Domestic Delights has an identity.

Thanks to my brother in-law my logo is complete. It's perfect and Chris completely understood the look I was going for.

A true gem in Baltimore

So I am sure you all know how much we love to try food at places we have never been before. Since we had taken off the Friday before Memorial Day we decided to go and have breakfast at Miss Shirley's Cafe in Roland Park.  I think we were more influenced by the detailed description we were given about their monkey bread...Thanks Sammy :) So let's get started.

Yes we went for breakfast but it was breakfast on the Friday of a holiday weekend. So Ron, Chris and I all started with a breakfast cocktail. Ron had a Sweet Peach Tea Tini( sweet peach tea, citrus vodka, garnished with lemon, mint and a rock candy swizzle stick). Chris had a Spicy Shirley (Stoli Citrus, green tomato slices, pickled okra, pepper, celery, peppadew, lemon, lime with a MD touch of an Old Bay rim)...this thing looked so insane. I went for a Pink Lemonade with the Blues (strawberry lemonade and stoli blueberry vodka, garnished with blueberries, strawberries, lemon and a rock candy swizzle stick and a sugared rim. Oh Miss Shirley you make a mean lemonade with the blues and the rock candy swizzle just upped the ante.

Since we had heard so much about the monkey bread we decided to split some between the 3 of us. Well, it lived up to the hype and I am pretty sure this stuff should be illegal. 

For our main meals Ron went more traditional with bacon, eggs and hash browns. Chris and I on the other hand went for a less than classic approach. I had benne seed chicken and waffles( benne seed boneless chicken breast pieces and a honey mustard drizzle on white cheddar- green onion waffles with peppadew- jalapeno butter).  Chris had their sunrise benedict (poached eggs and homemade slow roasted Carolina pulled pork or corn bread rounds with collard greens with tasso ham and cajun hollandaise sauce).  All three meals were great and I can't wait to go back and try more meals in the very near future. 

Please do yourself a favor and make the trip to Miss Shirley. They have 2 locations one in Roland Park and one downtown at the Inner Harbor. I promise you won't regret it.

http://missshirleys.com

Dining at Devon in Hershey

Back on May 21st we went to visit some from friends in York, PA. We had planned to drive about 30 minutes away from York to Devon in Hershey for dinner. I had previously previewed their menu online and was looking forward to our meal at a new place.

Devon is mainly a seafood restaurant but there are plenty of other options on the menu as well. So let's get started on our night at Devon.

In true Ditzel fashion, Ron and I both began the evening with a cocktail. No surprises there right ? I had the Asian Pear; which is Asian pear sake, square one vodka, jasmine, fresh-squeezed lemon and an edible hibiscus flower.  

Can you same delicious ??? I wish there was a place in MD that made this drink because it was great.

Ron had a Caribbean Hard Lemonade which is Cruzan, guava and mango rums, Malibu rum, pineapple, fresh squeezed lemonade and a Firelfy Sweet Tea vodka float. This cocktail was also very tasty and it made me think of being on vacation and spending days on a caribbean resort drinking poolside.

Next up was appetizers. The Jones' split an order of little neck clams which were served in a pool of white wine garlic sauce with a side of garlic bread. 

I went with a shrimp tempura roll and Ron decided on chipotle grilled shrimp which came over a bed of corn and black bean relish and pico de gallo.

Now for dinner. The Jones' recommend the seafood mixed grill. I figured since I was at a place known for their seafood I would give it a try. We had duplicate meals at our table. Mr. Ditzel and Mrs. Jones had the crab cakes and Mr. Jones and myself had the seafood mixed grill. Since I am not a big fan of scallops I requested extra shrimp. The Jones' also added a side of lobster mac & cheese to round out the meal. Everything was as good as I expected the seafood was really fresh and and was not over seasoned so you could appreciate each item for what it was.

Overall we were very pleased with every part of the meal. I would definitely go back to try some other meals and drinks on the menu. If you are at Hershey park you should definitely stop next door at Devon.

http://devonseafood.com

Support

As the days go on and I make a new advance into my idea of what Domestic Delights should be. I find myself bouncing ideas off of my support core. These few people give me great ideas and honest feedback and for that I am appreciative. So Ron, Britney, Tracy and Katina you're the best.

In other news my friends Britney and Katina are staring their own event planning companies. You can definitely look forward to me putting a spotlight on their businesses. Keep your eyes peeled for A Sweet Affair and Blue Lily Events. Don't forget where you heard it first.

Coming Soon........

My very own dessert company.....Domestic Delights. Keep your eye out for the menu.

A view of lovely St. Thomas :)

A few shots of beautiful St. Thomas

This is a shot from our balcony at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on Bolongo Bay. I would not mind waking up to this view everyday.

These shots were taken at Magens beach. This is a must go beach and it has been rated one of the best beaches in the world.

These were taken in St. Johns right on the bay. St. Johns is a 20 minutes ferry ride from St. Thomas. In the first picture you can see St. Thomas in the background.

These 4 were taken at a restaurant called Mafolie. It was perfect; open air, great weather and great views of St. Thomas. The second picture is us with the newlyweds.

Oh how we miss you St. Thomas! 

A must if you are in St. Thomas.

Back in March we had the pleasure of going to St. Thomas to attend a wedding. The bride is originally from St. Thomas so of course we asked tons of questions about what to do and most importantly where to eat. One of the top recommended places to eat in St. Thomas is Cuzzin's.  On our last evening in St. Thomas we decided we had to go and see what Cuzzin's was all about.

We both started off with an appetizer. Ron had calypso wings which came with this spicy, sweet and tangy sauce. I had an order of conch fritters which came with a spicy aioli. Both appetizers were extremely tasty and flavored just right. I still think about the wings and fritters.

After about 15 minutes of trying to narrow down what we wanted as our main course, which the hardest part was figuring out which 3 sides we wanted with our meal. That's right you get a choice of 3 sides. We had a good laugh at the table because it was next to impossible to choose 3 sides without having at least 2 of them be carbs. So Ron decided on jerk chicken with potato salad, mixed vegetables and mac & cheese. I had shrimp creole with potato salad, mixed vegetables and rice & peas.

Our meals were so good and we were very satisfied with everything. I wish there was a Cuzzin's in the Baltimore area. We have pretty much decided that St. Thomas hasn't seen the last of the Ditzels so I'm sure we will be visiting Cuzzin's in the future. If you take a trip to the island please do yourself a favor and have a meal at Cuzzin's.