Sheep Judging and Pics from the Maryland State Fair

I loved the sounds around the sheep judging area at the Maryland State Fair.


And off to the Cow Palace!

BrookLEn in Michigan: The One Who Smelt It

My family has been going to Ludington, Michigan for generations to soak up the beach on the sandy shores of northern Lake Michigan. But only in the past few years have I discovered that Ludington also has one of the best fish shacks in America, Bortell's Fisheries. It has now become a pilgrimage for my family (we WASPs go for pilgrimages!), and this year we managed to get there on a perfect evening. Okay, some tips for Bortells:
1) You will always miss it the first time you try to get there. It's on a local road, shrouded by trees and orchards. And it's really a shack, easy to pass.

2) You can't eat there. Well, there are picnic benches outside the shack, but the real secret is...

3) Go before sunset, get your food, and then head to the park. Right across the two-lane highway is a hidden drive to a small park that is on a bluff looking out to the lake. The view is incredible, and there are picnic tables for your convenience!

Everything is fried fresh for you-- you get to pick from today's catch, and receive it hot and greasy in a paper dish. This year, we whetted our palettes with (from left to right), smelt, walleye, and lake perch (the classic). Perfectly breaded, hot to the touch, this fish wouldn't have been better even if it was dipped in liquid sunset.

Birthday at WD-50

I've been traveling this last week, and I have a couple posts to add from my eating adventures in the midwest, but first I have to wish Happy Birthday to me, and rave about the excellent meal I was treated to last night at WD-50. I only got snaps of dessert, which was a chocolate mousse ribbon with lime gelato, spots of avocado, and chocolate crumbles that the waiter accurately described as "oreo dust". On top of that, the kitchen sent us a chocolate cake with candied tube and a candle inside...
Also, great foodie celeb spotting-- first, Lee Anne from Top Chef walks in with her posse, and heads straight to the kitchen to talk to the chefs. A little later, LBT asks, "where's Harold?"... and lo and behold, the winner of Top Chef showed up too!
Highlights of the dinner were a root vegetable lasagna and the steak entrees... we tried ocean trout, but it was a bit fishy... it was Monday, however... but would Tony make such excuses?

Maryland State Fair - Agriculture Winners

So the Maryland State Fair's Agriculture building is pretty amazing. You see fruits and vegetables that don't necessarily have the same colors as those seen in supermarkets even the fancy ones like Whole Foods.
There were 5 different colored habanero peppers alone. I also realized that I've never eaten Indian Corn- is it used for anything besides autumn decorations.

Swine and Pork at the Maryland State Fair

So all week, the Maryland State Fair is running on the Timonium Fairgrounds. It's the 125th anniversary of this farming event. Whereas most people go for funnel cake, ride the ferris wheel, or see Rascal Flatts, it's also a serious competition among the Maryland farmers.
I arrived early this morning to check out the livestock exhibition and judging pens. First up, my favorite, swine!
This morning was the children's competition. It's pretty funny to watch little kids trying to direct pigs that are probably bigger than them around the pen. The announcer was helpful in explaining what made a particular pig superior to others.
Thankfully, across from swine judging, the Maryland Pork Association was selling delicious smoked ham sandwiches.

Philly Cheesteaks: Pat's vs. Geno's

My friend had never really explored Philly, so I took her on a day trip. No visit to Philly is complete without eating a cheesesteak. Now Abner's in W. Philly and Jim's on South Street are both good and hold many memories of late drunken evenings, but the undisputed champs and the biggest rivalry in town are Pat's and Geno's, across the street from each other at 9th and Passyunk.

I won't go into the "rules" behind ordering a cheesesteak, as you can read them yourself. We taste-tested Pat's (front) and Geno's (back) head-on, getting a "whiz wit" from each one. Hands down we both agreed Pat's won on aesthetics, overall flavor, ratio of meat to cheese to onions. Though as we ate on, my friend thought Geno's meat was actually more tender, Pat's being a little tougher and fattier. But where Geno's was lacking was runnier, less cheezy whiz, and blander, soggier onions.

Flying Monkey Part 2 and Other Reading Terminal Market Treats

Made it back to Flying Monkey later in the week to try the sesame-tahini rice crispie treat. I liked it, the tahini was not too overpowering, just sweet enough, almost could have been peanut butter. The little black things you see are black sesame seeds, not bugs...

Also, whenever I'm at Reading Terminal Market, I can never resist soft pretzels from the Amish place, Fisher's. Fresh and hot from the oven, they brush melted butter all over them before serving. Mmmmm....

Flying Monkey Patisserie in Philadelphia

Saturday we went to check out the Flying Monkey Patisserie in Reading Terminal Market in Philly. At 3 in the afternoon, the bakery cases were pretty picked over -- always a good sign. They were sold out of their tahini, sesame-encrusted rice crispie treats, so we opted to try a sampling of cupcakes. Clockwise from top left are white cupcake with coconut frosting, chocolate cake with white frosting filling and chocolate frosting on top, white cake with coffee frosting, and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. Coffee frosting was rich and buttercreamy, white cake was nicely dense and moist. Chocolate frosting was delicious and pudding-y. We left the other 2 with my friend so she'll have to tell me how they were. But what I really want them to make are t-shirts with their cute logo!