The Charm Farm is a new vendor at the Morgantown Farmers Market this year.

It seems as though the Beverly-based farm has a CSA, and they sell their produce at the Elkins Farmers Market. For the Morgantown Farmers Market, they had a variety of greens, meat, jam, eggs and even bouquets of wildflowers recently.

I snagged some of these maple beer nuts, which have nuts & pretzels in pure maple syrup. So tasty!

Have you purchased anything from The Charm Farm?

Meat & Potatoes has been on my wish list for-ev-er. With a restaurant name like "Meat & Potatoes," one envisions basic, hearty dishes heavy on protein and carbs. But, Meat & Potatoes a bit more refined. The gastropub serves up high-end craft food classics and libations:

"Meat and Potatoes" are generally the stand-in for "bread and butter" as shorthand for the staples we need to function. With that thought in mind Chef Richard Deshantz had the desire to enhance his culinary vision by opening up a second restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh. Chef Richards' favorite type of food is simple and approachable; it is the type of food that a chef would eat after a busy day at work. Meat & Potatoes, Pittsburgh's first gastropub, was born in the spring of 2011.

Meat & Potatoes was our first lunch stop of the day (yes, I said first). So, after our little adventure on the Duquesne Incline, we headed downtown for our lunch reservation. Meat & Potatoes has quite a large space, with a cozy waiting area lined with pickled veggies in jars and decent outdoor patio area. We requested to sit outside.

The lunch menu has a few snacks, like fried taters, devils on horseback, macaroni & cheese, pate and fried brussels. Sandwiches included a pub burger, Cuban, hot chicken, catfish tacos, and wild boar sloppy joe. Salads offered were Thai steak, winter (with poached pear, chickpeas, pancetta, brie) and house smoked duck. Entrees: grilled pork chop, chicken paillard, baked rigatoni, mussels and bi bim bap.





We ordered the "Old School Mac" ($8) and the "Fried Chicken & Biscuits" ($14), which came with buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken, coffee bacon jam, ranch cole slaw, pickles and french fries.

Let's talk Old School Mac first. This heaping helping of cheesy cavatappi was spiked with bits of grilled hot dog. That thick cheese sauce is heavenly, and I can assure you this is the tastiest combo of mac & hot dog that you'll have. Reminiscent of childhood with a chef's touch = perfection.

And that chicken, tho. The breading is nothing short of perfection, the biscuits are light, buttery dreams, and that bacon coffee jam had me scraping the bottom of the tin cup. The pickles - housemade -, the fries and the slaw were all tasty, as well.

I'm glad we shared, because I would have been stuffed having ordered this entree or appetizer to myself. A plentiful helping of mac, three pieces of chicken, two biscuits, fries, slaw, pickles... you won't go hungry, at least. And the flavors? Phenomenal. I love comfort food, so taking it up a notch with bacon coffee jam or ranch slaw makes it that much better.

Do expect a bit of a wait for food. It wasn't especially speedy, and the water refills weren't as plentiful as I would have liked. But, is it some of the best damn food in the area? Without a question. Delicious.





Grade: A

With sugary, calorie-ridden breakfast cake in hand from Prantl's, coffee was the next stop. Luckily, just across the street, there is Market St. Grocery.

At Market St. Grocery, each and every item is handpicked for Pittsburgh. Located in Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh, we offer dry goods, produce, fresh meat and seafood, baked goods and a variety of prepared hot and cold foods. In addition our store features Gaby et Jules patisserie, The Wine Room at Market St. Grocery with Collefrisio wines and a full coffee bar featuring La Colombe.

The coffee bar is right inside and has a short menu of cappuccinos, mochas, teas and iced coffee drinks. I went for a cappuccino.

Damn good cup of coffee.



Grade: A

A while back, I stumbled upon a Huffington Post article about the greatest cake in the country. Because most things food intrigue me, I clicked the link to discover this wonderful cake is made right in my backyard: Pittsburgh.

Let me start by saying I don't go to Pittsburgh nearly as often as I should. Yes, it has this booming culinary scene with some of the greatest food in the area. Yes, it's fairly close. And yes, there is so much to do. But, I have this need to show off my home state and tell the stories here that aren't being told, so I tend to travel three hours south to find a little hole in the wall in West Virginia, rather than head just a bit north to Pittsburgh to get some of the tastiest food I've ever had. And, I stick by that decision. For the most part.

BUT, I do have quite the Pittsburgh-to-try list building up. Lots of friends go to these incredible places and say "oh gosh, you have to try ____!" So I have this list of places I've been wanting to go, but I hadn't made it a priority. Until recently. My friend Heather and I took the day off from work (much deserved, btw) and headed up to the Steel City for a culinary crawl.

Our first stop of the day was at Prantl's Bakery to get our mitts on the best cake in America: Burnt Almond Torte. Cake for breakfast. We went to the downtown location, as it was near our other stops for today. After finally finding parking (ooooof), we headed inside to gaze at the goodies hidden behind glass cases.

The burnt almond torte was available in mini cupcake size or longer loaf sizes. I opted for the larger option (duh), which was just a few bucks. I grabbed a fork and began to dig in.

Our “Burnt Almond Torte”, which was conceived by Henry Prantl after a trip to California. There was an almond glut the year he went and the Almond Board was trying to get bakers to use almonds in new and inspiring ways. Henry picked up a few ideas and brought them back to Pittsburgh where he refined them into our current recipe for “Burnt Almond Torte”, a unique and addictive dessert. If you’ve never had one, you really do have to try one. If you have had one, you know what we’re talking about!

It's a very light cake frosted in buttercream with thin slivers of sugared almonds. It's pretty simple, conceptually. But the execution is flawless. So light, so sweet, but also a nice crunch and slight saltiness. It's the stuff dreams are made of.

The only thing that could make this better is a cup of coffee underneath the sunshine. Stay tuned for the next blog post.

Grade: A

Does anyone else remember the Wonderbread stores growing up? I remember going to the one in Wellsburg to get small snack cakes for my dad's lunches and other cheap packaged bakery goods for home.

A Schwebel's Bakery Outlet opened at 800 Business Park Drive - off Point Marion Road - in Morgantown recently. I learned that there's only one other one in West Virginia (in Ona), and the only other places they are found are Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana. So, I went to check it out.

Lots of bread, snacks and other junk food that I shouldn't be buying. They had Junior Caramels (I've heard of Junior Mints -- but caramels?! I also picked up some of those small fruit pie snacks - but with cream, as well!

Just reminds me of growing up with all these snacks that now make me nostalgic. If you go:
800 Business Park Dr. 26508
(304) 212-4438

MON, TUES, THUR, FRI: 9:30-5:00
SATURDAY: 9:30-5:00
SUNDAY: CLOSED