Donations needed at HoCo Animal Control and Adoption Center

Normally, my brother and I post about restaurant reviews and how to make healthy food. However, this post is about the Howard County Animal Control center. A few weeks ago, the facility issued a plea for mature cat food donations on their Facebook page - 

Howard County Animal Control and Adoption Center

Howard County Animal Control has a “Senior Food Bank” program. We collect donations from the public of pet foods and distribute them to needy senior pet owners. Our program is currently in desperate need of donations of dry and wet cat food. Donations may be dropped off directly at the shelter. Thank you.

The Howard County Animal Control is located on 8576 Davis Road, Columbia, MD

To show support for furry felines, we brought two bags of dried cat chow to donate to the Center's  "senior food bank" program.

It was so easy! We just walked in and gave them our cat food donation. Since they handle about four to five thousand animals a year, we learned that they need many pet items on a regular basis. They even created a wish list flyer to show people what they specifically need.

If you are interested in making a donation, you can choose one of the items on the wish list. To obtain a copy of this list, call the Adoption Center at (410) 313-2780.

- Thomas 



Mamma Lucia - Columbia

My family and I ate at Mamma Lucia for great tasting Italian cuisine. We ate here only one time before when the restaurant first opened. Wish we had come back sooner. It's technically located in Elkridge, in the Lark Brown shopping ctr with near Trader Joe's, but it's on the border of Columbia.

The first thing I saw when I walked in were these scrumptious garlic knots. They were offered as free samples while we waited to be seated. I quickly popped one in my mouth and this unbelievably, fabulous, flavorful sensation struck my taste buds. The inside was soft  & fluffy while the outside was lightly coated with oil and fresh minced garlic & herbs. I would come back to this restaurant just for these garlic knots.

All of our entrees came with either a house or caesar salad
( caesar pictured above)

 A basket of these giant seasoned garlic bread
slices accompanied with an oil cheese dip was
brought to our table when we first sat down.

 After we finished our garlic knots, garlic bread & dip, and salads, our entrees arrived steamming hot and ready to eat.  We all ordered different entrees so we could try a variety of dishes. 

Gamberetti Alfredo (we added broccoli)- 
 the shrimp & broccoli were

perfectly cooked and the  sauce was 

buttery creamy with hints of garlic and spices. 

One of daily specials - Seafood Siciliano -

included large shrimp, tender scallops, sweet crab meat in a Marsala wine sauce (we requested cappelini pasta). It was exceptional!

The sauce had a sweet and robust flavor

that blended perfectly with the seafood.  

We wanted to try the pizza so we ordered a slice of sausage. The crust was soft and tender and the thinly sliced sausage was  mild with a spicy hint. Terrific!

This is another special of the day - Seafood Adriatico - with mussels, salmon and shrimp in a tomato sauce. This had a huge piece of salmon that could have been a meal by itself.

Daily Special - Seafood Adriatico 

 Mamma Lucia offers overly generously portions of fantastic Italian food. Plan on needing a take home box like we did. The menu is endless - we lost count on how many different items they offer. So there is something for everyone on it.

At the end of our meal we met one of Mamma Lucia's co-owners.  We had some laughs talking to him and members of the staff before leaving. The staff made our trip fun and easy. 

Our only recommendation about going to Mamma Lucia is ..... you may want to think twice before you wear an Eagles football shirt (see green sweatshirt I'm holding in this picture) to the restaurant.  Try it and let me know how it goes. 

- Charles 

We're Back

We're Back!!!!!!!

Hello, it's Charles. In the past couple of weeks, my brother and I have gotten a bit sidelined and we haven't had as many posts as we normal do. What have we been doing you ask?

Thomas playing ball 

Well, the start of schoolwork and extra-curricular activities got the better of me and my brother....but all in a good way.

My brother Thomas put a ton of practice time into trying out for his middle school varsity basketball team. Good news -  he made the team. He also won a spot on the school student council and jazz band.  

Charles dressed up for homecoming

I started writing for my high school newspaper and was just appointed the political correspondent. Plus, I recently founded an Italian club at my school- stay tuned for some posts about Italian restaurant outings.

Thanks for all the folks who posted comments on our blog. We will be answering them this weekend. 

Look for two new blogs posts - (1) Mamma Lucia Italian Restaurant and (2) an unusual one about food needed for our furry friends. Enjoy!