More Good News About Donuts
Although the Krispy Kreme opening got the lion’s share of the news coverage last week, Round Rock’s beloved Lone Star Bakery (106 W. Liberty, 255-3629) reopened at the same time. Thousands of Central Texans addicted to the Lone Star’s signature yellow Round Rock donuts heaved a collective sigh of relief as they stood in line to check out the brand-new building and get their fix. Meanwhile, back at Krispy Kreme (12586 Research, 219-0119), those traffic tie-ups you’ve experienced between Oak Knoll and Spicewood are the result of donut lovers waiting in the new drive-thru lane.
Marvelous Mail-Order Food
One of the definite perks of this job is the food samples that are hand-delivered from local firms and others that come in the mail. Though we make it a policy to concentrate on local restaurants and food businesses, it seems that each year there are one or two national companies that really hit a home run with mail-order products. Last year, it was exquisite Celebration Dates from a company in Arizona. This year, the best mail-order products by far were the offerings from The Tidewater Inn & Conference Center (101 E. Dover St., Easton, Md.; 410/822-1300). While the Tidewater has been providing mail-order shipments of their handmade specialty soups and crab dishes to loyal customers for many years, this year they’ve launched an “e-commerce” specialty food site, www.tidewaterinn.com. In promotion of their site, they sent a box of fresh soups, crab cakes, and crab entrées for our approval. The divine assortment arrived fresh, not frozen, carefully packed in styrofoam with chilling packs and detailed instructions for preparation. There was a tiny container of sherry to add to the Snapper Turtle Soup, and they even provided baking shells in which to heat and serve both the Crab Imperial and the crab dip. The fresh product can be heated and consumed immediately on arrival (microwave cooking is not recommended) or frozen for future use. Suffice it to say, it was crab heaven around my house for several days. The Silver Dollar Crab Cakes went first, plump with sweet crabmeat and just enough filler to hold them together; the buttery little morsels were perfect right out of the hot oven with a dollop of tartar sauce. The Maryland Vegetable Crab Soup offered toothsome veggies in a hearty tomato broth with plenty of crabmeat per spoonful. The Crab Imperial and the crab dip tasted remarkably the same so I wouldn’t serve them together but I’d never turn them down. The best dish among equals had to be the Cream of Crab Soup, absolutely the richest, smoothest, most elegant crab dish I’ve ever eaten. While the signature products from the Tidewater Inn do not come cheaply, these folks have been preparing these dishes for more than 50 years, and there really is great value in going directly to the source of good crab meat and great skill in crab preparation. The crab lover on your Christmas list will be very grateful.
Texas E-Commerce
And speaking of e-commerce, if you’re in the market for genuine Texas gift products, we’ve discovered a new Web site that offers all manner of Texana, including some tasty food ideas. Go to Austinite Tangela Bradshaw‘s www.texasexpresstrading.com and you’ll find everything from spurs to Texas-shaped creamy pralines to Cactus Margarita Mix. For the pie lovers on your list, hurry to www.royersroundtopcafe.com and place an order for some of their stellar pies delivered complete with Häagen-Dazs ice cream!
This article appears in December 15 • 2000.