{"id":6257,"date":"2013-10-31T00:50:57","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T00:50:57","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-05-08T13:10:54","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T13:10:54","slug":"good-morning-baltimore-every-days-like-an-open-door-html-d1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laughfrodisiac.com\/2013\/10\/31\/good-morning-baltimore-every-days-like-an-open-door-html-d1\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Morning Baltimore!! Every Day’s Like An Open Door!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Picture\"<\/a>How cute are aminal statues?!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Every night is a fantasy! Every sound’s like a symphony! And I love you Baltimore! And one day when I take to the floor, the world’s gonna wake up and seeeeee Baltimore! And me!\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
\nYou can be sure that I was singing this (the opening number from Hairspray<\/em>) the entire time I was in Baltimore. It was stuck in my head the whole time, of course! And now, recapping my whirlwind 24 hours of eating, you can be sure it will stay stuck in my head for another 24 hours.
\nBaltimore is a pretty fun city. I saw barely any of it, due to the short time frame that was already booked with food stops and long walks around the beautiful Johns Hopkins campus (where boyfriend when to school). But what I did see showed an exciting mixture of big city fun and really frightening big city crime. That’s Baltimore for you!<\/div>\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Before we get to the food, I want to share a picture of my favorite tree stump ever. Weird thing, right, to have a favorite tree stump? But this is art! Look at this amazingness! On the Hopkins campus, we saw this tree doing\u00a0Astavakrasana pose, the yoga posture that has eluded me for years. It was like the tree was saying, “Don’t stop trying! Just be stronger!” Thanks, tree. I don’t understand what it’s for or from (no plaque explaining how in the world this exists), so I’m taking it as a personal message.<\/div>\n
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This tree stump is doing 8-angle pose, or Astavakrasana. Cool.<\/div>\n

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Compare. Am I right??? How crazy!<\/div>\n

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\nMoving on to the fod! Baltimore had a great vegan scene, with more options than I was expecting (probably because my only exposure to food in Baltimore was, again, Hairspray<\/em>, with Motormouth Maybelle’s giant but unhealthy spread of pecan pieeeee and ham and chicken. (“Poooour some sugar on me sugar don’t be shyyy!”) I am eager to return because there was so much we didn’t have time for. (If I were traveling with mah vegans, I would have just eaten all day without regard to meal times, but I was with boyfriend and can’t really do that with him. It’ll always be too soon.) Even just driving on Charles Street, we passed a pizza place called HomeSlyce that had written on its exterior “We have VEGAN options!” Amazing! There’s also a pizza place in Fells Point with vegan options, called Bop Brick Oven Pizza. You know how I feel about use of ‘bop’ in every situation<\/a>, so that’s awesome. It’s not all pizza in Baltimore though! Take a look!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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FIRST UP: THE HELMAND<\/span><\/strong>
\nEating dinner at The Helmand, the great Afghan restaurant, was a primary reason behind this trip to Baltimore. Owned by Quayum Karzai (brother of Hamid, Iknowright), the restaurant was as authentic as it gets, and as delicious. They have a separate vegetarian menu and a staff knowledgeable about what ‘vegan’ means. With great service, nice ambiance, and fantastic food, The Helmand is now my favorite Afghan restaurant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Picture\"<\/a>How do you take pictures in dim lighting? Seriously. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0My boyfriend (we gotta think of a code name for him…how about Hawkeye) recalled of his college days that his favorite dish anywhere was The Helmand’s Kaddo Borawni<\/em>, baked and pan-fried sugared baby pumpkin, served with garlic-yogurt sauce. We obviously had to order it here, with the sauce on the side. I’m pretty sure the sauce is what makes it extraordinary, so mine is not a fair review. However, the plain pumpkin was delicious and cooked perfectly. It also inspired me to make my own, which I will do soon!<\/div>\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0For my entree, the waiter pointed out several things that could be made vegan, and recommended the Dolma Murch<\/em>. I really appreciate waiter recommendations so I listened, and it was amazing! The dish featured red bell peppers stuffed with seasoned vegetables, beans, and wild rice in a tomato and rhubarb sauce (how cool is that). It was served with challow <\/em>(Afghan rice), which was fantastic, and a side of sabzy <\/em>(spinach), which I’m always happy to have. The Dolma Murch <\/em>was so delicious, comforting but still interesting. I couldn’t really taste the rhubarb in the sauce, but that’s probably for the best, letting it contribute to the flavor instead of overpowering it. I enjoyed this so much!<\/div>\n
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THE HELMAND, Baltimore<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n