Fred Foodie- Eating and Drinking in and around Frederick, Maryland » Food

Wegmans claims its first victim

fredfood — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:24:07 +0000

Bloom announced that they will be shuttering their Walkersville store in February.

Happy Thanksgiving!

fredfood — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:43:51 +0000

Yesterday I was in a foul mood. I was a grumpy parent, a crabby spouse and a surly boss. Not quite as bad as Kevin Spacey in Swimming With Sharks (favorite clip here) but pretty close. I’m not sure what my deal was, by when I woke up this morning I was filled with the Thanksgiving spirit. Truly I have so much to be grateful for on this the eve of my favorite holiday. A day oriented towards family, food, drink and gratitude. What’s not to like? So happy Thanksgiving to all. Dinner for 15 at stately Fred Manor tomorrow!

Chef Bryan Voltaggio Snapped at the Farmer’s Market

fredfood — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:01:34 +0000

Not trying to get all paparazzi on you but here is a recent picture of Chef Voltaggio at the West Frederick Farmer’s Market shopping. It’s not my picture so I’ll just link to it.

This serves as a great reminder to get out there before its over! I was there two Saturdays ago and just blown away by the abundance. All the fall glory with some of summer still hanging on as well. This really is the best time of year to go. Among my scores were some amazing apples, my favorite vegetable of all time: brussels sprouts and got a huge bunch of rainbow chard on impulse. Mrs. F displayed her strong knife skills (Shout out to Chef Christine and the Kitchen Studio!) by julienning the leaves and dicing the stems. Sauteed the whole thing in olive oil and served it with a sprinkling of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon. Amazing!

This picture does not do it justice!

VOLT ink party

fredfood — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:24:35 +0000

Got an email from VOLT. They’re having a party at Harry Grove stadium next Tuesday the 18th:

Please join the Voltaggio Brothers for an action packed night at the Harry Grove Stadium
- Home of the Frederick Keys Baseball Team - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 6 -10 p.m.Two of America’s best chefs have joined together in the creation of VOLT ink, a new cookbook by Bryan and Michael Voltaggio… and we are throwing a party to celebrate!

Concession food courtesy of the Voltaggios take on ballpark food. Beverages by Flying Dog Brewery and Brewers Alley. FACKA Double Header (Frederick Adult Co-ed Kickball Association) featuring one regular game and a second All Star Game with the brothers playing on the East
Coast vs the West Coast team. Concert provided by the Regal Beagles Yacht Club Band and the Blatant 80′s. Kids Fun Zone for oodles of fun for the kids.

Entry tickets $8 for adults and free for children 12 and under. Children will need a ticket for entry.

Early release of the book will be on sale for $40 and the brothers will be on hand for signatures.

I’m going to keep an eye on the forecast for Tuesday, but right now it looks decent. You can get tickets by calling 301-815-9939 or clicking here.

Frog Eye Farm For Sale

fredfood — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:38:31 +0000

In scanning the real estate listings in my other life I noticed that Frog Eye Farm; the most excellent pick your own blueberry farm that we have been patronizing over the years is up for sale. I was aware that the owner had been having some health issues. I hope all is well with him and whoever buys it keeps it up. Anyone for blueberry farming? Anyway as a hedge we will be planting a half dozen blueberry bushes on stately Fred Manor just to assure our supply.

In case you are interested the listing for the property can be found here.

Angelcakes

fredfood — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:05:53 +0000

Everybody knows that cupcakes are all the rage. With reality TV shows, cookbooks and a proliferation of stores it was only a matter of time that a cupcake store would open in Frederick. Now to be fair the store is billed as a “cake and cupcake shop” but the cakes are only by special order. What people go for are the cupcakes. And go there they do! When I stopped by on a weekday afternoon the place was jumping. The co-owner told me that they had sold out the day before (also a weekday) by 2 p.m. At first I was seized by panic since there were only a handful of cupcakes on display and I feared that I had missed the boat. I soon realized that these were only samples of what they have for sale. In fact each type of cupcake is individually nestled under a beautiful glass dome like a jewel. It is only fitting that the cupcakes are sold in Tiffany blue boxes.

At first Mrs. F though I had brought her home a tiara, but her disappointment didn't last once she opened the box

Angelcakes has seven regular varieties: Madagascar vanilla, scarlet red velvet, black and white, shaved coconut, salted caramel, key lime and chocolate ganache. In addition to these they have rotating daily specials. On the Wednesday I was there
it was chocolate peanut butter. Some of the other special types that look delicious are snickerdoodles (Saturdays) and fresh strawberry (Sundays).

Two chocolate ganache on the left and then the chocolate peanut butter on the upper right and the salted caramel

I sampled a chocolate ganache, chocolate peanut butter and a salted caramel. They were all very good. The cupcakes were very moist and chocolaty. The chocolate peanut butter was bursting with flavor and the salted caramel was delicious. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite out of the three I sampled. The icing was plentiful and incredibly sweet. I’d be the first to tell you that I am not really an icing person to begin with so this was a big negative to me. I ended up scraping the some of the icing off, which was a bummer since I wanted to keep the drizzle of caramel and salt crystals. I think they should offer their cupcakes with either “regular” or “half” icing. However others in my party had no problem scoffing down all their icing and then the rest of mine which I could not eat. If there is any real quibble to be had with the cupcakes I tried was that the edges of the cupcake itself were hard and chewy. This was on all the cupcakes so I don’t know if it was intentional or not. Either way it did not detract from my enjoyment.

Bottom line is that a trip to Angelcakes is an awesome indulgence. Go there and get some, just go early. Angelcakes is located at 319 East Church Street and their website can be found here.

Frog Eye Farm 2011

fredfood — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:04:42 +0000

Received an email from Stacey who let me know that Frog Eye Farm will be opening this weekend! My previous posts will let you know why I am so excited about this. The big news for this year is that they intend to be open on weekdays as well as weekends. Now that the kids are (almost) off from school I shall press my child labor gang into action! I can’t wait.

Coal Fire Pizza- Frederick

fredfood — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:39:36 +0000

The other day I stopped by the new Frederick Wine House location at the Wegman’s shopping center. I’ll do a full review of that later, but while I was there I noticed the Coal Fire Pizza restaurant located just a few doors down. I’ve been talking about this place since December 2009 and alas they are still not open. They have a hiring and opening soon sign out front but it is still clear that construction is going on. I will definitely review this place once it opens. Perhaps it will give Il Forno a run for its money as the best pizza joint in Frederick? We will see.

Chicken

fredfood — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:22:37 +0000

Sometimes foodies can be insufferable. This video is hilarious and puts it in perspective. I’ll make sure to watch it from time to time to stay grounded about these things.

Actual Recipe From Food Network Website

fredfood — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:13:12 +0000

I recently came across this actual recipe from the Food Network and could not stop laughing! Some of the comments are pure comedy gold!