Goat Cheese and Fig Appetizer

Friends!  I present to you my new favorite "in a pinch" appetizer!

Let's say you're having an impromptu get together with a friend after work and need to grab something in a hurry, head to Trader Joe's and buy this stuff.  If there is no TJ's close to you, I've given you some alternate options!

I present to you, the lineup of goodies:

Image from here

Get some Rosemary Raisin Crisps ($3.99).  If you've never had these before, these crackers are Trader Joe's answer to the ridiculously expensive but ridiculously amazing Raincoast Crisps which are a little over $7/box.  They are delicious crackers, don't get me wrong, but I can't justify spending $7 on crackers.   

Then get some goat cheese (any kind, I went with a 5 oz log from TJ's).  If you want to be fancy, get some of the delicious goat cheese from the local favorite Firefly Farms. 

Image from here

Then get some Fig Butter ($2.29), which is AMAZING and you will always remember and love me for telling you about this.  You could also be fancy about this purchase as well and get some Ficoco - a fig and CHOCOLATE spread (I've found Ficoco at Giant and Wegman's).

Now, get your cutest little platter and top each cracker with a bit of goat cheese and then a small dollop of fig butter, and you're ready to start pleasing people!  Sorry for not having a picture of the finished product, but I assume you are all a very imaginative bunch and can figure out what it would look like.

Let me know if you try it - it's my new favorite (and takes the place of this appetizer as being my go-to).

And nope, I was in no way compensated by Trader Joe's for this post (wouldn't that be glorious, though! hahaha), these are just my own ramblings. 

Eat Your Veggies in Baltimore!

There is now a VegBaltimore 2011 Guide which is helpful for finding vegetarian, vegan, and veg-friendly restaurants all over the city!

All of the restaurants are listed at www.VegBaltimore.com, as well as grocery stores, resources, and local events.


I am obviously not a vegetarian, but I do like to cook all vegetarian meals at home as often as I can.  However, I usually always eat meat when I go out to eat, so this is a VERY cool guide for me.

So tell me, what are your favorite vegetarian meals/ vegetarian restaurants/ vegetarian entrees?

ATTENTION ANNAPOLIS RESIDENTS: Coming Soon - The Fresh Market

Just learned about this exciting addition to Annapolis:

The Fresh Market will open on Wednesday March 3rd at 9AM at 2504 Solomons Island Road. The new 24,900 square foot store will house a bakery, a full service meat counter, ready-to-serve entrées, fresh seafood, a large range of imported and domestic as well as a large organic selection - amongst other delights.

To celebrate its opening on the 3rd, activities will include outdoor grilling, chef demonstrations, and food sampling throughout the store. Also, the first 1,000 customers will get a reusable shopping bag and sample-sized bag of the company’s house blend gourmet coffee!

In addition, customers attending the grand opening will be invited to enter into a drawing to win The Fresh Market Pantry. Valued at approximately $1,000, the Pantry is a collection of The Fresh Market’s own TFM-branded favorites, including spices, stocks, pastas, pancake mixes, gourmet sauces, jams and more (nice!!!!)

To learn more, visit www.thefreshmarket.com and sign up for “Fresh Ideas,” the company’s weekly e-mail newsletter that includes specials as well as recipes and information about in-store events.

p.s.
The other location is located at 2510 Quarry Lake Drive, Baltimore MD 21209. 410-580-1930, right off Greenspring Avenue. In fact, Baltimore blogger Bmore Sweet went there recently to pick up some ingredients for some delicious tarts she made!

Trinacria, Baltimore City

mmmm pasta.....not from Trinacria..but still mmmmmmm

I am so excited to share that I FINALLY went to Trinacria the other day, and oh boy was I a happy camper!!!!!!!

I loved admiring all the different Italian delights, especially the pasta, sauce and cookies. But the frozen food in the back is what really caught me eye – especially their own raviolis! I bought some butternut squash ravioli to try, and they were fabulous. The squash taste wasn’t strong at all, yet it still had a cheesy filling and it went well with a butter sage sauce I made. They also have some frozen Italian meals that were reasonably priced and looked super yummy.

I tried the mozzarella sandwich which came on foccacia (also fresh) with pesto, lettuce, tomato and the freshest mozzarella ever! This sandwich was quite large, and I could have easily saved half for later, but it was TOO GOOD. Also, in hindsight that was a good idea because the tomato slices may have made the bread soggy.

I also bought some fresh bread that was out of this WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This place is a GEM. I cannot wait to try all the other delightful offerings they have, especially their prepared foods.

Wegman's, Hunt Valley PART TWO

This entry almost hurts my heart to write because I love Wegman's so much. Unfortunately, this must be written.

I have tried something from here that I did not love.

I was sickly so I was in the mood for some soup. I also wanted to walk around and chose Wegman's as my destination for my soup and gander. I chose the quintessential "sick" soup- Chicken Noodle. Unfortunately what I ended up getting was more like Pepper Noodle Soup. I had one piece of chicken in the medium size container. It also had the most pepper I've ever known. Now, knowing that people turn to Chicken Noodle Soup as their Soup Savior when they are sick-- why would you laden it with pepper? It was too spicy to ingest. What a disappointment. I counted on you, Wegman's :o(

Wegman's, Hunt Valley Towne Centre
www.wegmans.com
122 Shawan Rd, Cockeysville
(410) 773-3900

Grauls Cafe, Timonium

Once again....I'm writing about a supermarket's cafe. I can't help it-- this one is literally behind my house. It does have some odd hours, and is often frequented by people at least 50 times older than me, but I still like it (and it is not because I am secretly hoping to run into John Locke and have another conversation again!!!).

I usually come here for coffee when I am in the mood for something quick and frothy. It is also the first stop before Dan and I go on any long road trips-- a mocha latte for me, some juice for him and pastries for the both of us! What I like about their mocha lattes are they are never too sweet. This is a good thing. There's only so much chocolate milk flavor you can handle when you are actually hoping for some caffeine as well.

Their pastries are varied and yummy. Their chocolate croissants are heavenly and ALWAYS have a LOT of chocolate in the middle (see- what you lack from the coffee, you make up in the pastry). Dan really likes their muffins.

In general, this is a great quick stop in the area, but definitely not worth coming to check out if you're further away than Towson (or maybe even Cockeysville since there are a bunch of cute coffee shops there too).

While we are talking about their cafe, let me quickly say something about the grocery store itself. Grauls gives out A LOT of samples on the weekends and they are always great! Their employees behind the deli are usually in a foul mood, but the rest of the peeps are great. They have really delicious carrot cake, brownies, pastries, fruit tarts etc etc. They make their sushi in-store, and I've seen the same sushi chef for YEARS (he does a great job).

That being said, if I wanted to pick milk up fast, or get some deli meat (Shopper's deli meat ALWAYS gets slimy on me before the end of the week), or maybe pick up some unusual cheese and don't feel like going to Wegman's-- then this is the place for me. Other than that, the main groceries get done at either Sam's Club (don't judge me) or Shopper's.

Wegmans, Cockeysville

That's right. I'm reviewing a grocery store. But that's because it's ever so much than that, but I bet you know that already!

We go here a lot to eat because of the wide array of choices it has to offer, which is perfect for me when I don't know what I'm in the mood for (trust me, it happens). I've pretty much tried everything in the place, so let me quickly recant my favorite of their full takeout section.

The Wokery Bar is surprisingly good. My hubby loves it and has even started to tell me this is his place of choice if we ever want quick Chinese food. I like it, but not that much, but I do appreciate their every crispy shrimp pockets.

Their Caesar salad is huge, even when getting the smallest size. Forget the chicken since it doesn't make enough impact on the meal to make it worth it.

Their sushi is great, and freshly prepared. What's best is that they'll gladly whip you up something while you shop (for bottles of some refreshing Izze, perhaps) AND they have brown rice. I'm usually not too daring with my sushi choice, so California Rolls and Yellowtail Rolls are what I go for.

The Sub shop hits the mark if a big meaty sandwich is what you want. Beware of ordering anything with oil-- they'll drench that sub in oil like Exxon drenches little birdies (ahahaha I had to).

Their salad bar is great because they offer so many interesting prepared salad options. I sometimes like to get an array of those salad and a roll of sushi.

Don't forget to walk up to the dessert counters because they often have samples of their delicacies! The desserts are honestly made to perfection. Their Ultimate Chocolate Cake and Ultimate Carrot Cake are the best I've ever had in those categories. Just be sure to let the icing get to room temperature for peak deliciousness. My hubby swears by their Whoopie Pies, but I can't handle eating that much icing (unless it's on an Ultimate cake). And last but CERTAINLY not least, their Almond pastries are INCREDIBLE. They always have the most almond paste filling than any other place I've gone to.

Let me sum this up for you.

I LOVE WEGMANS.

p.s. Take your food and go upstairs to sit and people watch!!!

Wegmans

122 Shawan Road

Cockeysville, MD 21030

(410) 773-3900

http://www.wegmans.com/