Clock Reset

So the clock was at over 1,000 days. From January of 2008 to just about 3 hours ago, our lives in Baltimore has been crime free (aside from someone bending our car's antenna). A few hours ago, a "minor" (a kid) swiped my iPhone while I was walking down the street. Yes, it's my fault for being vulnerable, I admit that. When the "minor" took it, he said thanks and started running. I followed him and started yelling for help. There were a lot of people around and luckily a few helped out. I chased the "minor" a few blocks and lost him around a corner. A couple people saw where he went and pointed out his general direction. I followed those directions and another person said he saw the "minor" go into a home. There were a few children and an older woman at the residence and we asked if they saw the "minor". After describing the "minor", the children said that it was their cousin. Busted...and by his own family. After a few minutes and several times talking with the adults, a lady came out saying that she was his aunt. She gave me her contact info and I gave her mine. She said that she was shocked that he had done what he did and she wanted to find him to get my phone back. She recognized that I had to file a report but she wanted to find the "minor" herself. I returned home and called the police. Shortly after I talked with 911, the aunt called me and said she had the phone. I returned to the alley and the aunt gave me my phone back. The police arrived a little later and asked for details. The officer had planned on paying a visit to the family.

So, in a long rant, that's the story. Probably not the most complete story, but the general gist was that a couple helpful neighbors helped out tracking the "minor", the family came through and did what was right, the Baltimore police was helpful, and I luckily came out fine. Crazy evening to start the week.

Well, the clock is reset and our "crime free" life needs some adjustment. I'm grateful that this was not serious and the outcomes were positive. Many life lessons to take from this.

Stuggy's Old Fashion Hot Dogs & Sausages

Stuggy's

809 S. Broadway

Baltimore, MD 21231

Mon - Wed 11AM - 8PM

Thr - Sat 11AM - 3AM

Sun - 11AM - 5PM

Fell's Point has a new restaurant! Stuggy's is a small walk in hot dog and sausage place with late night hours to catch that bar crowd. It's open till 3AM on the weekends! Stuggy's prides itself with serving local goods and fresh ingredients. We walked down to this place last Saturday and got dinner. There's a small counter inside so we decided to eat in. Otherwise, there's no where to eat and you'd have to take it to go. I wish they had some outside tables to sit on, especially with the nice weather we're having. Mr_BTM ordered the Wild Thing (pictured) speciality dog which consists of a bison sausage, blue cheese and diced raw onions. He enjoyed the dog but thought the bison sausage was a little dry with not enough fat in it. I got the Chi-Town Dog with corn relish, diced raw onions, tomato, grilled peppers, celery salt, pickle spear and yellow mustard. While not a traditional chicago style dog (corn relish?!) it was good, a bit messy, and very filling! We both ordered sides of their fresh cut french fries, which were lovely with a bit of extra salt. They also carry Boylan sodas (natural cane sugar), which is a nice touch! Overall, we were very pleased with our dinner there and would go back again to try different combinations!

Woodberry Kitchen

Woodberry Kitchen

2010 Clipper Park Road, No. 126
Baltimore, MD 21211

410-464-8000

For Mr_BTM's birthday I took him out to dinner at Woodberry Kitchen, located in the restored Clipper Mill near Hampden. Their philosophy is farm to table, getting all of their produce, seafood and meat from local farmers and fisherman. It's not all organic but it's all local. I like that idea. The menu is simple American cuisine featuring cold plates, warm plates, oysters, flat breads and entrees. We both chose our items from the specials menu instead

of the regular house menu. We started with a half dozen oysters on the half shell (2 varieties). Following that was a flatbread with house sausage, which was paired well with the Spanish Rioja we had. The flatbreads are all baked in a wood burning stove, which gives the crust a great smokey flavor and a great crunch. For entrees I went with the bison rigatoni (fresh made) and Mr_BTM went with the Poppy Cod with fava beans and beets in a leek broth. My dish had a nice surprise veggies of fresh peas and a sauce based on the glaze for the bison. It was good, but the bison was a little overpowering of the rest of the dish. Mr's dish was nice and light in flavor and well seasoned. He enjoyed his dish.

For dessert, since it's berry season, Mr_BTM went with the 2 berry cobbler (cherry and blackberry) with a side of vanilla ice cream and I got the poached apricots with blackberries, sesame toast and yogurt panna cotta. Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience at Woodberry Kitchen and would love to go back and try more of their menu!

One Straw Farm

This year we signed up for a share in a Community Supported Agriculture program ("CSA"). The CSA is with One Straw Farm, the largest organic vegetable farm in Maryland. The CSA provides weekly produce (whatever is ripe!) from June through November. Each week you get 8 items that you pick up at a nearby site and you'll have more than enough produce to last you the week. We had our first pick up this week and got a lot of stuff! Below is the list:

1 bunch romaine
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
1 bunch green leaf lettuce
1 bunch kale
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 bunch red chard
1 bunch arugula
1 pint strawberries

Maryland Film Festival

This past weekend was the Maryland Film Festival in the Station North neighborhood. We decided to go this year when we saw there were two Korean films included in the festival. The two films included Daytime Drinking, directed by Noh Young-seok, and Treeless Mountain, directed by So Yong-kim. We decided to see Daytime Drinking since it was the only one we could see (had plans when Treeless Mountain was playing). Daytime Drinking was presented at the Toronto Film Festival last year and a few others since then. It was highly praised as a comedy but we really didn't think it was all that funny. Knowing a bit of the culture really let me see past the slap stick funny stuff and realized that what was going on in the film would not be a laughable moment in Korea. Interesting to have that perspective. Depending on the film listing next year, we may go back, we may not. Lots of film snobs at that event!

Peter's Inn

Peter's Inn
504 S. Ann Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
410-675-7313
Closed Sundays & Mondays

We have tried eating at Peter's Inn on two earlier occasions and both times were met with long wait times. Of course, both of these attempts were on Saturday nights. So, with the power out last night and it being our anniversary and all, we decided to try Peter's Inn on a weekday evening. Good choice on our part! We were able to find a table right away with no wait. The menu changes weekly so we weren't entirely sure what would be offered. We quickly noticed that the menu consisted solely of meat and fish dishes, no vegetarian options were offered (excluding the house salad, which isn't an entree). Even the garlic & potato soup came with salmon crostini. We both started with the house salad, served with a large slice of garlic bread. The salad was simple, just greens and a light dressing, and went well with the warm garlic bread. I ordered the wild rockfish fillet with a lobster, bacon and potato hash and Mr_BTM ordered the braised veal cheeks a la bourguignonne. My dish was pretty good and the hash did have large chunks of lobster, carrots and potatoes. The rockfish still had its' skin on, which made a nice addition to a regular fillet and added some much needed flavor. Mr_BTM's dish was also good, served with white onions, carrots and mashed potatoes. We enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of the petite syrah. The service here was good and overall had no complaints with the meal. I do hope they incorporate more vegetarian options in future menus, especially now that summer is coming soon!

Dangerously Delicious Pies

Dangerously Delicious Pies
1036 Light Street, Baltimore, MD - Federal Hill
and
3547 Chestnut Ave., Baltimore, MD - Hampden
410-662-PIES
Closed Mondays

We've had the pleasure of eating at the Hampden location and ordering pies to go from the Fed Hill location. The Hampden spot is located on the first floor of a rowhouse just off The Avenue and has a small bakery in the front and a few tables in the back. The place is really cute and offers coffee and tea in addition to the pies. We shared a generous slice of the mixed berry pie, which they warmed up before serving. It was a great way to end a day of shopping on The Ave!

We've never eaten at the Fed Hill location but have ordered pies from there. For Christmas we ordered a Lemon Chess pie for desert. This pie was really sweet and had a nice lemon flavor. However, we found that we could only eat half a slice at a time due to the sweetness of this pie. So, for our trip to Snowshoe, we decided to try one of the savory pies as well as getting another one of those mixed berry pies! We decided on the steak, mushroom and gruyere savory pie. We had this for lunch at Snowshoe and we warmed it in the oven for a delicious lunch, accompanied by a side salad. The savory pie was so delicious and packed with lots of meat, mushrooms and cheese! Simply delicious! The only downfall I see is that these pies are calorie laden and not very diet friendly. But, for an occasional treat, these pies are worth every penny!