Whole Foods Thanksgiving Meals, Nationwide

The Whole Foods Columbia, Maryland store invited local food bloggers to a taste testing party to sample their Thanksgiving meals. 

Our invitation included one guest each, so we asked our Grandma Alberta and Grandpa Charles to join us. 

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a warm welcome by Whole Foods Chef Patrick, Katie Malloy and Mia Hinckle. The cafe was transformed into a private dining area for us with a gigantic table with printed name plates, menus and Fall decorations.

(left to right) Charles, Chef Patrick and Thomas 

Tasting menu  

The Holiday Taste tasting took place in the cafe area overlooking the lake

Before the event started, it was exciting to hang out with some very cool food bloggers including @theunmanlychef, @3beansonastring, @HoCoBlogs co-founder Jesse Newburg and @thebaremidriff and @hudsonandemily.

Then, Chef Patrick introduced the appetizers and the parade of holiday food began.....

Chef Patrick introducing the appetizers 

Coconut shrimp (left) and shrimp dumplings with dipping sauce  

We started with appetizers - a coconut shrimp and a shrimp dumpling with sweet and sour sauce. While the dumpling's thin skin was fork tender filled with a tasty, well seasoned mixture of shrimp filing, the star, for all of us, was the coconut shrimp,  It was a huge, pump shrimp lavishly covered in sweet, coconut flaked coating. The right amount of sweet and salty. We washed down the shrimp appetizers with a sweet apple cider that was another stand out. 

For the first course,  the Organic Triple Squash Soup was "smooth and tasty" with "a very faint hint of cinnamon", the "perfect Fall soup"  The  Organic Cream of Mushroom Soup  had a "strong earthly mushroom flavor." We spilt on which one we liked best - Grandpa and I  liked the Squash Soup and Grandma and Thomas the Mushroom Soup. 

Roasted Free Range Turkey with Gravy, Organic Biscuit & Mushroom Stuffing,
Butternut Sweet Potato Casserole,  Mashed Potatoes,
Cranberry Orange Relish, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, and
Glazed Carrots with Pecans

Then the second course came out - a gigantic plate of mouth-watering Thanksgiving classics.  We all agreed the Organic Biscuit & Mushroom Stuffing was star of the plate. "Much better than regular stuffing"(Grandma) and "biscuit added a depth of flavor and texture" (Grandpa). Both potatoes -  Butternut Sweet Potato Casserole and Mashed Potatoes, were well seasoned with a smooth and silky texture but "had a thinner consistency than we make at home"(Grandpa).

Cranberry Orange Relish was "very good and sweet" (Charles), "not a jelly more of a jam (Grandpa) and "very flavorful with a hint of orange" (Grandma). 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts - "tender, easy to cut" (Thomas), but "needed a bit more seasoning or salt" (Grandpa). 

Roasted Free Range Turkey with Gravy was sliced thicker than we are accustomed to at home but the turkey was "very flavorful" (all of us) and with it lathered in the chunky mushroom gravy it was a real hit. 

Glazed Carrots with Pecans -  although "tasty" (Grandma) and "tender" (Thomas) we would prefer the carrots be a bit more sweet.

Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie 

Grandpa and I are not pumpkin fans, so only we let Thomas and Grandma give the 411 on this Pumpkin Pumpkin Pie - "clever play on the classic pie with the two different layers of pumpkin pie (the top layer a mouse and bottom layer was the classic pumpkin pie custard)" (Thomas) but "the crust was thicker than we preferred" (Grandma).



As the dinner ended, we were stuffed. It felt like Thanksgiving. You know that feeling when, even though you want to eat more because it tastes so good, but you just can't eat another bite. That was us.

When we left we were given "Yum" goodie bags stuffed with 365 (Whole Foods house brand) Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake cookies, daelias Biscuits for Cheese (almond with raisin flavor) and Hammond's Mitchell Sweets (vanilla caramel & marshmallow).

In summary, this was a VERY cool event. It's our first taste testing and hope its not our last.

We decided to incorporate some of the items we tasted into our Thanksgiving meal. We're definitely ordering the coconut shrimp appetizer, organic biscuit and mushroom stuffing, mushroom gravy and pumpkin pie cheesecake cookies.

Check out all of WF Thanksgiving meals here (Columbia store here). There are so many items to choose from including kosher, organic, vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian. WF offers its Thanksgiving items as package dinners (serves 2 people or up to 16 ) or as single servings. From sides, breads, game birds, soups, gravy, relish, cheese platters, pie crusts and even holiday flower arrangements, there is a big selection to choose from.

Thank you Whole Foods. We had a great time.

- Charles

Celebrating National Sandwich Day and NEW David's Natural Market

To celebrate National Sandwich Day, 

we are featuring one of our favorite sandwiches - 

The Powerhouse at David's Natural Market 

We eat a David's Natural Market Powerhouse sandwich - Monetrey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, Vegenaise mayo, Italian seasoning, garlic powder on Shiloh Farms organic seven grain bread - at least once a week. It's great for a snack or meal. 

Try the sandwich in David's grab-n-go refrigerator, cafe or buy the ingredients and make a bunch of sandwiches yourself. 

Speaking of David's Natural Market, here's a peak at the brand new building that DNM moved into last week. They opened for business on Thursday, Oct. 30. 

Don't let this sign scare you. There's lots of construction going
on in the Wilde Lake Village Center but David's is open. 

Legendary and long time DNM Cafe Chef Barbara in the new kitchen 

Huge refrigerated aisles stocked with lots of organic and natural products

Look who I ran into?  THE David of David's Natural Market.
David (left), me, and store General Manager Greg Resch (right) in front of the new produce section 

The meat department features local products like Wagon Wheel Ranch in Mt. Airy, MD 

The new Cafe is triple the size of the old one. And that's true for the cafe seating area too that is situated in the front of the store overlooking floor to ceiling windows. 

More check out lines have been added 

Congratulations DNM!  The new store is awesome.

- Thomas

St. Leo's Ravioli - Spaghetti Dinner, Baltimore's Little Italy

TODAY

Head down to Baltimore's Little Italy for St. Leo's Church ravioli - spaghetti dinner. Every year, St. Leo's hosts an annual pasta dinner in the Fall and Spring.

Considering St. Leo's Church usually serves about 2,000 people, it's a big deal - a decades long tradition.

Prior to the dinner, volunteers helped make the homemade ravioli.  Recently, my brother Charles and I, along with members our school's Italian Club, volunteered to make homemade ravioli for today's dinner.

Me and Charles making ravioli

This was our second time making ravioli, check out our post about the pasta dinner here.

Just like last year, we had such a nice time helping the members of St. Leo's ravioli dinner committee. They were very gracious and patient teaching us how to make ravioli. I guess they liked us too because they wrote about us on "Neighborhood News from Little Italy" (click here to view) and St. Leo's Church featured us on their Facebook page here.

By the end of the day, we made a total of 7,080 raviolis and rewarded with a ravioli lunch.

Today's the day, enjoy homemade ravioli or spaghetti, meatballs, an Italian salad, bread, and coffee for just $12 adults and $6 children.

Cash bar, soda, dessert available for sale. Tickets can be purchased at the door (St. Leo's School Hall) or carryout is available for $12.50.

Italian Club members making ravioli

 -Thomas

Halloween Deals 2014

Check out these scary good Halloween food and drink deals -

At Sonic Drive - In nab a 50 Cent Corn Dogs all Day Halloween

Head to Chipotle's Mexican Grill dressed in your Halloween costume from 5 p.m. to close, and you’ll score a burrito, bowl, salad, or an order of tacos for just $3.
All proceeds up to $1,000,000 will benefit the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation.

On Halloween, Outback Steakhouse is offering kids 10 years and under a free kids meal when adults purchase an entree. We think there's a two kids maximum so call ahead to your local Outback for details.

Try a Franken Frappuccino or any other grande Frappuccino on Halloween for just $3 after 2 p.m. at participating Starbucks

Here's one more Halloween treat to check out - my brother Thomas in 5th grade dressed as a gangster for his elementary school Halloween parade. 

- Charles 

Thomas at a 5th grade Halloween party 

David's Natural Market Cafe, Columbia, MD

David's Natural Market
Cafe Fans...

This week, the Wilde Lake Village Center store is moving to its brand new, very large, building (luckily only next door).

Chef Barbara taking our order at the cafe counter 

 While the store will remain open, DNM Cafe closed on Friday to prepare for its move to the new location. 

DNM is scheduled to reopen on Thursday, Oct. 30. 

Our favorite - The POWERHOUSE sandwich 

Stay tuned for more news on the  NEW David's Natural Market Cafe coming soon.

In the meantime, take a look at our DNM Cafe post here. 

- Charles and Thomas

H Mart - Catonsville, Maryland

 Located on the corner of Rolling Road & Rt. 40 in Catonsville, Maryland, H Mart is an Asian inspired grocery store that according to its web site takes pride in offering customers "the freshest ingredients" with the "best value".

Since opening in Queens, New York in 1982, H Mart has grown to 40 locations in the US, Canada and recently London, England. 

H Mart (short for Han Ah Reum, a Korean phrase meaning "arm full of groceries") carries a wide selection of fresh produce, seafood and asian products. Surprisingly, it also has a Hispanic food section too. 

Hidden on the far right side of the store, tucked away in a corner, we discovered a sit-in eatery and sushi counter. 

Charles, Grandpa and me 

A row of large flatscreens displayed the eatery menu items identified by photo, numbers and dish name.

The eatery is small with about five tables and counter seating. Although a half-wall partisan separates the eatery from the supermarket, I could still easily see and hear the shoppers - which we thought was cool.

After we selected our dishes, we placed our order at the cash register.


Once our meals were ready, the nice lady at the cash register called us up to the counter to retrieve the entrees. Our meals came with a complimentary bowl of white rice, kimchi, and miso soup. The rice  and kimchi was given to us with our entree, however, we were told the soup was self serve from a large hot caldron (that was fun to do).

Apparently there are people who forget the miso soup is only complimentary with a entree, because there was a huge "Not Free $1.00" sign posted on the pot.

I selected the KanPoongGi (#21). Although the chicken was moist and plentiful, the "garlic and pepper sauce" was a little too spicy for my liking. One  bite wasn't inherently spicy, but after a couple of mouthfuls, I was grateful for my water bottle. However, my grandpa, who likes spicy cuisine, thought the dish was great! I'd say this dish resembles Sesame Chicken but with a giant kick.

My brother Charles ordered the Chicken Broccoli (#52). The best part of the dish was the fresh broccoli. The bad part was the rest of the dish - the chicken was rubbery, bland, and chewy with a monotonous brown "special sauce".  Charles was quite surprised since the dish looked so good on the menu board photo and on the actual plate.  After my Grandpa and I tried a bite of his dish, we both concurred with his assessment. We left most of his dish untouched.

In addition to the hot food in the cafe, there is a sushi section run by a few men who were busy making sushi to order. While we didn't try the sushi on this visit, it looked terrific - and most importantly it looked very fresh. The prices for the sushi carry-out items seemed less expensive than other grocery stores like Giant and Safeway. For example, a California Roll was priced at $3.50.

Although our voyage to the H Mart eatery wasn't all that great, we would still consider returning to try other dishes. Plus, we'd like to spend more time exploring the grocery part of the store.



-Thomas Regnante