Fried Chicken

The Mount Airy Inn sounds like it should be a lodge nestled in a pine-tree-covered swath of land, tucked away from the hustle and bustle. A place to get a home-cooked meal and maybe a few really good beers to shake off the chill of a cold winter's day. While it's not an actual working inn, the restaurant does deliver on the food and beer — in a comfortable albeit plain setting. Opened in August 2010 by restaurateur Frank Illiano, the Mount Airy Inn was converted from a residential home built in the 1890s.

Oysterback, Md. -- "Now,'' says Miss Nettie, ''I call this nice.'' She settles herself down at the picnic table and looks around at the assembled faces. Most of them aren't looking at her; they're all fixated on the big platter of her fried chicken she's placed in the middle of the table, between the sliced tomatoes and the Silver Queen corn. Miss Nettie's fried chicken is the stuff dreams are made of.Even Reverend Briscoe is in the spirit of things; he makes the grace short and sweet: ''Bless this fried -- ahem, this food -- to Thy service, Lord, amen,'' he says, and he's rewarded with the first breast off the plate and an extra large spoonful of Ella Spark's potato salad.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The biggest eaters we know come from Kansas City. They can lay waste to platters of fried chicken and cottage-fried potatoes, barbecue and baked beans, or just about anything you put before them. It's tradition.For example, look at the classic Kansas City fried chicken dinner: chicken by the platter, bowls full of mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy, sweet cinnamon rolls (yes, sweet rolls) and ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert. This is a big meal! But wait, we left something out: the appetizer.

What am I doing here at a converted Sizzler at 4 o'clock on a Monday afternoon about to eat an enormous Southern dinner?Do I really want to be standing in line with a thousand other people at a place called Carolina Cookin' on Route 40 West? So I can eat fried chicken and greens with fatback?Don't the owners of Carolina Cookin' know this is a bad time to open a new restaurant, that people aren't eating out as much anymore, that at plenty of places I review we're almost the only customers?

About 325 state troopers and family members shared helpings of fried chicken and nostalgia yesterday at a picnic to say goodbye to the Westminster barracks.Westminster, with 96 troopers, is Maryland's largest -- and some say, busiest -- barracks.But the Baltimore Boulevard building, which opened in 1961, is also small, outdated and slated for demolition as soon as a new barracks is built next door.Groundbreaking is scheduled for fall.So with the old barracks on its way out, some of the troopers and civilian staff decided to have a reunion, sending invitations to more than 400 troopers who have been stationed there.

3035 Churchville Road, Churchville. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. Call (410) 734-7788. This combination carhop, carryout and drive-in theater is a must for anyone nostalgic for the good old days of the '50s and '60s. The drive-in, one of two still operating in Maryland, opened in 1952. Carryout and carhop operations were added in 1962 and the menu is basically the same today, says current owner Robert F. Wagner.

Marie J. Kahl, a homemaker, former owner of a Perry Hall restaurant and longtime resident of the area, died of cancer Thursday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care in Towson. She was 84. Born in Baltimore and raised in Highlandtown, the former Marie J. Botakowski attended city public schools. She worked as a waitress until her 1940 marriage to Lawrence Kahl. Together, the couple operated Kahl's Inn in the 9000 block of Belair Road, a business established by her father-in-law in 1900. The restaurant, said family members, was known for Mrs. Kahl's homemade backfin crab cakes and fried chicken, and once had been home to the 11th District Democratic Club.

The Orioles had a hand in the collapse of the Red Sox, taking five games from the playoff pretenders last month. But fried chicken, beer and video games played a bigger role, according to an interesting Boston Globe report. Bob Hohler of The Globe reported that Boston's top starters, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey, have a habit of pigging out and chillaxing in the clubhouse during home games, even critical ones in September. “The indifference of Beckett, Lester, and Lackey in a time of crisis can be seen in what team sources say became their habit of drinking beer, eating fast-food fried chicken, and playing video games in the clubhouse during games while their teammates tried to salvage a once-promising season,” Hohler wrote in a Wednesday report.

CROSS KEYS DELI Village Food Center in Cross Keys Village. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. (410) 323-8330. Fax: (410) 323-6502. One of the most popular traditions at the Cross Keys Deli is the fried chicken platter. For the past 19 years, the Deli's generous helpings of chicken, Western fries and cole slaw have enlivened my last-minute picnics and Friday night collapses.These days, a chicken platter goes for $3.99 for the chicken breast and $3.89 for the chicken leg. The deli also offers delicious side dishes of macaroni and cheese and escalloped apples, each large serving is $1.89.

MANY CONSUMERS consider chicken to be a good choice at fast food restaurants because it's traditionally lower in calories and fat than beef or other red meats.But that's not always the case."Often, you'd be better off eating a hamburger," said Marion Franz, a registered dietitian, director of nutrition for the International Diabetic Center and author of "Fast Food Facts" (DCI Publishing, $6.95, 107p.), a guide to making nutrition-wise choices at fast food restaurants. She says one fried chicken sandwich at most fast food restaurants is equal in calories to two regular-sized hamburgers.