A Delightful Dumpling Diversion

Why yes, I am going to piggyback on an article from the Baltimore Banner this morning. I’ve been awake since four am and, alas, it has not made me more brilliant nor improved my work ethic.

We set out to find dumplings in Howard County. We found a new obsession. Abby Zimmardi and Jess Nocera, Baltimore Banner. Photography by Eric Thompson

This piece reminded me of that brief era when we thought that Patch was really going to be a dynamic, ongoing part of the local scene. Remember when David Greisman and Lisa Rossi did a series dedicated to the best local chocolate chip cookie? Those were the days.

We're David Greisman and Lisa Rossi, Patch editors who work "in the field" each day all around Columbia, eating cookies along the way to fuel our efforts at journalistic muckraking.

At this point, after covering everything in our part of Howard County from crime and catastrophe to cute and cuddly—fueled by coffee and, well, you know—we think we know what we're talking about.

Now that the nostalgia is kicking in, perhaps you remember when the Patuxent Publishing used to send their young journalists to the Howard County Fair? That was a while ago. There’s just something delightful about the camaraderie in such pieces.

They let us out of the office and we made the best of it. Let general silliness and hijinks ensue.

As we ate, we marveled at the colorful Chinese lanterns and waterfall beads hanging from the ceiling. We spent our time at Asian Court — a restaurant with Cantonese food and Hong Kong-style dim sum — having fun spinning the lazy Susan in the middle of the table and talking about silly childhood memories, like Clara getting injured in weird ways as a child.

True confession: I was completely won over by their description of the dining room at Tea Horse Sichuan Bistro as “swanky”, a word my mother used to use and which I assumed had fallen out of common usage.

Want to know more about the actual dumplings? You’ll need to read the article. The restaurants featured are Pepper House, Asian Court, and Tea Horse Sichuan Bistro. Also, it’s not every restaurant piece that features more than one piano.

Are you a dumpling connoisseur? What local establishments would you recommend?

Village Green/Town² Comments

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

Getting Fresh

One of my favorite days in the Spring comes when this year’s list of Farmer’s Markets is released. That happened this week. New this year are markets in Old Ellicott City and the “Merriweather Market” which, according to the address, will be located here . I mistakenly thought at first glance that it was in the new-construction part of the Merriweather District. I find the name confusing considering its actual location. I’m going to guess that this market is an initiative of the Howard Hughes Corporation because the name seems chosen more for branding purposes than anything else. Alas, the market in Maple Lawn is gone. The thread on the markets on the County Executive’s FB page will provide you with quite the education in who actually runs the Farmers Markets vs what people often think is going on. Short answer: they are not chosen nor run by the county. Each market is an independent entity, sometimes started by community volunteers, other times supported by local businesses...

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday. Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018. 2018 . But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest. In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog