24 Hours in the City of Brotherly Love

by EP

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Annie at her home in Philadelphia, PA. You might remember her from our Adventures in St. Louis a few years ago. Not only is Philly a great historic town with fanatical sports fans and a pretty killer food scene -- it also happens to be my birthplace. Woot! We celebrated my big 3-0 in Philly last summer and had a totally fabulous time. (I still count our meal at Zahav as one of the best in my whole life. Yes it's that good.)

I was pretty pumped to visit Annie, her husband Chet, and their baby James for a short but fun-filled visit. I don't like showing up places empty-handed so I brought a small sweet treat to Annie and family: Mexican-Spiced Hot Fudge. Blog and recipe to be posted soon!

Just passing through? A guide to Baltimore eats.

by EP & X


Just passing through Baltimore and looking for something good to eat?  Or a local looking for some new places to try? We've put together this list of great Baltimore eats, some of which you may have heard of or seen on Food Network/Cooking Channel, and some of which you may have no clue about.  That's where we come in: let us be your guide to Charm City noms!

Below is a hodge-podge list of places to check out, ranging from low-brow street food to high-end local and sustainable cuisine.  The list is by no means exclusive and we should probably plan to do a Part II for all the great places we're forgetting.  But until then, check out this list, grab a fork, and get ready to dive into Baltimore's finest eats:

B&O Does Coffee and Donuts (and more!)

by EP & X

Last week, we were invited to attend a press dinner at one of our favorite Baltimore spots, the B&O American Brasserie.  Long-time readers will remember that we've been many times and always enjoy the seasonal menu, interesting cocktails, playful desserts, and beautiful space.  And last week was no different!  We enjoyed a number of outstanding dishes while chatting away with other Baltimore food bloggers and journalists including Dara of Dining Dish and Nakiya of Taste of Baltimore.  

We started with champagne (much, much needed after the stress of work these days), but we had to try some of the bartender's amazing and always interesting cocktails.  Xani got The Cadizian, for which the B&O bartender won the title in a recent cocktail contest where the featured spirit was sherry.  I got the "Law Dog," which featured Grey Goose, Galliano, grapefruit juice, and orange syrup.  Yum yum yum (and a little tipsy).

Xani's drink; EP & Nakiya chat in the background

Springtime for Rollos: Part 2 (or "Puddin' it be Rice?")

by Erin and Xani

After an outstanding first day in NYC, we had more big plans (eating AND non-eating, if you can believe it) for Day 2. We were going to go for a fancy, multi-course brunch but after all of our great meals the day before, we weren't quite ready for another biggie. I said to Lauren, "Isn't there someplace we can go and have a great cup of coffee and a croissant? Somewhere like Bouchon Bakery [Thomas Keller's famous bakery]?" Lauren, with one eyebrow raised, said "Uh, there is a Bouchon. It's like 5 blocks from here." HUZZAH!! We had our brunch place.

On our way over to the Time Warner Center, we met Eliot, a St. Bernard who lived nearby.

When we arrived at the Time Warner Center we went up to the 4th floor to Bouchon Bakery. In addition to our coffee, we ordered a croissant, a corn muffin, a linzer cookie, and a box of donut holes called "bouchkins"! How cute.



The croissant was light, flaky, and buttery - just what we were craving. The corn muffin was good too - slightly sweet, slightly savory, good texture.

The bouchkins were SO good - half had powdered sugar on the outside, half had cinnamon-sugar. Of course, we love our coffee and donuts!



And the coffee was good and strong. Mmmm.

After breakfast, we headed over towards the Museum of Modern Art to check out the Tim Burton exhibit. On our way, we stopped at Anthropologie and purchased a few goodies! Who can resist that place??

The Tim Burton exhibit was awesome. He had all kinds of pieces from sculpture to paintings on canvas to animated videos, plus there were a lot of pieces from his various movies, including Beetlejuice, Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Mars Attacks, and Sweenie Todd. It was REALLY crowded since the exhibit was closing the next week, but it was a great exhibit and we were really glad we could go.

Welcome to the Tim Burton exhibit...

After our museum visit, we needed to go back to the hotel to grab our bags, so while in the neighborhood we grabbed a NY slice at Famiglia Pizza. We got a slice of plain, a slice of veggie, and a slice of white pizza - all were good and really hit the spot after fighting through the crowds at the museum.





Excited for veggie pizza?

We then schlepped downtown to go meet Lauren's boyfriend, John, and his peeps at a bar near NYU. But we had one more stop to make before we did that: Rice to Riches. For three girls who really aren't big rice pudding fans, we were THRILLED to be headed to R2R for a sweet treat. Xani originally heard of this place on the relatively new show on Food Network, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Upon further research, we discovered that this place had approximately 20 flavors of rice pudding, plus about 15 toppings to go on top. Decisions, decisions!





When we arrived at R2R, we first noticed the decor - the place was covered in fantastic sayings and instructions, like "Sleep till you're hungry, eat till you're sleepy," or "Eat Right. Exercise. Die Anyway." or "No Skinny Bitches!" Our kinda place.

We ordered two flavors of rice pudding with two toppings. First we ordered the French Toast flavor of rice pudding with a crumbly, buttery granola topping (this was the suggested flavor-topping combo on the TV show). Second, we made up our own combo and ordered the Mascarpone with Cherries flavor, plus the most genius topping ever: toasted poundcake CROUTONS! What?! Why didn't we think of that??

Mascarpone with Cherries and poundcake croutons

French Toast with Oatmeal Coconut Granola Topping

Both were excellent - sweet, complex flavors, good texture from the rice and the toppings, and everything was served chilled.

Lauren and Xani about to dig in!

So good EP was a'dancin'

Not surprisingly, we preferred our flavor combo to the one we saw on TV...not that we're biased or anything. It was a great treat but it definitely put us in a rice pudding coma for a few hours.

We hung out with Lauren's boyfriend and his friends for a little while, but then headed to Brooklyn to sit quietly and come out of the rice pudding haze. I'll save our amazing Greek dinner in Brooklyn for the next NYC post. Coming soon, I promise!

Happy rice pudding eating,

EP & X

The Lexington Donut Challenge

by Erin



About a week ago, Xani blogged about National Donut Day (or rather, it's mysterious reappearance after we already celebrated it back in June?), and a reader named Kalee commented with a simple question: "May I ask if you know of good places to get donuts here in Baltimore?"

I began to reply to Kalee but realized that there were only two donut places in all of Baltimore that I could even think of for donuts: the old favorite Dunkin' Donuts, and the MD chain called Fractured Prune, which I associate with the beach since that's where it got started, but apparently they are now located all over Maryland (and elsewhere).

Then, I remembered one of the fondest memories of law school: exam snacks. In the midst of stress, lack of sleep, too much coffee, and the elements of second degree murder swimming through our first-year heads, the Maryland Law Alumni Association always provided snacks for students on exam days. Afternoon and evening snacks were just lame packaged crackers and cookies, but morning exam-takers got the best of the best: coffee and some of the best donuts I've ever had! And these donuts were from the famous Lexington Market, just up the street from the law school.

With this memory recalled, my co-workers and I got to researching the bakeries at the Lex to see if we could find the one that had provided our exam donuts. Unfortunately, there were FIVE bakeries in the Lex that sold donuts - how would we ever determine who had those great donuts?! There was only one way: a donut tasting. (Recall that this was not my first donut tasting; we had a glorious donut tasting experience in NYC with Doughnut Plant donuts....mmm square donuts...).



A reminder of the Doughnut Plant tasting of '08

Early the next morning, co-workers Ray and Bianca joined me on the quick trip to the Lex where we planned on buying donuts from several bakeries to bring back to the office for a blind taste test. We ended up getting donuts from Harbor City Bakery, Donut Delite, and the Berger Bakery (maker of those irresistable, classicly Baltimore cookies: Berger Cookies).



We tried to get similar flavors from each bakery for better comparison. We also compared prices. Here was the breakdown:

Harbor City Bakery: $2.25/doz ($.19/donut)
Donut Delite: $1.90/half doz ($.32/donut)
Berger Bakery: $3.25/half doz ($.54/donut)

So clearly, there is a price discrepancy. But how did they taste?? We set up the conference room table in a grid formation, where each column was a different bakery (they were anonymously labeled A, B, and C), and then the rows were the different flavors of donuts. As you can see, we didn't have a perfect flavor match-up between the three bakeries. Ah well.





Flavors included a chocolate-glazed cake, a glazed raised, a pumpkin spice, double chocolate, boston creme, and sour cream (sometimes called sour dough - any thoughts on this discrepancy?). Everyone from the office came to try a taste of each kind.



Surprisingly, many people loved Donut Delite, but lots of folks also preferred the Berger donuts. I personally thought Berger blew everyone else out of the water - the sour cream was phenomenal, and the chocolate glazed cake was extra special because it had a regular glaze on it in addition to the chocolate glaze. A-mazing. As a donut connoisseur, I can tell you these were outstanding donuts, to rival even the fanciest donut shops.



Doubly-glazed Berger chocolate-glazed cake donut...drooling now...



Sour cream donut, ready for taste-testing



Glazed donut, ready for taste-testing



Chocolate-glazed cake donut

Another hot topic of conversation was the boston creme donut: the group was seriously split about which was the best, partially because there are so many components to analyze: dough, creme, and frosting. The group never quite came to a decision on which was better, but Donut Delite and Berger were the two everyone was talking about. Sorry Harbor City...



Berger Bakery Boston Creme donut



Donut carnage

By the end of it, we were all in a sugar coma and trying to kill time until the afternoon when several of us in the office were to receive our highly-anticipated bar exam results. I'm happy to report that later in the day, I found out that I PASSED!!! Thanks to all my friends and especially the BCD family for helping me and putting up with me during the bar - I truly couldn't have done it without you. And to say thanks, donuts for everyone!! :)

Thanks to Ray, Bianca, and Dave for helping me with the Lexington Donut Challenge, and thanks Kalee for your comment - it turned into a delicious experiment! And, to answer your question, I recommend the Berger Bakery donuts in the Lex. Soooo good...

Happy donut tasting,
EP

OMG- National Donut Day, AGAIN??

Didn't we celebrate National Donut Day back on June 5? Well, according to the good folks on Twitter, today is National Donut Day Part Two. Who knew such a thing existed?? I'm not one to turn down any excuse to eat a donut, so bring it on! Thanks to the internets for bringing this to our attention. Now we'll be sure to celebrate this important (?) holiday (?) with a tasty, fried donut! You should too!!

Happy National Donut Day!

X & EP

P.S. Can't get away from work for a donut fix? Live vicariously and check out these donut-related posts

Today is National Donut Day!

by Erin



Hey folks! My apologies for being a bit absent in recent weeks - I have started studying for the dreaded bar exam so I don't have much time for anything that does not include studying, eating, or sleeping (with the occasional break for recorded episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance"). BUT, I had to take a break from studying to inform all you donut-loving readers that today is National Donut Day! Apparently Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' are celebrating with freebies.

We love a good donut, so let's take a trip down memory lane to remember some of our favorite donuts we've had in the two years we've been blogging [cue music, "The Road is Long"]:

Dunkin' donut on Free Iced Coffee Day

Coffee and mini donut at Egg in NYC

The BCD girls at the Doughnut Plant in NYC!

Donut tasting - donuts from Doughnut Plant NYC

Beignets at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans

Read more of our donut-related posts here. And the picture at the top is courtesy of our BFF Lauren from when she did a field report on Dynamo Donuts in San Francisco for us.

Happy donut day!
EP

ps. Post coming soon about my post-graduation whirlwind trip to NYC! I promise it's coming as soon as I just learn all the elements of larceny, robbery, burglary, larceny by trick, false pretenses, forgery, etc. etc. etc.

Bayou Eats 2009

by Erin

As some of you might know, right after the New Year I went down to New Orleans and Thibodaux (pronounced: tih-boh-doh), Louisiana to participate in the Maryland Law Katrina Project, just like last year. We worked with the Bayou Habitat for Humanity to build a few houses for individuals who were displaced by Katrina.

A couple friends and I went down to NOLA a day early to do some eating and drinking before heading to the middle of nowhere for a week. After checking into our hotels, we hit up my favorite place in the Big Easy: Café du Monde! We enjoyed some beignets and amazing café au laits, and I taught my friends how to eat the donuts without inhaling all of the powdered sugar – a skill required if you’re going to enjoy many a beignet.

Next we wandered over to another famous spot in NOLA: Pat O’Brien’s, home of the Hurricane, a cocktail that tastes like fruit punch and got me drunk after about two sips. We were enjoying our cocktails on the outdoor patio and admiring this AMAZING fountain which had both fire AND water (“but they’re mortal enemies!”), when the skies opened up and we were caught in a downpour.

Amazing fountain at Pat O's

This downpour continued for the remainder of the evening and we had the “drowned rat” look going for us all night long. BUT, we had many more stops to make in the French Quarter, so we moved on to: the Acme Oyster House!

The gang after a run through the rain

Last time I went to this NOLA seafood staple (and, admittedly, probably a tourist trap like Phillips…), Xani and I had to wait in line for quite a while, but this time, we waited about 10 minutes (thankfully under an awning out of the rain) and were seated.

One of Acme’s specialties is oysters (duh) so we got some raw oysters and some fried oysters to share. Of the four of us in our party, I happened to be the only one who had ever had oysters, so it took some coaxing to get my buddies to try them. We started with the fried oysters: they had a great crunch from the not-too-thick coating, and a bit of that oyster flavor came through. They were served with a spicy remoulade sauce which was a great compliment.

Next up were the raw boys. I was excited to dig in, especially after my very positive oyster experience at the Oyster Riot. However, some of the others required some encouragement. I was so proud that everyone tried them, although some liked them a lot more than others. Aaron was very excited to try the oysters and even called his dad to tell him the news! Sounds like something I’d do…

Kevin vs. his first oyster

Aaron enjoying his first raw oyster! At the time this picture was taken, I was on the phone with his Dad giving him a play by play

For our mains we got some classics: fried crawfish po’ boys, etouffee, red beans and rice, etc. etc. Everything was great and the atmosphere was fun and lively.

Fried crawfish po' boy

Etouffee and red beans and rice

We left Acme and wandered through the French Quarter (well, ran through the rain and got completely soaked) going from bar to bar, listening to great jazz and halfway-decent cover bands.

The next day the others flew in from Baltimore and we spent a few hours in NOLA before heading out to Thibodaux, about an hour outside of NOLA. We spent the week working on houses, hauling dirt, building a sub-floor, and painting, measuring, and installing floor molding. The H4H folks were wonderful to work with, and we got to meet and work with the people for whom we were building the houses.

On our last night in Thibodaux, we went to a local joint called Bubba’s II for some serious bayou cuisine. I was so excited to try the local fare since we stayed in our Habitat homes for dinner on all the other nights.

A few friends and I ordered a few things to share (you know I love sharing!) and we ordered a fried seafood platter with catfish and oysters, a platter with shrimp etouffee, fried shrimp, and potato salad, and a crazy “hamburger steak” filled with jalapenos, onions, and cheese, with more onions and gravy on top, all on top of fries. Ouch – my heart!

Catfish and oysters

Fried shrimp, shrimp etouffee, and kickass potato salad

Hamburger steak with onions, jalapenos, gravy, etc. etc.

The best thing of the night was definitely, without fail, the etouffee – it was creamy and rich and shrimpy and absolutely delicious. The potato salad was some of the best of my life, and we had had similarly outstanding potato salad several other times during the week – it must be a thing down in the bayou. Potato salad is the new fries, I guess?

The burger was very flavorful and spicy, and the caramelized onions and gravy were a great and different addition. It was a pretty sinful dish, but I had hauled dirt all day, so I didn’t feel so bad.

The food and the company at Bubba's II was great, as we got to chat and reflect on our week together. After dinner we headed into the bar area where most of the gentlemen were watching some football game, and I joined several ladies for a rousing game of DOMINOES! We played all week and it was so fun! I can't wait to get a set for us to play with at Blackacre...

Team Dominoes!

It was a great trip down south to do some mitzvot (good deeds), make great friends, and have a few good meals. Thanks to Habitat and everyone for making it such a successful and fun-filled trip, and special thanks to friends Jenny and Veronica for being our fearless leaders!

The whole building crew!

Happy building,

EP