Vacation Time! Eating Out! Nando’s Peri-Peri, Wegmans, Roundz!

Maryland in October and it was time to step out of the kitchen. It was a three-plus weeks visit with my son and we often ate out. Among our favorite spots are Nando's Peri-Peri in an Annapolis mall, Wegmans in Columbia, Red Hot and Blue (in Laurel, I think) and Roundz in Crofton.

An even newer Wegmans just opened Sunday in Crofton, within walking distance of my son's house. Hurricane Sandy was due to open up Sunday too, so I got up before anyone else in the house (my son, my daughter, and my two grands) and headed out to breakfast at Wegmans. Felt like home. All Wegmans do. Even saw and spoke with Dave Orlovsky, Manager of our local Wegmans. Well, he was. He's on his way to Massachusetts to help set up stores there.

After breakfast, I wandered around and except for the size, things are pretty much the same.

Look, it's a Wegmans train! You can even buy them for Christmas gifts. OMG, do I sound like an advertisement for Wegmans. Can't help myself. It's one of my favorite place to shop.

It was a "light" opening. People were hunkering in for Hurricane Sandy and many had done their shopping for water, generators, canned foods when the warnings came out Thursday and Friday.

Fruit, vegetable, salad bars -- there are two of them.

I noticed that Columbia Wegmans and the new Crofton store have "trail mix bars". Wish we had one in Corning. Oh, wait, we do now that the Corning store is being rearranged and updated. Look what I found when I got back from vacation...

Another favorite of mine is Roundz Gourmet Market. It's a comfortable place where the food is delicious, the staff is welcoming and you can sit at the counter and watch them cooking.

I forgot to take a photo before I took a bite! Half a smoked turkey sandwich with cranberry spread left. Those chips were amazing! Homemade from butternut squash.

Can I have dessert with lunch? Of course... loved this bread pudding.


Chef Zachary at Roundz even recommended a couple of excellent books which he had and brought over for me to browse through: Barron's Food Lover's Companion and Food Rules: an Eater's Manual.

Rules 2 of Food Rules ~ "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."

One more mention for Roundz. They're celebrating their first anniversary on November 17. Congratulations to Zach and all the staff at Roundz in Crofton MD.

Nando's Peri-Peri. We have to go there at least once a trip. Son loves the hot sauces!

Not only does Nando's have delicious food, but also they have beautiful decor.

Again I forgot to take a photo before I began eating. What you see here is a grilled chicken sandwich. That's not the chicken on top -- that's Haloumi cheese. Love Haloumi!

And now I'm home again. Time to return to cooking my own foods. Also, need to come up with a cookie recipe for The Great Cookie Swap 2012. I'll be baking and mailing a dozen cookies each to three other food bloggers and blogging about it in November. Stay tuned.

Coming up soon, I'm thinking of Tofu Foo Yung with pasta and mushroom gravy. Also, quiches--one with a rice crust and the other with a mashed potato crust.


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A bit of a follow-up on the Crofton MD Wegman’s opening Sunday... My son emailed me Monday evening -- one day after the Hurricane Sandy craziness -- “Packed full tonight!”

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October in Maryland and DC

I’m back in Maryland and D.C. for the third time this year! One of the reasons I love visiting my son is because we love eating out.

Find out about foods on my previous visits by visiting my February and July posts …

EATING OUT ~ February 2012


VACATION MEANS EATING OUT ~ July 2012


STILL TESTING FOODS OF MARYLAND ~ July 2012


So far this time, we’ve (my son and I) eaten twice at Wegmans, Columbia. Huge food bar section ~ a heavenly buffet. We (my son, my brother and his wife) dined at Red, Hot and Blue in Laurel MD. Love that place with its “pulled” meats and blues music.


Today I took a short walk to Roundz, a homey, yet classy café, market and catering establishment, less than a mile from son’s house. If you’re ever in Gambrills MD, please stop in to sample their gourmet fare and tell them you heard it from me. A new Wegmans is opening just across the highway October 28. What a great combo ~ Roundz and Wegmans!

Roundz food is yummy and inventive. For instance, most of their sweets are cut into individual pieces ~ round, of course!

Today’s coffee was 100% Columbian.

Entrees…

Vegetables…

She had something brewing on the stove AND was mixing up brownies.

I want one of those hand-operated slicers. Look how it curls the slices of squash for chips!

Employees at Roundz always enjoy their work and are very welcoming to their patrons.

Mini pumpkins and Indian corn welcome the fall season. The plan is to cut out the center out of some of the pumpkins to allow for insertion of tea light candles for an upcoming “Dinner after Dark”.

Still Testing the Foods of Maryland

It could be that I’m my son’s excuse to eat out – a lot! Whatever the reason, I’m loving it. I get to know the area, the roads and the best places to eat.

This will probably be my last post while here in Maryland. We’re headed back to New York State on Saturday and son plans to spend a week there with family before returning to Maryland.



WEGMANS

We’ve eaten at the new Columbia MD Wegmans (McGaw Street) several times.

I’m still testing bits and pieces of various foods from all the food stations. If you ask me exactly what I had, I can’t remember. It’s like being at a potluck where you take little helping of everything. Well, not everything in this case. Believe it or not, I forgot to take pictures of my plate of food. As you can see, however, I did get lots of photos of the food stations.

NANDO’S PERI~PERI

If you’ve visited my Step by Step in the Kitchen on Facebook you will have seen (July 10) photos I posted from last night’s supper at Nando’s Peri~Peri in the Annapolis Westfield Mall. Our third visit. Yes, we like it that much. The photos I’m posting here are from earlier visits.

Roasted Portobello Mushroom with Halloumi Cheese and Chilli Jam served on a Portuguese roll.

Nando’s Peri~Peri gives active military members a 20% discount!




FIVE GUYS

If you been following along on my other blog CORNING NY STEP BY STEP you know that I toured the U.S. Botanic Gardens at the foot of Capitol Hill in Washington DC.

It was a hot day and such a pleasure to walk into the air conditioned entrance to the garden building. From then on, the indoor temperature depended on what part of the garden you were in. Mostly hot and humid.

After more than an hour of viewing, my son and I headed back toward the entrance and I remarked that I would love a big, juicy hamburger and fries. He responded by saying that he had been thinking of a hamburger.

To rebuild our sodium levels, we headed to Five Guys, a first visit for both of us. While you wait for your order, you can eat peanuts.

Then your order comes… be careful to order the small burgers unless you want to explode with the approximate 1/3 pound of meat in the “regular” ones. A regular order of fries, too, is huge—big enough for two people. Now we know.




ROUNDZ

I fell in love with Roundz on my first visit to Maryland and was looking forward to returning. Finally made it there this week for lunch.

Located on Johns Hopkins Road in Gambrills, Roundz is a delightful café and catering business with a gourmet market.

For lunch I ordered a Combo ~ half a Veggie Sandwich (roasted red and yellow peppers, zucchini and summer squash) with a Goats Cheese Herb Spread, plus a salad with crisp, fresh mixed greens, including arugula, tomatoes and cucumbers. I had a choice of one of four dressings. All I heard was the word “pomegranate” and I said, “That one!” The order came with delicious homemade potato chips.


Chef Zachary Pope’s newest undertaking is Chef’s Table at Roundz. At this event, Chef Zach “will greet guests and open a dialog to gauge interests and dietary requirements. From that discussion, Chef will create (and cook) a menu uniquely suited for the table.”

Roundz growing their own herbs…

Eating out

I recently returned from a two week vacation with my son at his new home in a little community between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington D.C. To clarify, the entire strip between Baltimore and D.C. is made up of small communities, and some might consider it one long shopping mall.

Son’s house is pretty much in the middle, making both Baltimore and D.C. easily accessible, by vehicle or by Metro.

My daily walks continue when I’m vacationing, and although I knew we’d be doing a lot of tourist-type traipsing, I ventured around the neighborhood on those days he worked.


Another new Wegmans...

My first target? Getting a look at the new Wegmans supermarket going up less than a mile away. Why was I so intent on seeing a half-built Wegmans? ‘Cause that’s what we have locally and as I always say, it’s not just a supermarket, it’s a “social event”. I can't wait until it's complete and I can go for groceries and coffee when I visit the area.

Lots of construction going on, so I didn’t attempt to get too close. Security guards caught up with me after about ten minutes. They typically stop cars from driving into the area and were surprised by (but tolerant of) my on-foot intrusion. Even gave me a ride for the short one block out of the area!


High end cooking...


Just across the highway and closer to home, I found Roundz. Love it, love it and went back numerous times for coffee and goodies. Roundz is a small gourmet market and catering business. They were very welcoming and kindly allowed me to take photos. I’m surprised I shed a few pounds in Maryland, especially after consuming their bread pudding and the red velvet cake with what tasted like a combination buttercream-cream cheese icing (emphasis on the cream cheese). Prices are hefty, but so are portions. Delicious!

BTW, I’m an occasional coffee drinker, must have decaf, and most speciality coffees are too dark and bold for me. The only exception is Wegmans’ Hazelnut Decaf. Anyway (or is it anywayS?), Roundz had a Guatemalan decaf the first time I was there and I decided to try it. Ended up having their decaf (diff flavor daily) 3-4 times. That good.


From gourmet to every day...

We watched an episode of “Undercover Boss” featuring the CEO of Checkers. A few days later, we discovered a Checkers drive-through nearby but barely visible from the highway. Had to have lunch and sat a table outside (no inside dining), freezing yet loving the food.

My only complaint was that the woman who opened the window to wait on us stood with her back to us while talking with another employee. Kept us waiting - not even a greeting - at least a full minute.

Let us, however, talk about more pleasant matters -- like the food! (I’m sure it’s not nutritious. It’s totally salty.) My burger of choice came with mushrooms and swiss cheese. OMG, it was so-o good. Equally mouthwatering were the fries with special seasonings.

(Follow up 2/29: I received a phone call and an apology from a manager at that Checkers restaurant.)

Time for Bibim Bap...

When I visit my son, wherever the USAF decides to station him, we habitually fix our own meals and often eat out. One of our favorites at his last assignment was Korean cooking and on my last full day in Maryland, son found Myong Dong, a small quiet place in Beltsville, Maryland.

What do we order at a Korean restaurant? Dolsot Bibim Bap, of course. On this occasion, we also split an order of dumplings. Loved it and they did a good job. Can’t wait to go back!


That’s it for today, friends. Coming in my next blog entry...

Red Hot & Blue
The Spice & Tea Exchange
Caribou Coffee
Mamma Roma
It’Sugar
Saving the best for last ~ Chocolate Chocolate!



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I made Totally Nutty Granola Bars. Find other excellent ideas at Bam’s Kitchen.




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