Historic Ellicott City Main Street Appreciation Weekend

It's been a sad week in Howard County. A train derailment in historic Ellicott City took the lives of two nineteen-year-old girls Rose Mayr and Elizabeth Nass.  Not only did two people lose their lives, but main street was closed due to the investigation and clean-up of tons of coal that spilled from the overturned freight trains - forcing many businesses to shut down.

In the past year, the Ellicott City restaurants and stores have had other problems including a major flood and a power outage.

To encourage people to shop and eat in historic Ellicott City this weekend, one of our favorite bloggers Tom Coale of HoCo Rising suggested a Main Street Appreciation Week. Another of our favorite bloggers, veteran food blogger HowChow, joined forces with HoCo Rising and now the Main Street Appreciation Week is a big deal on Facebook with over 300 people committed to supporting downtown businesses this weekend.

My brother Thomas and I are joining the effort.  We decided to start last night.  After we attended Thomas's middle school open house event, we headed downtown to Ellicott Mills Brewing Company .  We remembered they have fabulous ribs and they didn't disappoint.

Ribs with french fries

 

A garden salad can 

be added to your entree 

for $2. 

Side sampler with shrimp & chicken salad. My
Dad said the shrimp and chicken were
well seasoned & honey mustard sauce
was good.  

My mom ordered a shrimp and chicken in a thai curry sauce.
She liked it but it was on the spicy side. 

The fall off the bone ribs have a slightly sweet but heavy smokey flavor. You'll need extra napkins with this finger licking good sauce.

We ate upstairs where we noticed a huge steel wheel in the corner of the room.  We knew the building was very old so we asked our waiter about it. He told us that it is one of the earliest known commercial  elevators.  A long time ago the building was a hardware store and the elevator was used for bringing lumber up to the second floor.  At one point, the Smithsonian was even interested in having it. 

While it's not being used anymore,
if you  look closely directly above the desk
you'll see old elevator's round wheels.  

There is a ghost rumored to be "hanging out" in the upstairs dinning room. Our waiter told us about it and recommended this new book sold at the restaurant (most EC shops sell it too).

It was such a nice night that we decided to walk around town.
We took pictures to show some of the great places to shop and eat.

Although we'll be back again this weekend, we encourage you to also make a reservation to eat at the one of the awesome downtown places including Rumor Mill, Portalli's, or Cacao Lane and shop at the many stores. It's a great way to give back to the community by supporting our local businesses.

Enjoy the photos....

- Charles

   

A memorial to Rose Mayr and Elizabeth Nass who
died in the train derailment. 

2nd Chance Saloon - Columbia

This past Wednesday, my brother and I went to the 2nd Chance Saloon where we participated in the Homeless Ending Happy Hour, organized by Tom Coale of HoCo Rising blog.

The party was to celebrate everyone who contributed towards the $5,150 raised to help Howard County homeless people off the streets and into group homes. Tom Coale set the goal at $2,500 but people continued to give money which resulted in surpassing the goal by 206%.  We helped in just a small way by selling home baked chocolate chip cookies and contributing $200  - see our post Hoco Rising blog fundraiser for the homeless

Rumor Mill restaurant in downtown Ellicott City was originally going to host the party. Unfortunately, the location was moved after the tragic train accident that claimed the lives of two local teenage girls in the historic district.

2nd Chance Salon is a cool place that seems like half pub and half sports bar. In addition to being filled with all sorts of creative decorations they have a dart board and pool table.

Since Wednesdays are half night burger night we decided order hamburgers.

This "Basic Burger" with cheddar cheese was chuck full of CHUCK.  It was a huge portion of well seasoned meat with a toasted bun. It was tasty enough not to need any condiments.

On the suggestion of Howard County blogger Kate Cary of Kittykatepapers.wordpress.com we also ordered buffalo wings (extra crispy).  She is from upstate New York and said she knows what good wings taste like.  She was right!  These were medium spicy with a strong BBQ flavor.

We talked to and met some very interesting people. Tom Coale was very grateful that we came and had nice things to say about our participation in the fundraiser. 

We also met Tom Coale's mother, Christine Coale, who is an assistant director of Admissions at Lycoming College, who gave us helpful information and advice about getting into college. 

And we talked to Ellen Flynn Giles (who is running for re-election to the HoCo Board of Education) and Jessie Newburn of  hocoblogs. It was a really fun night and we look forward to participating in more fundraisers and attending more parties. 

-Thomas

Full Moon Chinese Restaurant - Monterey Bay, CA

After a full day driving from Los Angeles on scenic costal Highway 1 we arrived in Monterey Bay, CA where we would spend the night before continuing to San Francisco the next day.  Needless to say, we were starving after our long drive and stumbled upon  Full Moon Chinese Restaurant near our hotel.


Even though this restaurant is small, the food packs a BIG punch of authenticity which made up for its size. To top things off, our food came out quickly and steaming hot.

Me and my bro cheesing hardcore

Pot Stickers 

For an appetizer we ordered Pot Stickers. They were delicious - soft, tender dough wrapped around delectable, perfectly seasoned pork - that made my taste buds water.
The were accompanied by the traditional Chinese condiments - duck sauce, soy sauce, and yellow mustard.

Sesame Chicken 

Kung Pao Shrimp

The Sesame Chicken was tender, bite size pieces of savory goodness. The sweet sauce nicely complemented the crispiness of the chicken and didn't overpower the dish like some other thick sauces do. 

We liked how the Kung Pao Shrimp was not fried like they are in other restaurants - and they were huge in size.  The sauce was tender and light which made the flavor of the seafood & veggies stand out.  

The Shrimp Fried Rice was another terrific dish that was packed with flavor and tender, juicy shrimp. We liked that the rice was fluffy and not too oily.








The white rice was served in a large artisan bowl complete with a Chinese serving spoon.  This was cool to see because on the East Coast we are more likely to get an individual bowl of rice served with the meal.

We couldn't end this post without showing you a picture of our waitress.  She was one of the most friendly server we've ever had who had a smile  that light up the whole room. We drank a ton of water with our meal and she was always at the ready to refill our glasses.

If you are in the Monterey area, Full Moon is definitely worth a try.

- Charles

Howard County FIlm "Feastival"

Last month, I attended the 3rd annual Howard County Film "Feastival" at the Clark Elioak farm. It's an event that celebrates local county restaurants and farms that join forces to create culinary masterpieces using HoCo farm fresh ingredients. 

Participants get to taste the restaurants's food samples, buy local produce from several HoCo farm stands, and watch movies about the environment. This event acts as the kick-off to Howard County Farm-2-Table summer restaurant weeks.

Since Charles was involved in a tennis tournament, Thomas went solo. 

I was thrilled to attend the "Feastival" for the second year in a row.  Last year,  I met so many interesting farmers and restaurant owners, plus I also premiered a movie I made at school about the advantages of buying local food. In fact, it was 2 Dudes first blog post -Our first film How2Chow: BeeNatural.

The Feastival showcased several Howard County restaurants and their amazing samples including: 

Aida Bistro Wine Bar

Baldwin’s Station  

Bistro Blanc 

Eggspectation 

 Town Grill 

The Iron Bridge Wine Company

Here's a look at the restaurant and farms......

 Bistro Blanc's Peach Ginger Bellini - soda water, peach nectar and ginger - was delicious.

Bistro Blanc

AIDA Bistro's food featured a fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil on a cracker. When I bit into the sample, the tomato and cheese weren't two different ingredients, but tasted as if they were combined as one. I also enjoyed the way that the tomato and cheese were very delicate and that the cracker was crunchy, putting two opposites together on a dish makes a very interesting taste.

 Eggspectation

The Eggspectation folks gave me a "Pagé Pass"which entitles me to one free fruit smoothie at any Eggspectation restaurant. Very cool!

Eggspectations also cooked up a wonderful sample of pita bread and dip, with a splendid hint of garlic.

Town Grill's BBQ ribs (above left) had a wonderful kick of sweet spice. I tried their food for the first time last year and it made a lasting memory.  I'm looking forward to going to their restaurant soon. 

Bistro Blanc's Goat Cheese "Caprese" (below) - gazpacho, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar and grilled flatbread

Baldwin's Station served Smoked Salmon Flatbread which had the most mouth-watering and fresh salmon. 

The Iron Bridge Wine Company

The Iron Bridge Wine Company handed me a 10 dollar gift certificate to their restaurant. 

The  Howard County Beeskeepers Association Inc. was also at the event. 

I learned some cool facts about honey. The dark type of honey has a sweeter taste and the lighter honey has a more subtle taste. 

A number of Howard County's farms set up mini farmer's stand loaded with their fresh, locally grown produce and products. 

Here's me with Nora Crist, Clark's Produce Stand operator. Her roadside stand is opposite The Iron Bridge Wine Company on Route 108. 

Love Dove Farms 

Fresh Produce from Roundabout Hills Market Garden
in Glenwood.

Love Dove Farms 

Bowling Green farm owner Mitzi Jones who with her 
family operates a 10th generation farm. 

We bought both the tomato basil
hard cheese and a Chesapeake
cheese spread. We made grilled cheese
sandwiches with the tomato basil that
were great!

Flacon Ridge farm sold ice cold peach 
popsicles. 

Falcon Ridge farm had lots of berries and jams. 

University of Maryland Cooperative Extension, one of the event's sponsors, had a great stand with all kinds of free brochures about seasonal foods, receipes and local resources. 

I spoke with University of Maryland's Cooperative Extension and Master Gardener Georgia Eacker, one of the county's leading expert on growing natural foods, about local food.  

I'm looking forward to attending again next year.  

We're celebrating our 1st Anniversary.... with cheesecake

Yep, 2 Dudes Who Love Food Blog is now 1 year old! 

A big THANK YOU to the people who read our blog .......and a special shout out to those who have  supported and encouraged us through their retweets, nice comments, mentions and help including - 


HowChow blog, Hocoblogs, The Strobist, The Columbia Patch.com, Hoco Rising,  Richard Gorelick of The Baltimore Sun, Eli of  Adventures of a Koodie, Soffritto blog, The Village Green/Town Squared, Baltimore Beer Guy, The Horizon Foundation, La Casa De Sweets,  HocoVittles  (tweeter), County Executive Ken Ulman  and Burleigh Manor Middle School Home Economic teacher Mrs. Strawitch. 

To celebrate we're headed over to The Cheesecake Factory.  Today is  National Cheesecake Day and to celebrate all the Cheesecake Factory restaurants across the country will offer ANY cheesecake slice at 1/2 off (dine-in only).

Plus, The Cheesecake Factory is debuting their newest cheesecake today, the OREO® Dream Extreme Cheesecake,  in honor of the cookie's 100th birthday.

According to The Cheesecake Factory the new cake is made with OREO® cookies that are baked in their creamy Cheesecake with layers of fudge cake and OREO® Cookie mousse then topped with a milk chocolate icing. 

We are definitely trying this new OREO® cheesecake.  Maybe it will become our become our new favorite flavor?