Big Bad Wolf BBQ

When I lived in Wales, I never learned the language. Oh, I felt a little guilty about it, but really, when would I ever use it? However, I did come to know three words: Bryn Blaidd Drwg (Y and W are vowels in Welsh). It means Big Bad Wolf.
I realized today that Big Bad Wolf BBQ is only about two miles from my office, so I went over and got lunch. Carolina Pulled Pork with a Kansas City Sauce and Mac & Cheese. I brought them back to my office so I could photograph them and eat them at my desk. The pulled pork or the sauce was a little spicier than I like, but it was very good. The mac & cheese tasted like it had a few types of cheeses in it. I also got a mint-iced tea, which was very refreshing. Of course, anything's better than Southern Sweet Tea.

Wegmans Pink Grapefruit Sorbet

For me, a trip to Wegmans is a huge undertaking. It's about a 50 mile round trip, a bit much for some grocery shopping. On the occasion that I do find myself in the vicinity of Shawan Road, I try and stop in at Wegmans. There are only a few things that I get there that I can't find anywhere else, and one of them is Wegmans house brand Pink Grapefruit Sorbet.

I love pink grapefruit anything, and I've never tasted anything like this. It's got a sharp citrus taste, with little bits of grapefruit rind in it. It's light and crisp and delicious! Added to that it's fat-free, gluten-free, lactose-free and vegan.

It's also the most beautiful pale, pale pink, one of my favourite colours. I bought three pints.

Sundaes on Friday

I am president of the Pigtown Main Street board and we're doing some fun events this summer. The first event is Sundaes on Friday at the newly opened Sweet Tooth Dessert Shop in the Hollins Market area, on Friday, May 1 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Tickets are $10 each, which lets you get two (!) sundaes. Tickets for kids under 10 are $5.00. In addition to sundaes, there will be music and a 50/50 raffle. Sweet Tooth is located at 1111 Hollins Street, and there's plenty of parking available on the streets surrounding it.

All proceeds benefit the programs of Pigtown Main Street.

APRIL FOOD DAY

Do you know that...

• One in eight Americans are at risk for hunger?
• Four million Americans receive assistance from Feeding America each week?
• Children who are hungry have slower emotional, social and educational development?
• Millions of elderly Americans go to bed hungry every night?

It is so critical that those of us who are not in this position help those that are. So many people who never thought they would need food assistance are now asking for help from their local food bank. They have lost their jobs through the massive down-sizings and layoffs. They have exhausted all of their resources. Elderly people on fixed incomes are finding that costs are out-pacing their incomes.

First-time requests at food banks are at an all-time high, but the shelves are bare. Corporations and foundations have decreased their donations and individuals are so uncertain about their own finances, that their giving has slowed.

We are asking that you make a donation, even if it's just a dollar or two, or maybe take a box of canned goods to your local food bank. It will help someone who may be less fortunate than you are.

Here's the link to Feeding America, an affiliation of more than 200 food banks across the country. Chances are that your local food bank is a part of this network.

We're all in this together, and that's the way we will come through it... together.

Please help today. The need is great and the time is now. Thank you so very much.

Lotte Market Sunday

I went to Lotte Market on Route 40 and Route 29 on the advice of Plays with Needles. She'd found the funniest little tooth-picks with wee brushes on either end and I thought they would work for art projects and for cleaning my computer and mouse.

Lotte is a mainly Korean market, but they do have a selection of Latin American and other foods. The store didn't seem as clean as H-Mart, but it was huge. Like H-Mart and Fresh World Market, Lotte has a selection of china and other housewares. Here are some things I saw: Cactus leaves.Fresh Chives.Telephone brand agar-agar. It was the branding on this that made me laugh.Kung Fu Chicken Soup. I thought it was supposed to be Kung Fu Panda.

On the way home, I drove through the Ellicott City valley, just after a storm had blown through. I love Ellicott City, but always forget to go there.

Bad News

Well, for me, anyway... Chef Cat is trying out a lot of cupcake recipes and she's asked me to be one of her testers. It's a tough job, but I am trying to step up to the responsibility.

Last night, I had a lemon cupcake with gorgeous lemon icing and little curls of candied lemon, topped with a candied rose petal. YUM!

H-Mart Saturday

The chefs and I took a field trip to H-Mart on Route 40 and Rolling Road. As usual, lots of interesting and unusual foods awaited us. Chef Dawg was looking for some fermented black beans and found them straight-away. Meanwhile, Chef Cat and I took our time strolling though the produce section and checking out what we saw.

These little things, which look sort of like tiny yams, are actually fresh tumeric. Even the chefs haven't seen this before! These rhizomes are boiled and then dried and ground for use as a spice.We're all familiar with water chestnuts, but have you ever seen fresh ones?This is mamey, the fruit of an ornamental evergeen which grows in South and Central America. Wiki says that the skin is a cross between sandpaper and peach fuzz and that the inside is creamy and sweet and orange. The flavour is described as a combination of pumpkin, sweet potato and marischino cherries! This woman is whipping up batches of kimchi, the traditional Korean pickled vegetable dish. The Kimchi Field Museum in Korea has documented 187 types of kimchi.

Because English is not the primary language of the staff at H-Mart, misspellings are frequent and frequently funny.

Frozen Frog Legs