Catching Up After Two (!) Months

Center Cut Doughnuts have brought me some joy over the past couple months

When I woke up this morning, one of my first thoughts was that it's been two months (yikes!) since the last time I posted. That's the longest stretch I've gone without posting since I started this blog back in 2005. Crazy.

In the past two months, I have been around food, though thanks to both the stomach flu and pneumonia, I actually haven't been eating with quite as much gusto as normal.

But still, there was a good dinner with old friends from California at Chez Billy Sud, a charming French spot in Georgetown. And a fun morning with my Dixon, my sister and her new baby at Sub Rosa, a really good bakery she can walk to from her house in Richmond. And The Emporiyum, which is always a great time. A tasting at Center Cut Doughnuts, when Dixon was my plus-one. A fun seafood boil over Memorial Day weekend up at Keuka Lake.

Plus, I haven't stopped writing for other publications. Though it's not all published yet, I've spent the spring thinking and writing about the opening of the Sagamore Spirit distillery, the food policy at Camden Yards, the origin of crushes, the city's best fried chicken, and iconic beach foods.

I've also continued to write my weekly restaurant news column, Hot Plate, for Baltimore Fishbowl. And do some Facebook and Instagram posting, of course - though even that has fallen off a bit, especially over the past month (pneumonia really sucks).

During that time, I've also started, but haven't finished, a few posts with actual substance - things like what makes a local classic actually classic and how to be a good restaurant guest. But - and I hate to say this - much of the larger conversation taking place around food these days frustrates me more than it inspires me.

When I started writing this blog, a dozen years ago, the food world was in a massive state of growth. Every day, something new and interesting was happening. There was debate about topics like authenticity and egregious experimentation and globalism; participating in those debates left me feeling invigorated and excited about what was to come. I assumed it would be better than what came before.

In recent years, though, two things have happened. One is that many of the smaller conversations have disappeared - though I'm seeing interesting chats on Facebook sometimes, much of today's food buzz takes place on Instagram, which doesn't exactly lend itself to thoughtful conversation (though it does lend itself to 20 media/influencer types posting pretty much the same photo).

The other phenomenon is that those debates - the ones about authenticity, experimentation and globalism - have evolved. Or, rather, devolved...and I am decidedly less excited about food as a result. The words "cultural appropriation" don't excite me. They frustrate me - at best. Mostly, they bore me.

People speaking against cultural appropriation are, theoretically, trying to promote respect for other cultures - which is all well and good and it's tough to argue with that point. Respect is great. Duh.

But the by-product of the movement is that it chills creativity and collaboration. And that chills my level of excitement about the food world as a whole.

Overall, I'm not easily offended and I like feeling enthusiastic. I want to be excited about food and drinks and I want to participate in conversations about what they mean to us - the role they play in our lives and our culture. That's what this blog used to be about.

But these days, I'm struggling to gin up any enthusiasm for the cultural conversation.

Fortunately, the pendulum is always swinging. Soon enough, we'll have moved on to a new topic within the food world - hopefully one that gets me more excited.

And until then, at least I have doughnuts.

Blog Birthday Retrospective

My mom made me this angel food cake for Mother's Day, but
it's the cake I always had for my birthday as a kid. So it seems
fitting for today...even if it's the blog's birthday, not mine.

Happy blog birthday to ME! Today is the 11th anniversary of my first post here on Mango & Ginger.

I will be celebrating this evening with dinner at Parts & Labor and I have spent a little time today reminiscing with myself about everything I've learned and all the opportunities I've had over the past decade-plus-one thanks to this blog.

In case you don't have time to go back and actually read the thousands of posts in the blog, here's a quick recap of some of the highlights of each year. Navel-gazing, yes. But it's my blog birthday - if I can't do this today, when can I do it?

2005: In the last few months of 2005, I wrote a lot. I posted crappy food pictures and basic recipes. Wrote about excursions I took (Paris! NYC!). And babbled about how food fits into our lives. It's two of those posts (one, two), both about fashion and food, that I love most from that year. They're so typical of how I was thinking about food back then. Back then, when I was only 29!! I was a baby!

2006: Less than a year into this blog, my posting fell way, way off. Because I was pregnant...and then because I had a little baby. But looking back, what I did write was pretty interesting (to me, anyway). I got into art and food and Harry Potter and food (way before the books were over!) and the importance of regionalism in food (a subject I've revisited often). Also, apparently 2006 is the year I learned that scrapple is a regional food. I thought that was just something I always knew! Apparently not!

2007: Blogging was light again in 2007, as I juggled work, tiny baby Dixon and a massive home renovation, including a brand new kitchen. But when I did write, I was all kinds of philosophical. This is the year I started getting interested in happiness research and began exploring how happiness relates to food. Nine years on, that's still one of my favorite subjects. It's also when I started getting bored with "foodie" culture, which is also, something that has persisted.

2008: In 2008, I made a commitment to myself to post every weekday. And I did. Sometimes more than once. I wrote a lot. Not always strictly about food - there was a lot of "other stuff I love" that year, mostly about art or design. I wrote a lot that year about pop culture and celebrity chef/TV chef culture (something I am not really interested in at all anymore), but it's also when I really started to think about the food scene here in Baltimore and I started casually reviewing restaurants (here on the blog). Also that year: I started drinking rose, I learned a ton about food and I made less money working than any other year since I started freelancing. I think those things are all related.

2009: In 2009, I was writing for Houzz, so a lot of my posts here ended up being about dining rooms and tables. That year, I also started writing for Deep Glamour, so I was looking at pretty much everything through the lens of glamour, which is really a very interesting way to view the world. But if I had to pick one theme for the blog that year, it would be parties. I wrote so much about parties and drinks and wine. Still, obviously, some of my favorite topics.

2010: Looking back, 2010 was a banner year. Parties, cocktails and decor remained top blog themes, with a splash of fashion thrown in. This was also the year I really started to get into vintage cookbooks, which I still love. Our friends hit a lot of major milestones (Kyle and Mary got married, Mike and Alicia's daughter Maggie was born, Alicia and Dixon collaborated on their first birthday cake, the entire Kelly family threw the first major throwdown.) We started to go to Dogwood wine dinners. It's also the year that I "met," via the old Elizabeth Large blog on the Sun website, the son of my parents' favorite waiter ever. Around that time, I started to really understand my family's food and restaurant culture. When I first started blogging, I didn't think we had one. I was wrong. Very wrong, in fact. We had/have a fairly strong culture, really, all built around the Chesapeake, restaurant dining and casual parties. And I'm pretty lucky for that.

2011: Two big - really big - things happened to our family in 2011. First, we got a smoker. That was a game-changer. And second, I got a phone call from Sam Sessa, asking me to write a "cheap eats" piece for the Sun's Weekend LIVE section. Then I got another call from him asking me to review a restaurant. Next thing you know, I spent the next four years - until last fall - reviewing. Again, big.

2012: My New Year's resolution in 2012 was, "More mascara, more parties." And wow, did I stick to that. I'm happy to report that I'm still in the habit of wearing  mascara when I leave the house (it keeps me from looking like a corpse). But really, it was the party thing that I most successfully fulfilled. We had so many parties that year, I can't even count them all. And when we weren't having parties, I was experimenting with cocktails. I tested a lot of recipes that year, too. And I gave a talk about food and art at the BMA. Also, this is also when we probably reached Peak Southern Cuisine. But really, when I think back on 2012, I think of the parties. Man, that year was fun.

2013: My sister got married in 2013 and we, once again, went to or hosted a ton of parties. That year, we also had a fun wine-tasting trip to Keuka Lake, spent a weekend eating our way through Manhattan, and hosted one of my very favorite Pollard house dinners ever, celebrating Kyle and Mary's third wedding anniversary. I got to write a series about crabs for the Sun and, as a result, I spent a whole lot of time thinking about my personal culinary roots, continuing the train of thought that began in 2010. So we did a lot in 2013 and I was very busy. Maybe that's why the blog doesn't seem to have one overarching theme. I was constantly trying to play catch-up and trying to remember to record the stuff I was doing in my real life.

2014: In 2014, I semi-fixed the "forgetting to post it" problem from 2013, by writing a ton of summary posts rounding up stuff I'd done over the previous week or month. It was a solid year, including a short but killer trip to Paris, our tenth wedding anniversary, our first fundraising Fake St. Patrick's Day party, and an unbelievably wild Mock Thanksgiving party (our 12th). It's also the year I first learned about how Baltimore's chefs work together to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and when I started to get really excited about the way the city's chefs work together and the tight community they've formed. Have I mentioned that I love this city and the food people in it? I really do.

2015: In 2015, Cooper and I turned 40. As did many of our friends. Which means the year was pretty much one long party - there were these fall/winter trips and parties and this party in the snow and this trip to Philly to see Swifty and an Alicia-themed Keuka trip I didn't even blog about and these August parties and this wine tasting excursion and, finally, after everything else, our massive Clementine-catered blowout at Church & Company followed by a good old-fashioned McGarvey's meet-up and bar crawl. It was intense, to say the least.

2016: I started out this year with a desire to shine a light on all the cool things happening in and around Baltimore. Unfortunately, too much regular work has thrown me off my posting schedule and focus. But I have had some great experiences, including a vacation-filled summer that started at Keuka Lake, then took us to Ireland, Scotland, to the Delaware beaches and back to Keuka. (Not that I've written much about any of that!) Even with the travel, my favorite post of this year was something close to home - a roundup of what I learned from the Sun series I wrote about international grocery stores. And the year isn't over yet, of course.

Whew. It's been a good run, so far. In the moment, I always feel so busy, but when I look back, it's clear that though my to-do list might be long, it's stacked with incredible parties, memorable meals and event after event that puts me in contact with some of the greatest people around.

This little trip down memory lane has been a great reminder that I have wonderful friends, both in and out of the food world, and that I am lucky, lucky, lucky to have the opportunity to write about food, especially at this time and in this awesome, dynamic city.

Pool Season

I love pool season. When I was little, it meant long days, starting with early morning swim team and ending much, much later, at the pond in Ben Oaks, where I grew up. My parents would sit underneath a big willow tree (which is, sadly, no longer), drinking beer and hanging out with their friends. It was pretty great - for me and for them.

When I was teenager, I was the lifeguard there and I spent my days off laying out on the little strip of land that separates the pond from the Severn River - always on my stomach, trying to even out my tan. (Or, rather, "tan." I am pasty or pink, but never quite golden.)

As an adult, I miss Ben Oaks, but the Stoneleigh Pool - even though it's not next to the river - meets all of my summertime social needs. We log a lot of evening hours there in the summertime. It's a good time.

Since there's a very strict no-glass rule at the pool, summertime, for us, is all about plastic and cans. This year, that means lots of LBLL's (schlepped back from Keuka Lake), Leinenkugel grapefruit shandies (finally, this year, available in cans), and Union Craft Old Pro (how can you resist that can?).

I've also developed a recent obsession with the salsa and guacamole made by the people who work at our local Giant. They are so good - especially the salsa, which is very slightly spicy and just a little bit sweet. I eat an embarrassing amount of it when I'm home alone.

But that's what summer is all about, right? Eating salsa instead of dinner and drinking citrusy beers while your kid wears himself out messing around with friends in the pool.

Now, if school would just end, we'd really be in business.

Spring 2016 Recap

Now that Memorial Day has come and gone and everyone at my house is 100% over school (despite the fact that school itself is not actually over), it's time for a big, long recap of all the things I've neglected to write about over the past couple months.

So here it is: the parties and drinks and meals that made Spring 2016 fun (but that haven't made it onto the blog until now):


Way back in March, I helped my brother and sister throw a 70th birthday party for my dad. We ate oysters and Boston cream pie and drank a ginomrous bottle of French wine. We decorated my parents' screened in porch with old photos (my sister's idea) and about 10 million of those poms you have to manually fluff.

We also, at the last minute, thought it would be fun to have a photographer come to take some family photos. Rachel Rock came to the house and took some awesome pictures of all of us - and she was very fun while she did it. Most of the pictures below are hers:

Also back in March, Cooper and I went to Cellar Sessions, a wine class with Wit + Wisdom's sommelier Julie Dalton. She is so smart and good at her job.

The class was no joke - she walked us through how to blind taste wines like a sommelier. Walking into the class, we both thought we knew some things about wine - this was not the first tasting class we've taken. But it was definitely the most intense in terms of knowledge. As a result, Cooper's wine vocabulary and ability to pinpoint specific aromas and flavors has increased significantly. (I still mostly smell fruit and booze when I stick my nose in a glass...his palate continues to put mine to shame.)

In April, I was a judge at the Taste of Pikesville, which was hectic and fun and full of surprises, like an excellent bread pudding from FutureCare, pretty sushi from Wegmans and a smorgasboard of Uzbek specialties from the guys I love at Silk Road.

I also left with this gorgeous collection of chocolates from Raimondi's. They tasted even better than they looked.

After a couple years of not being able to make it for one reason or another, Cooper and Dixon and I finally made it to The Emporiyum, the big, roving food festival.

I spent the first few minutes feeling totally overwhelmed, but once I got acclimated, I loved every second of of the experience. Some of my favorite food people were there, like the crew from Clavel and Nick from The Local Oyster, and I had my first taste of an Ekiben steam bun. It totally lived up to the hype. And there was a lot of hype.

One sunny Saturday afternoon, Cooper and Dixon and I drove up to John Brown General and Butchery, which met all of my very high expectations. Not only is the place adorable, it's also filled with incredible meat, cheese, wine and other things I didn't even know I needed in my life, like a fistful of ramps (later grilled) and a plastic tub of creamy fresh ricotta.

One quiet Monday night, after a hellish day of writing, I had drinks with Charm City Cook at WC Harlan, followed by queso fundido (and more drinks) at Clavel. It was my first trip to WC Harlan, which was, as I expected, very cool and the drinks were thoughtful and creative and completely delicious.

The whole experience improved my day (and week) considerably. "Monday night drinks" sounds risky, but in this case, it was nothing but smart.

One good way to justify Sunday afternoon drinks and apps is to present it in class form. That's how I found myself drinking and eating my way through an afternoon at Bookmakers (again with Charm City Cook). CCC and behind-the-bar master Ryan Sparks teamed up for an Instagram class that genuinely helped me with my crappy picture-taking skills.

Also, it helped me enjoy my Sunday. Because, how couldn't I?

Baltimore's food scene has been exploding over the past couple years - and that's especially noticeable right in the middle of the city, near Hampden/Remington/Clipper Mill, where new restaurants and food-centric mixed use real estate projects are popping up every day.

I checked out one of those developments, Whitehall Mill, during a fun event organized by Baltimore magazine and CCC (she gets around). Whitehall Mill will include a pretty massive food hall and a restaurant, which is great  news for anyone who likes to eat.

At the end of April, I met college friends in New York and had brunch at Hudson Clearwater and drinks at Grand Banks (it's a bar on a sailboat!) and dinner at The Greenwich Project.

The weather was gorgeous, we drank a boatload of rose and prosecco, and it was so much fun. We hadn't all been together in twenty years, so the weekend could have, theoretically, been awkward. It wasn't. It was great.

Also, I want to give a special shoutout to the staff at The Greenwich Project.There was a seating mixup while we were there - something annoying but that could've been fixed with a single round of drinks. Instead, they bought all of our drinks and dessert - and encouraged us to keep ordering more. They went above and beyond to make sure we had a good time. So we did.

In mid-May, I went to Black-Eyed Susan Day, where we ran into Bowtie Bob, did not win any money, had our picture taken by an ESPN photographer, and were reminded that hats can seriously impede peripheral vision. Also, they make my head hot. But they're so cute!

Black-Eyed Susan Day, the day of races before Preakness, is billed as a ladies' day (though there are lots of guys there, too). Mostly, it's known as a more manageable, more grown-up Preakness for locals. There's still some great people-watching, but BESD does not involve the sort of infield antics that Preakness is known for. It's a good time!

Finally, we spent Memorial Day on Keuka Lake with Mike, Alicia and Maggie, watching Dixon learn to SUP while eating and drinking our faces off - including a trip to McGregor (my favorite Keuka winery) and two trips to The Olney Place, where Cider Creek's Cran-Mango Saison became my new favorite thing.

This isn't it, of course. There have been little girls' birthday parties and back porch dinners and a mother-son Oriole's game and two museum-heavy DC visits and a whole bunch of other fun things. It's been a great spring...and all signs are pointing to a summer that's just as eventful.

Drink Up, Baltimore

Chef Bryan Voltaggio's Wit + Wisdom contribution

Earlier this year, the weather was miserable. Remember February? Then March? Winter seemed like it was, truly, never going to end.

Then it did. Just like it always does.

And in those first, gorgeous weeks of Spring, my mind always drifts in the same direction. Straight to the bar.

There's just something fabulous about a break in the weather that makes me want to whip up a batch of fabulous drinks. Or have someone else whip some up for me.

This year, we kicked off outdoor drinking season at the Wit + Wisdom patio opening party, which featured drinks created and mixed by handful of great local chefs. The party raised a bunch of money for Share Our Strength and was a great time all around.

On my work front, I spent a few weeks chatting with bartenders about their favorite local watering holes and what they like to drink there. Writing that article was, obviously, a good time.

This year, even my intellectual side is all about the booze. When I got my copy of Forgotten Maryland Cocktails in the mail, I nearly squealed. Maryland + history + drinks - it is so full of things I love to read and think about. The section on Southsides, alone, is worth the price of the book. Really, it's fantastic - well-researched and super interesting and engaging. I love it.

This past weekend, after a long, nearly beer-less winter, I got back on the summer brew train. While the Labbatt Shandy cans that Alicia brought us from Keuka were slightly disappointing (they just didn't have much flavor - unlike Labbatt's Blue Light Lime, which is magical), we discovered that Leinenkugel's newish Grapefruit Shandy is FANTASTIC. Seriously. I wish I was drinking one right now.

Summer's Coming

As a general rule, I'm a stickler for tradition. But when it comes to Memorial Day, we like to mix it up. Some years, we just stay home. Last year, we went to Keuka Lake. This year, we're headed to the Fenwick for a few days.

As I started making my Fenwick packing lists, I realized that I'd completely skipped writing about a bunch of last summer's delicious exploits. Like, all of last summer's delicious exploits. So here we go with a few of them:

Left to right, starting on the top row: Dixon drinking Cheerwine in Duck, as we wait for our house to open; the fish tacos at Sunset Grille in Duck; Bill's gorgeous pina coladas at our Duck house tiki bar. Second row: Crabs and shrimp in Duck (note: NC crab steamers do not use NEARLY enough seasoning; A stuffed soft crab sandwich at Harris Crab House last Labor Day; Ropewalk Fenwick oysters. Third row: The final Fenwick Labor Day feast, including tomatoes and mozzarella, steamed shrimp and Patsy's soft shells.

Here's what I learned from these photos: I love shellfish.

Also: I am ready for summer 2015 to start. Right now.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Merry post-Christmas! As usual, I have a million things to post and instead of writing, I am clicking through "related link" after link on The Kitchn. It started when an old post about writers' favorite snacks showed up in my Facebook feed. 

How could I resist this:

Next thing you know, I'm knee deep in vintage cocktail recipes that have tenuous literary links.

And I'm still not any closer to finishing that post rounding up birthday celebrations from this past fall. Or, for that matter, writing about the Keuka Lake wing throwdown we judged last fourth of July. I'll get there?

Crabby Birthday

Alicia and Maggie returned from their six-week Keuka Lake sojourn just in time to celebrate her birthday...then get ready to go on vacation again (this is known among our friends as "Alicia's vacation preparing for vacation").

She came back on the 5th and on the 6th - her actual birthday - we celebrated with crabs (from Conrad's) and LBLLs and a pretty cake from Graul's.

We ended up with about eight leftover crabs, which I found in our refrigerator the next morning. I picked them (so slowly - I am the slowest crab-picker but I am very thorough) and turned them into a lovely crab and corn chowder.

I used this recipe to start, though I amped it up with fresh corn, more crab and way more salt. And it was good!

Crabs - they're the best.

Happy Fourth of July!

We are up at Alicia's family's house for the Fourth of July - it's our fifth Keuka fourth!

As usual, we are celebrating with a throwdown (wings!), boat rides, swimming and lots of snacks. Here's a quick and very incomplete glimpse:

After hearing about this beer's brilliance, I bought some. It really is pretty good. And definitely not too watermelony.

Alicia, Cooper and I went to happy hour at Heron Hill winery on Wednesday night. There was music and wine and snacks - like this locally sourced meat and cheese plate.

We've been busy here, in the best way. Friends, food, drinks...if that isn't the pursuit of happiness, I don't know what is.

[Note: This was also the first blog post I've ever written from my phone. It was...an OK experience. I couldn't easily figure out how to link to things, though. Sorry!]

Things We Did (and Ate) in May

Top row, left to right: oysters at Oyster Bay Grille, chicken box at Shoo-fly, menu at Le Garage, Maggie under Patrick's artwork at Holy Frijoles (photo by Alicia). Second row: Spanish tortilla and salad, Cooper's 20th reunion, crab and corn beignets at Oyster Bay, rockfish at Mari Luna. Third row: dinner on the porch at Tommy and Sarah's, spaghetti with tomatoes and anchovy butter, Cooper double-fisting at Counting Crows, radishes at Le Garage.


May: It was a busy month.

After we returned home from Paris, it was full steam ahead for both of us at work and also at home. We went out to dinner a lot last month - plus I actually cooked a couple nights here at home. Here are some highlights:

Dinners at Home
My first attempt at a Spanish tortilla (using this recipe) was surprisingly good. The whole time I was cooking, I thought I was doing it wrong - it just seemed like too much oil. But then I flipped it out of the pan and...it worked! Well-seasoned, too.

The other home-cooked meal, pasta with anchovy butter (this recipe but I pureed the sauce and added more anchovy) was also a good one. Both were solid weeknight meals.

There was a third, which isn't pictured, and which I didn't like as much. I made chicken and topped with the fried sage salsa verde from this recipe. Cooper liked it a lot, actually, but I thought the salsa verde had a sort of strange texture. The fried sage was interesting...but weird.

Moderately Big Friday Night #1
Just a week after we returned home from our visit with Patrick in Paris, we did a little more high school reunioning for Cooper - this time, in an official capacity.

Because Boys Latin is a smaller school, the reunions are lumped together into one party for all reunion years. We skipped the lacrosse game on Friday but went to the reception at the school Saturday night. It was nice...though Cooper's class turnout was on the nearly nonexistent side. Cooper's other high school friend Patrick - who lives in Maryland, not Paris - got sick the morning of the reunion and couldn't make it. That left just Cooper and two other guys.

I had a good time, anyway - both classmates were nice and I got to meet some teachers and administrators who feature prominently in stories I've heard from Cooper and the Patricks. Plus, I'm always happy to drink a few open bar gin and tonics.

After the reunion, we convinced Bill to meet us at Shoo-Fly, where we had a few drinks and I inhaled a chicken box special. I am a fan of Shoo-fly's fried chicken and their Western fries were - dare I say it? - better than RoFo's. They were so crispy and awesome. Plus, at the reunion, I'd had a couple drinks and nothing to eat. So that box full of fried stuff really hit the spot.

Big Friday Night #1
A week later, with Dixon at a Friday afternoon/evening playdate, Cooper and I took ourselves to Hampden. For months, we'd been excited about Le Garage, Sarah Acconcia's new restaurant in the Hampden space where Dogwood used to be. And it was great.

We had escargots and radishes to start and mussels and chicken-fried rabbit for dinner. Drinks were good, service was great (we sat at the bar) and we were happy all around.

After dinner, with some time to kill, we walked over to The Other Corner for a drink and then - thanks to some careful Facebook observation, we realized that Alicia and Maggie were at The Charmery. (Side note: is there any duo in Baltimore getting more love lately than The Other Corner and The Charmery? I don't think so. They are all over the place.)

We met them there then walked back to Holy Frijoles with them, where Alicia's brother, Patrick, was working, to deliver some Berger cookie ice cream. There, we got to see Patrick's art on the walls - and it was amazing. Pictures couldn't possibly have done it justice. And then...we picked up Dixon and went home.

Big Thursday Night
Mid-week, we hung out over at Tommy and Sarah's house, where we ate dinner on their front porch. It was a beautiful night, which made the whole eating out side thing kind of perfect.

Dinner was good fish tacos and rice - but even more exciting, we started with a steamed artichoke. Cooper hadn't ever had artichoke steamed and dipped in butter - and I'd only had it once, I think, and that was at a restaurant where the leaves had already been pulled from the vegetable. Totally old school, totally fun. Plus, butter is delicious.

Big Friday Night #2
A week or two later, we had another big outing - this time, it was a little more planned. The Counting Crows, nineties band extraordinaire, were playing Black-Eyed Susan Day over Preakness weekend. Cooper and I got excited and though all of our friends bailed (all for good reasons), we got ourselves some tickets and prepared to get muddy in the infield.

Before the concert, because we're grownups, we went to dinner. Since we were heading to Pimlico, I assumed we'd just go to the the Tavern, but instead, Cooper suggested Mari Luna. We hadn't been in a while - and we shouldn't wait so long before going again. I can't believe I forgot how good that place is. Cooper had rockfish, I had paella, and we were both so happy with our meals.

Counting Crows, unfortunately, was more of a disappointment. And by that, I mean that it was a total disappointment. Duritz and company really need to show a little more enthusiasm - and play some freaking August and Everything After - if they want to sell records.

After the concert, we convinced Mike and Alicia to meet us at Ryan's Daughter, to drown our sorrows. We drowned them.

Moderately Big Saturday Night #2
The next day, after Maggie and Mimi's ballet recital (hilarious and adorable), Dixon opted to have a sleepover at Cooper's parents' house, leaving us with an open evening. We were still tired from the night before, so we weren't up for much, but we had been meaning to try Oyster Bay Grille.

We weren't totally disappointed but we didn't love it, either. The oysters were good, though the mignonette was weirdly jellyish, and the crab and corn beignets were very likable. My mahi mahi tacos were good but - weirdly - they had way too much fish and Cooper's crab cake was noticeably underseasoned. Drinks were good and service (at the bar) was fine but the meal overall was kind of expensive. It needed to be better to justify the cost.

Our month didn't stop there - the next weekend was Memorial Day. Usually we stay home that weekend but this year, at the last minute, we headed up to Keuka Lake. Which was awesome, as usual...and will get it's own post. Hopefully before we go up there again for the 4th of July.

New and Fun

I am working on a post that wraps up all the fun things we did and cool places we ate in May (SPOILER ALERT: Le Garage is pretty awesome and we still love Keuka Lake). But that's taking longer than I'd like, mostly due to pesky things like the having to write things for people who pay me. The horror. Writing for money.

In the meantime, here are a couple thing that are fun, new, and that I can write about quickly:

• Over the past, oh, six months, I've written multiple articles about oysters. The first two came out this week - this one in Chesapeake Home + Living and this one in The Sun. A third runs next week in The Sun. Writing these has been so great. You know how Julia Child said that people who love food are the best people? Well, as far as I'm concerned, people who love oysters are the best people among those people. And I got to talk to a lot of them this winter and spring.
• Kathy (aka the Minx) and Neal Patterson's new book, Baltimore Chef's Table, just arrived at my house this afternoon - and it is gorgeous. I have to admit, though, as I was flipping through the pages, reading recipes and admiring the really fantastic collection of restaurants included, all I could think about was how much work it must have been to get all those chefs to send in their recipes and schedule photos. I love chefs - I truly do - but being a great, creative mind in the kitchen does not always translate to being an efficient emailer. That said, it's a great book. Buy it.
• I have decided that Seattle mixologist Anu Apte would be my BFF if she lived in Baltimore. You know how I know? This Food and Wine article, in which she mentions her love for Lumosity. ME TOO.

The Dos & Don'ts of Keuka Lake Wine Tasting

We are just back from our third annual wine tasting trip around Keuka Lake. At this point, I feel confident that we are experts. To cement that status, here are our dos and don'ts of Keuka wine tasting:

This year, only Cooper, Alicia, Mike and I could make it. On Friday night, we went out to dinner then stayed up waaaay too late. Saturday, we had lunch at Bully Hill then hit two of our favorite wineries from years past: Keuka Spring and McGregor.

We rounded out the evening with a trip to the awesomely divey bar, The Switz, and a visit to The Olney Place for provisions and to say hi to the proprietor, Seth, an old friend of Alicia's family.

Overall, we had a blast - as usual. Lots of laughing, one dip in the lake (Cooper) and lots of wine - some of it good, even.

Can't wait to go back next year.

Keuka Recap: Fourth of July 2013

I know this is crazy, but I've already written a recap for our trip to Keuka for the fourth of July. That's right - that holiday that just happened earlier this month! Already written! It's like I don't even know me anymore.

Anyway, it was a great time - as always. I've summed it up in slideshow form for your viewing enjoyment. Warning: it's a lot of food. Mostly in slider form.

Sidenote: I just discovered that the above slideshow cuts off halfway through. I can't figure out the problem - but the whole slideshow is at this link.

Smoke 'Em If You've Got 'Em

Up at Keuka Lake, this year's trout fishing has been prolific.Alicia's dad, Big G, and her 

Uncle Danny (aka "Diddy") have been killing it in the early mornings and evenings.

Last week, while we were up there, Cooper went out with the two of them and 

brought home some gorgeous fish. We ate some for breakfast one morning - there's 

nothing like a big lake breakfast - and we brought some home with us.

Cooper smoked what we brought home on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, I 

shredded some of it and tossed it in a simple green salad. The salad was dressed 

in a simple red wine-Dijon vinaigrette and accessorized with goat cheese and bread. 

It was light and smoky and great:

Yesterday I shredded a few more of the smoked filets and mixed them with 

cream cheese, smoked jalapenos (from the garden), capers, lemon juice, salt 

and hot sauce for a simple smoked trout spread:

Some of that will go to work with Cooper and some will go with us to the beach, 

where most of our friends won't eat it - but we will!

I still have more trout in the refrigerator. Good problem to have!

Fourth of July 2012 at Keuka Lake - Only a Little Late with the Recap!

Better late than never, right?  

Can't wait for this year - it's the fifth annual Kelly Family Fourth of July Throwdown. The first year, I judged sliders from afar. The second year, when Cooper and Joe and I judged for the first time as a team, the theme was "meat in a casing." That was a lot of hot dogs. Then there were appetizers with pirates and finally, last year, Olympics-themed small bites. This year, it's back to sliders, with a side of Cowboys & Indians. And Dixon and I are off to do some costume shopping now!

P.S. This is my first try with a slideshow on the blog. Still experimenting and figuring out which software to use...

From the Sea

It's been seafood city at my house lately. 

First, Mike and Alicia brought home a ton of trout from Memorial Day

at Keuka Lake, so Cooper smoked a bunch of it:

Then Cooper spent an afternoon fishing on the Bay with his friend Tony. 

He came home with four rockfish filets that made outrageously good

rockfish ceviche (my own recipe):

And THEN we closed our our weekend with a bushel of crabs from Conrad's:

Mike, Alicia, Kyle, Mary, Bill, Jeff and Christine came over 

(we hadn't seen J&C forever...that was the official occasion for the crab feast).

The crabs were my first all year and they were awesome 

(the first of the year usually are).

We didn't quite finish them, so I picked the last 14 yesterday (took forever)

and made crab and fried chicken sandwiches (with the leftover RoFo).

Summer is here. And it tastes so good.

Cheers to 2013!

It's champagne cocktail and champagne chair season - one of my favorite times of year.

Unlike in the past, this year, I'm still puzzling over what my New Year's Resolutions should be. Previous kept resolutions include getting more haircuts, wearing more mascara (or, actually, wearing mascara more frequently), taking up caftan-wearing, and having more parties.

Unkept resolutions include working less. And working less.

This past year has been a busy one (see: unkept resolutions), but also an exciting one. Between Dixon starting kindergarten and Cooper and I reviewing a restaurant every week for The Sun, things have been hectic, but so much fun. Add in a bunch of parties, a week in the Outer Banks, a few trips to Keuka Lake, a fantastic wedding in Vermont, and countless random nights spent hanging out in our kitchen with friends, and you've got a really fantastic year all around. One we've been lucky to have.

Tonight we'll celebrate with a quiet dinner and tomorrow at a huge party thrown by one of Mike's brother's and his wife.

And after that? If we're lucky, it'll be more of the same. More dinners, more parties, more nights hanging out in the kitchen.

What else could we ask for?

Keuka Lake Wine Tasting Weekend Recap

As previously mentioned, a couple of weeks ago, we spent the weekend 

wine-tasting our way around Keuka Lake with Alicia, Mike, and Stacy.

It was a good time.

The highlights:

Links:

Bully Hill Vineyards

Keuka Lake Vineyards

Ravines Wine Cellars

McGregor Winery

The Olney Place

Keuka Spring Winery

Champaigne BBQ

[Some of these photos were taking by me, some by Alicia, and some by Stacy. And the picture of The Olney Place comes from a Keuka real estate website - A Chair on the Lake.]

Lake Trout

And not the kind you get in Baltimore strip malls, either.

When we arrived at the Keuka Lake house last Thursday night, Alicia had a
great dinner planned. The centerpiece? A gorgeous trout
Alicia's dad caught right in the lake:

He'd caught it the week before, cleaned it and stuck it in the freezer.

The fish did take about a million years to defrost,

but once it did, it was gorgeous.

Alicia stuffed it with onions and lemons, rubbed it in olive oil, and seasoned it

with salt and pepper before grilling. Simple and pretty much perfect.

Also on the menu: salad with Samos dressing, grilled baby eggplants picked

from the lake house garden, grilled flank steak (yes, surf and turf) and

mac and cheese made with tomatoes and bacon: 

A good solid night-before-we-go-wine-tasting dinner.

But more on that later.

[Note: In case you're wondering, yes, I did forget my camera last weekend. 

So all the pics were taken with my phone. And they are all awful and blurry.]

Recovering...

We are home, after a whirlwind weekend touring the wineries around Keuka Lake with Alicia, Mike and Stacy. It was so much fun and we drank some really nice wines (I'm looking at you, McGregor Black Russian Red)...but wow is wine-tasting exhausting!

Also exhausting? Coming home to laundry, a bouncy six-year old, and a whole bunch of deadlines.

There will be a longer post to follow. Once a cross a few things off my to-do list!