A Spoonful of Pudding: An Evening with #HoCoBlogs at White Oak Tavern

It was as if the owner of White Oak Tavern stole the bat signal from Commissioner Gordon, replaced the bat image with a giant hashtag, and beamed its brilliant light directly over the Enchanted Forest shopping center.

Bloggers from far and wide (well, at least the width of Howard County) flocked there yesterday for the monthly HoCoBlogs happy hour.

My back was miraculously well enough to make the journey, and Sous Chef tagged along, ever the supportive partner. We were both dying to try the food at White Oak, since we've heard so many good things about it from blogs like Deena's Days.

Two hours after I arrived, I left the restaurant with no more than a glass of Malbec, two slices of savory sausage, and a spoonful of chocolate bread pudding in my stomach. And they were all delicious.

The poor wait staff couldn't keep up with our ravenous appetites - every time they put another plate of food down, we descended upon it like those zombies eating that horse in the first episode of Walking Dead. I was lucky to get away with the scraps I snagged!

Less time eating meant more time talking.

I talked to this lovely lady about human contact and how pigs are so similar to humans (and immediately commented about how delicious the sausage was).

I talked to this chick about life, college, and Oscar-nominated films.

I had an amazing conversation about chronic pain, acupuncture, and being true to yourself with this guy.

I hooked the Sous Chef up with fellow plant-o-philes; this lady and this gentleman.

With the added nourishment of these connections, it turns out a spoonful of pudding was all I really needed in order to feel completely satisfied.

Eat (and connect) well.