIlhenny folks which announced their new Sauce. It was Buffalo Sauce. Somewhere in there they mentioned that it had “that Buffalo flavor”.... Whoa! What, exactly, does that mean? It tastes like Bison? I wasn’t aware that there was a “Buffalo” flavor. And then I was in a local supermarket the other day, and found myself in the dairy aisle and was idly looking at the chip dips (an admitted weakness of mine). And, alongside the Ranch and French onion, was a tub of “Buffalo Dip”. I have no idea what that would be like.
I suppose it means that like more and more food items especially associated with football and bowls (chili, gumbo, nachos, dips, salsas, etc.) it means that it would take the enamel off your toilet. I won’t go into the rant (you’ve heard it before) on why something like that is perceived good if it is so hot/spicy it will blowyour head off and sear your taste buds to the point of useless. The quality is synonymous with its Scoville rating. Why not just set out a bowl of capsaicin and be done with it..

And since we’re talking somewhat about dips and sauces, here’s just a little sidelight. MFO was in the store the other day and was trying to find our sort of favorite dip: Bacon Horseradish (which I usually punch up a bit for use). Anyway there was none on the shelf but she spied a tub of "Guacamole Dip" and grabbed that. So when we settled down to cocktails we opened it (after noting the word: style (in one point transparent font) between the words "Guacamole" and "Dip". Our first surprise was that peeling off the lid revealed a substance which bore a close resemblance to pond scum. About the same color, and the consistency was slick and greasy. None the less, we scooped out some got the chips and sat down. Our first taste had us looking at each other with a mouthful. It was awful. I can’t describe it well enough but it didn’t seem to bear any resemblance to its namesake. Almost medicinal. It went straight from the serving bowl to the trash, followed by the rest of the stuff. Next trip we got some “real” Guac from the produce aisle where it resides in those little pouches next to the bottled salad dressings. And don’t jump me for using word “real” I know it’s processed and everything, but it does have a fairly nice flavor reminiscent of Avocado.

More monikers:

And further, since we’re throwing around names of foods, here’s another. MFO brought home a little tub of those small (maybe golf ball size) chocolate covered donuts. Do you know what they are called? “Gems”. I have seen the term used on those little vending machine packages of lined up powdered donuts also. Wonder where that term came from? I am not going to go to Google to solve that riddle.

Road Warrioress

Tomorrow morning MFO will saddle up the MOMSTER and point it back to Wisconsin. Papers to sign, lawyers to see, stuff to document, inventories to create, and effects to dispose of. Her Brother (MFOB) is arriving from Arizona to help with the process, so with all the siblings in one place, I (think realistically) figured I would be more of a distraction than help and so am staying home….. alone.

I suppose neither of us will have much of a reason to

DFD

Footnote: I swear that I am not making this up.. After doing the little thingie about hoisting the Christmas tree in the garage, something kept bugging me. I always second guess myself and it finally dawned on me that the darn thing resembled a Narwahl. Damn, I thought, I should have said that!! (“rare brown nosed river Narwahl” or something). So I was pleased and gratified that an alert reader had the same thought and sent it along as a comment!! What a great readership you are!!

The Thing in the Garage...

2012-01-30T15:58:00.001-05:00

What can this be? Some (bad) "artsy" picture? a
Or maybe a trapped animal? A chrysalis? What might hatch? Is there somebody in there?

Wow! Maybe it’s a secret weapon!!

Read On....

When we remodeled the digs, and opted for the “wall of windows” design, it resulted in our great room having a rather tall ceiling (~28 feet). So things had to be on sort of a grand scale to fit the spaces. Eventually we got around to considering a Christmas tree, and of course a mere 8 or 9 footer would look like a sprout (not to mention many $ and a mess), so MFO went to Frontgate, and for very many more dollars we got a faux one, complete with hundreds of lights. While maybe not the tallest available (as in the White House tree) it did more or less make a nice presentation (with our famous clock).

Never mind that it is “up” in an empty house for the preponderance of time we’re in St. Louis and Wisconsin every year (another story which we won’t go into…..anymore), but when we return it has to live someplace. So, for a few years, we struggled getting it up and down stairs to the basement, “umbrella”- ing it through doors, and so forth. Much effort for not much display time (that story again). So, MFO consulted our trusty contractor and they all came up with a scheme to keep it in the garage.

And they graciously volunteered to construct same. So one day they showed up. As usual, an "easy job" didn't turn out that way (and I swore NOT to show any photos to protect their privacy). Anyway after a few false starts and several trips to Lowes for heavier tackle and “stuff”, the tree was nestling in its little sling of deer fence. It’s not a bad solution, just looks funny.

And yes, it is a messy garage, but by gosh, both cars can fit inside, defyingthea common practice in Southern Maryland. Normally John Deere would sit under the cradle, but it is currently having its winter spa treatment at Carroll’s Equipment.

So last Saturday night some friends volunteered to come over and help with the (now) traditional “hoisting of the tree”. We also hoisted glasses and forks, a pleasant evening.

And there it will rest, waiting for next year’s journey to be displayed to the ghosts..

DFD

Back to foodie stuff tomorrow..wherein we will consider Buffalo's and Gems..(PS there is some big football game next weekend)

Charlie, Charlie

2012-01-27T13:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I finally was able to join a couple of friends (who I used to work with) for lunch. We try to meet occasionally and catch up, but schedules are sometimes hard to mesh.. Finally we worked it, and were able to meet at Charlie’s Deli (I guess they still use “Deli"). I hadn’t visited there since last August, shortly after they re-opened. At that time, I remember remarking that if you didn’t know they had been closed for the previous year or so, you wouldn’t notice any difference.

Pretty much the same could be said for this visit and my initial one. There are still table numbers under the glass on the table, bric-a-brac, ice cream bar, and menu. I think I would say that maybe the service has improved, I didn’t get the “I’m” speech although I was the third to arrive. I didn’t keep count, but there were numerous “You guys” directed at not only our table but generally throughout the dining space although many tables were mixed gender. This time I wasn’t forced to order by number, I guess by now they know that number 17 is a Reuben. Anyway, we ordered a “white board” crab cake sandwich, the “Fish and Chips”, and I went with the reliable old Tuna Melt. Mild fumbling around finding and deciding on the sides (pick only one); we had two potato salads and the chips (which in this case were actual potato chips, not fries)..

Conversation on the various flying machines we have worked on passed the time, and eventually the food came out. It was later than you might have wished, but it is fun talking. Although delivered to the table by the same server that took our order, she still had to offer each dish waiting for its owner to fess up, but she did manage to get the last one correct (think about it for a moment). Between bun, cake, lettuce, and tomato the crab cake sandwich wound up being about five inches tall, as did the fish. Thankfully, the tuna melt was encased in grilled whole wheat, with the requisite melted cheddar cheese. However, one bite revealed there was also tomato and bacon also in there. Hey! A quick reference to the menu confirmed it was made exactly as described. Although not traditional, bacon can’t hurt anything, but I yanked the pale winter white tomato. The tuna was a little creamier than I like but wasn’t bad. The potato salad, served in a little cup was dense and fairly mustardy, with sizable chunks of potato, making it a bit tough to eat. It's hard to cut something in a cup, so I didn't finish mine.

Finally, the check hits the table with no totals, just itemized as ordered leaving it to the group to go to the cash register to sort out who owes what with another round of “I had the…”. I don’t quarrel too much with that approach as usually the lunch crowd is assemblages of individuals who pay their own way.

I suspect in the panoply of casual lunch options available locally, Charlie’s is as good as any. Just another place to go. Convenient.
P&S

As mentioned yesterday (?) I have procured a little Canon point and shoot which I will try to keep with me to capture not only plates but “stuff” that attracts my eye. Nowadays there is no paper user manual, so I had to go on line to find a copy to educate myself about it. It about the size of your cell phone. I was astonished at the capability of the little thing. There are several “auto” functions that will do amazing things for you. For instance, get this: (and I am not making this up) you can enter “Smile Detection Mode”. After setting it up, you point the camera at a face, and when the CAMERA detects a smile, it will shoot the picture. Or, there is a “Best Image Selection” feature, which when set, will take five shots of a group of people, then the CAMERA determines which is “best” and saves only one. Wonder what would happen if I shoot a picture of a group of restaurants? And remember the “self timer” feature that is fairly common these days where you trip the shutter and run to get into the shot, (or almost into the shot which is usually my fate).? Well, you now have the option of the “wink timer”. Activate the feature, put somebody’s face in the little white “frame”, press the shutter button, leisurely join the group, have the person in the frame wink, and Poof! You get the picture. How do they do this stuff?

Anyway it will be fun to learn about the little device. Maybe it will tell me how to

DFD

Bits and Pieces...

2012-01-25T10:09:00.000-05:00

A few random (almost trivial) nitnoids to help pass your Wednesday morning…

On your doorstep…

I finally decided to get a “point and shoot” camera for documenting selected dishes and locations when dining out. As reported in earlier editions, I am still reluctant to haul out a device and take a shot of something at a table, but sometimes it’s warranted. I am fairly inept using the phone, and hauling the DSLR is stupid. Anyway, I settled on another Canon device (ELPH 310 HS). So, late last Thursday afternoon I logged on to B&H Photo (my “go to” place for camera gear) and pulled the trigger. Long story short (get it?), it was on the doorstep by four o’clock on Monday. How do they do that? It always amazes me.

Our national song…

Sunday, I settled in to watch the Ravens/Pats game on TV. For years, Rozanne Barr and Christine Aguilera stood alone in the “Worst National Anthem Performance” club, but there is a new member and maybe a new president. That idiot Steven Tyler (of American Idol infamy) probably took the prize as the worst rendition of the National Anthem ever. Once again, it’s “all about me”. Never mind that people go to war and sacrifice their lives for our country, and many take pride in our Anthem, but, no, let’s just see how goofy and “cute” I can be, screech a few times, passing it off as "singing" while adorned in my sequined scarf. A real shame.

Order In…

Apparently there is a chance that one of these days you can go into a Starbuck’s and order a “Grande extra cold, low foam, double hopped, brewsky”. Reports are that selected stores will begin selling beer and wine during the afternoon “lull” time. One store in Seattle has been pioneering it and they must be sufficiently happy with the results that they are expanding to twenty five more locations in selected locations. Speaking of which it was noted in the little blurb I was reading that there are over ten thousand stores in the US..

Passing…

In the “nothing is forever” department it has been confirmed that Scheibles, another of our (few remaining) iconic St. Mary’s County waterfront “crab houses”, will die/change. It has been acquired by Parkway Hospitality Management (Our multi-talented team of diverse hospitality professionals cater and customize our service to each individual property’s unique needs), who are going to transform it into a “…larger resort. The marina will be used for charter fishing and other water activities”. And they are “…are truly excited to develop the resort at Scheibles”. I’m sure they are. We have a unique heritage of such places in our lovely county, and one by one, they are made into a bunch of slick, modern, tasteless, buildings. Like Evan’s for example. I don’t know if there are any changes made yet, but you should make a point of experiencing places like this before they are all gone. Long Live Courtney’s!!

Lexicon…

As alert readers know (all too well), there are certain words and phrases in food settings that drive the Feeder nuts. You Guys; Hon; Dearie; Workin on that; Taking care of you; the list goes on. And now I am forced to add another: the word “Yummy”. You might remember that I nearly throttled a woman near me at a cooking class one time after she repeatedly squealed the word every time a dish was set in front of her. I think she may have even used it with the ice water. To me, after somebody has worked hard to prepare a dish (like say, seared foie gras with white truffle oil) for your pleasure uttering “Yummy!” (unless you’re eight years old) demeans the dish. As you know, I appreciate harmony in all things, and coupling silly phrases with serious food just is not.

And here, tucked at the bottom as usual, is the continual reminder to

DFD

What to do.... what to do....

2012-01-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

A busy end of the week prevented any cyber activity until this (Sunday) morning (while waiting for kickoffs), so some catching up…

Thursday was taken by a regular morning meeting, a visit to my friendly local dermatologist to have something scraped, and an afternoon review of the “flutter course” I’m developing for the Flight Test University on base. Then Friday morning I attended an “off site” for one of the community organizations I belong to, followed by another smaller meeting. Retirement, what retirement?

Anyway, so it was with some relief that yesterday MFO and I attended the annual “Bruncheon” hosted by the Friends of the Library (book sale people) down at St. Georges Episcopal Church in Valley Lee.

It’s a pretty little church with a pleasing cemetery (kind of an oxymoron, but it is peaceful).

The brunch is held in the church hall, and the food is cooked by what I usually report as “church ladies”, but in this case it turns out that it was mostly the "church gentleman". It's in a classic chruch hall, smaller than some, but seven or so tables were set while along the back wall was the table waiting for the food:

People generally milled around and chatted for a while since of course everybody knows everybody, but eventually we were seated. Welcoming remarks were followed by a blessing of the food and day by the Priest. After this the “chef/church gentleman" was introduced, and he thanked all for coming, and then described dish by dish what would be served on the table. Pride in your work. While this was going on, the food table was populated.

There were a couple of eggish casseroles, veggie casseroles, steamed potatoes, some stewed apples, and meat which consisted of roast pork

And, as far as I was concerned the Pièce de résistance, the forcemeats

Reader quiz one: what is the meat on the left?; Reader quiz two: what is obvious about the meat on the right? If you answered “scrapple” and “handmade” you get an A. It is rare that you get a chance to have scrapple anymore (Linda’s in the Park serves it), and handmade sausage patties you don’t see very often. Not just an offload from the Sysco truck. They take the time to make the stuff by hand. So after an initial trip down the food line you might end up with a plate like this:

As we consumed the food, of course there was table talk, and I was pleased to learn two of the people at ours had children attending Johnson and Wales University. A positive sign. Anyway, we finally finished the dishes (sausage was good, and I’m still developing Scrapple appreciation), and were served a house (or in this case, church) made dessert:

After most everybody had reached their capacity, the program was started. We were treated to a talk by Christina Allen, a talented nationally known artist, who is also a resident of the County. She recently wrote a children’s book called “A Micro Chip on my Shoulder” a true story of how she raised a little (Heritage Breed) turkey poult from infancy to adult. The little bird suffered an injury when just born, and she raised it by hand. The book is illustrated with her wonderful paintings.

The book recounts how she did that, but also carries messages for adults. The book has won national honors. Christina is a fascinating woman, with boundless energy and a passion for self sustaining living and preservation of the environment. Her homestead (not a farm, she points out), is pretty much completely sustainable for them. Between the turkeys, gardens, and a small herd of sheep, she makes almost everything they eat and use. Fabrics, soaps, foodstuffs, you name it. She is a real local treasure (in the land of nothing to do and nobody to know).

So it was a great couple of hours, sustained by great, non-mass produced food, friends willing to work to raise money for our local libraries, and hearing from one of our great citizens. By the way, the Friends of the Library are always looking for volunteers. Get involved if you have nothing to do!! And, although it was Saturday mid day, we did take care to

DFB

Quick foodie postscript: One of the ladies we see at most of these events cornered me during the meeting, and said, “you’re a food person, I have a question for you”. Okay, shoot. “Where can you get real cheese around here?” I had no good answer for her. I have heard that one of the local farmers makes goat cheese, but don’t know much more. Sigh.. internet, trips up the road, occasionally in one of the local gourmet shops, but now that Woodburn’s has left, nothing regular.. it's a shame. Morbier, Humbolt Fog, sigh....

Lite Wednesday

2012-01-18T12:14:00.000-05:00

Just more ramblings (verbal, not physical) in random order…

First Amendment?

Don’t know if you’ve been to Google today, but there is a big black rectangle over the usual doodle, and I’m told Wikipedia, that fountain of information (some would say misinformation) has shut down for 24 hours. This in response to a bill (Stop Online Piracy Act) wending its way through Congress regarding content on the web. I will freely admit that I know nearly zero about it, but it seems to be polarizing the internet community. Spokespeople for the “web” side of things (Google, Wikipedia, various bloggers) portray it as shutting down the web, big brotherism, etc. On the other hand supporters say its purpose is to stop the illegal downloading of music and movies. I don’t have a position here, but as usual I suppose the truth lies in the middle. I don’t think the Bottom Feeder is in any peril..

Idolatry

Unless you don’t watch television at all, you know tonight is the long awaited new season of “American Idol”, where we see promos featuring weeping singers, gleeful people hopping up and down, and so forth. But what really gets my goat are those (excuse me) stupid “judges”, allegedly (self?) qualified to decide who has “talent” enough to advance, and who should go back to the Karaoke bars. All three of them have more face time than the contestants, especially the Steven Tyler caricature who seems to feel he is the most wonderful whacky, crazy guy, in the world. I will freely admit (for the second time today) that I am way behind on Pop Culture, but I have no idea what he did to deserve getting national attention. Of course, I am in the vast minority of viewers, and I’m sure the ratings will skyrocket. I am proud to say I have never seen a single episode, and today will not alter that. You want great TV? Watch Downton Abbey, or one of the Sherlock Holmes episodes (the “originals” with Jeremy Brett).

Driving

Well, for a while there, I thought we were making progress. But alas, I guess not, and this is not new, just repetitive. Once again, while wanting to go North on 235 from my darling Millstone Landing Road, I was forced to sit behind a stationary car for a full three or four minutes who (I am not making this up) waited until ALL (three) lanes were clear of traffic for miles, and then pulled directly across the “merge” lane into the right hand lane, and continued north. I don’t condone, but maybe somewhat understand unskilled drivers who don’t want to navigate across three lanes (not usually very difficult) to go left at the next light, but waiting just to get into the right lane? Sheesh. Serenity now..

Foodie Factoids.

I noticed on the national news last night there was a short story about Burger King initiating delivery… remember it was reported first here…

As alert readers remember, I continually rail against the poor service that is so rampant around here (You Guys made any decisions?). Well, I was gratified to read about a resurgence of “server schools”. If you have a minute, here’s an interesting article..

According to a Travel Channel Poll: “American consumers are getting more adventurous when it comes to trying unusual foods, with significant numbers saying they would include on a Super Bowl party menu muskrat chili, pig's ear sandwiches and even possum fajitas”. With apologies to Anthony Bourdain, there is a line someplace between adventurous and stupid.

Nice Section

And just to end on something more pleasant than my almost rants, more pleasing for the eye

by any other name..

and, as the moon rises

we'll just remind you to

DFD

Sometimes....

2012-01-16T13:33:00.001-05:00

You feel like a blog sometimes you don’t… today I pretty much don’t, however....

Not much foodie activity over the weekend, and in fact most of the weekend (a lot of it anyway) was spent watching the PRO football playoffs, with the division winners hosting all the wildcard round winners. Things went pretty much to script with three of the four division winners surviving.. notes:

The Packers must have done theirs before the game, because they can get out of town today. A lackluster performance of stone handed receivers, errant passes, a porous defense, poor coaching decisions (on side kick???), coupled with a pretty good Giants defense put an end to what was to be a glorious undefeated (whoops!) season culminating in retention of the Super Bowl trophy (Whoops II).

Once again, Tom Brady and friends systematically put an end to the Tebow mania; at least for this year.. thanks Patriots..

I did miss a portion of the Ravens game figuring they didn’t need my help, which they didn’t (quite). With apologies to my Raven’s fan friends, I think their season will end in Foxborough next weekend. Depending on your defense against the Pats is risky. I don’t see Mr. Flacco outscoring Mr. Brady.

And easily the most entertaining game was the 49’rs eliminating the Saints once again on the road, and out of doors. The conditions in Candlestick weren’t far from a dome, yet the Saints just couldn’t get it done. Small aside….. one of the things that gripes me about the NFL in general is that “tackling” is no more. You try to bring down a runner/receiver by “bumping” him and hoping for the best. It used to be that the defense’s job was to bring down the man with the ball. Now, it seems that upon first contact the main objective is to strip the ball, not down the runner. The defense immediately paws at the ball, or their first move is to “chop” the arms, not pretty. Not so with the 49’rs, they tackle. Hard. So now Mr. Brees can go home, count all those passing yards, and watch somebody else put on the ring.

If the 49’rs play with the effort they brought to that game, I’m betting on a San Fran/Patriot Superbowl.. but as always, it’s why they play the games. We’ll see..

And my Spartans got beat by the Wildcats. What’s up with that?

Foodie Factoids.. (just to keep my chops in a bit)

Burger King is going to pilot a delivery program in DC. Apparently they do it in Canada now, and are going to test it here. Terms and conditions apply.

Privately owned restaurants closed out 2011 with a 3% rise in sales and profit levels not seen since before 2002, according to a financial statement analysis. The 1.93% jump in average profit margins likely reflects the results of ongoing efforts to control costs.

On Saturday we decided to get takeout for dinner so we didn’t have to cook. So as part of an errand run we stopped in at one of the local BBQ places. Our order consisted of a combo platter for MFO (two meats, two sides), a half slab of ribs for me along with one side of barbeque beans. That’s it. Total cost? $36.XX. Quantities were large enough (for us) to make that into two meals, but it seems kind of high. I suppose there’s a lot of labor in smoking the meats or something..

Okay, I’m tired.

DFD

Ooo-gah Ooo-gah, Oga's!!

2012-01-13T12:05:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first of three triskaidekaphobia months this year, triple the amount of last year..and maybe our last!

Blowin’ the horn:

As a result of my food mania, I get to meet and be around a fair number of people locally who actually do something with food other than consume and write about it. I hear a lot of them talk about places they go after work, or just frequent to eat and have a good time. Time and time again I hear that they have been to Oga’s over in Leonardtown, serving Chinese and Japanese Cuisine. It has been on my “have to go there sometime” list for quite a while.

Serendipitously this week, I had the opportunity to help a friend with an auto related errand in Leonardtown around lunch time, and he suggested we go to Oga’s while the car was being taken care of. Great idea! Locals will know it is occupies an unassuming storefront in Leonardtown, sort of between the post office and the “gas place”. So after a bit of trouble figuring where to park (in back it turns out) we went in. The dining space is separated from the entrance by the cash register stand and a little partition which affords some insulation from the street. Once inside there are tables along each wall, and some in the middle, and a small bar in back, which in this case provides sushi, not liquids. The walls are done in beige with some dark wood lattice work overlaid, which somehow makes it kind of pleasant. There are no windows in the dining space, which given what you would see is fine.

Lunch service consists of a buffet, which is never my first choice for food service (let me give you money so I can get my own food), but this type of food which is mostly small bits of this and that does soften that position some. It provides a good way to sample a lot of different things. So we told the nice young man at the station “two for lunch” and were given a table along one of the walls (toward the gas place). The buffet itself is along the other wall, and is not huge, a typical steam table affair, with soups, dumplings, desserts, and maybe (from memory) something like twenty small dishes of food. Everything you might suspect is there: fried rice, general Tso’s chicken, garlic shrimp, chicken (or beef) with broccoli, teriyaki’s, all the standard stuff. There also were a few Sushi choices.

As fate would have it, we arrived just after a pickup full of workers of some kind (they all had on those day glow vests you see everywhere these days). They were on their lunch break apparently, and so were doing “take out”, all with Styrofoam clamshells. Hard work builds hearty appetites, so between them they pretty much cleaned out the buffet bar with the exception of a few bits and pieces here and there.

And here is where the first of many positives evidenced themselves. Almost immediately, the pans were replenished a few at a time so that we had a pretty good selection (which improved in a short amount of time) to choose from. As soon as we were seated, we were offered drinks (water and hot tea for us). When our first plates were finished they were removed, which was good because we required a second trip to the buffet.

I won’t trouble you with trying to recount all the things I tried, but I will relate the first thing I tasted was the fried rice (which by the way, was fluffy and fresh, not gummy at all) and it was very good (Hey! This is good!) which is saying something for fried rice.. the little bits of meat were tender, not dried out and had flavor. That applied to everything else I had. It was all good, fresh (maybe because of the worker folk), and had distinct taste.

On the way out, I picked up their takeout (and I guess regular menu) folder. It amounts to three and a half (one half for title, address etc.) pages of food choices. I counted 25 main categories, with an astonishing 221 menu items (I have the spread sheet to prove it).. Appetizers, soups, fried rice, poultry, beef, pork, special combos, chef specials, sushi (40 some odd choices). Amazing. How can they do this? Well, I suspect the answer is that there are few main ingredients but the preparation is hugely varied. Anyway, it would be bewildering to walk in cold for the first time..

Now I can see why the food professionals like to go there. Service is prompt and friendly (no names), food (yes, one visit) very good, and reasonably priced. Did I mention that the lunch buffet is $6.95? Now that I have the menu as a guide, I think MFO and will go for evening meal one of these days. I might even venture to a sushi… but probably Nigiri, can’t hack the Maki yet. Recommended. I don’t think other than tasteful casual you would need to worry about

DFD (but leave the ball caps in the car).

Short Sports Extra:

This weekend sees the quarterfinals (?) of the Pro playoffs. Go Pack, 49’rs, Pats, and Ravens. Not a big "underdog" fan. And please people, remember that the name of the professional football team in Denver is the Broncos, not the “Tebows” as seem to be all the rage now. I am so sick of that. And again, the reason is not Tim (he seems to be a nice lad), it’s just the darn media that won’t let up. I don't think i could stand the mania being hyped up by keeping them i the equation.

Of This and that famous That....

2012-01-11T16:34:00.001-05:00

A few this’s and that’s have been piling up so maybe we can tick off a few today, leading off with a regrettable error on my part:

Errata:

In my recounting of our experience at The Source, I mentioned that I could not find them in this year's Washingtonian’s listing of the 100 Very Best (gosh, I hate using that word). I guess the aging eyes have failed me because another look at the list for this year revealed that they are indeed included. I don’t know how I could have missed. Anyway, in the 2011 list, they were awarded three and a half stars, and even dubbed the third “b-word” on the entire list, behind only Komi and Inn at Little Washington, heady company, indeed. Well this year, while they are on the list, they have been stripped of an entire star and are not included in the top ten. There is a little blurb about them (along with all the other restaurants on the list) but there is no mention of why they fell from grace.

In a way, it makes me feel better to discover my oversight; it seemed illogical that you would drop from overall three to “off the list”. One would hope for some consistency in performance, although you might think they would explain why they plummeted.. Again, sorry.

Reviews:

Speaking of “reviews”, there was a review of our Café Des Artistes “Heaven in St. Mary’s County” published in the Old Town Crier, a free publication from Alexandria. The review has been referenced in several local social media sites and the restaurant includes it in their weekly little news note. This is the first time I’ve read a review from Mr. Oppman, so don’t have anything to compare it to. To echo his own words, his praise was “effusive”. The only thing close to a negative was that Mr. Oppman pointed out there was no Fondant in a dessert called Chocolate Fondant. Well that, and he chose to inform us (after praising Chef’s Brulee) that: “Too many American Chefs don’t know the difference between Crème Caramel and Crème Brulee”. Really!. Pretty bold statement. I think I might choose to disagree. I am happy to see Chef get the recognition from outside the county that he fully deserves. Hopefully Mr. Oppman will make good on his statement that his visit to CDA was his first but won’t be his last.

Dilemma:

In the above mentioned review of CDA there were photos of some of the dishes. Harking back to The Source for a moment, I put in a few of mine in the posting, and well, I have to agree with a couple of readers that they were pathetic. As readers know, I am kind of a traditionalist when it comes to dining (DFD and so forth). For instance, I really don’t appreciate a table next to us popping flashes of each dish that is brought to the table. On the other hand, if one is “reviewing” a restaurant, the reader deserves to see what is being talked about. Fair enough. So aside from our experience at “The Inn” (where I feel we darn well bought the privilege), I am somewhat reluctant to stop the proceedings to snap a picture. If I were a “real” reviewer published by somebody other than myself, it might be warranted, but I’m not; hence the hastily and poorly grabbed shots with the Droid. I am thinking of upgrading to a quality point and shoot, but it still leaves me on the horns. I don’t have a good answer for myself. Yet.

Driving:

So we were driving north on 235 the other day, and were in the Momster. As anybody that pilots (or is a passenger in) a larger vehicle knows, the higher elevation of the seats affords a good view of people in smaller cars. We were stopped at a light in the Park, and in the car next to me (I was a passenger) the driver’s head dropped, a sure sign of texting (as you know). About then the light changed and we went forward while the car beside us didn’t (another sign), but eventually he caught up to us, head bobbing between looking at the road and his lap. As he passed us (yes, I stared), I looked into his lap and saw him feverishly working on a …… Rubik’s Cube!!! That’s got to be a first.. oh, and there were two kids in the car.

Okay, enough for today. have a real bona fide foodie experience to relate the next time. Meanwhile continue to

DFD

Wolfgang and friends...

2012-01-09T18:16:00.001-05:00

Every year, the company (where I ply what little flutter knowledge remains in the mush) generously hosts a holiday party for their employees. And for the second year in a row, it was held in a restaurant in DC. The selection for this year’s edition was “The Source” a so-called Asian Fusion place that is part of the Wolfgang Puck empire.

I usually don’t have high hopes for these celebrity “chains” that pop up lending the name of the Chef to establishments that trade more on the name than the food. One wonders how many times the namesake actually sets foot in the kitchen. I also noticed their website proclaims they were number three on the Washingtonian Magazine’s “100 (sigh) Best” list. As an aside, I just got my copy of that magazine which contains this year’s “100 Very Best” restaurants, and the Source may be number 101, but they don’t appear on the list. We’ll leave that subject for another time.

I also checked out “Yelp” which I use as another source of data, mostly to just get a feel for a place. The reviews were mostly positive, but there were some clinkers, with somebody saying they thought the food “was inferior to P. F. Changs, and I hate that place.” I also noted that most of the people who take time to put a review on Yelp seem to be mostly young thirty something hip women (judging by the avatars that accompany an entry). We’ll leave that subject for another time.

Since we were part of a group, the restaurant had a pre-selected menu with two choices for first, second, and dessert courses. The first course was an “Indian Spiced” Cauliflower Soup with Maine Lobster, toasted almonds, caramelized cauliflower, and cilantro-mint” or a Winter Green Mesclun Mix; for the main course the choices were: ““Thai Style” Sautéed Rockfish with red curry, and sweet Maine shrimp” or “Korean BBQ Hanger Steak with roasted fingerling potatoes”. Desserts consisted of Warm Bread Pudding or a Chocolate Cheesecake. Alert readers might remember that spicy foods are something I generally steer clear of, and probably not a good idea when faced with a drive back to southern Maryland following the dinner (use your imagination here). So when I saw the words “Indian Spiced”; “Thai Style”; and “Korean BBQ” little red flags went up. A little web crawling revealed that the BBQ might not be too hot, so I reluctantly settled on the salad, the BBQ, and the Bread Pudding. MFO graciously agreed to try the other choices.

The location of the restaurant was listed as Pennsylvania Avenue, and the address (575 NW) placed it about halfway between the White House and the Capitol, basically next to the “Newseum”. So late Saturday afternoon we DFD’d, got in the MOMSTER and headed North. Now, equally alert readers will remember that driving in DC is not among our favorite things to do, but we have established routes we’re comfortable with (after 15 years) that have low probability of landing us in Virginia against our will. So we took the Suitland Parkway onto South Capitol, over M to fourth and north to the mall. An end run put us on Pennsylvania and we were feeling pretty frisky, but as we passed the Newseum and street numbers started in the 6XX’s that old sense of panic started to set it. Crap!! We’ll go around the block! Well, anybody somewhat familiar with DC knows that “going around the block” isn’t always easy. And, indeed what followed was a maze of one way the wrong way, no street where there should be, “no no, don’t turn there!” and a couple of mild shouting sessions, but finally with the aid of the trusty Droid GPS we again cruised by the Newseum, and turned just beyond it figuring we should be close. Sure enough MFO spotted a little cluster of cars around a “Source Valet Parking” sign. The damn restaurant was at least half a block back from Pennsylvania. We surrendered the MOMSTER to the young man in uniform who insisted on his eight bucks fee, and only after a little heated conversation reluctantly agreed that the office party we were intending to join did have complimentary parking.

We finally entered the restaurant and were greeted at the door by the hostess, and when we told her we were there for the such and such function, she said follow me. Upon entering past the stand you’re in a large bar area with (I think) dining spaces behind it. The din in the bar was so loud that Mr. Sietsema would probably classify it as “must shout to be heard”. Anyway the young lady led us to the elevator, got in with us, pressed two and up we went to the second floor. When the door opened we were in another large dining area, and our group was in a little space that was partitioned off from the main room. Heavy glass, stainless steel, white clothed tables, views of the street, and an entire wall devoted to a glass enclosed wine display which must have been twenty five to thirty feet long. A lot of the tables were occupied, and the waitstaff was distinguished by being entirely in black. Noise on this level was less, and helped even more by the glass partition.

After a few hellos we were approached by a server with a small tray in hand and asked if we would like a drink. Are you kidding?? Of course! MFO did order her Gimlet and I was afraid to go for the DMOTRWAT given that the server had to go get it, and bring it back. Two cycles weren’t too attractive to me at that point. So I went with the impossible to screw up backup: call scotch on the rocks. The drinks were brought back fairly rapidly, a welcome start to the evening. There was also wine available (in unlimited quantities) from a little side bar in the room, an Adelsheim Chardonnay and a Row Eleven Pinot. Both were very good (we found out). Due to the mild weather, the temperatures were warm enough that several of the guests availed themselves of the outside balcony overlooking not Pennsylvania Avenue. After another drink and meeting more people (the majority of employees are in Falls Chruch with only a few of us from Pax) we were summoned to sit down for dinner.

Each place was set with a white charger and a linen napkin holding a little menu card with the aforementioned items. Waters were filled immediately so that there was actually ice in them (another of my pet peeves is when you’re in that kind of setting and the glasses have been pre-filled so that by the time you sit, it’s just tepid water). Our server took the orders of the nine at our table. Soon after that, appetizers began to arrive on platters to be passed. They were small bites of things that included some mini crab cakes, beef satays, some veggie egg cups, and little spring rolls.

The latter were described as “spicy tuna rolls” and indeed they were. If the platter was emptied, another was brought promptly. At this point MFO and I both switched to wine remembering the road trip that lay ahead.

Soon enough the first courses began to arrive, and although the ladies were not served first, the whole table was served rapidly with many servers bringing the food. The soup was nicely presented, a creamy beige with accents of the cilantro mint oil, and the lobster chunks in the middle.

My greens, were well, a pile of greens. Okay, but not special. I did have a sip of MFO’s soup and it was nicely layered with spices as one might expect. After the first course was finished, all the silver was cleared and replaced with fresh, with those that selected fish given a “fish knife” and the BBQ people a sharp one. Nice touch. Wine and water glasses were kept amply supplied, and then the main courses came out. Despite some elbows in the ribs and kicks to the shins, I did take a shot of the rockfish (which doesn’t do it service, it’s better than it looked in this hastily snapped phone shot (which applies to the ones above also).

It wasn’t too spicy and was very well cooked, with a little crunch on top and creamy below and had great taste.. in the end, I wished I had ordered it. My Korean BBQ was exactly as it should have been I think. An assemblage of sliced beef in a sauce, but it was uniformly brown and presented again in a “pile”. It had good beefy flavor, and I was happy with it. I do think the fish was a better overall dish.

Desserts and coffees were served, a little speechifying, and we bid adieu to the folks, retrieved the MOMSTER and made an uneventful return to St. Mary’s and home, arriving shortly after midnight.

I had situated myself at our table so that I could view the other customers of the restaurant, most of who looked like young professionals with enough disposable income to enjoy themselves. I didn’t see the regular menu but most of the references I looked at put The Source in the top “$$$$” category. . I did a quick tour of the massive wine display and they had a nice selection of wines. I didn’t see a wine list so don’t know pricing. Most tables had at least one bottle served. The big dining room had a nice pace about it somehow, with servers gliding in the aisles with plates, wine and water being served, and it was enjoyable to look at.

Despite my misgivings about the celeb restaurant, I would have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It is a nice space, all the food was very good, the service was attentive and did the right things at the right times. Hard to believe that they aren't within the hundred favorite restaurants in DC. Although the cuisine isn’t my favorite, I would return. Many of the reviews had nice things to say about their Dim Sum.

And I would have to add that thank goodness in DC all of the people I saw were properly

DFD

Editor's note: Most readers know that The Feeder likes to mess around with words, and when it came time to think of a title for this posting, it was hard to leave "Puck" alone. Having a background in hockey, phrases from my coaching past came to mind like "Pass the Puck" or "Shoot the Puck" . But I didn't want to appear negative (me?) so gave up. I'm sure there is some catchy title there someplace....

Out with the Old... In.......

2012-01-06T11:04:00.000-05:00

With the holiday trip put in the memory locker (at least for now, another probably looms), and the spleen is vented regarding bowl games, we can at last return focus to the important stuff..Like food.

At this time of year, there is always a spate of “the year in……” articles and features, with a retrospective of what happened during the previous year, and prognostications for the future and so forth. While I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to take on that task, maybe a little reflection is warranted..

Nationally

the trade blogs seem to agree that things will not increase dramatically, however they do see an upward trend in dining out. A few samples:

“Half of U.S. restaurant operators reported an increase in same-store sales during November, compared with the same month in 2010, and 41% said traffic rose in the month, according to the National Restaurant Association”

“Restaurants will trade on rising grocery costs with marketing that focuses on how it’s cheaper to dine out than cook at home. Boston Market already did it during Thanksgiving, and we’ll see more.”

They look for major chains to join with social media:

“In 2011, more nationwide chain restaurants waded into the daily-deal space, some with partners — Qdoba was a test partner for Groupon; McDonald’s has teamed up with Living Social — and some on their own. Chili’s “Holi-Deals” offer through its email club may be a template for competitors looking to make a big one-time gain in traffic.

The “buy local” trend will remain hot, with predictions of (independent) restaurants developing more ties to local purveyors of produce and protein.

“Lots of restaurants have their own garden, some have their own farms and at least one has its own herd of cattle. Keep an eye out for proprietary oyster beds and other hyper-local specialties that will set operators apart.”

And there are plans for various chains to expand…

“Dunkin' Donuts plans to double its 7,000 locations in the U.S. over the next 20 years. The company also is ramping up its growth in international markets, such as China and India”

but there are also contractions:

Landry’s closed a $131 million deal to acquire the Portland restaurant chain of McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood Tuesday and quickly moved to terminate executives including CEO Bill Freeman, co-founder William McCormick and others. It also closed at least nine restaurants, according to a source familiar with the situation.

And before we leave the national stage, I found a little indication of trouble in paradise:

“Olive Garden got too adventurous last year, turning off loyal guests in an effort to bring in new customers, and it plans to refocus on more familiar dishes and more value-pricing this year, says (Darden) CEO Clarence Otis Jr”;

“Olive Garden goes through literally tons of mozzarella and Parmesan each week, but Gorgonzola, it seems, was a cheese too far. In 2011 the chain, which makes up 45 percent of the sales for Darden Restaurants, introduced "culinary forward" dishes -- most notably, Gorgonzola and pear ravioli with shrimp -- to the menu, and spent millions of dollars promoting them. Customers balked.”

Awwww……can I have more breadsticks please? (They go through 9 million a week)

Locally:

We all know what a volatile industry the food service business is, and there has been a lot of indications of that over the past year, especially in “chains”. Lone Star has been shuttered for quite a while (keep reading), our Damon’s remains dark after “the fire”, and there was a little blurb in the local newspaper that several Arby’s will be closing in Southern Maryland. I don’t think you can pin all of those solely on the proliferation of the other chains around here, but together with the economy (favorite whipping boy) it probably does have a lot to do with it. And speaking of proliferation, I assume the plans for LongHorn Steak House and Cracker Barrel in our “restaurant row” are proceeding and will join our recent additions there. The conversion of the “old” McDonalds on Millstone Landing into a Golden Corral is moving at a snail’s place. Our Buffalo Wings and Beer looks to be packing them in, and they will be joined by a couple of new places in the “new” center where Kohl’s and Dick’s reside. More fallout is to be expected.

On the independent side, they seem to be holding their own, in fact a couple new ones have opened: Lynn’s Café in the old Tea Room (third recent occupant) location; and the resurrected Willows continue to remain open. A new occupant (Island Bar and Grill and Crab Shack) is taking a wing at making the old "Evans" successful on St. Georges Island. Catamaran’s on the island did finally close, potentially reducing the crime rate over there. A little further afield, Jasper’s in Prince Freddie also closed but I think more for lease related issues, and Saphron continues to serve low country food up there.

Sounds like Chef’s American Bistro will undergo changes, with the current location (San Souci) changing into an upscale Caribbean/African/Soul-food buffet for lunch and dinner and the name is going to change to "Kilimanjaro" restaurant. Not only that, Chef Ahmed will also be moving into that Lone Star location opening "Brasserie 235" (clever, eh?) with “lots of foreign, micro brew and domestic beers plus a better wine list and a updated Brasserie menu”.

And I note that the person who did the restaurant descriptions in the “Around Town” section of the Enterprise for the last three (?) years has moved on. The new person’s first column appeared today and it is about a band. I understand his (Joe Norris – another one?) background includes music, so maybe the theme will vary somewhat instead of a steady diet (get it?) of foodie things. I will give Mr. Mercer credit that he stuck to independents and gave them some much needed publicity.

"Memories"

Like Mr. Parker in his Wine Advocate publication, The Bottom Feeder did have a few memorable meals during 2011. Of course our experience at Inn at Little Washington tops the year’s list and goes on the life list. But there were others: meals at “Charleston” in Baltimore, and “Bartlett Pear Inn” in Easton were very much enjoyed, as were dinners at Terra and 315 Wine Bar (with its fabulous Foie Gras appetizer) in Santa Fe, and a lunch at Hay Adams hotel in DC. What makes these places especially memorable is not only the food, but the whole package: décor, place settings, attentive service with no “you guys” or “Hon’s”, pacing of the meal, (and yes, a correctly made DMOTRWAT). It’s just “right” and you know it.

But everything doesn’t have to be high end to be special; there was a great breakfast at the Jones Heritage Farm Market with FOJTY in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and another cholesterol clogged breakfast at the Hungry Peddler in Onalaska (and a very poor dinner there). We had a nice evening with FOJTE at Balaban's in St. Louis, along with too many bottles of Pinto.

A few items locally remain… interesting. The cheese plate at Front Porch is worth it, I’ve had a couple of good experiences with small plates at the bar in the Tides (mostly on “off nights” when it was quiet); and we have had some very nice food at the Dry Dock. An experience at Courtney's is not to be missed. Be sure to do that, it won't last forever. Café Des Artistes in Leonardtown deserves special mention. Chef Loic is a special presence not commonly found, he not only manages the restaurant by actually being there day after day, night after night, but also finds/takes time to reach out to the community. And, the food is reliably good (that presence thing), with enough changes in menu to keep interest up. We’re lucky to have him.

I was going to wax eloquent here about service and your duty to improve it where you can, but i won't.

So we face a new year, maybe with new dining opportunities. But of course the constant is that you must continue to

DFD – we may win.

Annual Bowling Rant....

2012-01-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry food fans, I gotta get this done for this year... tomorrow will be your day.. much foodstuffs to report on.. but first:

I feel better. Normally at this time of the year I am depressed and gloomy. Besides the holiday madness, another cause of this funk is usually the performance of teams from my native Big Ten Conference in the glut of year end bowl games. Year after year, the vaunted tough Big Ten players are uprooted from their snow covered fields, taken to a warm spot with palm trees, beaches (and the normal inhabitants of them) and then when it comes time to play football, they forget how. Usually playing against some team based in the south, the Big Ten players appear as if hitched to a plow, and watch the gazelle like runners of the southern teams blow past them.

With ten (!) teams from the (so-called) Big Ten playing, I figured it would be another dose of humiliation and reality. But it started on a little better note when Purdue barely beat a plucky Division One AA (or whatever they’re called now) team, and a little (personal) plus that the team from South Bend fumbled their way to a loss. But then, a downer when Iowa and Northwestern lost by a combined total of 28 points. Then another upper when somehow Illinois managed to beat UCLA, although Penn and (THE) Ohio States were losing, but by at least by “respectable” margins (I’ll take it where I can get it).

Then it came time for the Outback Bowl to watch my (0 and 4 bowl record) Spartans take on a Georgia team who felt they had been jilted by the BCS boys. After MSU’s pitiful performance against Alabama last year, I feared I would have to watch a repeat on a national stage. To make matters worse, the “color” man for the broadcast was the indefatigable Jon Gruden (aka Chucky Cheese) who apparently took off his Georgia Cheerleader uniform just before entering to the booth. Relentless in his praise for the Bulldogs, he lauded their talent: “MSU hasn’t seen a team with this much speed”; “I don’t see how MSU can hope to play with such talented players that Georgia has”; “they haven’t won a bowl game under Dantonio, and it looks like that will continue”; “MSU’s offense is just befuddled by this blanketing Georgia defense”. Et cetera. And, in fact, he looked to be correct as the Spartans first play from scrimmage was a safety (“Brandon Boykin is just too much for them”) and in general they were helpless in the first half, going into the locker room down 16 points.

Ah, but then came the second half. Somehow the “hapless” Spartans managed two unanswered touchdowns aided by an interception, to pull within two. This resulted in a begrudging comment about “This team doesn’t seem to quit”. But then Georgia “responded to the challenge” with another touchdown leading by seven points with just over six minutes left. A relieved Chucky allowed as how “MSU made a nice run, but they look like they will fall short again”. Wrong. Cousins marched the team down the field and scored with 14 seconds left to tie the game.

Three overtimes later, with a blocked field goal, the huge monkey hit the turf as the Spartans got away with their unlikely comeback. Chucky had to acknowledge that they played a heck of a game. Ha!

Finally (for the Big Ten) last night, despite a lackluster performance by the offense, Michigan managed another overtime win over Virginia Tech on the toe of a kicker. With space becoming used up here, I won’t comment much on the “Beeeeemmmmerrrr Balllllll” play attempting a fake punt on 4th and 15…

And then to top it all off we had to suffer another session with Holly (It’s all about ME) Rowe sticking microphones in the faces of coaches, players and anybody else who she could corner, asking the stupid “What was going through your mind when…..” questions, or demanding to know “How were you able to….”. Give it up ESPN! Leave it on the field…

So as I said, a 4 and 6 record for the Big Ten is, as I have come to experience, respectable this year… It was surprising that so many games were decided by kickers this year, which is maybe a statement on “parity”.

As I write this, there are still FIVE more games to be played, leading up to the so-called National Championship Game rematch between LSU and Alabama. Despite what I may say about the games, it is interesting to see teams from different conferences and sections of the country play. But those BCS pundits have created another conference game (last time there were only kickers on the scoreboard) to decide who is “number one”. It’s America for God’s sake we HAVE to have a “Number One”.

I feel better, and it’s also America where you must

DFD

The long and winding road...

2012-01-02T12:35:00.002-05:00

To paraphrase Jake and Elwood, we got 3580 miles, over 200 gallons of gas, a bag of snacks, and we’re wearing bifocal glasses… Hit it!!

So with 3580 miles to travel, what could you do? Well, you could drive to LA, then up to San Francisco and back to LA; or go to Seattle and then drive on to Calgary in Alberta, or maybe drive down to Miami and return and then go there again..

Instead (as you know) we drove from here to Onalaska, then to St. Louis, then BACK to Wisconsin, and finally returned to

The final return to home was delayed half a day when we learned at the last moment that MFO had even more hoops to jump through, papers to sign, documents to generate. So the return trip amounted to a leg to Indianapolis, then a marathon 660 mile stint to the digs.

Along the way we saw the usual and the slightly unusual

And the things you apparently can’t escape:

Mostly, our trip was framed by the windows of the MOMSTER. I found that I especially liked seeing links to things the way they “used to be” before the Interstates slashed the old farms, and their fields gave way to the growing of the chains. They’re still there, but like me are getting up in age. And (maybe unlike me) they still have a certain charm..

When you’re passing over the landscape at thirty five thousand feet at four hundred and fifty miles per hour, you may get there sooner, but you don’t get the feeling of our country that way. I’ll admit the interstates do insulate you a little, but you can still look over the fences…

So thus ends this year’s holiday season where we bid adieu to MFO’s Mom, she was with us in spirit, and we got to spend time with all the FOJ’s and wives, saw some friends, had a good meal in St. Louis at Apt. 2, some good food (give or take a bad (?) oyster) at Waterfront in Wisconsin, learned when in Wisconsin you need to specify whiskey for your DMOTRWAT.

I hope all loyal readers had a similar good time, and now we can return to normal life, looking forward to 2012 and hope those Mayan’s didn’t know what they were talking about..

and lastly, for all you drivers out there that pinned us to trucks, cut us off, tailgated and then sped past us with a glare, we can only wish you will have this conversation in your new year..

New Year's Footnote:

And I don’t care what they say, “New Year’s Day” should be on the first, not the second. It just doesn’t feel right watching the rose parade and the plethora of football games without a splitting headache and delicate stomach. Today I have clear eyes, and feel pretty good. It just ain’t right.

And once again I will probably be forced to watch my home Big Ten conference demonstrate that Bowl Games are beyond their capability. Take ‘em out of the great white north, and they forget how to play. At least at this point Illinois eked out a win over UCLA while Northwestern and Iowa pretty much got it handed to them. More on the line today, including the Big Twelve refugee Nebraska.

and don't forget the new year still demands that you

DFD

Bags are Packed... again...

2011-12-29T00:11:00.001-05:00

On the road again...

There were still papers to be signed, letters of authorization to be attended to, and since Missouri is closer to Wisconsin than Maryland, the day after Christmas we decided to return to the road..

After a very nice Christmas with the FOJ’s and friends, we once again packed and saddled up the MOMSTER and retraced our steps back to Wisconsin.

As usual there were some interesting diversions

And glimpses of the Midwest years ago

But there are signs of the new age juxtaposed on the past..

And occasionally, but not often enough, there is just that little satisfaction of seeing that idiot that tailgated you, cut to the right, cut back in front, at speeds exceeding by far the legal limit get their just deserts:

So here we area gain in Onalaska, and we spent the last couple of days visiting attorneys, getting this form and that, finding out (and following) stupid rules of law, and generally getting the “estate” in order. One of the things we have to do is come up with an “inventory” of Dorothy’s “stuff”. With MFO being an archivist, she is aware of the value of documenting what people have at a period of history. So, the bottom feeder and his trust Canon were pressed into service to create a photographic record of the things that MFOM has accumulated over the years. Among others, there was jewelry, wall art, and the numerous counted cross stitch things she created..

It was kind of fun (maybe interesting is a better choice of words) to go through what an individual has gathered together over the years, and what a piece of her life revealed. I don’t think there is anything very valuable in monetary terms, but there are various things that have memories to her daughters. “oh, I remember when she wore that”, or “There’s that duck we looked at for years”. They will be distributed to members of the family that may or may not remember her, but we do.

Food was of course secondary here, but we did have another snack at the bar in Waterfront (complete with the Whiskey/Brandy conversation), and tonight (Wednesday) we had carry out from Festival Foods, a local supermarket that has really good "to go" food. We had some fried chicken that (IMHO) beat our local McKays.. I also am transporting back a selection of Wisconsin beers..

So tomorrow we have decided to point the MOMSTER eastward toward Maryland, as we are waiting on various agencies to verify MFO as executor, and anoint her as official to handle the estate. We'll be home a day earlier than normal, as usually we arrive on New Year's Eve day.

We'll conclude a trip that had lovely time with the family, a good meal with friends, and some melancholy moments with memories of MFOM.. It's always different.. and as necessary we were

DFD

pointed south....

2011-12-24T19:44:00.000-05:00

This trip is kind of more coming and going rather than being, but we’re now stable for a few days in STL..
We drove down from La Crosse on Thursday. During the night it snowed a little making for some nice road scenes (again). We have lots of road scenes.

We originally planned to take the “back” route, but with the forecasts for flurries and so forth we decided the low risk approach was best. So we retraced our steps to Rockford, and then stayed straight south on I39 through Bloomington then branching off on I55 to St. Louis. Picture 4 or 5 hours of this:

Although there was the occasional diversion:

But eventually the boredom was over and we arrived at our quarters here in St. Louis.

All through the planning of this trip we had been hoping to be able to join up with our friend from DC who would be back here for the holidays. As it turned out, the only intersection available was last night (Friday), and we decided to meet for an early dinner as we all had stuff to do preparing for the Eve and Day…

We hoped to stay in the area and not journey downtown or up to Clayton. Our friend consulted his daughter who is quite food knowledgeable on the local front, and she suggested (among others) Peppe’s Apt. 2. A quick look at Yelp confirmed that it would be a good choice, Italian, and what better cuisine in St. Louis.

Peppe’s is located on a corner in Kirkwood, and the name arises from the fact that the building that houses it was once an apartment. Consequently it has a couple of “front doors” with the real entrance on the side. Of course we amused the diners by trying each one before tumbling to the real arrangement. Once inside we were seated at a lovely table in the corner of a smallish room, done all in whites, with several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Tables were covered in white tablecloths, with the usual silver and sparkling glassware. The napkins were folded into those sort of little hat things, quite fancy. There is just something inviting about sitting down at such a table, it shows they are proud of the place and are setting the scene for a fine dining experience.

Flashback to the formative years of the Feeder, when he was figuring out what good food and service could be here in St. Louis during the late 70’s and the following decade. One of our favorite “going out” places was a smallish restaurant on “the hill” home of Italian deli’s, and little restaurants. There was a place we found called Gian-Peppe’s, a little place hidden behind a plain front that enclosed just such a place as described above. And the food was heavenly, or at least my memory of the time. So naturally, I was curious if this incarnation related to the past one. The three of us arrived before our friend and his wife, and almost as soon as we were seated, an affable server approached. His first words: “Hello, would you care for a cocktail or glass of wine while you wait for your friends?” and offering a smallish wine list. Despite my initial resolve to stick with wine, in the end I couldn’t resist the drink test. I got through the DMOTR part, and before I could finish, he said “would you like a twist with that?”. That, my friends, is a first. At last…

MFO had a class of chardonnay, and it was brought very quickly, and the drink was perfect. At last…. So at that point I asked him if there was any relation between the place on the Hill and the present restaurant. Indeed there was. This place is run by the son of owner of the original, and our server had been with him for the last decade. When he heard we had been former customers, he said the bread and the veal were the same, and welcome home.. He went over the specials, and upon leaving the table said, if you have any questions, my name is Larry. That’s okay.

Fast forward now (still with me?) to right not. It is Christmas eve, we are getting ready to go over to FOJTE’s annual lasagna dinner. So to my disappointment (and maybe your relief) I am not going to go into my usual detailed description of our dinner at Peppe’s. I had veal saltimbocca, MFO had the special of tagliatelle with beef tips, my friend had a pork chop, and MFOS had a chicken Marsala. A quick note on the menu (with choices for all) contained a spaghetti dish that was described as “fried”, and Larry confirmed that indeed it was sautéed until crispy. Our friend’s wife was tempted, but said she was a little reluctant about the crispy part, maybe another time, and was there any meat sauce with that? No, says Larry, but we could just make the regular spaghetti and chef would be glad to put a little meat sauce on that. They could have said no, that’s what is on the menu we’re sorry. But no, they offered to make whatever the customer wanted.

Everything was cooked properly, with only the fingerling potatoes a little on the dry side. But the veal was tender, the prosciutto salty, and the mozzarella cheese melted just so. We split some panacotti, and our friends a chocolate tart cake.

All through the evening the atmosphere was friendly, service good, and in general a very nice experience. I don’t think that Peppe junior visited the table, although he did appear at another one that appeared to be regulars. I don’t object to that really hard, but it would have been nice if he checked on us.

So you St. Louians, put Peppe’s on your list for Italian…

And finally, I am not sure when next you will see the feeder, tomorrow is Christmas, and we leave for a return journey to Wisconsin on Monday.
So, like us slow down, enjoy friends and family present and memories of those who are not with us this year. Food is kind of secondary to that, but it sure helps.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the Feeder Friends. And by damn, you better be

DFD

and thanks to FOJTE for his network