The best three-fish day of fishing ever

Fishing Journal Entry: Sept. 1, 2025, Labor Day Sometimes you just want to write things down so you don’t forget them, and that’s the case today: I just need to describe what the day was like and how it ended so that my son and I will have a record should one day memory fail … Continue reading The best three-fish day of fishing ever

Try this at home: Poached Peaches

With peaches bountiful in late summer, we tried this recipe for Poached Peaches on Sweet Cream from the 25th anniversary edition of John Shields' popular Chesapeake cookbook. You can find it on page 298. The poaching calls for spiced white wine, with a caution not to overcook the peaches -- they should be tender but … Continue reading Try this at home: Poached Peaches

Roadside assistance for a fellow angler who “ain’t from around here”

I had just come from the river when a big man in a big pickup truck pulled suddenly off the main road after spotting me in the parking lot, where I was about to take my waders off. He stopped in a cloud of dust and rolled his window down.“How’d ya do?” he asked, which … Continue reading Roadside assistance for a fellow angler who “ain’t from around here”

Annual Reminder: The official sandwich of Labor Day

Pardon me if you've heard this before, but as a champion of a good peppers-and-eggs sandwich I feel a need to keep reminding American workers -- and retired workers -- that it constitutes the official meal of Labor Day. It was so established in 2014 in the void of any official dish being associated with … Continue reading Annual Reminder: The official sandwich of Labor Day

The ‘moral stoplight’ that Trump and Vance blow through

Michael Davis, a former Evening Sun and Sun colleague, wrote in response to my Substack post on J.D. Vance's demonization of the homeless of Washington, D.C. A Baltimore rabbi and friend once told me that the homeless present a "moral stoplight." When you are in their presence, he said, you need to stop and acknowledge … Continue reading The ‘moral stoplight’ that Trump and Vance blow through

A son’s gratitude

I have heard many fine eulogies over the years, struggled to give a few myself. The intention is to render tribute to the deceased and to comfort mourners with memories.  At a funeral Mass Saturday morning at St. Leo’s Church in Baltimore's Little Italy, a brother eulogized his younger sister who had died after a … Continue reading A son’s gratitude

Dan Can Cook: Swiss chard quiche (or maybe a pie)

If you run into a massive pile of Swiss chard — from your garden or from a neighbor’s or, in my case, from my daughter Julia’s — here’s a delicious way to dispose of it: Make a quiche or pie. Wash, break in half and blanch a bunch of chard with the stems; after a few … Continue reading Dan Can Cook: Swiss chard quiche (or maybe a pie)

A wow-inducing theater we didn’t know was there

Wenger reclining in one of his theaters at Eastpoint Note to readers: Certain stories require an overtime period or two. My latest for the Baltimore Brew is such a story. I found that Paul Wenger, president of Flagship Premium Cinemas, had a good story to tell — about his career in movie theaters and about … Continue reading A wow-inducing theater we didn’t know was there

Photo Gallery: Potomac River Vistas

Some photographs from a recent summer fishing adventure on the Nation's River, between Seneca Breaks and Riverbend Park -- that is, between Montgomery County on the Maryland side, Fairfax County on the Virginia side. Sunrise just downstream of Pennyfield Lock in Potomac, Maryland. So much of the Potomac looks like this, wide and flat and … Continue reading Photo Gallery: Potomac River Vistas

Afishionado: A ‘large minnow’ that builds and shares a spawning bed

It’s always the first example of an oxymoronic phrase — jumbo shrimp. Here’s a new one — large minnow.  Yes, there is such a thing. It’s called a fallfish, a silvery species that swims in rivers of the U.S. Northeast and Canada. It’s a chub of the family Cyprinidae, and the largest minnow species native … Continue reading Afishionado: A ‘large minnow’ that builds and shares a spawning bed