Not Another Christmas Dinner

Not another Christmas dinner

As with Thanksgiving I'm working Christmas Eve into Day and as with that other occasion the one silver lining in this dreary grey raincloud of a sitch is that I get to post my holiday meal before anyone else, so there!

Chic's Seafood

Blue crab blues

Officially blue crab season in Maryland starts April 1 (no foolin) and ends December 15, tomorrow. I hear best time for crabs is in autumn, when they start eating more to survive the long winter; I'd been meaning to drive down to Baltimore to try some.

Thanksgiving?

What Thanksgiving?

Working this holiday weekend as always so we had dinner on Sunday the 20th instead.

One genuinely silver lining in this crummy cloud--I get to post my pics before anyone else (and if anyone has already posted those are probably from last year or someone's cheating with a time machine).

Downtown Fusion

Happy to report that the former Fusion restaurant on King Street--a lovely spot but elbow-jostlingly small--has moved to bigger equally attractive digs on 175 South Main Street in downtown Chambersburg.

The menu is still provisional, meaning it's still simple and they plan to make changes, but what's already on offer is a mix of what we're already familiar with, along with  fresh variations.

Chambersburg Applefest 2016

Sample fest

Chambersburg Apple Fest has maybe two problems--it's only on for one day, and only from nine in the morning to a head-scratchingly early four in the afternoon. 

That said, couldn't happen on a more beautiful day this year: a warm 68 degrees Fahrenheit, brilliant sun, near-cloudless sky.

The best thing I ever made, the best thing I ever ate

The best thing I ever made, the best thing I ever ate  

There's a pair of shows on Food Network (The Best Thing I Ever Made, The Best Thing I Ever Ate) that I watch when I can, which got me wondering--if I was ever asked to guest on the show (Ha!) what would I present?

Family Meal (Bryan Voltaggio) in Hagerstown MD

Family feast

Well now what happened is we all went a little funny in the head; you know, a little funny. And we went and did a silly thing: we went to Bryan Voltaggio's Family Meal in Hagerstown for dinner. 

The concept is: upscale diner. You pay for the 'up' part--the meal is cheaper than fine dining, but more expensive than what you get in most diners.

Chambersburg Philippine-American Association Picnic

Feast of the

Happened last Saturday noon at the Chambersburg Memorial Park Pavilion, Filipino families bringing covered dishes and casseroles.  Not having been back in the old country in...O thirteen years now and counting...it was a rare chance to taste a little of what I used to eat and still love.

Hickory Ridge Restaurant

Break fast

We've watched this spot up Route 11 North turn from a pit beef joint to a 24 hour diner to this incarnation, Hickory Ridge Restaurant, one of the classier diners in the area. 

Richmond, VA part 2

River City redux

Packed the kids off to an amusement park and spent the rest of our vacation exploring the city. In Shockoe Bottom (awesome name like a scandalous derriere) one of the city's oldest neighborhoods we found Main Street Station a 1901 Beaux Arts gem, arguably the most beautiful building in the city.
  

Richmond, VA (part 1)

River City

So why Richmond? Don't really know only I've visited Gettysburg and Manassas and Harper's Ferry among others, thought I'd go and take a look this time at the heart of the Confederacy. 

India Cafe

Bombay binge

Alas, Bombay Diner opened, closed, opened and closed again before I could write about it. Luckily India Cafe opened in its place (851 Wayne Avenue, near Giant supermarket, (717) 263-2660) only a few months ago and is a perfectly fine replacement--

--especially on Mother's Day, where the owners had set up a buffet dedicated to everyone's favorite parent (Stuff your mother on her special day! Add four, five pounds to your weight in a single sitting!). 

Shrimp with pasta

Shrimp pasta

It's not all eating out; sometimes I manage to put together a dish or two at home. Been doing this one for years--about time I put it on record, or at least online, or at least on this blog.

So, preparation: a pound of 16/20 shrimp, peeled and deveined, save the peel, brine the shrimp in salty water (no proportions, just added salt to a bowl of water till it tasted briny). 

Dinner Date

"Where are we going?"

"O out."

"We've been driving for almost an hour. Is it in another state?"

"Maybe."

"There you go again. Sometimes I want to smack you."

"Ow! Not when I'm driving."

"Frederick, Maryland?"

"You said you wanted somewhere different."

"Cute clock."

"Shut up and pose."

"You've been carrying this for thirteen years--when do you deliver?"

"We're eating here?"

"I got reservations."

"Did you rob a bank?"

Rendezvous Caribbean Restaurant

The No-Plate Special

Said it before gonna say it again: this blog's all about find dining--the kind of eats where you're driving down a street, you pause before a sign, you park and walk right in (or likewise you're walking down said street, pause before a sign). Last week we discovered Grill Kebab on Route 30 East this way; this week we found Rendezvous Caribbean Restaurant a tiny place tucked away in the corner of West Washington and Black Street, on the south end of Chambersburg's downtown. This place had at various points been a Mexican bakery and a pizza joint; if anyone were to ask "What would you put up here instead?" an eatery serving Caribbean food wouldn't have been the first idea to come to mind--but why not? It's different; and we're (along with discovery and good food) all about la difference. 

What I Did on Oscar Night

What I Did on Oscar Night

Watch the show? Ha ha--no, life's too short. Instead I defrosted this two-inch thick bone-in ribeye I bought from M & M Meats in Jim's Farmers Market which is labeled 'hormone free' (the label doesn't matter in poultry or pork, but does in beef), and massaged it with a variation of a coffee-cocoa rub I found online. 

Grill Kabab on Route 30

Happy accidents

You know how it goes: you're driving past and a sign catches your eye--this time it was 'GRILL KABAB' (1495 Lincoln Way East, Suite 109B, on that little strip mall East of I-81 and West of Walmart with the Dunkin Donuts). You're thinking: "we haven't seen a place serve honest-to-goodness Mediterranean style skewered meat since Bombay Diner on Wayne Ave closed during the summer." 

Molly Pitcher Waffle House - Valentine's Day dinner

That breathless charm

Couldn't call this 'find' dining exactly: Molly Pitcher Waffle House located in the heart of downtown Chambersburg--109 South Main Street (Route 11 South) past the intersection of 11 and Route 30 just before Capitol Theater--is, O how to describe it? a charmer of a little place: old-fashioned storefront, bright neon sign, small-town striped awning, curved iron railings.

Momma B's: Bigger'n Better'n Ever

Bigger'n Better'n Ever

Sad news was Momma B's closed back in November in its old location, on Lincoln Highway East; good news is it's open again, at 875 Lincoln Way West--same strip mall as Food Lion. And where the first struggled to seat twenty people you could fit a hundred folks in this big mother, easy.