DTBarton

I think the wine will go well with canapes, but I would lean towards meaty ones! Sauteed medallions of tenderloin on toast points, maybe. Could add a little wild mushroom if you like.

I like a little balsomic vinegar and black pepper on mine as well.

I also have good luck pairing Beaujolais and Spanish reds with grilled and BBQed foods. Agree with Darrell's asessments, too. Then again, a cold beer's not too bad either. Or a nice cold Maker's Mark and water pre meal and some good iced tea with the Q! Enjoy the summer stuff, 'twill be cold again too soon.

I did the Claggett farm CSA share a few years back. For me, it wasn't worth the effort due to two things. First, they don't deliver except to a couple locations, so I had to drive to Upper Marlboro every Tuesday. Second, it was an AWFUL growing year, cold and wet, so yields were low due to no fault of their own. Multi-year participants said it usually was much better. For me, with the trafficky drive and the fact that we're out of town a good bit, and we have our own garden, we just didn't get the value for $400. That being said, some of the unofficial things we got were the best, particularly quantity wise. They have big stands of cutting flowers for the taking, which we did several times. Also, as a crop was finishing, they'd let you go out in the field and get as much as you wanted. We did very well at the tail end of the broccoli and tomato crops. Plus, you are helping to subsidize their food bank efforts.

Sounds like fun. Oh to be 21 again...........................

"I'd be happy to find a good seafood source. It's ironic that fresh local seafood can seem so hard to find right here on the water." It's true. When I first moved to the area, Annapolis seafood in Severna Park was a pretty good source for fish. As the years went by, they focused more on prepared food and the fish counter sufferred. The Edgewater location is mostly lame as well. The Forest drive location gets some decent local fish, but you have to be choosy and buy what looks best, not have a preconceived thing you have to have. A shortish road trip will get you to Frank's seafood in Jessup (about 35 minutes). http://franksseafood.com/contact.html They have the tremendous advantage of being right at the Jessup seafood distributorship where most of the seafood for the area's stores and restaurants comes from. They usually have good quality, good selection and somewhat better prices. As you probably know, thw Whole Foods in Annapolis has some pretty fish, but it can be very pricy. We have had good luck with the Whole Catch frozen fish (in the case behind you if you're at the Whole foods fish counter). 6 ounce fillets vacuum packed fresh. We've had the dolphin (mahi-mahi) and wild salmon, both very good and less than $8 for dinner for 2.

Here are some of my local faves, Bavila. I'm in Edgewater, just south of you in Annapolis. Sounds like you've got the farmer's markets covered. Near my place on route 214 in Mayo is Peninsula Farms. They have lots of local stuff as the summer goes on. Fresh corn from the Eastern shore every day at about 11:00 AM, veggies, and if you're lucky, fresh soft shell crabs. They get them some days about 5 PM and they go fast. Take route 2 south to 214 east and go about 2 1/2 miles, they're on the left. Plenty of fish bait there if you want to catch your own dinner! Also for fresh soft shells and local seafood, Bob Evans seafood in West River. Don't be put off by the redneck garage atmosphere, they have good stuff. Turn right on Muddy Creek road from 214 east, go about 8 miles or so. Bob Evans is on the right just past the Swamp Circle saloon. In Edgewater on Mayo road is Chesapeake seafood. They have Maryland jumbo lump crab meat for 27.99/pound, better quality and $10/pound cheaper than Annapolis seafood and others. Not sure what McNasby's in Eastport has these days. From route 2 south, take a left at the third light after the South River Bridge on Mayo road. Chesapeake seafood is about a 2/3 mile down on the right. Not local exactly, but Chesapeake sells all wild Gulf shrimp, no farm raised gunk. On route 424 in Davidsonville (around the corner a little ways north from Homestead gardens) is the Mount Airy u-pick farm. Their big claim to fame is strwberries in late May/early June. They said they'd be having u-pick corn and rasberries starting in late July. If it comes to pass, I'll let you know.

Thanks for the advice. i will have to check for myself. I have some Monbousquet amongst others. I haven't tried one in a while. ← I'm sure your familiar with the 1998 vintage of this wine - This is the vintage that I most admired from them ( tasted 1998 - 2003) ← Darrell- How is the '98 drinking now? I have a case, haven't tried one yet. Sounds like you've had some, should I dive in?

I agree with the notion that it's best to concentrate on value from winemakers with lesser fame and notoriety. Also, there's a silver lining ineverything. As mentioned above, the incredible hype and corresponding price run up of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage will mean that great bargains will be available in the perfectly good vintages of 2003 and 2004 at retail sale. Parker makes the wise recommendation in his latest WA to not buy any '04 futures as they will probably be better bargains when released to retail due to demand for '05. Similar to what happened with the great 2000 vintage which left excelent value on good wines from the late 1990s. Besides, Busboy, I don't know where your friend shops. At Mills in Annapolis (one of my regular wine buying haunts) the 05 Lafitte is only $6600/case, such a deal!

We received a subscription as a gift. Got several small bottles of nice olive oils. Most were very fresh and mild, I like mine a little heartier. They all seemed similar to me, nice, but not much variety between the different ones, I guess Rosengarten likes light olive oil. Not sure what it costs, so can't comment on the value. ← Duh, just looked at the link you provided for cost. $72 for 3 small bottles, $24 each? For 250 ml? Less than a pint they are! Not a good value in my opinion even if you buy the larger bottles, you can get equal quality for less money elsewhere. I get beautiful olive oil for $25 a GALLON in Philadelphia's Italian market.

We received a subscription as a gift. Got several small bottles of nice olive oils. Most were very fresh and mild, I like mine a little heartier. They all seemed similar to me, nice, but not much variety between the different ones, I guess Rosengarten likes light olive oil. Not sure what it costs, so can't comment on the value.

I have some 95 Bordeaux that are still pretty tannic. Last night, had a 95 Monbousquet that was very nice. Not too heavy, nice balance of fruit and tannin, some sediment in the bottle. Delicious with grilled sirloin and fresh squash casserole. If you have 95s from St Emilion, good time to check them out.

Suzy beat me to the smoked salmon. Also like strips of roasted red peppers, a dollop of parsley pesto, or a bit of prosciutto or serrano ham.

They mostly involve my In Laws. Won't go there.

Use the baby size marshmallows, should work fine.

Cool. Way to go, Crash. That's using your heads!

For non garden fresh, the potatoes Lyonaisse at Joe's Stone Crab in South Beach we had in February were incredibly decadently delicious.

A timely thread. My neighbor just gave us some Yukon Gold potatoes he dug from his garden a couple days ago. Best I've had in a long time, simply boiled with salt, pepper,and parsley. Amazing fresh earthy flavor.

Glad to hear an encouraging word on Ralph's. Haven't been in a couple years, but my visits always yielded simple, well prepared dishes of pasta, veal, mussels etc. Not elegant is a good way to put it, but there's some authenticity there. Plus, they serve Fiorella sausage.

Since you're watching your cholesterol, here's a barbecue place! http://www.bethanyblues.com/ When we went, we thought the ribs were pretty good for resort and the sides were just OK. If we go again we'll get a rack to go and make our own sides, but we stay in our neighbor's condo with a kitchen.

Not to beat a dead sheep, but lamb is certainly the first thing that comes to mind. Don't neglect the fact that with an Australia/New Zealand theme the wine choices are numerous and very good. I'm a big fan of NZ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and the Australian choices are obviously endless. Hope you can assign a sommelier?

I'm not much help on the mushrooms, any dried mushrooms I have I get at Asian markets, mostly in Philadelphia. I don't remember where I got my Atlas pasta machine, but it's great. I just Googled Atlas Pasta Machine and picked the place with the lowest price.

Favorites (as defined by places I've gone back to after one order): Penzey spices: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html Better quality and cheaper, what's not to like? Usinger's: http://www.usinger.com/index.php Only ordered once, but I'll be back for great dogs, brats, knocks. Jamison lamb: http://www.jamisonfarm.com/ Consistently mild, tender, fine grained, excellent Scott Hams: https://scotthams.com/store/ I found their bacon and sausage to be too smoky/salty for me, but the ham's fantastic. Great stuff from Philly's Italian market: http://www.dibruno.com/, http://www.claudiofood.com/, http://fantes.com/index.htm San Marzano tomatoes: http://www.sanmarzanoimports.com/ Call Nick and get some tasty 'maters.

I've always enjoyed Ralph's in the Italian market for good, old school Italian. at 102 years old, it's definitely anti-trendy! They make their own pasta and it's very good. http://www.ralphsrestaurant.com/

Think your research will convince your co-worker of the error of her gnocchi?