Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Maryland Memories

Photo by Greta - Ocean City Boardwalk, MD

I have lived on the West Coast since 1994 and I love it - the weather, the Puget Sound, the food and yes, the coffee too! I have acclimated very well and am happy to be where I am. There are times though that I long for walks on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, Utz chips, blue crabs and Taylor's pork roll sandwiches. Well thanks to the internet, I can have some of those tastes and memories again.


Utz Potato Chips
The first internet order I placed was for Grandma Utz potato chips. These are a thick cut chip that is cooked in lard and salted. They are my favorite chips ever and are quite addictive too. Utz potato chips can only be found around the mid-Atlantic. Every once-in-awhile I can find Utz pretzels at Cost Plus World Market or CostCo, but not my Grandma Utz chips. So I went to www.Utz.com and ordered up some of my lard soaked, salted goodies and shared some with my Sis. They were fresh and delicious and tasted wonderful with a micro brew!

Maryland Blue Crabs
Next up was an order of a half bushel of Maryland blue crabs for an end of the summer party with the family. I went to Phillips Seafood for my delicious blues and I was not disappointed. They came in a large cooler packed in rows and well insulated. I quickly steamed them in some vinegar and water and then added Phillips spice to them (Old Bay works well too and can be found at the grocery store). We added some corn on the cob and some bread for a true feast!

Taylor's Pork Roll

Lastly, in talking with my family about what to serve on Christmas morning, I was reminded of Taylor's pork roll. If you live in the mid-Atlantic, you are fortunate enough to go to the grocery store and buy this yummy treat! Since I am in Seattle, I must look on-line and luckily I found www.jerseyporkroll.com. I ordered 4 packs of sliced pork roll and received it 2 days later. I cooked up some and made pork roll sandwiches with mustard - I used to get these on the boardwalk as a kid. My son (who hates most food) even loved them and wanted me to order more! I pan fried some up to go with my eggnog french toast on Christmas, a cup of coffee made it all perfect!

Please check out these websites for some delicious treats! I would love to hear about any of your food memories too!

6 comments:

Lydia said...

Things I miss from the east coast: shrimp salad, fried bread dough (though that's more of a childhood thing than a regional thing), and really, really good crab cakes with blue crab.

phairhead said...

i've never heard of pork roll. which part of the pig does it come from?

Greta said...

Good question - it is a mystery, but it is very yummy!

Lynn said...

Fried hard crab - it's the best of both worlds, fatty deep fried goodness and spicy old bay. Don't forget Berger cookies. http://www.bergercookies.com/. And snowballs - egg custard with creme.

Greta said...

I do miss snow balls! I have never had fried hard crab, only soft shell (which I miss too)!

john said...

We have a friend who sends us Utz to the West Coast and there is a place "G&M crabcakes" who can ship you, well, crabcakes.

I loved the little Taylor's restaurant on the boardwalk. I also loved the Alaska Stand soft ice cream elsewhere in Ocean City - and Thrasher Fries on the boardwalk.

Lastly, I was raised a block from the original Ledo Pizza and I really like that. It's now found in Ocean City.