HoCo Holler: Renata's Tasty Bites

Today I'm going to give you three little words that will change your life: Renata's Tasty Bites.

This bakery is located at 9350 Snowden River Parkway. It's in the same shopping center as House of India. I first heard of Renata's Tasty Bites when she was coming to the various local farmer's markets. I must admit that, from the name, I thought she must specialize in tiny pastries that one could consume in one bite.

Boy, was I wrong.

I had been meaning to get over there for some time, but it actually was my husband who insisted we pay a visit when he read that it was more like a European patisserie. He was hoping for something savory like a meat pie or a sausage roll. His hopes were rewarded. Renata's does make Steak and Mushroom pies, and also Pigs in Blankets, which is about as close as you get to sausage rolls in this country.

The first time we went I picked out a chocolate cupcake which was labeled as Croatian. It was topped with just the right amount of chocolate ganache, then split and filled with pure whipped cream. It was heavenly. Not too sweet. Just the right amount of richness. It took me several days to eat it. You truly could split one in half and share with a friend and neither of you would feel slighted.

Yesterday my husband stopped in again to pick up more Steak and Mushroom pies and got me a Blueberry Scone. You can see a photograph of said scone in the center of the photo collage above. This, my friends, is no ordinary scone. It begins with a traditional scone which is split and filled to bursting with fresh blueberries which have been and cooked and sweetened just enough and not too much. Then the top is finished off with a light glaze.

This is a life-changing Blueberry Scone. It might make you cry, or sing, or even write a blog post.

Renata's does sweets and savories, and even sandwiches and soups. She has been known to whip up chicken pot pies and meat sauce for you to take home for your evening dinner. Everything tastes homemade. I know many bakeries say that, but this is the real deal. One or two of these tasty bites will make you feel that Renata is a personal friend. Or ought to be.

And so I offer a great big HoCo Holler for Renata's Tasty Bites, an independent Mom-and-Pop business making Columbia just a bit tastier.

Stop by and pay her a visit. Let me know what you tried.

Renata's Tasty Bites Bakery:

Saturday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm*
Sunday: 8:00 am - 3:00 pm*
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Wednesday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Thursday: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm*
Friday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm

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...

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...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

Search This Blog