Tag: Maryland

Visiting Walkersville and Westminster

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

I had some errands to run today in Westminster. When I was trying to plot out my morning, I had in mind to try Rutter’s. I had seen a couple of those gas station/convenience stores when I was in Pennsylvania, but I had noticed there was one in Walkersville, MD as well. The convenience store part of the business sells frozen coffee drinks, and I wanted to check it out to see how it compares. My errands in Westminster would have been quick, so I was planning on leaving a bit early, getting the coffee drink, running errands, and then heading home.

Sometimes plans don’t always go as you might like, so you have to improvise. I didn’t end up leaving the house until about 11:30AM. It’s probably better that I didn’t leave until then, since the weather was colder than expected and the fog was really thick on the drive. If I had left earlier, it might have been very icy with extremely low visibility.

When I got to the Rutter’s in Walkersville, I decided to check out the store. It is a nice sized store and was very clean. I checked out the menu on the kiosk for the coffee drinks and decided on a cookies and cream frappe with an extra shot of espresso. The food menu looked really good, but I wasn’t ready to eat anything. They offer some standard sandwiches and subs, but also have tacos, burgers, noodles, and more. These are made to order foods, not just free standing grab and go. There is an open kitchen where you can see your food being made. The frappe was a good drink. The consistency was nice and smooth, no chunks of ice at all. I could get the distinct cookies and cream flavor, but I also got the deep flavor of the extra shot of espresso, which provided a nice layer of depth to this drink. I may not go 45 minutes out of my way for another coffee drink from there, but it’s good to know the things that this has to offer. It will come in handy on my next trips into Pennsylvania or Western Maryland.

When I was driving back towards Westminster, I decided that I should probably get something to eat (it was after 1PM). My first thought was a quick bite at a fast food place, but then I thought about Hahn’s Pork & Beans. I had seen the name mentioned in various flyers, but it was a place that I had never taken the time to visit while in Westminster. Today, I decided to take the plunge.

Hahn’s has been around for more than 100 years. They have a huge smokehouse, and they roast coffee on-site (thus the pork and beans). You can get the aroma from the smokehouse before you enter the store, and once in the store you get the nice smells of the coffee. They also sell a variety of local products, so you can definitely get a small town feel both inside and outside the store.

I looked through the menu and decided on a tavern ham sandwich (I figured I should go with ham). One of the bread options was a pretzel roll, which I could not turn down. I added Swiss cheese, mayo and mustard, and opted for a side of macaroni salad. They have Dr. Brown’s sodas, which I don’t see too often where I live, so I went with a root beer as well. I started with the macaroni salad. The macaroni was nice and firm, and it was prepared well. The flavor was really good. Much better than expected. I enjoy macaroni salad, but the flavors on this one stood out more than most. The potato chips were warmed slightly, which was a nice touch. When it came time to start my sandwich, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The roll was warm and had a nice texture – good bite through on the outside and soft on the inside. The inside of the bread was not dried out at all, which made a huge difference with the sandwich. The ham was sliced thinly to perfection. It was moist and flavorful with a mild smokiness. It didn’t break apart with every bite, and it wasn’t tough to bite through. It had the right amount of tenderness. The ham, cheese, mustard, and bread all combined for an excellent sandwich. This is a place I plan on visiting again in the future.

My day did not go exactly as I had planned. But the delay in the start gave me the opportunity to get lunch at a place that was on my wish list. Sometimes things work out well. Sometimes things work out better than expected. As I reflect back on my day, this was a tremendous day. A very happy day. A very positive day. I look forward to more days like this.

Early to Rise

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

Just a little play on words today. I did wake up early this morning (before 4 AM). I had planned on doing a couple of quick errands in the morning, but was thinking about a place to go for breakfast. There was a new restaurant that opened in Columbia, MD not too long ago called Rise. The menu sounded good, but the timing just wasn’t right. This morning, the timing worked out.

As you can see, it’s Rise, but also includes Southern Biscuits and Righteous Chicken. They also make donuts, which is an added bonus. There are some tables outside the shop, and some window side seating in the front. This is a small place, but it looks big. There is a window where you can watch them making the biscuits and they have a display case of the donuts. As tempted as I was to get a Creme Brûlée donut, I was there for a breakfast sandwich. They even have biscuits and gravy on the menu, but I still went with the breakfast sandwich.

I decided to go with “The Build”, where you build up your sandwich. I started with a buttermilk biscuit, then with the righteous chicken, American cheese, and a fried egg. This is a large sandwich. The biscuit is about twice the size of what I was expecting, and the piece of chicken was also huge. I tried the flavor of the biscuit by itself, and it was very good. I then took a bite of the chicken, and it was extremely good. The the crunchy exterior and smooth interior, were perfect, and the flavor was outstanding.

I then decided to eat the sandwich like a normal breakfast sandwich. The biscuit, chicken, egg, and cheese all worked really well together. This was a fantastic sandwich. The options for building your own sandwich look great. I might try a cheddar biscuit the next time I have a sandwich, just to see how it tastes. Maybe I’ll try their Boom Boom sauce. Maybe I’ll get pimento cheese on it. Maybe I’ll try something from their biscuit sandwich menu or maybe I’ll get their chicken strips. There are some nice sounding items there. This is a place I plan on going back to again. I’m glad that I found out about this restaurant, and even happier that the food was so good. The staff was friendly and the service was fast, which also made for a good experience. It makes it easy to have a positive day when you start it off with some good food!

Mission BBQ and More

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Yesterday, I had some errands to run. My iPhone has been giving me problems, so I had set up an appointment at the Apple store in The Mall in Columbia (Maryland). It took a bit more time than expected, so I was able to get in a lot of walking around the mall. I was even able to try one of the seasonal drinks at the Nordstrom Bar. I tried the Peppermint Ice Storm with an extra shot of espresso. The consistency was really good. The flavor was great. They used a vanilla base and added in the peppermint flavor (sprinkles?). It was a nice, smooth peppermint flavor that really brought memories of a peppermint stick. I was happy that I tried it and look forward to hopefully going back and trying their other holiday flavors.

As far as the iPhone goes, they were able to put in a new battery, so my 6 has some legs left. Much better alternative than having to spend a lot of money on a new phone (even if the cameras and the extras are much nicer). And one day later, I’m happy with the difference. My battery has only drained 30% in 21 hours. It was only lasting about 6 hours before the switch, so a definite improvement. Now I just hope it will continue to perform well for at least another year or two.

After my time at the mall, I had planned on heading over to Mission BBQ. I just ended up eating an hour later than I had expected.

The cool thing is that they have big vehicles outside of their stores. The owners opened the first Mission BBQ on September 11, 2011 and proudly serve Those Who Serve. The inside of the restaurants are decorated with community donated memorabilia from military and public response forces. This past Veterans Day, they provided free sandwiches and cake for all veterans and active duty military personnel.

My usual go-to sandwich is the Chopped Brisket, but yesterday I wanted to change things up. I went for a Pulled Chicken sandwich with Kickin’ Collard Greens (a limited time only side), and accompanied that with a Grape Nehi (they also have some cool sodas available). There is a very short wait time to get the food. They make it to order and you can see them creating in the kitchen while you wait.

When you sit at the tables, you have six barbecue sauce options. There are regional options, so you can try different flavors, which is exactly what I did. I added some sauce for each of my first six bites. I thought my favorite was going to be the Memphis Belle, but the Smoky Mountain sauce went really well with the chicken sandwich. KC Classic was my second favorite with the chicken, and then the Memphis Belle. But all of the sauces were good, so there were no losers there.

I was happy to eat some good food and make my taste buds happy. But I really appreciate the mission statement (pun intended) of the restaurant and it was definitely easy to stay positive with the great experience I had!

French Twist Cafe – Frenchgiving Crepe

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About a week or so ago, I noticed there was a new special at French Twist Cafe. I’m not sure how long it had been posted, but once I saw the name and description, I knew I would want to try it. I enjoy some of the seasonal foods, and around this time, there are holiday sandwiches and holiday bowls that are based upon Thanksgiving. The French Twist cafe has their spin, the Frenchgiving Crepe. Their description says it all. A Thanksgiving dinner served in a crepe: Pulled turkey, cranberries, cornbread stuffing, gravy and seasoning. That has all the ingredients for a meal that I just wouldn’t be able to resist.

Yesterday, I decided to make my way over there. I ordered the specialty crepe and also had their specialty drink, a Pumpkin Frappe. I could have eaten there, but chose to go instead. Their frappes are always really good, and yesterday’s was no different. It was made perfectly, had the right consistency and a really good flavor. It might have been my favorite pumpkin frappe of the season so far.

I like the fact that this restaurant is in a house. When you walk in, the crepe station is about 10-15 feet from the front door. There are a couple of tables on the first floor (and outside), or you can go upstairs for additional seating. When I get a crepe, I like to just stand behind the glass and watch as they make the crepes. I was able to get a picture before they started closing up the crepe. They started by pouring the batter and using the spreader to make it one giant crepe. Once it was flipped over, they started assembling the filling. They started with the turkey, then added the stuffing. Next was sprinkling on the seasoning. The cranberries were added and it was finished off with drizzling the gravy.

They folded it up and put it into a container for me, and I was on my way. It’s hard to tell the dimensions, but this is a very large crepe, especially when you factor in the fillings.

I thought it would be good to take a picture when I was still eating it, so you could hopefully see the fillings in there. I tried the turkey on its own and the stuffing on its own, and they were both really good. The bites that had everything together – crepe, turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry – were outstanding. The flavor and texture of the crepe added a really nice component, which made my tastebuds and mouth very happy. This was a new twist (pun intended) on a seasonal sandwich, and I was glad I had the opportunity to try it. It definitely helped me stay positive!

Starry Night Bakery – Westminster, MD

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Starry Night Bakery is located in Westminster, Maryland, which is about a 20 minute drive from my house. I’ve visited a few times, and they do a really good job with coffee drinks and sweets. They participated in Cupcake Wars for a reason – they know how to bake.

I started off with ordering a coffee drink. I ordered a dark chocolate mocha frappe with peppermint. The drink had nice flavor to it. The dark chocolate and espresso worked well together, and there was just an underlying hint of peppermint flavor. The consistency was also nice. There were a couple of sips in the beginning that were thick (but not icy), but after that, it was all good.

I took a few pictures of some of the offerings. They had some nicely designed specialty cakes, they had vegan friendly treats, and they had treats other than just cupcakes. So there are options if you have different cravings. I ended up ordering three cupcakes. One Total Eclipse, one Oreo Stuffed, and one Pumpkin Maple.

I started with the Pumpkin Maple cupcake. The consistency of the cupcake was very good and moist. The maple frosting had a nice flavor and was not overly sweet. The flavor of the frosting and flavor of the cupcake paired very nicely. This was a very good cupcake.

The next one I tried was the Oreo Stuffed cupcake. There was an Oreo cookie baked into the cupcake. The cupcake itself had good flavor and was moist. The Oreo was soft, but still had a little firmness, so it wasn’t soggy. It was the perfect consistency for a cupcake. The frosting worked well with his cupcake, and the added touch of Oreo pieces brought everything together.

The final cupcake I tried was a larger one, the Total Eclipse. The cupcake was really good. Nice and moist, good consistency. There was some chocolate filling in there, and then a really good fudgy frosting. Although all three cupcakes were really good, this was by far my favorite. I look forward to trying more flavors in the future.

Old Mill Cafe and Little Market Cafe – Ellicott City, MD

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I visited Old Ellicott City on Sunday morning and in addition to all the walking around and enjoying the historic buildings, I also made a couple of stops for breakfast.

This is just over the bridge, on the other side of the Historic District. This has been opened since summer of 2018. I’ve driven past it several times and walked in once (just to see what they had). After seeing what they had, I knew I would eventually go to order some food in the future. This past Sunday was that day.

I was only focused on the pastry cases. They have traditional breakfasts and some specialty foods, but I was planning on continuing my walking around and didn’t want to have something that might be impacted by the cold weather.

I ended up ordering a chocolate beignet bite and a mini banana chocolate chip muffin. The beignet bite was okay, but the muffin was great. The muffin had a nice texture, but there was a strong (but not overbearing) banana flavor that worked really well with the chocolate chips. The cinnamon mix was not just on the top, but there was also a layer around the muffin. The bites that had all of those elements made this a fantastic treat, and was something I would be happy to order again. I asked if they make ice blended drinks, and they do, but I will have to go back another time to try. I had Little Market Cafe on my agenda, so I wanted to stick with that plan.

Since I had something to eat, I needed a drink to go with it. I made my way over to Little Market Cafe. There is a little cluster of shops, and the pictures above share the historical background of this area as well as a picture of the group of row houses.

This sign was inside the store and I thought it was cute.

This is a shot from outside the store. I considered taking pictures inside the shop. It’s a small shop and very tight. I have to duck while I’m in there, since the buildings back then weren’t necessarily built for 6’5″ people. I ordered a Cookies and Cream Frappe. This had nice flavor to it, nice consistency, and was a good pairing with my breakfast. I’ve been to the Little Market Cafe several times, and I will continue to come back. Good food and drink as well as wonderful scenery made for a positive start to the day!

A Visit to Old Ellicott City – November 10, 2019

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On Sunday morning, I decided to make a relatively short drive to Old Ellicott City (Maryland) for a visit. I lived in Ellicott City prior to purchasing my house, and I had made a few trips to Old Ellicott City (Ellicott City Historic District).

Ellicott City has quite a bit of history with it. It was founded in 1772 when John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott founded “Ellicott Mills”, which became one of the largest mill and manufacturing towns in the East.

In 1830, Ellicott City became the first section of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to open (B & O Railroad for you Monopoly enthusiasts). The station is the “Oldest surviving railroad station in America”.

Ellicott City has been in the news for flooding the last few years. There was a flash flood in July of 2016 that resulted in two deaths and major property damage. The town and the small business owners worked to rebuild (if they could). In May of 2018, the area was flooded again, due to the area getting 8 inches of rain in just over two hours. This resulted in one death and major property damage.

Some of the small business owners could not rebuild again. Some of the buildings are still not able to be occupied. There had been plans in place in 2017 to protect against the floods, but a project of such a large scope takes time. The town has been rebuilding, and there are plans in place to help provide protection in the event of future floods.

While I was there, I took a lot of pictures. I’ll share some of these with you now.

This is not the building of one of the original founders (he passed away in the late 1700s), but this just brings a little bit of historical attachment to the name.

I thought the sun coming over the building was a nice touch to the picture.

This is not named for Walt Disney. The Tavern came in the 1840s, but the building is from around 1790, which makes it one of the older buildings, and I think that’s pretty cool.

I think this former hotel looks great!

Every so often, you get these little nooks between buildings, some of which have stairways to go to the hills above.

This is another one of the older buildings.

This is one of the stairways that goes to the upper hills.

This is another nice looking building that’s more than 150 years old.

I’m half-way over a bridge that is over the river (I was walking, so there was no traffic stoppage for this picture).

Coming on the other side of the bridge to go back to the Historic District. Those are train tracks above the sign.

Just a couple of pictures regarding the B & O Station.

These two pictures are just to show the river running underneath the buildings. These buildings are at the lowest point of the area. They are sitting about 8-10 feet above the river, so it takes a lot to get this so high that it not only causes flooding for these buildings, but the others along the street that are on slightly higher ground.

I was definitely keeping myself busy taking pictures and enjoying the history that this town has to offer. I did stop at a couple of local places for food and drink, but I’ll write about that later. I hope you enjoyed me sharing a little bit of the town’s history with you!

Saturday Morning at Filicori Zecchini – Potomac, MD

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I decided to drive down to Filicori Zecchini Saturday morning. I had a plan for the morning which involved leaving the house about 8-8:15 AM. It was a cold morning – 25 degrees, a little colder with the wind chill. It took awhile to scrape off my car and warm it up, but I was able to get out right around 8:15AM.

I enjoying driving down to Montgomery County because the best route for me to take is going through some rural areas and some very nice suburban areas. Good farm areas, and then some beautiful homes. There was one stretch of the drive where there was a leaf-fall of yellow and green. Imagine a waterfall, but with leaves. It was really neat to see, but I was driving and was not able to stop and take pictures. I just enjoyed the visuals as I was going along. There were leaves randomly falling here, there, and everywhere, but at that one spot, there were a couple of trees and the leaves were coming down like a waterfall. It made my eyes happy. My ears were happy because Sirius XM has 3 Holiday stations that I was listening to.

I got to Park Potomac a little before 9AM and decided to do a quick walk through of Harris Teeter. They had some really nice holiday goodies, but nothing I wanted to get right then and there. I then decided to make my way over to Filicori Zecchini.

When I worked in Baltimore, there was a Filicori Zecchini that was a 10 minutes walk from work, and I would go there every so often. I enjoyed going there. I’ve been to the one down in Potomac a few times as well and I enjoy going there as well. If I’m going to head over to Gaithersburg or Rockville, I usually rotate between Filicori Zecchini and PB’s Cafe. I decided on the Mocha Frappe. I enjoy this drink. The espresso has a deep flavor to it, and the chocolate is more dark than milk, so you get a nice, rich flavor to the Mocha Frappe. It definitely reminded me of why I like to keep coming back. They have some nice pastries there as well, but I wanted to hold off since I was hoping to get an early lunch.

After I left, I headed over to Cost Plus World Market. I got there before it opened at 10AM, so I walked through Trader Joe’s and Great Harvest Bread first. It was a very productive time in those shops, so I was amped that my morning was going as planned.

I then went on my way to where I was planning on going for lunch. This is where there was a snag to my plans. The place I had wanted to visit is no longer there. It was a place that served Katsudon and I was really looking forward to trying it. These things happen, so I had to improvise. I figured that I would try to go back to Common Kitchen in Clarksville and try something new. I got there close to noon, and it was packed with people. There must have been some type of event, because there were kids everywhere. The lines were extremely long, so I decided that I would take a pass.

I ended up picking up some Taco Bell, so it was not exactly what I was planning, but still hit the spot. I could have gotten hung up on not getting what I wanted to eat (my first or second choice), but I was just happy that I was able to have such a productive morning and that I was able to see some of the things that I saw. So it was still a very positive day for me, even if it didn’t work out exactly like I wanted.

Chicken Fried Steak – Big Belly Deli – 11/8/19

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As you are probably aware, I am a big fan of Big Belly Deli in Sykesville, MD. It’s not just because it’s close to my house, it’s because the food is really good. I’ve gone more often than I’ve posted on here. I actually went yesterday and got a cup of chicken corn tortilla soup and a side of Macaroni and Cheese. The macaroni and cheese was really good, so I was happy with that. But the soup was spectacular. It was a cream based soup, had some nice chunks of chicken in there and some really good flavor. They had put a dash of salsa on top and that gave it a unique flavor. I regretted only having a cup instead of a bowl.

I like to check out the breakfast and lunch/dinner specials, just in case something really catches my eye, and I have the time to get something. They post the lunch updates around 11 AM, and as I was checking this morning, the post indicated:

Today’s special is two pieces of chicken fried steak, homemade mashed potatoes, pumpkin glazed carrots all topped with sausage gravy!

I had to try it. One of the other things I do when I go there is to check out the desserts. Sometimes I just drop in to see what they have. They make their desserts fresh, so there are new options every day.

These are just some of the options that were available today. I have had their Moon Pies before and was really tempted to get one of those, but I opted for the Double Layer Pumpkin Spice Cake. I had two reasons to choose that: 1) I hadn’t had it before, so it would be new to me, and 2) I still think it’s pumpkin season, so I figured I should get it while it’s available.

Now, onto the food. I started with the pumpkin glazed carrots. I’ve had glazed carrots before, but it’s usual honey or butter, but I’ve never had it with pumpkin. This worked really well. The carrots were nice and soft, while still maintaining their shape. The glaze had the nice spice flavors to it, as well as some sweetness. I went through these fairly quickly. I might have to go back to ask for the recipe, since these might be fun to make (and I could consider it healthy since it’s a vegetable dish).

There are two pieces of steak in there (one on top of the other). The steak had the perfect tenderness to it, with the breading cooked properly. No oily feeling in the mouth while eating, no burned pieces. The mashed potatoes were also really good. Creamy, with small chunks here and there. I’ve had their mashed potatoes many times, and they’ve always been good. The last component to this dish is the sausage gravy. I was skeptical about it at first, since I’m used to having chicken fried steak with a traditional brown gravy. But the way they make their gravy and the way the dish was put together, this really worked. I was very happy to have gotten this and will be getting it again down the road if they decide to make it again. And this is great food when it’s in the 40s outside.

Although you might not be able to have the proper perspective on this dish, this is a lot of food. It’s two meals for me, but might be three or four for someone else. The bowl is 9 inches across, so it’s in a large container and definitely has some weight to it. You pay a good price for a large amount of food, which is always nice. But it’s even better when the food is really good.

After taking a little break, it was time for dessert. I decided to have this slice of cake over two meals, so I did not eat it all at once. I probably could have, but I do have the ability to show some will power from time to time. The flavor of the cake was really good. It was a little denser, due to the pumpkin, but had the nice pumpkin spice flavors to it. The frosting was definitely the star. There is a light and fluffy consistency to it. There is a sweetness to it, but not overly sweet. The spices in here were subtle, which created a balance with the sweetness. And when combined with the layers of cake, it made for a really nice dessert.

I’ll probably start a separate category for Big Belly Deli, since I go there so often. I’m glad that I can always try different items on the menu that are good, and glad that there are specials every day as well as freshly made desserts every day. It’s easy to stay positive when you are eating the food from here.

Thursday Morning in Pikesville, MD

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This morning, I wanted to go out and about for a short time to finally try Sion’s Bakery in Pikesville.

The sky was beautiful this morning – I headed out a little before 7AM. It’s tough to get good pictures when you’re driving, and the scenery that would be a perfect picture are usually where you can’t stop.

My first stop was at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, where I got a Cookie Butter Ice Blended. It wasn’t until after I ordered that I discovered they had just started their peppermint flavors, so I know what I’ll be getting the next time I’m there.

Sion’s Bakery is just a few blocks away from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, so it works out really well. They were still doing a lot of baking, so their inventory wasn’t as huge as it would be if I was there an hour or so later. They did have a nice array of cookies, cakes and sweets, though. I opted for a chocolate danish and a cinnamon danish, and then I drove myself back home.

I started with the Cinnamon Danish. Just to be clear, I only had half of each of these danishes, and saved the other half for tomorrow. The Cinnamon Danish had nice flavor to it. It was a mild cinnamon flavor, but it was spread throughout the pastry. This is definitely one that goes with milk, coffee, or something else.

I followed up with the Chocolate Danish. This one was really good, my favorite of the two. The chocolate icing on top was good, but having the layers of chocolate on the inside really helped keep this moist and provided good flavor.

This was my very first visit to Sion’s Bakery, but it will not be my last. I would like to try some of their cookies in the future and some cupcakes as well. If they happen to have chocolate rugelach available, I would try it. I also want to try their Chocolate Mandel bread. I’ve seen it in other bakeries before, but I’ve never tried it, so it would be fun to try. They have some sugar free treats, which is good for people who are on sugar free diets. They also have knishes, which I want to try in the future. They don’t look like the ones that I’m used to seeing in New York, but that’s not a bad thing. If they are made fresh and in the bakery, I would want to taste the difference.

It’s always a good thing to visit a place for the first time and have a positive experience. It makes it much easier to justify going back again. I have a feeling I’ve said this before, but it still holds true. Stay positive!