This was completed years before the blog even existed. Bloody Marys w Old Bay are staples of Easter Sunday and beach trips!
#95. Sip a Bloody Mary with an Old Bay rimmer.
#82. String Bean Rolls at Cafe Zen
This didn’t sound appetizing but now we are hard pressed NOT to order it when we go to Cafe Zen. It’s our favorite dish on the menu…that and the Zen Curry
Civil War Century with friends from the BRCC.
#104 Top Chef
Finding out that Top Chef runner-up Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurant VOLT is in Frederick MD, is like living in your home for 2 years before realizing your refrigerator has a filtered water dispenser… oh wait, that happened to us too! Sunday evening we enjoyed an amazing meal and amazing company as we celebrated with the soon-to-be-married couple, Ryan and Lauren Taguding. The highlights of the meal included: Amazingly complex and interesting cocktails (thanks to our friend Kevin for the recommendation), yellowfin tuna tartare with avocado mouse, delicious sweetbreads, salmon with crab risotto (pictured above), and freebird farms chicken with smoked corn grits. The lows of the meal: the check.
#103 Eat a Whole Bunch of Tots
done and done. You might not think that a sushi place in Federal Hill called “Sticky Rice” would have the best tots on the planet… but you would be wrong. It’s their “world famous” special sauce that really pushed them over the edge. Plus, they came in a bucket… everything is better when served in a bucket. Take babies for example.
Heather coaxed Ryan into going up to Long Island by promising him Lobster… it worked.
#102 Ride Bike Up a Mountain
82 miles traveled, 8,000 feet climbed, 5.5 hours elapsed, 100 degree heat endured, 4,500 calories burned, and every muscle cramped. On the hottest day of the year, Ryan and his fellow BRCC Riders climbed Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As much as Ryan enjoyed the ride, the highlight of the day was the post ride beer and destruction of one large pizza from the Melting Pot, a local pizza dive in Front Royal VA.
#101 Get Fit
Now, who is to say when this goal is ever complete? What constitutes “fit?” Well, now is as good a time as any to cross this one off. Ryan got a super awesome bike (or as he calls it, “his Italian Mistress) and spends his weekends exploring Northern Baltimore County on crazy long rides. Heather got certified to teach Body Pump and has her own class on Friday nights. Getting “in shape” was one of the most important items on our list… And not easy, considering our list consists of “the 100 Things Every Baltimore Foodie Should Eat” from Baltimore Magazine.
#11 - Lake trout. And for those of us who watched “The Wire,” have a grape soda with it.
The genius of Hip Hop Chicken and Fish? You guessed it. They have chicken AND fish. So we actually crossed 3 items off the list by our tradition with the Boblooch’s. We still want to try out Lake Trout II…even though no one knows where Lake Trout I is…
And, in case you are wondering, we drank grape soda as an homage to Avon Barksdale and Omar Little. We didn’t want them thinking we were cheating on them with Nancy Botwin.
# 9/10 - Get a chicken box (fried wings, western fries, dinner roll.) Maybe the chicken box should be from Tyrone’s?
Tyrone’s is good, but kind of a hike. We are partial to Hip Hop Chicken and Fish (just for the name, if nothing else.) We are just glad we found other people (namely, Ben and Steph Boblooch) who like chicken boxes as much as we do. We make a tradition of getting a chicken box, grape sodas, and watching 5 episodes of Weeds back to back.
#97 - Eat the Berger cookie pie at Dangerously Delicious Pies in Federal Hill. A new tradition built on the old
Is it wrong that we don’t want to do this one? We are not huge fans of Berger cookies to begin with. Plus, if we are going to go to Dangerous Pies we are going to fill our bellies with the steak and gruyer pot pie.
#79 - FAIL - Order the chocolate-chili bread pudding at the Blue Agave
Second failed attempt to cross this one off the list. They don’t sell this anymore. Instead we got the Chocolate Chipotle Torte and it was delicious.
#20. Shop for shoes and chocolate at Ma Petit Shoe in Hamden
Why do shoes and chocolate go together? We still don’t know. Didn’t really care about getting shoes, but why not get some chocolate? Extra bonus: They carry THEO chocolate!
Thank God for Groupons. Mushroom Tart from Blue Hill Tavern in Canton.
FAIL - Nacho Mama’s
Ryan: Do you want to get Chili Authentico at Nacho Mama’s and cross it off The List?
Me: Sure
ALWAYS check to make sure what you are actually doing is ON THE LIST. We ordered the chili and I realized that, although the size of the steak chunks would normally be considered awesome, I couldn’t eat it due to my wisdom teeth stitches. I was feeling like our outing was a bust (did I mention the flat tire?) but then I come home to find out that the Chili Authentico ISN’T ON THE LIST! It is the Hub Cap Margarita that is on the list, which we crossed off years ago.
