It may surprise you to know that one of the most popular recipes in the Old Line Plate database doesn’t contain oysters, crab, or even chicken. As I’ve spent hours poring over community cookbooks and dusty manuscripts, I started to notice a ubiquitous pie that appeared in cookbooks – often in multiple forms. As of…
I wasn’t surprised to learn that the Old Angler’s Inn doesn’t exactly date to the 19th century. Rather, the building in Potomac was built on the site of a previous Anglers’ clubhouse that had burned down in 1896. The current building, now a restaurant, dates to just after 1900. Perfectly respectable. I was surprised to…
Laurie Boucher told me that she always knew she wanted to study law. The vocation brought her from Pennsylvania to Baltimore, where she now resides. When Boucher needed more time to take care of family, she scaled back on lawyering, enrolled in culinary school, and began to master the art of pasta-making. As she shared…
This spring, I decided to swallow my doubts and get a community garden plot. Hopefully, in future seasons, this will enable me to try out some forgotten historic vegetable cultivars. For now, I’m starting simple with a patch of hot peppers. Seeing how I can’t expect a harvest until late summer, imagine my surprise when…
What is it about white potato pie? Something about this odd-sounding idea really captivates people. It certainly got my attention many years ago when I was cooking my way through the Southern Heritage Pie & Pastry book. That pie started an obsession with lost ‘Maryland’ dishes. I’ve tried hundreds of Maryland recipes from the mundane…