Piedmont Wine Trail Goes Local, This Weekend!

This weekend from 1-4PM each day, the following wineries on the Piedmont Wine Trail will feature local products –from jewelry to vegetables and more!

Basignani Winery:
Beef and Bison with Basignani: Featuring Roseda Beef and Gunpowder Bison

Boordy Vineyards:
Paola’s Pesto – Paula Kunkel will be sampling Arugula, Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Pestos paired with wines.

DeJon Vineyards:
Helen Heckwolf will offer her handmade Native American jewelry and pottery.

Fiore Winery & Distillery:
Hawks Hill Creamery will offer samples of their cheeses with wines

Harford Vineyard & Winery:
Will provide samples of gourmet baked goods created by Kathy Fiedler, the owner of Kathy's Sugar & Spice. If you mention the Piedmont Wine Trail you will be able to taste their first estate Merlot wine, soon to be bottled.

Mount Felix Estate Vineyard & Winery: 
Unknown.  Give them a call 410-939-0913 for details about their local products.

Woodhall Wine Cellars:
Will feature Simmer Rock CSA who will offer sample comparisons of freshly harvested vegetables with the same vegetable from the supermarket. Patricia Della Casual Fine Dining will also be serving samples using Springfield Farm products.   Mention the Piedmont Wine Trail and receive a free sample of their Vintner’s Prestige!

Friday Morning Haiku

Make custard and cool

Churn and freeze. So much waiting!!

Worth it in the end

Pandora's box has been opened.
I can't wait to make some more ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What's next?  Mexican Chocolate?  Earl Grey Tea?  Fig Ice Cream?

Dark Chocolate Ice Cream with Fig and Cardamom??????????????

Too many choices.  Too many calories.

Today's Deals!

Two food deals today, and both for places I've never been to!  I actually haven't heard of The Hill, which is a new restaurant in Federal Hill.  I feel out of the loop :(

Has anyone ever been to either of these places?  Let me know what you think of them in the comments.

LIVING SOCIAL: $20 for $40 worth of food at The Hill

The Hill

website
1019 S. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
443-710-8553

This menu is much more intriguing to me.  I would want to order a ton of appetizers and then maybe a salad for my main course.  Maybe something along these lines:

• Crystal Palace Sliders ($13): Mini burgers grilled and topped with crabmeat, avocado and chipotle mayo
• Quinn’s Fish & Chips ($12): Bite sized, beer-battered cod, served with tarter sauce
• Jenn Oliver’s Salad ($16): Mixed greens tossed with mango, avocado, diced bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, green onions, and goat cheese, and topped with jumbo crabmeat, blackened shrimp, and scallops

Seriously.  That salad sounds awesome!!!!!  And bite sized fish and chips just sounds adorable to me.  Also, is it just me, or are sliders really "in" right now?

Limit 1 per person. Limit 1 per table. Dine-in only (not valid during happy hour). Expires in a year.

GROUPON: $15 for $30 worth of food at Luckie's Tavern

Luckie's Fabulous Tavern

website

10 Market Place, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

410-223-1105

Expires in 1 year. Limit 1 per table. Dinner only. Tax & gratuity not included.

Recipe: Lychee Ice Cream!!!

 

I made ice cream!  Lychee ice cream!  Talk about an exotic first foray into the world of home made ice cream :)  There weren't that many recipes on lychee ice cream, so I decided to take one recipe and tweak it a little, which is actually a bit risky since I just mentioned, I've never made ice cream before hahaha.  But it turned out great! I have included the recipe and my changes in red.  

Lychee Ice Cream 

Adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups canned seedless lychees, drained & diced I actually only had a 20oz can of lychees, so I used that instead, and I thought it was PLENTY.  It came out to about 3/4 cup 
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk I used skim milk, which worked out fine
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks, beaten 
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice I really wanted more lychee flavor, so I nixed the lemon entirely and went with the juice of half a lime plus enough lychee syrup to equal 1/4 cup of liquid.  

  Directions:

1. Combine the cream, milk and sugar in a saucepan or double boiler; heat until warm and the sugar is completely dissolved. Add 1 cup of the cream mixture to the yolks while whisking lightly. Gradually pour the egg mixture back into the cream mixture while continuing to whisk lightly.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the back of your spoon is thinly coated, about 8 minutes. Do not allow to boil or the ice cream custard mixture will curdle.
3. Add the lychee and lemon juice and let it cool in the refrigetator overnight. I added the lime juice/lychee syrup and then put the custard in the fridge for only a couple of hours (I was too excited!).  I added the lychees near the end of the mixing process. 
4. Freeze in an electric or manual ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. If you don't have an ice cream maker you can put the ice cream custard in a bowl and put it in your freezer until frozen.

So there you have it.  I am not going to sit here and tell you to make all my changes, although I really do think the 20oz can of lychees are enough.  I added the raspberries for a pretty photo - but they turned out to be a really nice foil to the sweetness of the ice cream.  

Would I make this again?  Definitely! Just a word for the wise - the lychees are best when they are not entirely frozen, so wait about five minutes until the lychees are tender and chewy!

Enjoy!  I know I did :)

Stone Mill Bakery, Lutherville

One morning, my mum and I were going to meet for breakfast.  We wanted a nice place, but nothing too fancy, so I decided on Stone Mill Bakery in Greenspring Station.  I have already forayed into their world of Hot Chocolate, and was transported to heaven, so needless to say I had high hopes for breakfast. 

 

For some reason I decided to order their house made artisan bread with butter and red raspberry jam ($3.59).  I still do not understand why I ordered this since I literally have this for breakfast EVERYDAY at my own house.  But I have it everyday because I love it so......right.  The bread was great, quite soft and chock full of grains.  I thought this was great, even if I do have it all the time at my own house :) I also ordered an iced coffee and a blueberry muffin to go (for Dan!  I like to buy him delicious surprises!)  They don't carry simple syrup (which surprised me) so I asked to have the iced coffee plain, and was happy to find out that it had such a great flavor that I really didn't need to mask it with sugar or cream. The blueberry muffin was huge and yum, with a lovely crumb topping. 

 

My mum ordered the fruit tart and a freshly squeezed orange juice (which was a VERY good size). My mum really enjoyed the fruit tart (which is much bigger than the picture makes it seem).  I tried it and loved it, as I usually do these sorts of things.

Now here is where I have my gripes.  This entire order cost $20, including tax. I have no idea what anything cost, except my $3.59 toast.  Why isn't the iced coffee or orange juice price listed on their menu?  I realize that the fruit tart probably isn't always a menu item, but at least there could have been a sign on the case.  I didn't mind paying for it , but when places don't list the price of things, it really bothers me.

Anyway, that being said, this bakery is a really sweet place to go if you just want to pop out for a nice and quick breakfast.  The employees were incredibly friendly, especially the man who took my order.  He seemed so genuinely excited about all the menu items, that it was hard not to feed off his energy.  I would definitely come back, and hopefully order something different!  But I'll get the iced coffee again, for sure. 

Friday Morning Haiku

Drink wine, then water

Rehydrate in this weather

so no dizziness :)

I don't really need to tell you that the Great Grapes Festival is going on in Annapolis this weekend, but just a reminder, I'll be at  the blogger panel at 1pm on Sunday.
If you're going to the festival or going to be outside at all this weekend - be careful!  The thought of a ton of people drinking wine in the really hot sun makes me nervous.  Please keep hydrated!!!!

In other news OMG my french press coffee this morning is fantastic.  I put in a liiiiiitle less coffee grinds than I normally do because I ran out - and it made the perfect cup.
I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS DEVICE

The horrible thing is I was SO close to just giving it away to someone last week because I hardly used it and thought it was stupid.  Oh how naive I was.

New "About Me" Page

Hello!
I FINALLY added an "About Me" page  for the stalker in all of us!!!*****
I'm not sure what sort of stuff people want to know, but I thought I would start it and add to it sporadically.

Any questions you would like me to answer on the page!?!  












****just kidding, please don't stalk me, I am a very boring person

Reader Question: Help Me Find a New French Press!

UPDATE - I am absolutely ridiculous and didn't realize that the plunger is supposed to be unscrewed in order for it to be cleaned.  I am not gross, this was only the 4th time I've used my French Press and I did manage to get a decent clean before this travesty.  That being said, I still feel ABSOLUTELY STUPID. I love my French Press.  We are back to being buddies, although I am sure it is disappointed in me. Thank you to Matthew, for pointing this out to me :)

This weekend I re-discovered the joy of French Press coffee at my friend's house.  As soon as I got home, I immediately pulled out my Bodum French Press and brought it to work with me.  I found that it made incredibly rich and STRONG coffee that helped me beat the mid-morning slump.

And just as me and my buddy Bodum started to become more than acquaintances, it BROKE.  My plunger just fell apart.  Sure, this could probably be an easy fix, but the more I did research on a replacement, the more I found that people had other issues with this kind, more specifically the glass canister.

So I am asking you now - do you enjoy the delights of a French Press, and if so - can you give me any good recommendations on a French Press?  Ideally I would like a small one because I usually only make myself one cup (trust me, that is ALL I need!)

Thanks for your help!

Yay coffee!

Let's try this again.....

OK, unfortunately Sarah S. never contacted me for the Great Grapes tickets, so the next winner is:

KEEKAT!!!

KeeKat said... I am definitely a white wine drinker all the way but trying to expand my tastes into red. Currently my fav wine is a German Reisling, but also in love with the Crystal Lake Plum Wine. Would love an opportunity to go to Great Grapes, do tastings and explore the Red family. :-) 

Well, KeeKat - make sure you email me so that we can have you explore all the Reds Maryland has to offer :)

Congrats, and sorry Sarah S.! 

Link Love - Baltimore Food News

Here is some stuff my fellow bloggers are keeping me in the "know" about:

- Employees of Domino Sugar are holding a bake off.  I have VERY high expectations for these baked goods :)

- Baltimore Pho is closing.  I've never been there, but I always thought this place was a Baltimore Institution.  Very surprising!

- A new food market is coming to Mt. Vernon - Milk & Honey.  The name already has my attention!

- Phillips is having a $1000 recipe contest with crabs!