Another weekend of football playoffs and our local team is still in the mix. Reading Tasty Thoughts for the last few weeks, you would think that I am a huge football fan, but that really isn’t the draw for me. It is a combination of other elements that I enjoy: the family gathered together, having friends spend an afternoon with us, and cooking with my dear.

So, when our team advanced to the division championship, it was another reason to have a get together, a very casual dinner party. Although we enjoyed the food at the previous week’s gathering, it was fairly work-intensive. This weekend we wanted the food to be ready before our guests arrived and easily kept at the correct temperature.

For this menu, we opted for a mix of cold and hot munchies. For cold, we had an assortment of veggies with dip and a fresh fruit platter. We included pepper strips, baby carrots, broccoli, pineapple, watermelon, and kiwi fruit in these trays. The warm dishes were breadsticks with marinara and two different dips to accompany tortilla chips. The first was espinaca dip, and the other was a hot sausage dip.

We debated what ingredients would work best in this dip and created a simple, tasty snack. It took less than 10 minutes to prepare and stayed perfectly warm in a 2-quart crockpot. Both the adults and children enjoyed this dip, which we made medium hot due to the mixed company. However, it could be made with any salsa, from sensitively mild to burn your tongue hot.

You Decide How Hot Sausage Dip
14 oz. frozen bulk sausage, thawed16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature	16 oz. jar salsa, any heatblack pepper
Shop for all of These Ingredients At Home with Safeway
In small frying pan, cook sausage until browned. Remove pan from heat, and place sausage on plate lined with paper towels to remove excess grease. Place cream cheese and salsa in a medium-sized glass bowl, and heat in microwave for 1 minute. Remove from microwave, and stir. Continue heating and stirring until cream cheese and salsa are well combined. Add sausage and mix. Season with black pepper to taste. Put in 2-quart crockpot and turn heat to low. Serve immediately. *The dip can stay in the crockpot for several hours to allow for continued snacking during a party, just stir occasionally to distribute heat evenly.

Often on Tasty Thoughts we review and talk about “fine” dining — fancy restaurants, exquisitely presented foods accompanied by quenching drinks. But we believe that food and eating is all about serving great tasting food in the right setting. On a trip down to Maryland, we experienced exactly that in the Silver Spring Mining Company in Bel Air, a family restaurant that offers unique menu items at extremely reasonable prices.

Nearly famished, two of my children and I visited Silver Spring Mining Company last week. I had visited before, but this was the first trip for both of my kids. My plan was two-fold: I wanted to get their superb Sour Beef and Dumplings and I wanted my kids to experience their famous Crab Pretzel.

We were escorted to the rustic-motif dining room and settled ourselves into a comfortable and spacious booth. A friendly waitress, Sally, came over within a few minutes to take our drink order, let us know that there was a special on ribs tonight, and that it was the best deal in the house. Suddenly, my food choice had changed… the kids and I were on a mission for ribs!

Before all of my plans went out the window, I ordered the Crab Pretzel. Sally returned with our drinks (water for me and Sprite for both kids), and she was ready for our main course order. Both kids decided on the kid’s barbecue ribs with French fries, and I went with the Honey Bourbon Baby Back Ribs. Sally left to put our order in and returned within a few minutes with our Maryland Crab Pretzel. They describe the appetizer as, “Imagine a ballpark pretzel oozing with Silver Spring crab dip and topped with Cheddar Jack cheeses, then baked in the oven.”  Well, I am here to tell you that it should just be described as heavenly.    It is a perfect combination of cheesy, gooey, tasty, warm satisfaction. 

The kids and I ate about three-fourths of the HUGE dish (imagine the largest soft pretzel you have ever seen smothered in crab meat and melted cheese), and then our ribs arrived.  I had ordered a baked sweet potato and coleslaw as sides for my meal.  The sweet potato came with a fantastic honey cinnamon butter that I put inside the potato so it could start to melt.  With that done, I dove into my ribs!  They were amazingly tender and completely falling off the bone!  They had a dry rub on them and then were covered in a delightful tangy and sweet sauce.  My fingers were covered in the sauce as soon I began devouring the ribs.  I took a quick bite of the coleslaw, and it was a perfect compliment to the rib sauce — creamy and not too mustardy or full of vinegar.  Before I knew it, the kids had devoured their ribs as well and were working on the fries.

We were able to eat every last bit of the ribs and most of our sides, and Sally returned to give us our check.  To my surprise the total meal was only $35 (with tip).  It was an excellent, feel-good family meal at that price.  If you, your friends, and family want to have a great, filling meal, don’t pass the opportunity to visit the Silver Spring Mining Company in Maryland.

With busy schedules for everyone, it can be hard to get together after work to celebrate a birthday.  Therefore, a plan was made to meet for breakfast before work.  Living where we do, Mother Nature was not kind to our plans.  Instead of going to breakfast, each of us was snowed into our respective homes. 

Time for a plan B to be formed.  Consulting our calendars, we found that two days later we each had time for breakfast.  However, due to childcare commitments, it would need to be a quick celebration.  With that in mind, I suggested that we meet at work, and I would supply a simple, yet tasty breakfast.  This was agreeable to the birthday girl, and I began to ponder options.

One of my favorite breakfast treats is scones, but this friend has sampled my scones many times.  I wanted to make something new for our meal.  I also wanted something that would not be work intensive in the morning when I would be getting myself and two children ready for the day.  Pondering options, I decided on a coffee cake that would allow me to do most of the work the night before and bake it in the morning. 

When I arrived at work the coffee cake was still warm.  As I cut each of us a slice of the coffee cake, you could smell the cinnamon.  This aroma mixed with the smell of fresh, hot coffee that my friend graciously had brought for the occasion.  Each of us thought the coffee cake was tasty:  tender, slightly moist, and gently sweet.  With the combination of simplicity and tastiness, this will become a frequently used recipe.

Birthday Raspberry Coffee Cake
Cake:1 cup flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. salt	1/2 cup buttermilk1/3 cup butter, melted 1 egg, beaten 2/3 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen Topping: 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Shop for all of These Ingredients At Home with Safeway
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine milk, butter, and egg.   Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and mix well.  Fold in berries.  Pour into a greased 8×8 baking pan.  Combine brown sugar, chopped walnuts, and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350.  Uncover the coffee cake and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.