crackers

Crab feasts are the quintessential Maryland eating experience, no? Pulling in to Jefferson Patterson Park in St. Leonard, in southern Calvert County, for an annual professional association shin-dig, we were greeted with stacks of bushel baskets brimming with live local jimmies pulled from southern Maryland waters. The picnic tables were ready with brown paper, mallets, saltine crackers, vinegar and paper towels. The crabs were mostly mediums, more light ones than I would have expected, but steamed right on-site they were sweet and hot – Old Bay style. The crabs were replenished even before we could finish the trays already on the table, so I lost count of how many we plowed through – lots. For sides there were sweet white corn, good ‘cue, burgers, dogs, slaw, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies and brownies. For some reason, no watermelon or cantaloupe this year. And of course, endless Bud on tap with which to wash it all down. Followed by a long siesta. Is there a better way to spend a hot summer afternoon in southern Maryland?

Corned beef hash, two organic eggs over easy, sourdough toast with blackberry jam, a pot of Ceylon vanilla bourbon tea and a glass of apricot juice, at the Pine Cone Diner in Pt. Reyes Station. Jet fuel. A run on the beach at Drake's Bay assuaged the guilt. A little.

Returning to civilization after eating tons of trail dust in the Desolation Wilderness- time for a hot breakfast that doesn't taste freeze-dried. Only one place will do: Red Hut Waffle Shop in South Lake Tahoe. We had the specials: fresh strawberry pancakes and a four-egg omelet with scallion, tomatoes, avocado, jack cheese and sour cream, side of hash browns with a good amount of tabasco, and ice. cold. milk.

An outing is in the works for a dim sum pleasure trip to the Golden Palace in Glen Burnie near Baltimore this Sunday, at 11 AM. (finished in plenty of time to drive to DC for dinner at, say, Galileo.) It will be some rockwellians and some chowhounds who ('tis true) coexist in peace and harmony. Golden Palace is located at 5721 Ritchie Highway, just north of Glen Burnie, inside the Baltimore Beltway. Here is the approximate location Golden PalaceI'm told there are four types of dim sum carts: plain kitchen carts for the desserts and other cold dishes; the usual heated carts; a cart with a built-in griddle for heating and crisping things; and a cart with deep wells for congee and flavorings (this cart also holds the duck feet and the chicken feet.) Here's what has been written before: "The place opens at 11 AM on Sunday, and by noon is filled, mostly with Chinese families. Standouts included the very suckable ribs with black beans, the sesame balls filled with bean paste, the steamed 'fun gor' (mashed beef, shrimp and peanuts in baby flesh), and what was described as "chicken from round the ribs", and was the essence of chickeny chicken. The strangest thing was 'mai tai goh' described as water chestnut cake. It was slabs of not too sweet yellow jello with shards of water chestnut, sauteed on the griddle in front of us! Worth a try. . . . There were also good off -menu items at other tables" If you are interested in coming, PM or email me and I will pass the word along (it's not expensive, so I think the plan is to just split the check.)

Thanks to everybody who responded. We have a maxed out table of new and veteran rockwellians set to go. Thank you Rissa for your help!

And so it was. Yes, Corduroy's bar/lounge is open Sunday evenings, and yes. there is a full bar menu as well as a generous portion of specials including several full entrees. We enjoyed the "foot long" spring rolls and buffala mozzarella porcupine and Ferhat also brought us two intense ice creams - rasberry and an awesome lemon. Oh my, were those great. It was my first visit, and I'm very glad we ended up there - it was quiet, comfortable and delicious. My friend stuck with vodka on the rocks but Ferhat made me a wonderful concoction of campari, vodka and cointreau - I think. What ever it was, it hit the spot that a frou frou drink doesn't usually hit for me. I am sure we overstayed our welcome, but we had many years of catching up to do. We made it to about year 10 by last call, but that's ok... I'll be back for restaurant week. FY-I: Corduroy plans to extend its Restaurant Week by an extra week. Thanks you all for your suggestions!

grilled sausage and shrimp, and eastern shore corn and vegetables.

they have good lamb!

Corduroy?

Then Open Table has it wrong?!? Thanks for the info!

Need somewhere to get together Sunday evening for drinks and probably a light meal near the Grand Hyatt - at 10th and H with someone who is blind. A comfortable bar/lounge area where we can also eat, or a table where we can heareasily is ideal. Also something not likely to be found in Albany, NY. Sunday evenings probably aren't too busy most downtown places, but Corduroy is closed Sundays, right?

After reading this story, I'm thinking that a drive-by of the Ugly Mug for some take-out mini-burgers might be a tasty alternative. With a little notice, they will pack them up to go!

I think RFK Stadium bans anything but bottled water to be brought in, and they do search bags. Anybody tried it? Please, oh please let me be wrong because Barbara is right... the so-called food and beer is total crap - which is probably why so many people tailgate before the games.

Eastern shore (Maryland) farm stands in Talbot and Dorchester counties are already flush with sweet white corn, yellow and zucchini squash and green beans. The consensus seems to be that cantaloupes will be at the stands next week and the earliest tomatoes the week after that.

Speaking of which....for any and all who might be interested, I have booked a Restaurant Week table at Corduroy for Saturday evening, August 6th at 6pm. Just PM or email me if you would like to join the table.

Archibald's owner is Dan Harris.

Hi Tom, Thanks for joining us. A complaint about *certain* annual food guides such as this one: for example only is that they are slow to update – it is the same or similar review year after year even when a place has obviously gone downhill or uphill. How often will you go back to check that your former reviews are still accurate? For instance, will it be sooner if you get word that something has gone seriously downhill or uphill, and will the star rating be updated on the website more than annually if that turns out to be the case? Thanks.

Midsummer night sail to watch the full moon rising and discuss the state of the world. Buckets of sangria, prosciutto and melon, crab dip, cheeses, bbq flank steak, spinach salad, bow tie pasta salad, blueberry pound cake, lemon pound cake and more sangria. . . . . . . . . .

Spiced Peaches From the 1963 "Freezing and Canning Cookbook" by the food editors of the Farm Journal, this recipe is worth it even though it spans two days. Better to at least double the recipe to maximize the effort. 4 lbs freestone peaches (about 16 medium) 1 T. whole cloves 2 quarts water 2 T. plus 1 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar 4 c. sugar 3/4 cup water 1 tsp. whole ginger piece 2 sticks cinnamon, plus optional half stick for each jar Largest size you have non-aluminum pot To peel peaches, bring a large pot of water to boil and dunk a few peaches in at a time for 30 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon and peel. Stick one clove in each peach. Mix 2 T vinegar into 2 quarts water and pour it over the whole peaches (I used to use a scrubbed out sink to hold them all) and let sit for an hour or so while you suck down a couple of cold ones. In the large non-aluminum pot, combine the sugar, 1 1/2 c. vinegar, 3/4 c. water, add a cheesecloth bag or tea ball of the ginger, remaining cloves, and cinnamon, and bring to boil. Drain the peaches and add to the pot. Cover and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from burner and allow the peaches to steep overnight in the covered pot. Lift out the peaches with slotted spoon to drain, and put them in hot jars(putting the jars through the hottest dishwasher cycle by themselves works, but boil the lid disks in a pot.) Reboil the remaining liquid to a rapid boil and fill jars up to within 1/2" of top. Add a half-stick of cinnamon into each jar (optional). Pop on the lids and process for 30 minutes.

Happy watermelon salad: cut one big watermelon - or two smaller ones of different colors, into 1-inch pieces, or large melon-ball size - about a gallon.Whisk together 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (not concentrate) with 2/3 cup sugar until the sugar dissolves, then add about 1/2 cup vodka and 1/3 cup blackcurrant liqueur (crème de cassis) to it. Add a little salt to taste and pour the liquid over the watermelon. Place in a bowl or in large freezer bags and put it in the refrigerator or a cooler for a couple of hours. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup finely shredded mint right before you serve it. You can transport it in the large freezer bags. And the juice at the bottom makes good drinking too.

The return visit proved every bit as tasty as the first. And those truffled peaches were a treat. The venison carpaccio: was a beautiful presentation.

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Mosaic of Steel Head Wild Salmon, Blue Fin Tuna, Caribbean Princess Conch Meat Jelly and Baja Stone Crab on "Saraceno" Potato

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