Wow, what a foodie fest this weekend! (Ladies and gentlemen, start your stomachs...)

Saturday took us to the Chesapeake Bay BBQ festival and cookoff. Now there's a bunch of seriously fun-loving, food-lovin' folks. We got the lowdown from participants,  if not the recipes exactly, who compete on the  barbecue  circuit. (Did you know there was one?) Look for photos soon, and some of the dish from the gurus.

Then, Sunday found us in the midst of the Crab Dish Competition. Nine of the Eastern Shore's finest chefs had 1/2 hour to serve up their entries  --  at the Chesapeake Maritime Museum's Crab Days celebration in St. Michael's. What fun, and omg, the food! Again, we'll get info and photos up asap.

And last but not least, rain. Sweet summer rain on the parched fields. Ahhh.....

The last couple of weeks, while I have not been posting, an interesting story has been unfolding. Right and left, "Local/Fresh/In-season" has been the buzzword. First, we hear of a good friend who's made the commitment to go local at his restaurant (More on that soon). Next, we talk to Brooks Tavern, who's made that their mantra for years. 

And then, we connect with a new website from the Maryland Department of Agriculture, which just launched! MarylandsBest.net is a fabulous resource of everything from local seafood to wine, eggs to events, what's ripe now and recipes.  Next week, July 21 to 28th is the "Buy Local Challenge"(details here).

And it's Watermelon Time! Get the who's, what's and where's all at this site, including dozens of recipes such as Shrimp and Watermelon Watercress Salad. And Crabcakes with Watermelon Dipping Sauce. Go to Marylandsbest.net and click on Recipes. Nice!

If you love good writing and you love food and family and you have a fairly decent internet connection, do yourself a favor. 

Go to Prairie Home.org and take a listen to humorist Roy Blount, Jr., do his reenactment of a Southern meal, complete with sentences like, "Look at me, I'm eating like a field hand!" It's great, I've listened to it five times, and I'm goin' back for more.

You'll find the snippet in "Archives" on June 23rd, if the link above didn't work. Hit Segment 1, and if you don't have time to listen to the whole piece, forward your pointer to 23:34. 

And tell me if you don't love it.