Good Times-City Cafe (Baltimore)

We had another good experience at City Café today.  Good food, good dessert,..GOOD DRINKS!!!  We've been to City Café on a number of occasions.  For some strange reason, I would always end up with something that featured crab.  I've come to realize that I'm not a big crab fan...don't tell the Baltimoreans.  I opted for the burger while my boo order a beef tenderloin salad.  On both, we didn't quite get the temps that we requested.  I was looking for a medium burger, but Ayla ordered her tenderloin medium.  It came out a little more bloody than anticipated.  However, since we only pretend to be food snobs, we just rolled with it.   

My burger was so flavorful.  The beef patty stole the show unlike a lot of places that feature burgers where the burger needs so many toppings to get good flavor.  I was pleasantly surprised by the macadamia nuts in Ayla's salad.  Macadamia nuts are so pricey. It makes sense that they are not featured everywhere.  But when they make it to the dish, they should be a statement addition.  By leaving them whole, the chef did just that.  Tonight was the first time that Ayla had bread pudding...what have I been doing?!!  City Café's version with blueberry compote and Baltimore's favorite, Taharka Brothers Honey Graham ice cream was a great introduction.  Everything complemented each other so well.  It was a deliciously sweet but not obnoxiously so.  I'm motivated to make some bread pudding with all these leftover doughnuts (yes, I'm back to the original spelling)...sweet...

My cocktail was superb.  It's a martini that came straight from their cocktail menu.  I can't remember the name for the life of me.  Plus, I'm too lazy to call.  Anyway, it was so good, I made my next one a double...that's probably why the details are escaping me.

City Café is an awesome choice in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore.  I will be sure to frequent it more in the future.  I suggest you do the same.  Checkout the cocktails.

My Crash Course in Propane Grilling

Crash Course in Propane Grilling...My 1st Infographic.  AEC 2014

We're going to start our weekly cookouts at my job.  It was supposed to start a couple of weeks ago, but the grill we had was toast.  Somebody didn't understand the value of a leak-free cover! It was rusted out like crazy.  I got word today that a new propane grill was on the way this Thursday, just in time for me to fire it up this Friday...great :-/

Don't get me wrong.  I like grilling, but I'm more accustomed to charcoal grills.  This whole tank thing is a little intimidating.  Above all, as the acting foodservice director, I'm supposed to be the expert.  I've been boning up on my propane tank knowledge in an attempt to not blow up the building.  You can find everything on YouTube.  First, open lid...turn gas on...crank a burner...hit the ignite button (watch out for flames)...crank all the burners...close the lid for 10 minutes to get everything heated up.  Sounds easy enough.  I will hopefully get the chance to play around with it on Thursday.  Wish my eyebrows good luck.  I'll keep you posted.

AEC

Donut Day Recap...All in a Day's Work!

I finished my rounds for National Donut Day around 2pm. 

Donut Tour. AEC 2014

My first stop was Fractured Prune.  They were offering a free donut with purchase.  So, I bought a donut.  I went with the French Toast which I tried before...it's awesome.  I tried the Banana Nut Bread variety for the first time.  (Excuse the bite in the pic.  All of their donuts are made to order, so it's not like I could accurately evaluate it an hour later...yep, that's my story.)  The Banana Nut Bread with the cake donut base and cinnamon topping tasted a lot like the French Toast with the addition of some nuts and faint banana flavor.   Tasty but didn't quite meet my expectations.

My next stop was Dunkin' Donuts.  They ran out of the new Blueberry Cobbler at the location in my neighborhood, so I just stopped at another that had plenty.  It was alright which was a shocker to me.  I was so disappointed with their Brownie Batter and Cake Batter offerings, I really wasn't expecting much.  The blueberry filling was predictable.  It was basically the stuff one might get in a can of blueberry pie filling minus actual blueberries.  The icing wasn't too sweet or heavily coated which was a plus for me.  Yes, you can have too much icing on a donut!  The base was their typical yeast donut.  There were some clumps of cinnamon on top.  The ad had a lot more crumble than mine.  I think more of the crumb topping would have added to the experience.  Overall, I got the concept, so I wouldn't say it was a complete let down.  Just not my thing.

I headed out to Towson to La Cakerie.  They made a bunch of cake donuts with a glaze and sprinkles.  They offered them as freebies.  They seemed to be a little smaller than their normal selection, but how nice is that?  Do something easy, low-cost, and acknowledge the day!  They were tasty, too.  That kind of marketing obviously works for me, because I bought a donut anyway.  They had a few interesting looking types.  Whenever I don't know what to pick, I go to the staff and have them pick for me.  Over the 2 with slices of bacon, one guy recommended the Creme Brulee variety.  It wasn't what I expected.  It was a yeast donut with pastry cream and sugar topping...no torch?  I don't know about you, but when I hear 'brulee', something better get burnt!  With that observation, I hesitated to get it, and because there was no fire, it fell short big time.  However, I must say that the quality of the base was better than Dunkin'.  It was more soft and seemed to be fresher with less yeast taste.  I'm going to back for another.  They have another location closer to my place.  Next time, I'm thinking bacon!

Entenmann's teamed up with the Salvation Army for a fundraising initiative. Thinking of the history of National Donut Day, I thought that it was only right that I track down their new Red Velvet donut.  Now, I vowed to myself to stop purchasing Red Velvet varieties of packaged foods, but hey, it's a holiday!  I have to say, I think they nailed it.  The dyed cake donut didn't have a chemical taste from too much dye.  The donut was sweet but not too sweet with a hint of cocoa that is characteristic of traditional Red Velvet Cake.  What I appreciated most?  They stuck with what they know.  To my knowledge, Entenmann's does not offer a donut with white frosting.  So many companies throw on an overly sweet random white topping with no cream cheese taste onto something red and call it Red Velvet.  Thanks for keeping it real, Entenmann's.  I have to give it to them, they were my favorite donut find of the day.  Plus, my local Giant had a buy one get one free deal.  I saved $5.39 ya'll!..winning!

I'm off for a jog.  Happy National Donut Day! 

AEC

National Donut Day-Baltimore

Whole Foods Chocolate Nutella-Filled Donut. AEC 2014.

People that know me know that I love donuts...and doughnuts! ;-) So, when that first Friday of June rolls around, I get a little too excited about National Donut Day. Since I have recently moved to Baltimore, I'm taking this as an opportunity to explore some local spots that claim to have the best of one of my favorite culinary confections...donuts.

What's the story behind National Donut Day? The Salvation Army put on the first celebration in 1938 to raise funds during the Great Depression and recognize the contribution of the brave female volunteers who worked to bring soldiers the comforts of home right on the frontlines during World War I. Scarce resources cut out a lot of dessert options, but they had just what they needed to make donuts. Many credit the "donut lassies" for propelling donuts to the level of popularity that we see today.

Now, how am I going to commemorate this historic occasion? Don't think too hard about it. I will be partaking in as many donut deals as many possible! National chains, Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Donuts, have some of the most popular promotions. At participating Krispy Kreme locations, you can get any donut for free, while they last. I suggest the new Brownie Batter or Cake Batter varieties. Their versions smashed their competitors. It had to be said. Dunkin' Donuts is offering a free donut with the purchase of a beverage. I wish you could do something akin to a buy one get one free donut deal. I'm not a fan of their novelty beverages.

So, I'm living in Baltimore, now. DC is so close, yet so far away! Dunkin' Donuts is all over, but I'd have to trek all the way to DC to get a free Krispy Kreme. Yeah, I've done it! Royal Farms has a pretty righteous Krispy Kreme selection at all their locations, but I doubt you could score a free one. Don't worry Baltimoreans, I made some calls. Fractured Prune will be offering a free made-to-order donut with purchase. A representative of Diablo Doughnuts said they and their other spot, La Cakerie, would be offering free glazed treats. Word of caution: I seemed to have caught her off guard. It was almost as if I reminded her of National Donut Day. With that, anticipate a deal, but it may not be entirely free.

I was a little disappointed that other good Baltimore spots for donuts didn't have any plans in the works. Dorsey Cakes & Donuts, Fenwick Bakery, and Hoehn's (who has a tasty marshmallow creme-filled donuts) all said they had no plans for National Donut Day.

I hope this gives some folks deeper insight regarding my obsession with donuts. I will be starting my rounds early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, check out Entenmann’s Facebook page. They're donating a buck to the Salvation Army for every person that likes the page, up to $30,000. Shout-out to the donut lassies!

AEC