"Maryland" news and stories

Photo: Max's Taphouse.

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

When is a bar more than a bar? When it's three bars in one.

Located in the Fells Point neighborhood of Baltimore, Md., Max's Taphouse has a long and storied history, having transformed itself from a somewhat seedy music venue to the multi-roomed, multi-tapped monster it is today. Owner Ron Furman has been intrigured by diverse beers for decades, and with 79 taps, Max's serves up more suds today than ever before.

"We've been at our current capacity draft-wise for, I would say, 15 years," says general manager Casey Hard. Most of those 79 drafts are available in the main room, but many of the lines splinter off to the watering hole's other two rooms as well. "We have 24 taps upstairs and 24 in the side bar," Hard notes, with the upstairs bar typically focusing on Belgians and the side bar more focused on darts games.

Has the incredible selection found an audience among Baltimore locals? Seems so: "There are people here every day from the moment we open until we close. We go through 100 kegs a week. I change between five and 20 kegs a day."

Max's Taphouse's massive draft selection as of this Tuesday after the jump. ...

Cloying, oft-carbonated alcoholic beverages (apparently they're known as "alcopop," though I refuse to use that word, because it sounds more like a weird new music genre than a beverage) are under great scrutiny in Maryland: are they beer or liquor?

Yesterday, Governor Martin O'Malley decided to hold off on signing a bill that would categorize the fruity drinks as beer, a move that rattled the liquor industry. Liquor lobbyists think the drink should be sold as beer, but others (like Mothers Against Drunk Driving members) disagree, saying putting malt liquor drinks sold alongside beer in convenience stores will encourage underage drinking and driving.

Another sticking point is the tax: currently, the drinks are taxed like beer at 9 cents per gallon, whereas liquor is taxed as $1.50 a gallon, meaning a higher revenue for the state.

The position of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, who first ruled that the drinks should be considered liquor because they are distilled spirits, is best summed up by his quote: "They are no more beer than hot chocolate is," He said.

Now there's something to ponder: hot chocolate beer.

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After 15 years of entering the contest, Maryland's Carolyn Gurtz finally wowed the judges.

How'd she do it? With...pre-made refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough.

Nope, I'm not kidding: she wrapped little balls of peanut butter and sugar with the pre-made dough, and - poof! - the Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies were born.

I know using a Pillsbury product in your recipe was the point, but isn't this taking it a little far? She didn't even make her own dough! 1957's winner, Freda Smith, made her own dough for her Peanut Blossoms cookies!

And the other winners aren't much different. In the "Breakfast and Brunches" category, the Mascarpone-Filled Cranberry Walnut Rolls use refrigerated crescent rolls, and the Apple Jack Chicken Pizza uses refrigerated pizza dough.

I know, I know - I get that the contest has to appeal to today's working woman with no time to make their own cookie dough, or whatever. That's fine - we all take shortcuts in the kitchen occasionally, and I'm sure Miz Gurtz's But does it deserve a million dollars?

Eight layers of moist yellow cake, each slathered with a rich chocolate frosting, is what makes up the Smith Island Cake. It's decadent, it's unforgiving...and it could soon be Maryland's own.

Maryland is prepared to designate four-generation-old confection as its state cake, joining only two other states who have cakes to their names: Massachusetts' Boston Creme Pie, and South Dakota's kuchen (a German cake with a custard filling).

NPR has a fun story about the cake and its history, which originated on Smith Island, about 12 miles off Maryland's coast, across the Chesapeake Bay.

But recognizing certain symbols, songs and foods as your state's own isn't as unique as it once was. Wikipedia lists some state's claims to fame, some of which are downright ridiculous (Iowa's "state sweet" is the Jelly Baby?!) but fun to learn. In fact, I think all of our readers should amend the U.S. state foods Wiki page - let's see how crazy we can get before someone flags our entries!

There's even a cute kiddie cookbook featuring meals from all 50 states.

And while you're dreaming up new feature foods for your state, check out the 10-layer version of the Smith Island cake here.

Maryland state legislators have stepped away from a bill that could have banned foie gras in the state. Key legislators withdrew support after the bill's hearing March 4th, despite a legion of animal rights activists pushing for the bill. Apparently, the legislators decided that it was not their place to intervene.

Maryland isn't the first state to toy with the idea of banning foie gras -- similar battles have been staged in Philadelphia, Chicago (which successfully banned it) and California (where selling or raising it will be illegal by 2012). Anyone care to weigh in -- should governments step in to ban foie gras?

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