Broom's Bloom Dairy (AKA "The Ice Cream Farm")

This post takes us back to 2007 when we were new parents enjoying our first spring during our tour in Aberdeen, Maryland.  Since it was Kyla's first Mother's Day, I wanted to make sure I fixed something special for dinner that night, which involved an extensive search for good meat to grill and something sweet for dessert.  Based on a tip received from a coworker, I decided to head to a lonely stretch of road that housed a local dairy farm known as Brooms Bloom.  Advertised as providing "Harford County agricultural product as well as some specialty items in addition to our own old fashioned hand dipped ice cream made right on the farm," I thought this would be a great source for a special Mother's Day dinner - and was right!

Kyla and 8 enjoying the backyard flowers for their first Mother's Day

Just so you know, I do not posses the sweet tooth in our relationship, and was quite frankly more interested in the local meats than the ice cream when I arrived at Broom's Bloom.  There was a small selection of meat in the freezer, which yielded a couple of nice (albeit expensive) rib eyes for the grill, but the real treat was with the ice cream.  I always suspect that Kyla is really the alter ego for Betty Crocker so in addition to the meat, I decide to come home with a pint of graham cracker cake batter ice cream that was served with fresh blueberries after dinner.  My steaks were forgettable, as evidenced by what we both remember most from that first Mother's Day - the incredible ice cream!

The flavor and texture of the graham cracker cake batter ice cream was so mind blowing, we found ourselves heading back up Highway 543 early and often that summer, often as a Sunday treat after church services.  The various flavors of ice cream were the grand prize, but we were also pleasantly surprised by the quality of food offered for lunch in the afternoon.  There are a variety of soups, salads, sandwiches, and quiches available for lunch, all of which are delicious.  If you find yourself in the area, we recommend going with one of the combos.  My personal favorite is the Cowman's Repast, which is a cup of soup, stew, chili, or mac n' cheese; sandwich; and ice cream.  I can't remember ever ordering anything else during the family's many trips to Broom's Bloom, and was particularly fond of the cream of crab soup with the pulled pork sandwich. Maryland crab soup is already a local delicacy, but the way Broom's Bloom fixes it with cream provides a special twist that is hard to beat with a sweet and tangy punch.  If I knew a trip to the ice cream farm was in the works for the weekend, I would always get antsy about getting the girls out of the house early since the cream of crab does sell out - and once you've tasted it, nothing else would suffice.  In fact, cream of crab soup is one of the things I miss most about Maryland.

As good at the lunches are, they were always a precursor to the ice cream.  Every time you walk into Broom's Bloom, you'll see a chalkboard that list the day's flavors.  There are some standards that you could expect to find just about every time (chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, etc), but there are also specials that come and go with the seasons.  Kyla's personal favorite was the dirt ice cream, and we'd usually find ourselves going home with a pint of dirt after our lunch.  I tried to experiment with new ice creams to make up for the fact that I always ordered the same soup and sandwich for lunch. Some of the more memorable flavors were chocolate cake batter, cranberry walnut, cinnamon honey vanilla, and sweet corn.  I know, sweet corn sounds like a weird ice cream flavor, but they had it and I tried it.  As a matter of fact, you can try any flavors you want before committing to a full bowl, and I always took advantage of that opportunity.

In addition to the incredible lunch and ice cream, Broom's Bloom was a fantastic place for a family,or even a few families dining together, to hang out.  There is limited indoor seating, but plenty of room outside to eat at a picnic table, or even to set up your own picnic on the lawn.  Our church group's favorite meeting place was Broom's Bloom since the ample outdoor area allowed our toddlers room to burn off energy.  Even after we transferred two hours south to the Washington DC suburbs of Virginia, we would still find reasons to make a pilgrimage to Broom's Bloom for a picnic topped off with ice cream.  Kyla had even convinced our new church group to take a trip to Maryland for lunch and ice cream, with a few parishioners headed south with a pint sitting under some dry ice in a cooler.

Church group toddlers and moms enjoying the outdoor dining

If you're looking for a great dining experience in Harford County, Broom's Bloom Dairy fits the bill nicely.  The only drawback is the dining can be weather dependent with the limited indoor seating.  Even when the weather turns south, you can still pop in for a quick pint to go - and even pick up some locally produced meats, vegetables, and cheeses for your own meal at home.  Though don't be surprised if your own cooking prowess gets overshadowed by the pint sized frozen treat from what we affectionately call "the ice cream farm."

The Hollow

Tonight the girls' gymnastics studio was doing a Parent's Night Out - 4 hours where they feed our kids and let them play for the low call-ahead price of $35! Sounded good to us! Now where to go for a date?

Kyla posed the question in our new hometown Facebook forum. We got most answers of "eat on the Square, walk around, drink a beer, hold hands" for what to do on a Saturday date night.

Yes, we currently live in a sleepy little town. We like it!

So, we dropped off the girls and walked around the town square. It was voted the "Most Beautiful Town Square" in all of Texas and after visiting a few towns, we agree!

We have a few favorites already. (We only moved here in January.) But in the quest to find somewhere new, we decided to go to The Hollow American Brasserie. Find it here, not that we looked it up before we showed up: http://thehollowbrasserie.com/

We arrived right after EVERYONE ELSE. Lynda offered to let us wait at the bar and find us a table after a few couples had left and the kitchen had a chance to catch up. We decided to wait at the bar.

Kyla scoured the wine list and found a Sonoma County Pinot Noir. Our last duty assignment was in Monterey, California and we were spoiled being in wine country with wine tastings as our dates. Tim went for a bordeaux. We were both happy with our wines.

The decor, if you've ever been to Monterey, is a cross between Lalla's and 1833. For those who haven't been there, it had original paintings on the walls, painted deer heads with antlers on the walls, old wood details and corrugated metal. Kind of a rustic chic. There was an upstairs that looked cozy and quiet, but we didn't go up to investigate.

As we sat at the bar, we saw a few lamb dishes served to the people on either side of us. It smelled and looked good. We learned the chef is Jacob and he seasons everything well. You will not find salt or pepper on the tables. If it's not seasoned to your liking, he requests you tell him, and he will season the rest of the food. Seth, the guy at the bar who likens himself to Norm from Cheers, gave the example of soup, that was "complained about" and was on the menu the next day and was better with the salt addition.

Kyla finished her first glass of wine by the time the table had been turned over and was ready for us. We got our official welcome from our waitress who explained the menus are new everyday. She pointed to the bottom right corner to show us which farms provided the food for tonight's dinner menu. Every day it is fresh farm to table food, served in new imaginative ways.

After a bit of reading the imaginative menu descriptions, Kyla decided on "The Pig is a Drunken Master" a pork dish that was marinated in a local brewery's beer with red cabbage. Tim had a duck dish with the clever title "What the Duck". Plus a small plate of bulgogi with "pickled things".

We were given bread that was baked fresh today with three types of butter, Beet, Herbed, and Honey Smoked Paprika. The Honey Smoked Paprika butter was our favorite as it was smoky on the first bite, but a honey smoothness on the way down.

The small plate came out next. It was DELICIOUS! So good, we are now in the mood for a whole plate of bulgogi and other Korean food.

Kyla's pork was so good she had to call it food-gasmic! It was a huge portion of pork with a generous helping of cooked red cabbage. Tim's duck had a crispy skin and moist meat that was fantastic, plus roasted peaches that were incredibly delicious!

Not only was the food good, but the staff friendly and helpful! Turns out Lynda recognized Kyla from her Facebook forum question. Yes, she uses her real picture as her profile picture. Our waitress checked on us as often as we expected/needed.

This place is expensive for Georgetown, but it's appropriately priced for a gourmet farm to table date night dining experience. We will go back! We may even use it as bait to make our children do our bidding for awhile. The girls love fine dining with us and have better table manners than some adults in restaurants. (We once got them to do chores for a whole year, by dangling a family date night to the Sardine Factory. It worked!)

We opted not to go for dessert. We wanted to try ice cream at the store next door. But that store closed at 6 pm. So we raced across the Square for cupcakes, but our favorite cupcake bakery closed at 8 pm. Since it was 9 pm, everything was pretty much closed. Did you forget about the part where we said we live in a sleepy little town? Sometimes we do.