Strawberry Season Arrives, And You Can Get CrunchDaddy With Your Fruit At Gorman

Strawberry season has arrived, and you can get all kinds of treats at local farms.

My local spots are Gorman Farm in Laurel and Larriland Farm in Woodbine.  Larriland is the big player and very worth the drive out Rte 70, but Gorman is a stone's throw from Columbia so it's really easy to get into the fields.

Gorman opened last weekend, and they seem to be picking this week -- overcoming last week's hail storm.  Larriland seems to be opening this Saturday.

As a special bonus, you should check out CrunchDaddy popcorn for sale at Gorman.  I love that stuff.  It's made in Howard County, and it's a great match of local businesses to have CrunchDaddy at Gorman.  They're trying to stock eight varieties, including two new ones -- Smokey Cheddar Crunch and Chesapeake Peanut Crunch.

If you want to pick strawberries, definitely check the farms' Web sites because they open and close as they have ripe fruit -- Gorman Farms and Larriland Farms.

I have been out of commission for weeks with travel and illness. I'm trying to start up again, and I'll do a bunch of short posts about news that happened when I was home. This way, people will be able to find the posts if they're looking for a specific restaurant. Check them all out by clicking on Reset May 2014.

Crunch Daddy Is Back At David's Market in Columbia; All Three Bags Will Make You Smile

CrunchDaddy popcorn (photo from their site)

Now you can pick special popcorns right off the shelves in Columbia -- CrunchDaddy is returning to retail.

CrunchDaddy is a little Columbia company that Dan Bazis started in 2012 to sell the flavors that he had imagine and cooked up.  Cheryl Clemens wrote a whole Howard Magazine profile last year, and I have raved about CrunchDaddy's sweet and savory varieties because they're as talented as restaurant desserts.

Now, you can check out CrunchDaddy in person at David's Natural Market in Columbia.  Starting this afternoon, David's will stock three varieties -- "maple & bacon," "caramel & peanut," and "honey & cinnamon."  They're all delicious.  Bacons makes for fun where ever it appears, although "honey and cinnamon" sits among my favorite two or three favors from the entire line.

David's will charge the same prices -- around $6.50-$7.50 for a quart bag -- as the CrunchDaddy Web site.  They'll also have some seasonal flavors that Dan is working on now and expects to unveil in late October or early November.  CrunchDaddy's bags are fun eating on their own, but they're interesting enough to be great as a hostess gift or in a gift bag.

I personally love CrunchDaddy's popcorn.  Once you have tried the three varieties at David's, I have to recommend the "peanut butter & jelly" variety on the Web.  We bought an assortment for my parents over the summer, and my mother joined the rave about Dan's imagination.  Peanuts appear in many fancy popcorns, but Dan got the "jelly" with minced grape jelly beans.  It's smart and fantastic.

Dan makes all the popcorn in small batches with real ingredients - everything from Old Bay to cheddar cheese, real butter to candied ginger.  David's sold them briefly last year, but Dan retrenched a bit with production issues until going back to retail now.  CrunchDaddy has been reviewed on the Pop Blog by local popcorn blogger Kevin.  You can click through to the links from Kevin's list of all the popcorn that he has reviewed.

David's will also stock CrunchDaddy in Gambrills and Bel Air stores in a few days.  If you go to the Columbia David's, definitely check out the sandwich counter for a meal -- and consider Today's Catch seafood market on the other side of the village center if you want to cook your own dinner.

David's Natural Market
5430 Lynx Lane
Columbia, MD 21044
410-730-2304

NEAR: This is in the Wilde Lake village center very close to the Columbia Mall. It's not in the section with the Bagel Bin and The Melting Pot. It is across Lynx Lane in a separate set of stores.

New CrunchDaddy Flavors Go Sweet & Savory

Peanut Butter & Jelly Crunch popcorn from CrunchDaddy
Photo by Allie of Live Laugh Eat

The mind behind CrunchDaddy Popcorn has headed off in different directions -- and it's worth follow him for some special snacks.

The Columbia company started selling in January with a line of popcorns ranging from interesting basics like a butter crunch and caramels to exotic flavors like maple-bacon and sesame-ginger.  I raved about them in April, and I'm amused again because CrunchDaddy added four flavors last weekend.

Maryland Crab Feast Crunch
Photo by Allie of Live Laugh Eat

These are special popcorns.  As I've said before, they're thoughtful and fun like restaurant desserts.  They're unique flavors cooked up in small batches and heading off in opposite directions:

• First, sweet.  The imaginative hit is the new "Peanut Butter and Jelly Crunch."  The popcorn comes coated in a peanut butter crunch and studded with diced grape jelly beans.  It's kid-friendly sweet.  It's hilariously imaginative because I swear that a handful tastes like Wonder bread, peanut butter and grape jelly.  A bag brought to the beach would disappear among friends.
• Second, savory.  Get a beer and break open the new "Maryland Crab Feast Crunch."  Old Bay and vinegar give the popcorn a spicy punch.  Again, the flavor is so right that it's like you're eating hard shells.  It's local, and it's perfect sitting outside with a beer.  I could imagine this sold at a liquor store or as a gourmet nosh at a craft beer bar.  A bag would be fun if you had people over for drinks or poker.

Check out the CrunchDaddy Web site.  You can see these, along with the two other new flavors -- one made with cinnamon and one made with an Indian spice mix.  The Indian one is a riot.  That's not just dumped with curry powder.  CrunchDaddy uses an imported Indian spice mix, and the popcorn comes spicy -- but a steady heat, not something like a nutty hot pepper.  After a few handfuls, it leaves the aftertaste of a good meal at House of India.


The photos here are CrunchDaddy's.  I tried to snap a few shots of my bags while we talked in Mad City Coffee, but CrunchDaddy has real shots done by Allie, the blogger from Live Laugh Eat.

Link: Patch Hams Up For CrunchDaddy's Bacon

The CrunchDaddy bacon-and-maple popcorn got a rave today from the Columbia Patch, which offered it as a rival to Ellicott City's chocolate-covered grilled cheese-and-bacon sandwich.

I loved the CrunchDaddy popcorn, as I noted in April.  The bacon-and-maple is CrunchDaddy's most popular flavor, but I thought the honey-and-cinnamon was just as creative and maybe even more delicious.

Check out the April post.  CrunchDaddy is a local, one-man operation, and he'll deliver the goods to people around Howard County.

CrunchDaddy Popcorn Sells To The World From Columbia -- It's Sweet & Savory, It's Local & Fun

CrunchDaddy popcorn!!

CrunchDaddy Popcorn is the kind of company that makes me happy to write a food blog.

Food is fun.  CrunchDaddy is fun.  It's the brain child of a Columbia guy who wants to sell you popcorn -- sweet, savory, a little mix of both.  It's delicious food, a special treat, a Howard County company making sweets for you sweet locals and anyone else on the Internet.

Check out the CrunchDaddy Web site now.  Order something.  I promise you'll eat well . . . if not now than a little farther down this post.

The sample bags are sitting across the kitchen as I write this.  Let's start by sampling Movie Night.  It's just buttered popcorn, but it's spectacular.  Huge kernels.  A light butter taste that somehow has all the flavor, but no greasy feel on my fingertips. 

Quick switch to Sweet Butter Crunch.  That's a kettle corn, a little butter, a little salt, a little sweet.  That's also the base for a bunch of the other varieties.  I could devour a bowl in one sitting.