Lemon Tahini Dressing. Yummmmmmy! You can’t go to the Olney Ale House in Olney, Maryland, without ordering a salad with their Lemon Tahini Dressing. Sadly, they don’t ship it, or I’d be ordering a case of it to be sent to North Carolina. That dressing brings back memories of growing up in Olney, Maryland, and weekends at the Ale House with family and friends, where the floors creak, and sounds of happy patrons can be heard inside and outside.

The Olney Ale House sits in a very old house establishment across from the Olney Theatre on Route 108 in Olney, Maryland. Sadly, Olney is not the small town goodness it used to be. Developers have turned it into one big mess with shopping centers and cookie cutter home communities everywhere. It has lost it’s charm and all that we used to love about Olney. So, when we’ve visited Maryland, and are driving through Olney, we make it a point to stop by the places that gave Olney its original charm, places like The Olney Ale House that have been a fixture for decades upon decades.

Sadly the Olney Ale House has closed, albeit temporarily. Their phone message says that due to a fire in December and the Covid virus, they are temporarily closed. There was also a “For Sale” sign on the property that is over 100 years old. This breaks my heart.

Several years ago, my Big Bear was making us all a delicious bbq chicken dinner with salad with that wonderful Lemon Tahini dressing. You see, Bob (aka Big Bear), is the cook in our family. Thank goodness for that, because I hate to cook, and because we both love that salad dressing at the Olney Ale House, he decided to make some up and try to get it as close to the Olney Ale House dressing as possible.

I recall he got it as close to the Ale House Lemon Tahini as possible. I remember Big Bear walking into the family room where I was sitting, and saying “here, taste this.” I had no idea what it was until I licked the spoon. Wow! The taste of that dressing took me on a journey back in time. Man, is that dressing ever delicious!

Now I wonder if he will learn how to make their famous Oatmeal Molasses Bread with Honey Butter too? Or, maybe I should try to figure out that one myself.

It’s summertime in the mountains and I’m hungry. Can’t wait to eat dinner with the family and watch a good movie tonight, and maybe I can convince my Big Bear to let me help him whip up some of that delicious Lemon Tahini dressing until our next trip to Olney, and I hope the Olney Ale House will be back open and serving their delicious menu items and hospitality once again. I hate to think that Olney has lost another charming and wonderful fixture to a once beautiful place in the country.