Thursday, October 11, 2007

Missing Home: Food Edition

Have you ever moved far away from home? Well, we have...and though we are really enjoying living here, we miss home!

Of course, we miss our family and friends. Actually, we miss them terribly. But lately, as I've been thinking about home, I've really been missing..........................THE FOOD! You know, the things you can only get "at home"...the local favorites, that special cookie, the things that just don't taste the same anywhere else! Well, here are a few of my Maryland favorites:

Berger Cookies - If you've never had a Berger Cookie, than you won't fully understand, but this cookie is just about as close to cookie heaven as you can get. It's a shortbread cookie, topped with this gigantic layer of chocolate fudge. It almost looks as if it's two cookies...one on top of the other, because the layer of fudge seemingly stands on its own. When I was younger, I used to try to remove the chocolate top; it doesn't come off but for good reason! The combo is what makes them so delicious! These are a local Baltimore favorite, and are so, so, so, so good!

Maryland Crab Cakes - Savory jumbo lump crab meat, not much filler, and full of Old Bay Seasoning, Maryland Crab Cakes are a quintessential part of being, well...a Marylander. Every time I've ordered crab cakes outside of Maryland, they're just not right. They just don't taste the same. If you are fortunate enough to be able to order one of them alongside a good steak, it's culinary magic!

Tastykakes - Tastykakes aren't distinctly Maryland, but you can't get them here in the Midwest. Just about every child's lunchbox back East has seen the likes of these little delights. But, I'll tell you...adults love them, too. My husband is partial to the Butterscotch Krimpets. My favorites are the Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes. We love these so much that when Jason's parents came to visit after Max was born, they brought us several boxes. We wanted to ration them out, not realizing that they do expire! We had to throw an entire box away. We were distraught!

Chick-fil-A's Sweet Tea - Oh, how I miss it. I don't know exactly what the secret is (besides a lot of sugar), but I could drink this stuff by the gallon. Actually, when I was pregnant with Jack, Jason started bringing home gallon jugs of it for me because I couldn't get enough of it. People in other parts of the country (besides the South) just DO NOT understand the concept of sweet tea. If you're stirring sugar into a glass of cold tea...sorry folks, that's just not it!

UTZ Potato Chips - The best potato chip! Period. Hands down the best. Plain, Crab Chips, Salt and Vinegar, and Carolina BBQ are my favorites. I'm having to settle for other brands here, and they're just not the same. I miss my UTZ!

What would you miss if you moved away from home? I'd love to hear what your local favorites are! AND, if you've moved away...what foods do you crave and just can't get anywhere but home? Trust me, you'll find a sympathizing ear here!

28 comments:

  1. I missed Utz potato chips when I lived in California...Gail actually sent me two bags in the mail for my birthday one year - packing peanuts and all!!

    Now that I'm in NC, I miss California's "In-N-Out Burger" - everything is made from scratch (buns included), and for the fries they put whole potatoes in the slicer and toss them right into the frying basket. And the milkshakes...YUM YUM. Dad went crazy over that place when he visited me out there (his comment: "No sawdust here!").

    And I hear ya about the sweet tea - one of the best things about living in the South!

    xo MB

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  2. Aw, Sar! This is a great post...makes me thankful for Maryland foods :) We usually make a Chick-fil-a run on Tuesdays and I think of you every time we order the sweet tea!! miss you so much and love you all!

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  3. there's really nothing here in colorado that i'd miss. i think the only thing inherent to this area is game meat. and since i'm not a fan of buffalo, or antelope, or rattle snake (as well as others), i wouldn't miss them.

    now, there are all kinds of foods (fresh fish, mostly) and especially restaurants that i miss from southern california. that's one of the reasons i enjoy going back to visit - food!

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  4. Can't tell that you are pregnant, can ya???lol

    When we moved to Germany, I missed cucumbers that we have in the states, all that was in the markets were English cucumbers.

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  5. Oh, I can so relate!

    Whenever we return to our hometown we load up on Mr. Bee's potato chips (only available within a 50 mile radius) and Pizza Place pizza... they will halfbake one that we can keep in a cooler until we get back to Virginia and bake it. Oh, I am homesick now!

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  6. Like you I could write a whole post about food cravings. My hubs and I went to college in Ft. Worth and moved back to our small hometown after we graduated. I don't miss the city, but I miss the food opps.

    La Madeleine--Little bit of French heaven.

    Uncle Julio's--Little bit of Mexican heaven.

    Dale's Donuts--Kolache heaven.

    Jason's Deli--popular hot spot among the TCU kids. Deli heaven.

    I AM STARVING NOW. Thanks so much.

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  7. Chick-fil-a chicken nuggets and waffle fries. Oh and their polynesian dipping sauce too. And eastern NC bbq. Bojangles seasoned fries, El Rodeo mexican restaurant (although, El Arriero is almost the same), and last but not least, PF Changs (I hear we might be getting one soon!). Good grief, I just ate and I'm hungry!

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  8. Don't forget the Baltimore Snoballs! The seafood in NC is just not the same. My two major food cravings during my pregnancy with Isaac - MD crabcakes and snoballs! Oh, and I wish we had a Don Pablos. At least you have one of those :)

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  9. I'd have to say I'd miss Chicago pizza. I've tried others when we've been on vacations and it just isn't the same. Our favorite is Rosati's and Giordano's! Sounds like your little bean is giving you some big cravings!
    K

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  10. You are definately pregnant! LOL

    I'm not sure what I'd miss. I went to college just an hour and a half away - so I've never been far enough from home to realize what I'm missing.

    Maybe Gibbles chips - not sure how wide spread they are. Gosh, I'm just not sure - sorry :(

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  11. Well, I've lived here for 22 years, so I was trying to think what I would miss. When I got married though, I moved across town (about 40min away) & I have really missed this "hole in the wall" mexican restaurant. It was cheap, fabulous, authentic food! I could still go back there, but just don't get over there often.

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  12. Thank goodness I still live in the south and on the east coast. I get ALL that good stuff and then some, yee-haw, LOL! When I moved from MD in '05, the only thing I missed was Rita's Italian Ices. Y'all have that in your part of MD?

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  13. I live about 20 minutes from where I grew up, so I don't have a list. I don't think we have anything that is just from this area - not like the south does anyway!

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  14. I miss some W. Michigan goodies!

    -Yesterdog
    -Rose's (and other Gilmore Collection places)
    -On The Border (there is one in Indy, thankfully)
    -Bonefish Grill (also one in Indy)
    -84 East
    -Grand Traverse Pie Co.
    -Captain Sundae
    -Jersey Junction
    -and does Meijer count? Ha :)

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  15. Oh man, I miss those cookies too; I'm going to have to get some of those now.

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  16. I'm with you on the sweet tea from Chick-Fil-A. They have the best. I think it's the ice. Yum!

    I had to comment on your comment today...
    My favorite noggin songs, in order:
    1. "I used my noggin today."
    2. "I don't like candy corn."
    3. the one on my blog, can't think of the name of it, you know, the noggin song. :)

    We love noggin, too... no commercials! You need it from time to time, I have to say. Here's the best thing about it: When you have sick kids, and 6 am comes after a long, long night, and you hear that noggin song... it's like angels singing! :) ha, ha...

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  17. There's something for ya over at my place...

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  18. You have no Chic-fil-A sweet tea where you are? I will start praying for you right now!
    I make sweet tea all the time at home and I use about 3 cups of sugar and 2 lemons in every gallon - northerners just do not understand!

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  19. I've never had the sweet tea at Chick-fil-a! I'll have to nab some next time we're out east.

    Oh, Sar- You make me miss the home country. :)

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  20. I'm not sure what I would miss either.

    But all the things you are missing sound good.

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  21. I'm a big fan of Chik tea. There is one 3 minutes from my office and I get a tea nearly every day on my way to work.... I get a large and sip on it every day. I take it with me when I leave for the day and my little guy knows some "I-TEE" is waiting for him in the car.

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  22. Papa's Deli BBQ sandwich

    Musillami's ice cream

    Noble Roman's Pizza

    Big Red

    To name a few..fun post!!

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  23. I know I have to mail muffins from the grill here in town and windmill cookies down to my daughter in Texas. She misses home, too and has those cravings every now and then. It blesses my heart when she just wants a taste of home.

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  24. i've been craving the spinach and artichoke souffle from panera bread.

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  25. What a fun post!!

    When I lived in CO, there were a bunch of things I missed from MI. Let's see...
    -we missed Meijer. (I spnet a lot of time there in high school, when we ran out of things to do. One of the things that comes along with being a 'good' kid, I guess.)
    -CIDER MILLS!! Fresh cider, cider donuts, fresh picked apples.
    -hot chocolate on a really cold, bone chilling night
    -there's a vineyard near Traverse City called 'Chateau Chantal'. They make the BEST Late Harvest Riesling. We went up to TC for the first part of our honeymoon, and toured some of the vineyards. My husband surprised me for our 5 year anniversary with a bottle of their wine. He snuck it back in the van, after our road trip over the summer.
    -There used to be a restaraunt in Lansing called 'Mr. Taco'. They had the best bean burritos. My mouth has been watering over them forever. We moved here, and now they're CLOSED!
    -Falsetta's Pizza. Cheesy, greasy, and darn good.
    -Quality Dairy donuts
    -Faygo Red Pop, and Rock n Rye
    -Cheddar's Cookie Monster
    MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm!!!

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  26. In Japan, they have liquid sugar so you don't have to stir the heck out of sugar to get it to mix with the tea. Genius!!

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  27. Miss Things from Home?? Is a soul alive who leaves home and doesn't miss the best of it?? Boston was like a loved person, didn't know it till I left for the undeveloped land of NC...

    I think it is corn syrup in that Sweat Tea you miss. I missed little restaurants in the North End, the Italian section of Beantown. I miss home made old world breads, and fresh pasta, and real old city scapes and water, and the ocean and the mountains and the skii ing, and the river, the colleges, the architecture, etc... I miss Haddock, getting good cheap lobster by the sea, old New England and Maine craigy cliffs, the fish houses, the slang of the language, the Boston Red Sox... etc... How big is your blog memory??

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  28. I also had roasted broccoli and a few of Kyle's asparagus with sliced cucumber in rice wine vinegar. Food Truck Catering in Los Angeles

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