Bobby's Burger Palace - College Park, MD

To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
What a storm! I hope everyone is safe because Sandy was quite destructive, but thankfully our part of Rockville wasn't affected much. Just a few hours without power.

So we haven't started our 'wedding' diet yet, so I'll just continue to write about fattie places like Bobby's Burger Palace. The Fi (I guess that's his new name? Let's test it out.) visited the University of Maryland location. We met at UMCP, and things have changed. We never had nice buildings and restaurants like this when we were there! I'm not that bitter though...

The name is self-explanatory - they serve burgers. Gourmet ones created by Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay to be exact. The interior is bright with warm lighting. It's filled with bar seating/communal tables and very comfortable chairs that spin! It's a casual place where you order/pay at a register, they give you a number, and they bring food out to wherever you are sitting. 

Many of the burgers are named after cities and characterized by a food that represents them. For example: The Fi ordered The Philadelphia Burger is topped with Provolone Cheese, Griddled Onions and Hot Peppers ($7.75). He thought it was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

If you're not in the mood for a burger, they offer sandwiches, salads, sides, milkshakes and other beverages. Also, if you don't eat beef, you can substitute the beef patty with turkey or chicken breast.

I wanted a flavor explosion so I ordered the Bobby Blue Burger with Blue Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato $7.75), and it wasn't as pungent as I was hoping. Again, it was an ok burger, but nothing particularly special. Ray's Hell Burger's equivalent is much better.

I love Sweet Potato Fries ($3) and these came with a Honey Mustard Horseradish Sauce which was awesome.


If you like dipping sauces, they have a variety including Jalapeño Hot Sauce, Chipotle Ketchup, Burger Sauce, and Barbecue. Sadly none of them really stuck out for me.Overall, we weren't wowed. So if we were visiting our Alma Matar again, we'd probably stop by Cluck U. However, I will say their service was impressive. We weren't there for long, but 3 different times someone would check on us. Pretty nice!

8150 Baltimore Avenue
College Park, MD 20740
240-542-4702
www.bobbysburgerpalace.com

Mark's Duck House - Falls Church, VA

To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
Ah dim sum. I don't get to have it often because the bf doesn't like small dishes...pshhh! Well that's what friends are for! One of my friends took me to Mark's Duck House - her favorite spot for Sunday dim sum. The restaurant has been around for over 20 years serving Hong Kong-style cuisine. As their name suggests, they are known for their Peking Duck. However, we didn't get a chance to try it.
Located in a shopping center, there is plenty of free parking, but it can get crowded.

This place is smaller than other restaurants that offer dim sum, so it was PACKED! We took a number when we got through the crowd waiting by the door.

They offered many of the same dishes I'm used to seeing as well as some different items. Sorry guys, but I don't have prices for any of these items because they were in Chinese. All dishes are between $2.50 - $7.50 though.

1. Pan-Fried Chives Dumpling - Out of all the dumplings, this was my favorite.
2. Shrimp and Pork Dumpling (Shiu Mai)
3. Shrimp and Pork Dumpling
4. Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gao)

5. Fried Taro Dumpling - One of my favorite dishes when I have dim sum.
6. Shrimp Noodle Crepe - Best noodle crepe I've tried.
7. Lemongrass and Ginger Oyster - Oyster by itself was the size of my palm.
8. Stuffed Crab Claw - I broke my chopstick trying to cut this. It was massive!
Service was very fast with the carts, they constantly filled our water glasses, replaced my broken chopstick and reminded me that I forgot my leftovers. I thought they were great! Food was on point. Now I just need more dim sum buddies!

6184 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 532-2125
marksduckhouse.com

Crowley, another anti-gunner

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Asa Hutchinson was interviewed by Cindy Crowley on CNN's State of the Union program. Hutchinson is a former Congressman who was appointed by Wayne LaPierre to head up the NRA's safe-schools initiative.

Cindy Crowley: "To put more guns into the schools seems like exactly the wrong answer."

Is that woman stupid, or is she Stupid? The "more guns" will be there for defense, not for criminal purposes. She just doesn't like guns. I mean, look at her. She can't even hear "defensive" purpose or use of guns.

"School safety is the debate," said Hutchinson.

And that dip mayor of New York, Bloomberg, said to CNN, "[T]he NRA's lobbyists blamed everyone but themselves for the crisis in gun violence."

The NRA is not responsible for the crisis in gun violence. Nor am I. Maybe Bloomberg is responsible, since he won't let New Yorkers arm and defend themselves (unless you are rich and powerful).

I guess I just don't like Crowley from the way she handled one of the Presidential debates. A lot of people didn't like that.

Smiths' trials - 2013

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A reader inquired today if I knew when trials would be in the cases of Timothy Smith and Kimberly Smith. Tim Smith has been in McHenry County Jail since May 29, 2011, on a murder charge. His bail is $900,000.

From Circuit Court records:

Feb. 25, 2013 10:00AM for Timothy Smith's jury trial. Case No. 11CF000520
Mar. 11, 2013 10:00AM for Kimberly Smith's jury trial. Case No. 11CF000521

A year ago, in December 2011, Timothy's public defender told the judge that no more hearings would be needed and they'd be ready for trial in May 2012. A jury trial date was set. Since then, it has been changed at least twice.

Kimberly Smith's trial date has been changed, also.

Are the defendants' attorneys playing the "You first" game?

Does the State's Attorney have a game plan? Is that office calculating which trial IT wants first, in order to gain leverage against the party tried second?

I won't be surprised at more delays and continuances.

Will one (or both) of the defendants try to cop a plea? If there is a deal and no trial, then the evidence against that defendant won't get presented in court. And what that defendant knows will never be heard in court, assuming that the defendant chooses to testify in his or her own defense.

Will the State say, "No deal! We're going to trial."

Defending on the quality of the prosecution, the defendant might roll the dice and decide not to testify in his or own defense. But the People's case would still be revealed in court, in the event of a trial.

More than a few people want to know the truth about how and why Kurt Milliman was at the Smith residence. How much time passed between the moment when Tim Smith shot Milliman and they called 9-1-1? Five-ten-fifteen minutes? Longer?

Was Milliman's computer confiscated? Who has had access to it? Who was the Sheriff's Department computer geek at the time? Will any testimony from him be credible? Will he even be available to testify?

Postage rate increase coming 1/27

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To contact us Click HERE
Stamps for your first-class letters are going up "only" a penny on January 27, when the new first-class, one-ounce (or lighter) rate becomes $0.46.

Remember, if you are using Forever stamps, you don't have to add a penny stamp to get your letter delivered. Unless you have some really old stamps, they are all Forever stamps now.

The second ounce (to U.S. addresses) remains unchanged at $0.20.

Postcards go up one penny to $0.33.

But watch out if you are mailing to overseas addresses.

If you are used to mailing to Canada for $0.85, you can forget that. The new rate for letters to all international addresses will be $1.10. That looks like a a 29% rate hike!

Mail to England or Germany? Going up from $1.05 to $1.10.

The new international rate will be a Forever rate (stamp). Aren't you glad?

Here are words of wisdom from the USPS website: "The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) will review the prices before they become effective Jan. 27, 2013." How nice! Anyone think it's not a "done deal"?

Bobby's Burger Palace - College Park, MD

To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
What a storm! I hope everyone is safe because Sandy was quite destructive, but thankfully our part of Rockville wasn't affected much. Just a few hours without power.

So we haven't started our 'wedding' diet yet, so I'll just continue to write about fattie places like Bobby's Burger Palace. The Fi (I guess that's his new name? Let's test it out.) visited the University of Maryland location. We met at UMCP, and things have changed. We never had nice buildings and restaurants like this when we were there! I'm not that bitter though...

The name is self-explanatory - they serve burgers. Gourmet ones created by Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay to be exact. The interior is bright with warm lighting. It's filled with bar seating/communal tables and very comfortable chairs that spin! It's a casual place where you order/pay at a register, they give you a number, and they bring food out to wherever you are sitting. 

Many of the burgers are named after cities and characterized by a food that represents them. For example: The Fi ordered The Philadelphia Burger is topped with Provolone Cheese, Griddled Onions and Hot Peppers ($7.75). He thought it was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. 

If you're not in the mood for a burger, they offer sandwiches, salads, sides, milkshakes and other beverages. Also, if you don't eat beef, you can substitute the beef patty with turkey or chicken breast.

I wanted a flavor explosion so I ordered the Bobby Blue Burger with Blue Cheese, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato $7.75), and it wasn't as pungent as I was hoping. Again, it was an ok burger, but nothing particularly special. Ray's Hell Burger's equivalent is much better.

I love Sweet Potato Fries ($3) and these came with a Honey Mustard Horseradish Sauce which was awesome.


If you like dipping sauces, they have a variety including Jalapeño Hot Sauce, Chipotle Ketchup, Burger Sauce, and Barbecue. Sadly none of them really stuck out for me.Overall, we weren't wowed. So if we were visiting our Alma Matar again, we'd probably stop by Cluck U. However, I will say their service was impressive. We weren't there for long, but 3 different times someone would check on us. Pretty nice!

8150 Baltimore Avenue
College Park, MD 20740
240-542-4702
www.bobbysburgerpalace.com

Mark's Duck House - Falls Church, VA

To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
Ah dim sum. I don't get to have it often because the bf doesn't like small dishes...pshhh! Well that's what friends are for! One of my friends took me to Mark's Duck House - her favorite spot for Sunday dim sum. The restaurant has been around for over 20 years serving Hong Kong-style cuisine. As their name suggests, they are known for their Peking Duck. However, we didn't get a chance to try it.
Located in a shopping center, there is plenty of free parking, but it can get crowded.

This place is smaller than other restaurants that offer dim sum, so it was PACKED! We took a number when we got through the crowd waiting by the door.

They offered many of the same dishes I'm used to seeing as well as some different items. Sorry guys, but I don't have prices for any of these items because they were in Chinese. All dishes are between $2.50 - $7.50 though.

1. Pan-Fried Chives Dumpling - Out of all the dumplings, this was my favorite.
2. Shrimp and Pork Dumpling (Shiu Mai)
3. Shrimp and Pork Dumpling
4. Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gao)

5. Fried Taro Dumpling - One of my favorite dishes when I have dim sum.
6. Shrimp Noodle Crepe - Best noodle crepe I've tried.
7. Lemongrass and Ginger Oyster - Oyster by itself was the size of my palm.
8. Stuffed Crab Claw - I broke my chopstick trying to cut this. It was massive!
Service was very fast with the carts, they constantly filled our water glasses, replaced my broken chopstick and reminded me that I forgot my leftovers. I thought they were great! Food was on point. Now I just need more dim sum buddies!

6184 Arlington Blvd
Falls Church, VA 22044
(703) 532-2125
marksduckhouse.com