Stuffed Acorn Squash

I got a ton of free acorn squash from the farm this fall and have been contemplating exactly what to do with it. I remember one Thanksgiving UMD dining hall did a vegetarian dinner with a stuffed acorn squash and it was pretty good so I decided to try my hand at doing something similar.

I roasted my squash at 450 degrees (slices in half and placed cut side down on a baking sheet) for about 40 minutes-until my fork went cleanly through. I knew I would need a really flavorful stuffing because squash can be a little bland so I made a rice jambalaya and mixed it with sauteed vegetables (onions, red peppers, mushrooms and yellow squash) and spicy turkey kielbasa. This made a wonderful stuffing and a colorful presentation. I really think this is a unique healthful dish but if I were to do it again I would brush the acorn squash with maple syrup before cooking. I definitely recommend my sausage jambalaya stuffed acorn squash. Next time I will try a variation with cranberry sauce, couscous and turkey-acorn squash squash would be the perfect vehicle for these staple Thanksgiving leftovers.

Best Place to Eat In Salisbury MD

So when you see the title of this post you are probably thinking ooo Salisbury must have a nice fancy restaurant that is really expensive but good that Jenn thinks everyone should go to because it is the best place to eat in Salisbury-well you would be wrong. I actually think the best restaurant in Salisbury is a pizza place called Specific Gravity Pizza.

The owners of Specific Gravity Pizza wanted to do something a little different than your normal pizza place so they made it so that all the 'tables' are really just 'bars' (think of a very long breakfast bar but several of them set up all over the place) to encourage socializing and a sense of closeness. You could end up sitting next to a complete stranger which could be cool if you want to strike up a conversation and meet someone new but I must admit that of the three times I have been to Specific Gravity Pizza I just ignored my fellow barmates and concentrated on the good food and the company I brought with me.

SCP has quite a few good things going for it. I am not a wing person but man do I love their wings. The first time we went to SPC we got the New Haven wings due to our waitresses recommendation and they just blew us away. The salty sweet wings were fresh and crisp and the garliky spices pleased my palate to no end. I am a condiment girl so I got ALL the sauces that can come with the wings (honey must cilantro, ranch, a chunky blue cheese and bbq). The second and third time I came the place was busier and my New Haven wings were drier but fortunately I got the bbq wings and the asian wings which were just as amazing. They know how to do great bbq and asian sauces at this place and they just slather that sauce on so that every bite of your wing you get that full on saucy flavor burst in your mouth.

What might be the most unique things about SCP is that you can add french fries to your pizza for 0.99 cents. When I say 'add' I mean they pile a ton of these thick fresh handcut thrashers like fries on top of your pizza and this just gives you a perfect opportunity to utilize those tasty condiments you got with your wings earlier. Yumminess does not even begin to describe my french fry pizza enjoyment. The pizzas themselves an be very creative-I am raring to try the General Tso's pizza but last time I opted for the chicken cheese steak pizza and once I got the cheeseburger pizza as well and another time I got the garlic chicken pizza. The chicken comes shredded (I don't like chicken chunks on my pizza so this was pleasing) and when I added pepperoni onto my chicken cheese steak pizza they did not skimp but covered it with those spicy circles that give your pizza just the kick it needs. The sauteed peppers and onions are quality as is the flavorful cheese and luscious crust. The sauce reminds me a little of ledo's sauce but with more oregano and a little less sweetness. There are of course other creative pizzas like the steak and blue cheese or the crab pizza but they will just have to wait for future visits.

They do specialize in beer at this place but I am not a beer drinker and I never seem to have room for the apple pizza dessert which is supposed to be really good. Maybe next time.

Address 105 E. College Ave. Salisbury, MD 21804
Phone (443) 859 - 8412
Email SpecificGravity@southernboysconcepts.com
Hours of Operation
Mon-Weds 11:30AM-12:30AM
Thurs-Sat 11:30AM-1:00AM
Sunday 12:30PM - 12:00AM

Places To Stop To Eat On The Way to Ocean City / Salisbury / The Eastern Shore: Bay Country Bakery

I have made so many trips back and forth between Salisbury and the Gaithersburg/College Park area that I figure I should be an expert on places to stop and eat along fifty. However, I have been a horrible foodie and have used Panera as my go to place for stopping for lunch or dinner during these trips. Well no more I say! There are quite a few places I have been eyeing and darn it I will stop and eat there so that everyone can stop at non-chain stores for some quality pre/post beach food. This past weekend I stopped at Bay Country Bakeryand got an assortment of goodies. I had to get a cupcake due to my undyling love of cupcakey goodness (plus I needed to know if it was worth a separate trip to the newly opened cupcake place just down the road from the bakery), I got one of their coffee cake rings (I got the cheese one but they also had blueberry, cherry and apple), and an assortment of donuts. The coffee cake ring was $7.50 and it looked totally worth it. Unfortunately the bread part was a little dry/old but the sweet cheese filling and brownsugar chunks were a nice touch. I don't think I will be getting it again but if anyone wants to wow someone with a edible gift I think this would do nicely just because it looks so impressive. The cupcake was terribly dry and the icing was unimpressive. I thought it might have been a pumpkin cupcake but the woman told me it was vanilla (the darkness was a sign of the dryness to come I am sure). But the donuts...If you want donuts this is the place to go. I should have known from the giant donut that sits outside the bakery that their specialty was donuts and man were these good. I don't like cakey donuts (krispy kreme get outta my way) but I do like the light airy ones that I get from dunkin. Bay country Bakery donuts were even better than dunkin donuts. The boston creme had a wonderful pillowy softness that was filled with vanilla custard and coated with chocolate ganache. The filling of the jelly donut was quality and had a similar fresh, airy taste that allows you to go on an eat a second donut. The maple almond donut was divine. I loved the crunchy almond topping and the maple icing was lovely. The Bay Country Bakery also serves sandwiches and coffee and loaves of bread can be purchased there as well. Bay Country Bakery is absolutely my go-to place for donuts now and I am sure I will stop by on my next trip out from the shore.

Visit Bay Country Bakery 2951 Ocean Gateway · Cambridge, Maryland 21613 Google Maps Store Hours: Monday -Friday 6am - 5:30 pm Saturday 6 am - 2 pm Closed Sundays

Where to Eat in Santa Fe and Albuquerque

So when you go to New Mexico you have to eat New Mexican food not 'American' food. I mean sure New Mexico is part of the US but lets face it New Mexican food is very different than your usual American meat and potato fare. To really get taste of the New Mexican flare (yeah that's right flare not fare) you have to frequent the cheap local joints that really know what they are doing not the haughty expensive American New Mexican fusion type places that are only pretending like they have any idea as to what true New Mexican food is supposed to taste like.

Ok so the first place we went to was Jalapenos more out of desperation because we were going to be late for our first night at the Santa Fe Opera. We had tickets for Faust that night and Jalapenos was right outside our hotel. They had the most excellent house made lemonade. Justin got a nice pork mole with pineapple and red chile sauce. My flautas were a bit plain but hey it was quick and tasty.

The day of my birthday was the tastiest day of the trip though.

We started the day with breakfast at Tia Sophia's. This place was great. I got the pork adovada which is basically pork slow cooked in a chile sauce and it was served with eggs and beans for breakfast. This went great with Justin's huevos rancheros which he got christmas style (red and green chile) with potatoes (wonderful buttery strips of hashbrown goodness)and some tortillas so we could make our own little wraps using both of our breakfast dishes. The blueberry pancake we got on the side had a nice savory cornmeal flavor and an unbeatable fluffiness.

pork adovada

huevos rancheros

Justin waiting for food

We were so full from breakfast we had to skip lunch. What did tide us over however were some great cupcakes that Justin got for me for my birthday while I was relaxing at the 10,000 Waves Spa. He picked the cupcakes up from the Little Cupcake Shop and he told me that the owner was there when he went and she was really nice and told him that she had started out with a cupcake stand at the mall but she got so much business she just expanded to a whole store front. The cupcakes might not have looked as impressive as those at Georgetown cupcakes but they tasted just as good and they were less expensive too (yay!). My favorite was probably the Boston Cream cupcake which was filled with a vanilla custard and topped with chocolate ganache (it tasted just like a Boston cream pie!). Second favorite was the chocolate raspberry cupcake (the raspberry jam filling was really good), then came the carrot cake cupcake (mmm all those raisins, and the strawberry cupcake (some people just can't get the vanilla cake to be that moist and tasty), and then the chocolate mint (that is a real thin mint girl scout cookie on top-I wonder whose her dealer?) and the chocolate birthday cupcake came last (Justin knows I don't like plain flavored cupcakes but he had to have his rainbow sprinkles).

cupcakes

In the evening we mixed a contemporary opera, The Last Savage, with a traditional New Mexican restaurant, Los Potrillos. Los Potrillos was not in the downtown area but not far out and it was full of locals. This was probably my favorite meal of the trip just because of its authenticity. I got the Molcajete al Pastor which is basically a pork, pineapple, onion and pepper dish that is nicely spiced and served in a real lava rock bowl. It comes with a tortilla and beans for making your own wrap and it looked so good when it came to the table that this old lady came up to me and asked me what it was that I ordered because it looked so yummy. Justin got this corn cheese tortilla pudding dish that was out of this world. It was both sweet and spicy and cited as a traditional New Mexican dish on the menu. We also got the albondigas (Mexican meatballs) but the broth that came with it was too spicy (you can't win them all amigo). Ahh if only we had time and room for the tres de leche or mexican hot chocolate. Some other day I suppose.

Molcajete al Pastor

Justins dish
albondigas

Our last night in Santa Fe dinner was spent savoring delicious leftovers and a traditional love story, La Boheme.


Our last day we finally snagged a seat at the popular Cafe Pasquals for breakfast but ordered the wrong things because everything else looked much better than what we got. My chile relleno with egg and beans was completely soggy and Justin just got another version of the huevos rancheros but with sauteed bananas. The thing to order there seemed to be the oatmeal which came with a plate of fresh fruit, crunchy granola on top and a bowl of fresh yogurt on the side. The breakfast burritos also looked promising. We did get to order some mexican hot chocolate here. It was a little on the cold side but had a nice cinnamony flavor but not spicy like I thought it would be.

decor
chille rellenos
huevos rancheros + bananas
Justin + Mexican hot chocolate

We only got to eat one meal in Albuquerque but it was a good one. I did want to try the green chile cheeseburger and a quality papusa before I left New Mexico but since there was some kind of truck strike going on in the downtown Albuquerque area I made do with the place I was in and when I walked by a bustling pizza place called Farina Pizzeria which was emanating amazing smells and had a nice cozy but new age atmosphere I was instantly drawn to the window to look at their menu. While there a man at the table by the window gave me a thumbs up and mouthed 'its good' to me. Well that had me decided and I pretty much dragged Justin inside and we were seated right away (luckily they had a two seater open and everyone who was waiting were in groups of 4). Ok, so it took awhile to get our pizza I will admit but man was it GOOD. We got the special salad and the special pizza of the day which has different kinds of chile peppers, purple potatoes, arugula, deliciously thin slices of ham and caramelized onions and garlic. With this we got tomato sauce (filled with sweet tomato chunks and spices) as well as a Gorgonzola dipping sauce for the crust (what a novel and fantastically wonderful idea-Justin just loved this sauce even if it was an extra buck he thought it was well worth it). This was definitely a wood fired over pizza with the thin crispy crust but not overly burnt and definitely quality. The price for the pizza was right too. The salad was nice but not great and cost almost as much as the pizza even though it was a tiny little thing. Next time two pizzas-even if we will have a whole pizza left over (1 pizza is def enough for 2 people).

pizza

atmosphere
salad

I would definitely go back to New Mexico. The opera was great, all the little art galleries were adorable, the landscape was breathtaking and the food was fantastic.

Dining in Hawaii

So I did recently take a trip to Hawaii for my conference as well as for a mini vacation with my family (if you could call any time a spend with them a vacation) and I found the food scene quite unique on these island getaways.

When I go traveling I really try to eat what is thought of as native food. Hawaii, however, had a bit of a limited selection in terms of what is thought to be 'native'. This is mostly because I think a lot of their staple crops/what is thought to be Hawaiian was actually brought from other places/countries and integrated into their culture. One staple of Hawaiian food is taro-a purplish plant which they use to make poi (a sort of flavorless mush used as a condiment/side dish, taro buns and other food items. The leaves of the taro can also be used for wrapping and flavoring things when cooking. The Kalua pork-pig that's been slow roasted while wrapped in leaves and buried underground near hot coals (though no a days its is mostly done in ovens) is a signature menu item and then of course there are the fruits like pineapple, guava, mango and acai berry which characterize many of the dishes. Macadamia nuts are similarly popular being used to coat any cut of meat or fish imaginable. These ingredients can be found on any hawaiian menu in various forms and the sad thing is that a lot of the fancier/expensive restaurants in Hawaii aren't very creative in the use of these ingredients and pretty much serve the same thing to unsuspecting tourists. If you want to taste the good hawaiian good just go to a mixed plate lunch place like Aloha Mixed Plate in Lahaina and get a cheap lunch that comes with a mixture of all kinds of tasty things you can try and almost always with a scoop of rice and macaroni salad.

Aloha Mixed plate lunch with pork wrapped in taro and te leaves

Acai bown from Shark Cove on the North Shore of Oahu


A dish you won't find in the other states is the Loco Moco-a plate that's touted as a breakfast item but is anything but. You have a bed of white rice topped with a burger patty which is topped with a brown gravy which is topped by a fried egg. I had a Loco Moco with some high quality beef and thoroughly enjoyed the simple but tasty flavors that actually went together pretty well.

Loco Moco
You have to have fish when you go to Hawaii-you are on an Island for heavens sake! Justin and I went to the Paia fish market which is supposed to be the cheaper fast version of Mamma's Fish House. Justin and I got the ono-his classic fish and chips style while I got mine jerk chicken style as a sandwich with coleslaw. Of course I made the better choice-my sandwich was amazing. Justin's fish and chips were sadly mediocre-it just didn't hold a candle to my number one fish and chip experience at a hole in the wall in Australia. We did have a nice conversation with a local who apparently always stops by the Market after he goes for a hike with his friends.

fish sandwich

fish and chips

I love donuts and just about every place you go has their own version of a donut and in Hawaii they have adopted the Portuguese donut-a holeless donut that is coated with cinnamon and sugar. I had two from two different places and the second one I had was the best because it had this eggy-ness that reminded me of dutch oven panckes. Delish. Another breakfast food item to look for is the Acai bowl which is basically acai sherbet with fresh fruit, honey and granola topping. We had a good one at Sharks Cover in the North Shore of Oahu (though the oatmeal was really the thing to brag about there-out of this world flavor and texture). Another fun things to try is Wailai Coffee House's guava stuffed french toast (guava jelly that is) as well as their mueseli (their version of swiss oatmeal with nuts, apples, bananas and raisins served cold). Cream puffs are also a popular commodity at Hawaiian bakeries and I fully approve because they know how to do their cream puffs right-no nasty hard old shells that take away from the beauty of the cream puffs flavor. Komadas bakery in Mauii is the place to go for cream puffs and in Honolulu I know Leonards is supposed to be good but I never got to make it there.

Shark Cove oatmeal

One big food trend in Hawaii is definitely the snow cones/shaved ice. People in Hawaii love shaved ice-its cool, its sweet and its not filling. Most people get a scoop of vanilla ice cream at the bottom of their shaved ice cup and a dash of coconut cream on top of their icy ball. You can get all kinds of different syrup flavors-ex lychee or tigers blood (which tastes like fruit punch). We even came across Obama's favorite spot for shaved ice on one of our little trips to the beach and the place was crowded.

Justin enjoying a large shaved ice

A highlight of the food in Hawaii is definitely all the asian restaurants. I don't think that San Francisco can even top Honolulu in terms of amazing dim sum foods (authentic chinese, tasty, fresh and cheap-go to the chines cultural plaza and pick any one of the dim sum places you see there and you can't go wrong). There were also an amazing amount of Japanese restaurants from ramen to sushi to Japanese bbq. Some Thai is mixed in there as well but make sure you get stuck at a bad touristy Thai place that only served pad Thai and no curries-they have a lot of tourists traps like that.

coconut custard bun
dim sum
ramen
In the end I say go to Hawaii and don't forget to eat, surf and relax.

Adams Ribs in Salisbury MD

So I really wanted to go to Specific Gravity Pizza but Justin refused to go because we have already been there twice (both times he has come to visit) and we really like to try new places and it seemed kind of wrong to go back when there are other restaurants to try sooo we ended up at Adams Ribs.

From my previous posts you know what a bbq snob I am so of course Adams had some high standards to live up to. Honestly though, I didn't go to Adams with high expectations because looking at their menu on-line I could tell that they aren't a true bbq place. Real bbq places are holes in the wall that just do bbq and some side dishes they don't have a long list of appetizers, burgers and crab chicken dishes on the menu.

Now remember I wanted to go to specific gravity which meant I was in the mood for some excellent wings so I convinced Justin to get the wing thing-a wing sampler plate with 4 types of wings and 16 wings in all. Big mistake. Not only could you tell these wings had been reheated and not freshly made because of their inferior breading but the sauces and spices were all wrong. Now remember Adams is supposed to be a bbq place right-well that usually means that the restaurant uses actual bbq sauce. WRONG. Their bbq wings had a really strange tasting sauce-something that tasted like...plum sauce? Or something gone bad? The cajun wings had practically no flavor and just accentuated the awfulness of the breading due to the lack of sauce. The Jack Daniels wings were even worse-they tasted like they were coated with strange grape juice.

I am a major lover of some good bbq beef brisket so of course I had to get me some. The brisket came out-a heaping pile of tender meat on white bun with some crispy hot french fried and a little cup of perfectly seasoned and sweetened cole slaw. Unfortunately it tasted like shit (I apologize for my profane language but the meat literally tasted like shit). Sure the sides were ok but the brisket...sigh. Anyways we were really fortunate to have a great server and he brought us out a pulled pork sandwich to replace it and the pulled pork was edible but tasted a little like something you would buy at the grocery store.

Then there was the ribs. Hey, they are called Adams ribs so you gotta expect some good ribs and heck they delivered. The smokiness, tenderness and meatiness were all there. The side of baked beans was normal and the sweet rolls and corn bread were a nice supplement to the meal.

In the end I would just say go to Adams ribs for the ribs but don't go for anything else.

Sweet bbqing!

~Jenn

Present Restaurant in Falls Church VA

I am stuck at work late at night so I figure I might as well post about one of the many delicious places I have eaten at recently.

Present is a restaurant in VA I have been wanting to go to for a long time. I never really am in the VA area but last weekend there was this big costume give away in VA from a theater that was moving locations which was more than enough incentive to get my butt over there.

Present has been mentioned briefly in several other food blogs I have come across and I wanted to see what the hype was all about so of course I picked this place out of the many other VA restaurants in the area to go to.

Other than maybe two other tables the place was deserted on a Sunday at noon. The decor was nice and soothing-I can always appreciate some well placed orchids and the sound of running water from a fancy fountain.

The server recommended that we get number Cow on the Open field (cubes of beef)-which we didn't get but will def try next time and the Mosaic pathway. The menu is very much seafood based and I am the kind of person who only eats seafood when its really fresh and I only eat shrimp when it is literally right out of the water (otherwise it tastes too fishy for me). We were daring though and got the Green paradise spring rolls, the Mosaic pathway and then due to mine and Justin's love for a well cooked duck we got the duck soup.

spring rolls

Overall I was pretty impressed with the food. I actually LIKED the Green Paradise spring rolls and the shrimp was so fresh I couldn't even detect a hint of fishiness. We did try eating them with our chopsticks but the server came by and told us that they were finger food while he laughed at my sad/ungainly use of the wooden utensils. The noodles (which were the mosaic pathway) were very filling and I could have used more of the delectable real lump crab meat that was in it and perhaps a little more flavor but was generally just okay. The duck though was great. The broth was sweet and cinnamony and there were fresh vegetables swimming throughout the bowl (except for the mushrooms which were definitely dried). The duck itself was succulent and immaculately cooked. I could not have asked for a better piece of duck.

The highlight of the meal had to be the dessert though. I always must order any form of fried banana when I see it on a menu so of course, despite being stuffed, I had to get the banana fritters with coconut cream. What a good decision. These had to be the best fried bananas I have ever had in my life. They were just the right ripeness and the perfect amount of breading. The crispiness and the taste was complemented beautifully by the smooth subtle coconut milk sauce that was draped over them. Ahhhh heavenly.

I must go back to Present-if not to try more of their fresh seafood selection than just for the fried bananas alone.

banana fritters