But I’m over 2 hours away from Downtown Bawlmer. Go to Mapquest and look for Helen, MD - that’s where I am. Granted, my mailing address is Mechanicsville, but the Helen post office is half a mile from my house. And we ate at the Outback in California, MD.
Uh oh, folks. Ex is doin’ a little drunk posting!!!
No, that’s not the one. I thought you were out in Anne Arundel County, somewhere. My bad. I hardly ever got down the way you are because a) it was hard to get to, with lots of traffic and a boring highway and b) I don’t know of any good reason to go there if you don’t live there. Maybe I missed something cool?
Shibb, this part of the state is beautiful - it’s mostly rural, although development is creeping in surely. First time I saw it was from a helicopter flying from the Pentagon to Pax River, over 20 years ago. I decided then that I wanted to live here. I was right. I live here! Of course, it you’re into night life, you’ll die of boredom, but the sailing can’t be beat!
Is it significantly different, geographically than the “other” peninsula (Anne Arundel) or the Eastern shore?
South Anne Arundel, Calvert, and St. Mary’s are similar in look, at least to me. I don’t know the Eastern Shore all that well - just St. Michael’s and Rock Hall. What part of Anne Arundel do you know - around Annapolis? That area’s too citified! 
Not quite yet. Give me an hour or so.
Hey Swampy, at dinner tonight we had a bottle of wine from LaGrange in your honor. It went very nicely with our steak.
That’s just cruel.
You didn’t specify the variety nor the vintage. I’m not a wine snob, so I could mostly give half a crap, but it seems to me you could tell the guy exactly what he was missing.
It’s just a bottle of wine for cripes’s sake.
On the other hand , you might be trying to set up my buddy swampbear for a loss at poker. That’s a bad idea. I think he may be good at it.
Somebody alert scout. The drunk posting has started, and will stop now. I’m working my backspace key too hard.
Bleqh. Ignore this
It was a 2000 Les Fiefs de LaGrange, from the St. Julien district of Bordeaux. Does that help?
I have to admit, I really don’t fall you at all there (re: the poker thing). So I’ll have some more wine and see if I can’t catch up. Be careful, Ex.
And we see now why I don’t drink very often.
What in hell was that?
Sorry, Ex. I’m going to make craploads of shortbread sometime next week, and my basic recipe is simple: the flour/butter/sugar ratio is 4/2/1. Or something. Twice as much butter as sugar, twice as much flour as butter. So two cups flour, one cup butter, and half a cup sugar. Mush the butter and sugar together, then work in the flour.
I roll it out pretty thin and make tiny cookies, but you can roll it out any thickness you want. Or just pat it into circles. If you’re doing tiny cookies it’s about 6-7 minutes at 350F, or say 15 minutes for half inch suckers. They should be faintly golden, not brown, around the edges.
I’m going to do chopped crystalized ginger shortbread, plain, and I was wondering what would happen if I replaced some of the flour with ground almonds and added almond flavouring. Should work. Any other flavour suggestions?
Shortbread is so easy, and people love it. Except for Mr. Lissar, who is a certifiable freak.
Someday I’m gonna try posting drunk. Hmm.
Maybe.
I’m afraid of what crazy things I’d reveal if I posted drunk. So I think it’s just as well that it doesn’t happen.
Of course, I rarely drink anymore these days, so my opportunities are few and far between.
I suggest that you take the “u” out of “flavor”. 
I like bananas and peppermint and orange (separately) in cookies. I’ve never made shortbread with any of these, though.
Flavour. Honour. Colour.
Hah. American spelling, pshaw!
Maybe peppermint. I could chocolate-dip them.
Lissla Lissar: she puts the “u” in suh-weet!*
*There’s probably a better way to convey what I meant, but that’s the best I could come up with.
HEY! I just saw this (what with the new flat and the moving and the glavin)!
It’s a story that’s not in any way related to me! I love it!
Thank you Rue, you are lovely. And thank you for the christmas card. You’re the best Rue there is.
(P.S. Alex has cooked dinner every day since we moved in. He’s good that way.)