Maryland Foodways - 130 years in 13 courses

I don’t know about you but I love a good back story.  My favorite cookbooks are those that have a story to tell behind the recipe.  If you are like me, you enjoy knowing the quirks, history and reason a dish became a family tradition, maybe that story about the crazy aunt who had to stir the pot left to right or it wouldn’t turn out at its best.  Do I have an interesting evening of food, recipes and history at the Women’s Exchange. 

The Maryland Humanities Council cordially invites all to Dine, Dish and Discover, a unique culinary evening of home cooking and a look at Maryland’s food history. Food writer and critic Richard Gorelick along with Chef Irene Smith of the Women’s Exchange and Super Freaks food truck are the featured speakers.  

Guests will sample 13 different Maryland dishes – one for each decade that the Women’s Exchange has been interwoven in people’s lives at the historic Charles Street home.  On Tuesday, December 3, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Woman’s Industrial Kitchen all will gather and enjoy foods of bygone era and modern day...get all the details and menu HERE.

French’s French Fried Onions goes beyond string bean casserole - recipes

Those crunchy little bits that are integral to the holidays most popular recipe, the iconic string bean casserole. Well guess what, those are French’s French Fried Onions. So this holiday season, enjoy an extra spoonful of the original Green Bean Casserole, but be sure to serve it with one of its contemporary “cousins” such as French’s Crunchy Onion Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole with Crunchy Onion Topping, Crunchy Spinach Bake and Crispy Holiday Stuffing and watch as your family smiles with satisfaction.

Get the recipes HERE.

Emeril Lagasse’s free holiday cookbook – easy to download

Chef Emeril Lagasse has gathered up and put into a downloadable format a cookbook of his favorite recipes from his restaurants and home kitchen. His recipe for banana layer cake from his Nola Restaurant caught my eye, it looked intriguing. As I delved a bit further on his website I found that he had assembled absolutely eye-catching, mouth-watering holiday recipes.

 Since the recipes are downloadable in a PDF format they can be shared easily with family and friends. Maybe you are splitting up the holiday food preparation responsibilities or just care to share.

Get all the details and watch the video HERE.

Holiday pie crisis, call Crisco’s Pie Hotline – sweet or savory

I don’t know about you but pie in the sky is more achievable than me making a real-life pie. I am not a great pie maker, and yes, I know there is ready made pie dough.  I want to achieve pie nirvana and I’m sure there are a number of you out there who have the same dream, creating the perfect pie.  Crisco’s pie hot line success over the past 7 years has led to them extending the hours this year.

Watch the video and read the full story HERE.

Make your reservations now – Cunningham’s opens November 22

The Bagby Restaurant Group has another hit on its hands; Cunningham’s in Towson, their first  endeavor outside of Baltimore City.  Located in the high rise building, Towson City Center, 1 Olympic Place where Joppa and York Roads almost converge on the round-about. 

After attending the media cocktail hour and the friends and family soft-opening  left no doubt in my mind that this will be the place “to see and be seen.” The décor, impeccable as is their TenTen and Fleet Street Kitchen restaurants. The food, which I would describe as home-style with an urban twist, offers raw and chilled seafood, wood-oven flatbreads, selection of dishes to be shared the likes of steak tartare to housemade charcuterie.  I enjoyed their pretzel encrusted fried oysters from their appetizer selections and the husband enjoyed the chicken pot pie.  The Dorchester county jumbo lump crab cakes followed what we consider traditional sides; cole slaw and fries but theirs had the variation with pickled celery root rémoulade accompanied with a copper Moscow mule filled with house cut fries.  During the media cocktail hour I got to sample their onion rings with kimchi aioli, the best onion rings EVER! How good, I ordered them the next night during the soft opening. Ooh, ooh – if you are a dessert person, get their ice cream sundae; vanilla ice cream, chocolate-cherry sauce, brownie bites, caramel corn, whipped cream, amarena cherry. 

Watch the slideshow and read the full story HERE.

Royale with Beer football team creates Locust Point pub crawl to benefit baby Olivia

Touch football team Royale with Beer, a play on Pulp Fiction’s name for McDonald’s Quarter Pounder on Cheese in France called a Royale with cheese, epitomizes working as team. When their teammate, Marcus Blair, learned his baby Oliva was ill, teammates rallied to create a fundraiser. That is what one calls teamwork.

Team member Marcus Blair and his wife Kelly,, have the American dream; a loving marriage, a new home and baby girl named Oliva. One and a half year old Olivia, recently diagnosed with leukemia has a very good chance at a full, normal life but she has a few years of treatment ahead of her. As you can imagine this puts a strain on that American dream; emotionally, physically and financially and that is why Royale with Beer has created fundraising bar crawl through Locust Point.

Get the full details here for the pub crawl and where you can donate HERE

Spike Gjerde of Woodberry Kitchen wins Capital Food Fight

photo courtesy of Capital Food Fight benefiting DC Central Kitchen

The 10^th Annual D. C. Central Kitchen premier fundraising event, Capital Food Fight  took place last night at Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C. Since founding in 1989, DC Central Kitchen has prepared 25 million meals for our low-income and at-risk neighbors in Washington, DC. 

Read the full story HERE.