Celebrating 20 Years of Minxeats

Celebrate!

It’s hard to believe we’ve kept this blog afloat for twenty years! That’s a whole lot of recipes, restaurant reviews, reality TV musings, and general restaurant chatter along the way.

the original banner for Minxeats. Yes, it was this tiny.
Screen resolutions and monitor sizes weren't as monstrously large back then.

A lot has happened in those two decades, but I'm going to mention just a few things.

We wrote three books: Food Lovers' Guide to Baltimore; Baltimore Chef's Table; and Maryland's Chesapeake. We would’ve loved to write more, but after a less-than-ideal experience with our publisher, we’re definitely leaning toward self-publishing in the future.

We’ve recapped plenty of food-related reality shows over the years, including Next Food Network Star and several seasons of Bravo’s Top Chef. In fact, we were even invited to appear on an episode of Top Chef. Unfortunately, with only 24 hours’ notice, work commitments kept us from making it happen. Definitely a missed opportunity!

Then came COVID-19, which ravaged the restaurant industry. While some feared permanent damage—and indeed, some restaurants never reopened—I’m grateful that personal favorites like True Chesapeake and La Cuchara have hung in there and are still thriving. I personally avoided the virus until late 2023, but it left me with tinnitus and a subtle but persistent brain fog that I’ve only just begun to shake.

I tried to redesign the banners frequently.

The food world lost many culinary legends over these years: chefs Anthony Bourdain, Anne Burrell, Floyd Cardoz, Kerry Simon, Homaru Cantu, Naomi Pomeroy, Gary Rhodes, James Kent, Gray Kunz, David Bouley, Paul Bocuse, Joel Robuchon, Michael Chiarello, Mark Peel, and writers Josh Ozersky and Jonathan Gold, among others. It’s been a tough stretch.

On a brighter note, the explosion of allergy-friendly commercial food products has been remarkable, especially for celiacs and those of us with lactose intolerance. Never before have grocery stores carried such an array of alternative dairy and gluten-free options, and artisan non-dairy cheeses from shops like Rebel Cheese are truly game-changers.

Sometimes they were changed monthly.

Most recently, I took a creative leap and wrote my first novel, Killer Sillage, a cozy mystery set in Baltimore’s Fells Point. While the protagonist owns a perfume shop, the story is packed with food shout-outs—from Barcocina and Ekiben to Pitango Bakery + Café, Sacré Sucré, Rec Pier Chop House, and The Point. Killer Sillage is available for pre-order on Amazon Kindle and will publish on September 13th.

How much longer will Minxeats keep going? Who knows! We might keep sharing for a few more years, or maybe this is the perfect moment to pause. Either way, we’ll always be proud to be one of Baltimore’s OG food blogs.

One of my favorites. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to keep my all-time favorite.

Thanks so much for sticking with us all these years. And if you’re new here, dive into the archives. There’s plenty to explore.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Foodie Book Review - Nourished, by Lia Huber

Lia Huber is the founder of the web site Nourish Evolution and has been a regular contributor to magazines like Cooking Light and Eating Well.  Her first book, Nourished: A Memoir of Food, Faith & Enduring Love (with Recipes), tells her story from about age 20 to now, from falling in love on the Greek island of Corfu to her comfortable life as a food entrepreneur and mom.

Huber's story takes the reader on a proverbial roller coaster ride through the highs and lows of her life. Though there were some really good times, there were also some tough decisions to be made regarding both relationships and health issues. Even when the results were not what she was looking for, she had enough faith to trust that God would not let her down. And things seemed to turn out pretty good for her, overall.

My favorite parts of Nourished are when Huber takes the time to describe the sights and sounds and especially the flavors she encounters in her travels through Greece and Central America. Her descriptions of the food she cooks and eats while she is on the road are mouthwatering. Even the simplest recipes, like the Frijoles de Lia below, had me wanting to race to the kitchen to cook them so I could be transported into her world. Truly Huber is at her best when she is writing about food.

PHOTO CREDIT: ALISON ASHTON

FRIJOLES DE LIA

Frijoles de olla are a traditional dish of brothy beans cooked in an earthenware pot (an olla) that are hearty enough to be a meal in and of themselves. The recipes I followed in Costa Rica—from Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless—followed a simple equation of beans, lard, an onion or garlic, and epazote. I’ve taken the liberty of adding a few more goodies that I’ve appended on over the years.

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large poblano chiles, seeded and chopped into 1/2inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
11/2 cups dried black beans, rinsed and soaked overnight (or fast soaked in a pressure cooker)
Sea salt

In a large, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, poblano chiles, and garlic and sauté for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is golden brown. Add the cumin, coriander, oregano, and ancho chile and sauté for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the beans, a generous pinch of salt, and 6 cups cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 11/2 to 2 hours, until the beans are tender. Using a potato masher, mash the beans until there’s a mix of whole beans and creamy mashed beans.

Serves 10 to 12

Reprinted from NOURISHED: A Memoir of Food, Faith & Enduring Love (with Recipes) COPYRIGHT © 2017 by Lia Huber. Published by Convergent, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!



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Book Launch Party

Hope to see you there!



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