Inspired by Maryland

THE MEAL

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Hey, everyone! I’m baaaaack!

For anyone who doesn’t follow me on Instagram, the reason for my very long hiatus is that I quit my job and had to get a new apartment lease, so I made the big decision to just uproot entirely and move from Utah to Indiana. I’d never been to Indiana before, and it would put me very far away from family, but for whatever reason, it felt like the right thing to do. And sure enough, I found an amazing new job and am now in an affordable house with a fenced yard for my German shepherd, Riza. It’s been great!

But anyway, that’s why it’s taken me so long to get back to making state-inspired meals. Now I’m mostly settled in, though, and since I finally have a full kitchen to myself, I’m going to try really hard to get these meals made more frequently. Thank you for your patience and support!

Let’s get back to it!

CRAB CAKES

Whenever I mentioned to friends that I made a Maryland-inspired meal, they all guessed, “So you made crab cakes, right?” Maryland is very famous for the blue crabs that are native to the Chesapeake Bay region, and people have been harvesting crabs there forever—first the native Yaocomaco, then the European colonists who bought the land from them in the 17th century. In the 1980s, Maryland produced over half of all crab meat in the United States. Nowadays, it’s closer to 25%.

I couldn’t find fresh crab at my local supermarket, so I had to go with canned, unfortunately. But it still tasted pretty great! I think this was my first time eating real crab meat (as opposed to imitation crab). If the canned stuff is this good, I definitely want to try the fresh stuff someday!

Making crab cakes was surprisingly easy. You just need lump crab meat, mayonnaise, mustard, worcestershire, saltine crumbs, Old Bay seasoning, and lemon juice! Mix it all together, let it refrigerate for a half hour so the flavors combine, then shape and bake with melted butter. They turned out so flavorful and flaky! I would make them a lot more often if crab were more affordable where I live!

Oh, and pro tip: If you can’t find Old Bay in the spice section at your local grocer, try over by the seafood counter. I searched for a half hour and was about to call it quits before I found it, so I hope this helps anyone else out there who wants to try some East Coast flavor!

BOARDWALK FRIES

Ocean City, Maryland, is home to a famous beachfront boardwalk that hosts a stand called Thrasher’s that only sells french fries—said to be the world’s best french fries. The founder, J.T. Thrasher, made it his life’s goal to make the very best-tasting fries, and since the stand’s opening in 1929, it’s upheld high standards of quality and taste that bring droves of people every day. The smallest size you can buy is 16 ounces! And it’s highly frowned upon to eat these fries with ketchup, which is just fine with me because I don’t like ketchup with potatoes anyway! Good fries don’t need dip, and these definitely didn’t! The multi-step process resulted in a very tender, crispy, flavorful fry that was closer to restaurant quality than I’ve ever made on my own!

This part of the meal was the most time-consuming. It took very few ingredients, and the process itself was pretty simple, but it meant a lot of waiting around while the rest of the meal came together really quickly. The result was definitely the best homemade fries I’ve ever had, don’t get me wrong, but in the end I think I’d rather save my time and go to a drive-through the next time I’m craving them.

I did try them the Maryland way with a little bit of Old Bay and cider vinegar, though. It was a different flavor than I’m used to, but I liked it!

ORANGE SODA

This was my homage to Baltimore’s favorite cocktail, the Orange Crush. Made with vodka, triple sec, orange juice, and Sierra Mist, the Orange Crush is more of a modern favorite in Maryland, but it’s evolving to include more flavors like grapefruit, lemon, pineapple, and even watermelon!

Leaving out the vodka and triple sec still resulted in a delicious, refreshing drink to salute the end of summer. I’ve been making myself the occasional glass with the leftover orange juice and Sprite all week!

CHOCOLATE-FROSTED COOKIES

The official state dessert of Maryland is the Smith Island Cake. Google it–it looks amazing. However, I don’t have the cake-baking experience nor the patience for that kind of momentous project, so instead I tried to make another Maryland favorite—berger cookies!

Established in the 1800s by German immigrants, Bergers Cookies are so well-loved and successful that they now ship their cookies nationwide! I’m going to have to order some, because the copycats were delicious but the originals look to die for! They’re almost cake-like, and the chocolate icing reminded me of the frosting on a chocolate-frosted donut. Delicious!

I’m not going to call my cookies “berger cookies,” though, because they didn’t quite turn out and I’m sure don’t do them justice. I’ve adjusted the recipe so I think you’d have more success following it now, but yeah, my frosting didn’t turn out thick enough. The cookies are supposed to have a full dome of fudgy chocolate icing on top so that they’re round on both sides. I loved, though, that berger cookies are specifically described as “imperfect.” Their tops are supposed to look messy, which I much prefer to perfectly iced, identical cookies, especially when I’m trying to replicate them! Haha!

So how do you think I did? Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for improvement, and be sure to tune in next time for my take on a meal inspired by Delaware! If that’s where you’re from, what do you think I should make to represent your state? Bonus points if you have reliable recipes or pro tips before I make the attempt! Thank you for reading!