Baker Cheese Company is this amazing little Morgantown-based business that is specializing in cheese boards. I stumbled across it on Instagram and immediately knew I needed to get one.



She does all kinds of large, elaborate displays. But I went for one of these smaller picnic-type of arrangements. It's perfectly portable and has so many delicious bites - grapes, manchego cheese, brie cheese, almonds, a delicious jam, raspberries, salami, olives, cookies and crackers. This is like my dream dinner, every evening.

There are three Fat Patty's locations in West Virginia, and this Barboursville one is the final one on my list to try.



Fat Patty's is a much-beloved Huntington-based restaurant that all my Marshall friends love. They are known for their burgers, but they have sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads, too.



Dawn and I visited on a Tuesday, which is "buy one, get one" night for burgers. So, I flipped to the burger section of the menu to see my options.



And I went with the "Vampire Killer" - Enough garlic to kill Dracula himself. Beef patty + pepper jack cheese + lettuce + tomato + onion + mayo + ketchup + mustard. I subbed the pepper jack for bleu cheese, because that's my favorite for burgers. Plus sweet potato fries! Overall, a solid burger.



Grade: B

"We at Capitol Market know Easter week is usually a time of fellowship and community gathering. Our small businesses feel this loss, too, as our usual bustling marketplace has suffered in the wake of this global pandemic. We wanted to find a way to celebrate the season while also giving you a way to help your favorite local spots that call Capitol Market home. So today, we are launching our Capitol Market Easter Sundries Basket Fundraiser! With a $65.00 donation to Capitol Market (a 501 (C)(3) non-profit public market), you'll get a market tote bag full of various sundries and treats from participating market businesses!"

When I saw this, I was all in. I picked up what I consider my Easter basket, and it included specialty kitchen and wine items, dip mixes, sauces, jams and jellies, gourmet crackers, JQ Dickinson salt, spices, coupons, and more - including a voucher for a Soho’s brick-oven pizza!

There's a local bakery called WildFlour Eats in the Barboursville area that doesn't have a storefront - but you can find their delicious cakes at Oscar's Breakfast, Burgers and Brews.



After learning about this bakery, I made a special trip to the restaurant just so I could get a taste. On this particular day, they had two kinds of cakes: a Reese, which was a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and even Reese cup hearts on top.



And there was french vanilla with brown sugar and cinnamon buttercream. Both were fantastic, but I think I gravitated more toward the Reese! Even though I usually don't like chocolate cake. It was delish.

Buzz is a Charleston-based meat and seafood distributor. In addition to providing top-quality food to establishments around the state, Buzz is a huge asset to the Charleston community.



The company cares about its local people, its product and the customers - so much so that they give back in many ways.



For example, Charleston Restaurant Week was the brainchild of Buzz during the Charleston water crisis to help local restaurants stay afloat.



And now, during the quarantine, they've showed up once again to offer some of their items - which many have been difficult to find locally - directly to the public in a safe and easy way.



They shared the promotion on social media, I reserved my box and then drove up to the Big Lots parking lot to see giant Buzz Food meat trucks ready to go. It was so easy - I gave my name, slid my card, received the box and I was on my way.



What does this amazing box contain you ask? Well, it has 1.5 lbs. of deli meat, 1.5 lbs. of cheese, 2 lbs. of ground beef, 1 lb. of hot dogs, 1 lb. of bacon, 4 pepperoni rolls, fresh tortillas, and 1 box of Buzz Buttered Steaks.



And I've already put an Insta Cart order in for buns, taco ingredients, and more to put all this delicious stuff to good use.

And, I've got to mention, Buzz is once again, along with Charleston Restaurant Week and Boss Babes, have started "Feed the Fight" - which crowdsources donations to fund food delivery from local restaurants and their staff to nearby health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I've only been to one Highway 55 location, and that was in downtown Huntington. But Barboursville recently opened its own, and I went to check it out.



The first thing I realized is that this location has a drive-thru! I didn't even know this restaurant had drive thrus. But here we are.



After looking over the menu, I decided to try a few different things: an Orangeade - as opposed to a lemonade - a shrimp po'boy and also half fries/half rings.



The Orangeade is so good. I feel like we should make "ades" for every fruit. Can I get a grapeade please?



The po'boy was pretty good. I ended up picking off the tomato (even though I love tomato), it didn't quite "go." But the sauce was good, and together, it was like a comfort food. And the half onion rings and half fries gives you the best of both worlds!

We're finishing up the Sam's Hot Dog tour in West Virginia. I have just a few left, and Huntington was up next.



The hot dogs are already great - we know that. And this spot had a bit more of an expanded menu. So I wanted to try something else. Something that still shows off their chili sauce. Taco In a Bag it is. I don't know the last time I had one of these, but something about the combination of Fritos, chili, sour cream, jalapeños and onions was magic in my mouth.



Grade: B

When something is named the "West Virginia Pizza Company," my interest is immediately piqued. It's as though this is the definitive pizza place for the state.



After I initially saw it, I tried to visit a few different times, but they were never open.



That was, until my last trip to Lavalette. I saw the "open" sign lit up, and I immediately pulled into the lot. There was a pick up truck backed right up to the entrance, which made it hard to get inside. I figured it was somebody who just didn't know how to park, but it was instead someone working inside.



Once I was inside, it seemed like it wasn't open to the public. The interior had kids' toys strewn about, and it could use a deep scrub. I was informed that it had been closed for a while and recently reopened.



They handed me a menu, and I ordered a "pizza bread." I waited and passed the time on my phone until my order was ready.



This sandwich was actually really, really good. It had a thick, sweet marinara sauce, melty cheese and mushrooms that could've cooked a minute or two longer. The bread was coated in butter and parmesan and had a perfect crisp. Very tasty.


Grade: C

We're making our way through all of the Sam's Hot Dog stand locations in West Virginia, this time in Kenova.

This one has a drive-thru, which is always convenient. And the menu is a good bit more expansive. Nonetheless, I had to get a standard hot dog to compare. And, as always, it's solid with chili, slaw, mustard and onions.

But it made me think about how this whole thing got started. And, I didn't realize it took off with some help of Rocco Muriale in Ceredo.



The Story of Sam's:

Frank Lucente grew up in a small town in West Virginia. As a young boy, Frank often enjoyed spicy chili dogs at the town hot dog stand. Even as he grew older and moved away, Frank would always stop in for a hot dog on his visits home. Years later, the town stand closed and Frank was forced to look elsewhere to satisfy his craving. He went to see the owner of the old stand to convince him to pass on the recipe. But the owner refused saying he would "take it to the grave".

Denied, Frank soon discovered that the original recipe for the chili sauce belonged to an elderly woman still living in his hometown. For years she had been cooking up the sauce and selling it at her church bazaar. According to her, the stand owner had changed the recipe over the years but the woman gladly provided the original recipe.

Frank recruited his business partner and good friend Rocco Muriale to help invent an even better chili sauce recipe. The chef at the popular Rocco's Ristorante, Rocco spent several months cooking up batches of chili sauce. After six months, he had the perfect recipe! In 1983 wanting to share the delicious invention with the public, Frank and Rocco opened the first Sam's Hotdog Stand in Huntington, West Virginia....ending the search for the perfect hot dog.

Grade: B

Davis' Place is more of a bar than grill, in my opinion, but nonetheless, I've heard good things about the food so when I found myself in Huntington recently, I put in a to-go order.



The menu has fried appetizers, soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches and wraps.



Because it's a bar, I figured wings would be a great way to go. So I ordered boneless BBQ, as well as an order of "fried cheese" - but that has now been replaced with regular mozzarella sticks.



The wings were okay. The sauce didn't have enough flavor for my liking - but not bad. The mozzarella sticks were okay, too. Package marinara and standard taste.


Grade: C

Schlafly Beer is known as the original St. Louis beer.



"As the founder of the craft movement in the backyard of the world's largest brewer, we began hand-brewing authentic beers in 1991 and continue the commitment today as the original locally-owned independent craft brewery in Missouri."



The Taproom was just a few blocks away, so my coworkers and I made our way over for dinner.



But first, beer. I started with a sampler of some of their beers: sour, cider, boomerang, hefeweizen, and white lager. I enjoyed all of these, actually. But the cider and sour were my favorites.



 For my main meal, I struggled to choose just one thing. So, I ordered the fries as an appetizer that came with spicy ketchup, green peppercorn, truffle aioli. I, as predicated, fell in love with the truffle aioli.



And I decided on the Jagerschnitzel ~ crisp pork loin cutlet, rich mushroom-bacon sauce, mashed potatoes. This gigantic portion could have lasted me a few days. But the flavors were all there - the rich mushroom sauce, paired with the crisp pork loin and some creamy potatoes. Delish.