This Week at the Herdic House
Well, for sheer winter weirdness, this week may actually take the cake, folks…at least until we see what next week has in store. Your correspondent can remember doing many things in Brandon Park—playing at the playground, seeing concerts, playing tennis, walking, shopping, even cross-country skiing—but this is the first year she’s ever seen anyone ice-sliding. (The kids were out in the dusk on Tuesday evening, doing their best to tear the knees out of their snowpants.) The park, with its undulating slopes, bears an eerie resemblance to the surface of the moon (if the moon had a bunch of beautiful trees…and water), with its contours all etched in a coating of ice that ranges from a filigree in some places to armor-thick.
The weather is so cold and crispy (and slippery) that we’ve decided to do an about-face on our Blue Plate plans to make some true cold-weather fare: Misty Mountain Farm meatloaf it is tonight, folks, with a spicy-sweet tomato glaze and mashed potatoes. it’s $18 at our House, and $20 to go, like always—but, per usual, our number of to-go orders will be very limited. We’ll hope to see you out tonight! P.S. Tonight’s soup will be a broccoli and cheddar, with the ubiquitous Misty Mountain Farm bacon.. Don’t miss our Thursday happy hours at the bar, from 5-7 pm, with $1 off all beers and $2 off wines by the glass. Plus our Thursday night feature that pretends to be healthy, all while loaded with the tangy umami of ranch dressing: house favorite Herdic Pittsburgh salad, this week served with grilled spicy shrimp, fresh-cut fries, grated cheddar and parmesan ranch. Plus, Hannah will be shaking up spicy margaritas at the bar to match! As things start to get slightly warmer this weekend, and this glorious and perilous coat of ice Williamsport is wearing starts to turn to mush, we’ll be featuring a Friday night menu that’s designed to take you away from it all, to someplace warmer, spicier—dare we say tastier?—than central PA in February:
- Curried coconut squash soup with pistachio chili crisp
- Seared sea scallops over a Tebbs’ sweet corn “pudding” with crispy bacon and candied tomato jam
- Pan-seared, chili-spiced red snapper served over coconut rice with tostones and an avocado-blood orange salsa
- Warm blueberry-streusel bread pudding with homemade vanilla ice cream
But P.S. We can’t speak for anyone else, but, when the weather turns cold in Wilpo, our thoughts often turn to people in our area who don’t necessarily have a hot meal on the way, or a warm spot to eat it in. So we were delighted when Jolene from the Food Bank called to ask us to contribute to the Ladles of Love fundraiser that will help the Central PA Food Bank keep putting food on people’s tables and toasty, filling dinners in kids’ bellies. The fundraiser is aptly timed as well—selling warm and filling soups just when the weather is so frigid. Check out the information and the link below to order your quart—Liz will be cooking up some excellent potato leek soup with chipotle and parmesan!
“Ladles of Love is a takeout soup event to raise awareness of the high need for food assistance and the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank’s impact across Lycoming County and surrounding areas. Local chefs and bakers have come together to join in the mission of fighting hunger. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, each quart of soup purchased will help provide 100 meals to neighbors facing food insecurity.
Each quart costs $25 and includes four homemade dinner rolls and two cookies. Soups are available for pre-order through February 26th. Order online at centralpafoodbank.org/ladles-of-love. Pick up soup at the Holiday Inn Express in downtown Williamsport on February 28th between 11:30am – 1pm or 3:30pm – 5pm.”