By Tony Russo
contributing word smith
Todd DeHart, my co-host on the Todcast has a friend who is a weatherman on the Western Shore and also happens to have a podcast. The man in question does his show with a longtime friend so Todd tuned in to see if he could pick up some pointers. What he learned (apparently) was that our show is better.
The reason, I think, is because since Todd and I don’t know each other very well, we don’t know what questions to not bother asking and which questions will go well or poorly so we keep it fresh.
So if we end up going to dinner together, as we discussed this week, the show could get a little worse. We apologize in advance.
The occasion for us planning to dine together can be found on page 12.
I’ve been on the Eastern Shore since 1993 and have decided that this is the year I try muskrat and if you don’t indulge, it should be the year you try it too.
I discovered this when speaking with Dave White, who owns the Pittsville Dinette and also happens to have his own personal muskrat hunter as well as an expert muskrat cook.
I passed up my first opportunity for the dish because — as Dave explained to me — it was prepared in the stew-y style instead of the right way. His way.
More importantly for me, though, was that he gets his muskrat directly from the hunter, with whom he has worked with for decades.
The dinette does fantastic business during muskrat eating season. People make plans to go, which says to me that those who know the difference choose to go there for the regional dish, which is available only for three-ish months per year.
On the Todcast, we decide that this is a put your “buy local” money where your “buy local” mouth is situation if ever one existed.
Also on the show this week we go over the spectacular New Year’s Eve party Berlin had last week and hear war stories from attendees. Zach, during the State of the Beer, said the brewery emptied out completely at about 10 as everyone except him made their way to what is quickly becoming the Eastern Shore’s answer to Times Square. I vote Bayside Square, but to be honest, I’m a little partial.
Feel free to join us 6 p.m. each Tuesday for the Happy Hour Todcast at Burley Oak Brewery. If something tragic keeps you from coming out, you can always check out the resulting recording Thursday afternoon by subscribing on iTunes. Just type GCFL into the search bar at the iTunes store to subscribe. We’re now also on the Stitcher app, which smart phone users can download free using the promo code ‘Todcast’ and have the show streamed directly to their phones. Fair warning before you listen: Put on your irony hats, kids. It’s all in good clean fun.