Food And Drink

Using public money, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake treated guests to $2,920.52 worth of food and nonalcoholic beverages in the city's skybox during a recent Ravens season at M&T Bank Stadium, records show. At eight Ravens games during the 2010 season and a 2011 U2 concert, Rawlings-Blake and her guests, who included friends, family and political allies, spent an average of about $325 a game. The city has not yet responded to a request for documentation of money spent during the 2011 season.

You have to be in pretty good shape to make it up the myriad stairs leading to the main dining room at the Ellicott Mills Brewing Company. But once there - above the din of the street level bar - you'll be glad you made the effort. The spacious 120-seat area is nicely laid out. That, and the menu, promise the opportunity to enjoy good food and conversation with your companions. This historical building at 8308 Main Street is all brick and stone and hard wood, bespeaking the solid foundations upon which this 19th century mill and railroad town were built.

Last week at baltimoresun.com/diningatlarge we had a guest Top 10 Tuesday by a local bartender who goes by Baltimoron. Here's his list of food and drink (excluding wine) pairings: 1 Zen Press with a summer dinner salad. A Zen Press is muddled seedless cucumber with lemongrass, Hendrick's gin and either soda water or Sprite, garnished with fresh mint. It goes great with any dinner salad. 2 Mojito with Southwestern/Mexican food. What could be better on a hot day than flautas and a mojito?

If you like drinking cold brews in the Ocean City sunshine, there's an event on tap this weekend that's a perfect fit. This Saturday starting at 1 p.m. and raging on until 9 p.m. is the first annual Beer on the Boards – Ocean City Boardwalk Bar Tour, which includes 12 different bars offering a variety of drink specials. A ticket to the tour offers $2 Miller Lite Aluminum Pints, a free koozie to the first 400 people and many different food and drink specials at each bar. Participating venues include 9th Street Tap House Bar & Grille, BrassBalls Saloon, Guido's Burritos, Hooters, Pickles Pub, Peppers Tavern, Hammerheads on the Beach, M.R. Ducks, Shenanigans and The Pour House.

It takes a lot of work to nominate a presidential candidate. Victor Modic can attest to that. The co-owner of Ice Art, an ice-carving company in Cedar Grove, N.J., is working long hours to plan nearly 50 sculptures for the Republican National Convention, including the kind with liquor sluicing down an ice luge. "We'll probably do it with a large martini glass," Modic says, "and a spigot in the center." This, in the name of democracy: your convention delegates guzzling booze off a giant ice cube.

A New Year's Eve event at the Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore featuring a swing band and pay-as-you-consume food and drink should have listed the cost as $19.94 per person. Call (410) 539-8400 for information.THe Sun regrets the errors.

Taneytown police Chief Melvin Diggs raised $1,806.62 for the Maryland Special Olympics in nine hours as a performer and master of ceremonies of a karaoke program.The Aug. 10 program was part of a statewide fund-raising effort by police chiefs.The Taneytown American Legion donated proceeds from food and drink sales. In addition, food counter and drink servers donated $45 they received from tips.FireTaneytown: Firefighters responded at 1: 49 p.m. Monday to a truck fire on Mayberry Road at Route 140. Units were out 41 minutes.

Do you know? What are the different elephant species? Answer: Asian and African elephants Learn more! Visit the elephants at the Baltimore Zoo. Read "African Elephants: Giants of the Land" by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent. 1. Elephants will eat up to 500 pounds of food and drink up to 40 gallons of water a day! 2. Elephants can walk faster than people. but they can not run. THE BALTIMORE ZOO

Where: Preston Gardens on St. Paul Place When: 7:30 p.m. today and Sept. 29 Why: Watch a romantic comedy and help rejuvenate the park near Mercy Hospital and the Standard Oil apartment building. Tonight's film is Hitch (Will Smith, Kevin James and Eva Mendes), and Sept. 29 it's Finding Neverland. Information: 410-244-1030, www.godown townbaltimore.com. Admission: Free. Food and drink will be sold.

Beijing (Insight; $15.95) From the Forbidden City to Tiananmen Square, this guide offers an overview of the city that will host the Summer Olympics in 2008. The guide features essays on Beijing's population, religion (Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism), food and drink (and culinary etiquette), the arts (including Beijing opera) and the Great Wall, as well as survival tips (look out for pickpockets; avoid street food not cooked in front of you). It includes listings of accommodations, nightlife and shopping areas.

Using public money, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake treated guests to $2,920.52 worth of food and nonalcoholic beverages in the city's skybox during a recent Ravens season at M&T Bank Stadium, records show. At eight Ravens games during the 2010 season and a 2011 U2 concert, Rawlings-Blake and her guests, who included friends, family and political allies, spent an average of about $325 a game. The city has not yet responded to a request for documentation of money spent during the 2011 season.

After long cold streaks, Groupon & LivingSocial both have interesting deals today. Groupon 's deal is $17 for one club level ticket to the Konica Minolta Fece-Off Classic on March 12th at M&T Banks Stadium, a $35 value. Since I can walk to the stadium and like lacrosse as much as the next guy, I might be in for one. LivingSocial's deal is $7 for $15 to spend on food and drink at Z-Burger in White Marsh. During your order you will be able to get an additional $2 off for watching a quick 30 second clip for "America's Next Top Restaurant".

Last week at baltimoresun.com/diningatlarge we had a guest Top 10 Tuesday by a local bartender who goes by Baltimoron. Here's his list of food and drink (excluding wine) pairings: 1 Zen Press with a summer dinner salad. A Zen Press is muddled seedless cucumber with lemongrass, Hendrick's gin and either soda water or Sprite, garnished with fresh mint. It goes great with any dinner salad. 2 Mojito with Southwestern/Mexican food. What could be better on a hot day than flautas and a mojito?

I see where a growing number of companies are suspending or reducing contributions to their employees' 401(k)s and, of course, that makes millions of Americans worried about whether they'll have enough dollars in their retirement funds to allow them to retire instead of ending up 72 years old and punching up lottery tickets from behind the counter at the Royal Farms store. Several educated and intelligent people tell me they are no longer reading the newspapers or watching the networks because they can't stand the constant drumbeat of bleak economic news like this.

I can't drink cold orange juice first thing in the morning, but I am curious as to when and where this practice began. Drinking orange juice at breakfast is a peculiarly American custom, one whose story recalls those quintessentially American values: marketing and technological innovation. In his just-published book, Citrus: A History, retired chemistry professor Pierre Laszlo recounts the providential hookup of the California Fruit Growers Exchange (an organization that was later to become Sunkist)

For years, the rap on Baltimore's annual outdoor festival of the arts has been that it's more about the food and drink on hand than about the actual artwork on display. Artscape was only a few years old when disgruntled artists countered with the light-hearted spoof, "Foodscape." Solely devoted to picturing good things to eat, the show was such a hit that it morphed into its own annual event at the nearby Mount Royal Tavern. ARTSCAPE In addition to the artists' kiosks in the food court, there will be art shows at many area schools and galleries, concerts on the mainstage by the Isley Brothers, Keyshia Cole, Clarence "Bluesman" Turner and others, a fashion show, films, dance, theater, opera and concert performances and the annual art car show.

For years, the rap on Baltimore's annual outdoor festival of the arts has been that it's more about the food and drink on hand than about the actual artwork on display. Artscape was only a few years old when disgruntled artists countered with the light-hearted spoof, "Foodscape." Solely devoted to picturing good things to eat, the show was such a hit that it morphed into its own annual event at the nearby Mount Royal Tavern. ARTSCAPE In addition to the artists' kiosks in the food court, there will be art shows at many area schools and galleries, concerts on the mainstage by the Isley Brothers, Keyshia Cole, Clarence "Bluesman" Turner and others, a fashion show, films, dance, theater, opera and concert performances and the annual art car show.

The year is 1774 . The year is 1774. Artisans and merchants have gathered on Market Square. British militia are attempting to hoist their flag, and the debates on independence are heated.The scene takes place Saturday in Old Town Alexandria, Va., as part of an 18th century fair presented by Gadsby's Tavern Museum, 134 North Royal St. In addition to watching events, you can learn the latest steps from the dance master and enjoy the entertainers -- singers, dancers, jugglers and fire eaters.

America's Founding Fathers didn't spend the Fourth of July in the backyard standing over a hot grill. It is more likely that the founding wives and mothers or their servants spent the day in front of a hearth, where temperatures might reach 170 degrees, juggling cast-iron and copper cookware over an open flame. The Fourth of July in the late 1700s wasn't celebrated with hot dogs and hamburgers. And there was no corn on the cob, except maybe in the American frontier, which in 1776 might have been just to the left of Pittsburgh.

What makes a restaurant a hot spot? Sometimes it's the inventive food -- the surprise of foie gras on Salt's gussied-up burger or chef Edward Kim's imaginative combinations at Saffron. Sometimes it's the slight reinvention of an old favorite: Think Take-Off-Your-Tie Thursdays at the Prime Rib. Sometimes it's the location -- a space like the Spice Company's, where restaurants have come and gone, filled with neighborhood diners hoping for a hit. Sometimes it's the lure of a sure thing, like Clyde's or the Oregon Grille, or the modest prices for interesting wines at the Wine Market.