What I Ate at the Fair

This is a practice WIAW post. I don't want my first WIAW post to be full of unhealthy foods and have the other participants get all judgey (let's face it, food bloggers are generally a judgey group, probably because we're all the type of people who avoid processed food like the plague and try to make everything from scratch).

Before I start, let me say that the scale was not kind this morning. I'm hoping it's partly the salt, but I'll also say that you couldn't pay me to count yesterday's calories. I just don't want to know. But they were all worth it.

I've been toying with the idea of joining the WIAW (What I Ate Wednesday) bloggers. I like what I eat, therefore I'd like to share it. But somehow photographing it is easier said than done, especially if 1. you're still in the process of waking up, or 2. you're far too hungry to stop for a photo (and my phone has an annoying delay in the camera app). Yesterday I photographed everything I ate, not for WIAW, but because I was at the fair, and my husband was not, and I felt I should document everything so he wouldn't feel sad for missing it. (honestly I think I'm more disappointed than he is that he couldn't go, but still. One thing to note- it's much better to go to the fair with someone else, if only to have an extra set of hands to hold all the stuff you're buying).

When we go to the Big E, there is a very strict order. Usually we get there early, when only some things are open, but this time I had an alarm malfunction (if you get one of those app notifications at the same time your alarm goes off, and you're still half asleep, it's not possible to snooze the alarm, only to turn it off. So I was about 2 hours behind schedule), so I was able to start in immediately.

The first stop is the Rhode Island building for clam fritters and Del's frozen lemonade.

I wait all year for this, my absolute favorite fair foods.

Normally we split this bag of clam fritters, but since I was alone, I had to do my best on my own. I ended up saving about half the bag for dinner (heated up in the oven- not bad, but not nearly as good as when they were fresh)

This year, I noticed you can actually buy the fritter mix and make them at home!!! Oh so excited.

Next, we go to the Massachusetts building and have a healthy snack. Mom usually gets some chocolate milk too, but I still had my Del's so I was good.

These cups of raspberries are $1 each- kind of expensive for what you get, but then, it's the fair.

I also get some bread in MA, from the Pittsfield Rye bakery. They advertise "buy 1 get 1 free" at the fair, but each loaf is $7 so that's not a good buy! It's not bad though, so I got harvest pumpkin and purple wheat.

Here's the pumpkin loaf cut- it doesn't look overly pumpkinny (nor does it taste overly pumpkinny) but it smells pumpkinny and it is pretty good.

After Massachusetts is Maine, home of the baked potato with insane lines. For a baked potato! I'll never get over this. Maine also has lobster rolls and blueberry pie, both of which I passed on. I was still full from the fritters!

Then it's on to Vermont for Cold Hollow Mill cider. I didn't used to get this unless it was chilly and I needed a warm drink, but now that I moved south I can't get CHM cider any time I want. It's not cheap, this cup was $3.75, but so tasty (so tasty that I had to fight off a yellow jacket as I walked 10 feet between the VT and CT buildings).

Then it's CT but I don't get food there- HOWEVER. I saw they had Avery's Sodas and they had a PUMPKIN PIE SODA. swoon. $2.50 a bottle though, and I just wanted to take it home, not drink it, so I decided I'd try to find some at a grocery store somewhere.

Last up is NH, where they have soups and apple things, but again, still full from fritters, Del's and apple cider. So I took all my purchases to the car (that bread was heavy!) and started in on the rest of the fair.

I was tempted to see the unicorn cow, and it was only $1, but I didn't want to support a carny showing off what's probably just a cow that lost one horn.

 Every New England fall fair needs giant pumpkins...

 ...and chickens...

...and butter sculptures!

 Here is food I did not eat, although I was tempted to hove over there and just see how it all looked. I've done fried candy corn, but somehow I didn't think to try fried jelly beans (the fried candy corn was a big failure, the candy corn melts)

 After I visited the sheep, goats and cows (and resisted the temptation to buy yarn in the "Fiber Nook"- my favorite sock yarn went up from $15 a skein to $24 a skein! No way!), I hunted down the wine and cheese house that I'd heard about recently at the Charlton Winery. I'd also seen a sign about free wine tastings at the entrance to the cow/sheep/goat building, but I couldn't imagine they'd do wine tastings IN there. I found the wine tasting building among the Christmas tree show area.

I really enjoyed both of these wineries. Amherst Farm Winery is located in Amherst, MA, probably about an hour from me. Zoll Cellars is located in Shrewsbury, about 10 minutes from me. I've never heard of either winery, but now I'm definitely planning to visit both! I told both of them where I worked, so we chatted for a few minutes.

Amherst Farm served Red Rooster, Pear, Sangria and Chocolate Raspberry, all very tasty

Zoll Cellars served two different reds, a Vidal dessert wine and a dry Riesling

 Then it was on to the Better Living Buildings (there are 2). The Better Living buildings have booths set up with various clothing, jewelry, household gadget type things. You can buy a super chami cloth thing, or a Wonder Knife, a piano, belly dancing costumes, candy, an ergonomic back support for your desk chair (which I actually find to be excruciatingly uncomfortable), hair clips, paintings, pictures embellished with shiny lines (can't quite explain how they look, but the same class as velvet Elvis paintings), walk-in showers, etc. It's weird. Over the past few years, I've gotten really sick of the Better Living Buildings. I don't like the sellers calling out to me to come check out their stuff as I walk by. You used to also be able to buy log cabins there, but they haven't been there for a few years- I used to like walking through their fake house set-ups. So this year, I pretty much walked in and walked out. Some of the booths do a little show (like for that special non-teflon non-stick cookware) so it's a place to find a seat and rest your feet, but my feet were ok.

Moving on!

I went to the Grange Building, where they have a craft show set up, little crafts and homemade jellies to buy and a quilt raffle. We're members of the Grange so we always go, and we always buy a little something, usually little handmade Christmas ornaments- nothing special, they're usually cheap acrylic yarn and that plastic needlepoint canvas. But they're cheap and they're cute, and I'm happy to give them  my money.

The Grange Building is just across the street from the state buildings, so back I went! They really are the best part of the Big E.

I decided it was time for lunch, so I stopped at the BBQ place in back of Maine for a pork parfait (beans on the bottom, pulled pork on top, very rich and indulgent and enormous- I might bring tupperware next time I go so I don't have to throw out what I can't finish) and a Long Trail Blackberry Wheat beer in VT- for Clint's sake, since he wasn't there (not that he would get Blackberry Wheat).

 I wandered a bit more through the rest of the states, then decided to call it a day. Our last stop is always NH Kettle Korn- NH just happens to be the last building in the row and is right next to where I park. We get kettle korn at the very end because there's enough other delicious Big E food to munch on, and kettle korn is still delicious for days after, to enjoy as a fond memory.

 Oh, where do I park, you might ask? Why, Gate 1. The Holy Grail of Big E parking. I get a special parking permit, and free tickets ;) This is one of the Big E's best kept secrets. (the only thing is the Gate 1 lot fills up fast, so you have to get there early, like well before 9 on a weekend)

 One important part of the Big E is the Official Maple Sugar Candy Taste Test. I buy maple sugar from all the states (except RI doesn't sell any, CT doesn't but should, since I know there are maple sugar places in CT, and ME's are all pre-packaged, not made right there). Every year we have to figure out which is the best (only it's always MA). From MA I get the pumpkin and usually a package of 4 pretty shapes, like hearts and scalloped ovals, etc, but this year they only have mini maple leaves. From VT I usually get men and women, but this year tried maple leaves. And from NH I get the state of NH- easy to remember which state that is from!

 We prefer MA's maple sugar because it's kind of melty in the middle. NH is a close second, but VT tends to be pretty dry and crumbly. However, they all have the same delicious maple flavor!

And then I finish it all and wish I'd bought more. Normally I get a set for me, and a set for Clint, but this year he said he was fine without, so I kind of got one and a half sets. You know next week I'm going to be very sorry I didn't get a full set for him that I could then eat!

For the rest of the week I'll enjoy a Big E breakfast- the Pittsfield Bakery pumpkin bread with Twin Pines Farm (from the CT building, I always like to buy the local agriculture booth of the day's items) pumpkin butter (which is super yum, I need to make some this year).

 Now I need to find another fair to go to.

Traipsing down the CT Wine Trail

Last weekend we had a freak snow storm. In our town, we got about 5 inches of very heavy, wet snow. Schools all over were canceled the next day, and many people were without power. We were lucky, we only lost our phone/dsl. The biggest problem with this storm was that fall had come kind of late, so most of the tree still had their leaves, which are excellent for collecting the heavy snow and weighing the poor tree down.

My parents, on the other hand, lost power for 9 days. So by day 7, they'd had it, and came to visit. And we decided to try a little section of the CT wine trail.

I'm going to give you my frank and honest opinions about these places. I would be happy visiting each one again. All of these were in the northeast section of the state, along I-395.

Holmberg Orchards, in Gales Ferry
Their tasting room is this adorable tiny little shed. If you need to use the restroom, I'd wait til your next stop. Sorry, but I just have to say that- you know if you're hitting several wineries in one day, you WILL have to make a pitstop at some point. Don't do it here. Anyway, the wines.
We tasted four wines: a pear, a peach, and 2 styles of ciders. The pear was good, the peach was actually very peachy yet not overly sweet like many peach wines are. But they both paled in comparison to their ciders. If you like a light, sweet cider, these are for you. The Russet Cider is similar to Magner's (an Irish cider that can be a little tricky to find, at least in New England), and the Cortland was a little sweeter, a little heavier. I looooved the Russet. Best part? $7.99 a bottle (750mL, wine bottle size)! Tastings were $6 each you get to keep the very cute glass (which we left in my parents' car... oh well)

Maugle Sierra, in Ledyard.
Oooh, add this one to my favorites list. Their wines aren't cheap ($18-24), and the tasting is $10 for 6 wines (you get to keep the glass), but the tasting room is open, airy and relaxing, their wines are good, the guy behind the tasting bar was so full of information about the wines, and! they serve fancy pizzas. I liked their white wines (House White - chardonnay with a splash of vidal; Sunset White, a very crisp vidal that I'd enjoy in the summer), their rose (St Croix) was very interesting (in a good way! the kind of wine you sip, make that posh wine connoisseur face and say "hmm" before you take another sip), but I really loved their reds. The House Red is a St Croix blended with Merlot. Of course I've forgotten what it really tastes like now, but when I tasted it I decided I'd buy a bottle. Then we got to the Sunset Red, a blend of St Croix and Cabernet Franc. Now, Cab Franc is currently my favorite red, and I'm also newly fond of St Croix, so then I changed my mind to decide I'd get a bottle of this. So finally we tried the St Croix, which is just as good as the previous, but without the Cab Franc flavor mixed in. Clint wanted to buy this one, but we ended up with the St Croix/Cab Franc, partly because it was cheaper, and party because he also really enjoyed it.

I'm definitely returning to Maugle Sierra, just to do a tasting and hang out.

Dalice Elizabeth, in Preston.
This was a cute little place, situated on a lovely lake. I'd love to come here in the summer and sit out on their patio. For $10 we tried the Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Sangiovese. I think by this time I was a little crocked, so I don't remember anything in particular about these wines, aside from really enjoying the Cab Franc and Sangiovese. I felt the Merlot was a little thin, not much body to it. Mostly I remembered encountering a group of women celebrating one of their birthdays, who all worked at a pub that's just opened a new location about 2 blocks from our house- this is exciting, we love walking to dinner. One nice touch is that the grandmother of the young guy manning the tasting room made all sorts of relishes, pickles and apple butter that are sold in the shop. Love that!

Heritage Trail, in Lisbon.
This was another cute place I'd like to return to. Their tasting room is a cafe, and they offer a cheese and wine pairing for 2 for $25. The wine-only tastings were $7, and we didn't buy any wine because on the tasting list they were outrageously expensive- $24-42 a bottle! That's insane. I'm hoping they were priced like that because it's a cafe, and those were the prices to order a bottle of wine for the table or something. Honestly, I didn't really care for any of their wines, they all tasted slightly thin and metallic, but the atmosphere was great. We were unfortunately in a hurry at this point so couldn't stay and enjoy- I'd especially loved to have done that wine and cheese pairing!

Sharpe Hill, in Pomfret.
We didn't get to a tasting, but I promise you, I will be back there. Their tasting room is a smallish room with a super high ceiling so it just has a great effect when you enter. They've decorated with all sorts of farmy old-timey things- I especially loved the 7 gurgling cod pitchers. The bathroom is kind of fascinating (the line is super long because everyone has to look around- the room is all shelves, with interesting knick knacks on the shelves), and the sink is made out of a solid piece of carved soapstone.
We didn't get to a tasting here because we had dinner reservations, and the tasting bar was closed by the time we finished eating. However! This was one of the best meals I've had in at least a month. I had lamb chops with mint jelly, sauteed brussels sprouts and some kind of boring-looking yet fabulous-tasting rice. I had the Red Seraph, a Chianti-style blend of St Croix and Cab Franc (no, I can't get away from that blend!), which was recommended for the lamb... and I can't really say if I ordered the wine for the lamb, or the lamb for the wine. They were both excellent.
Clint had the jerk chicken with some sort of delicious bbq sauce and mango salsa. He gave me his grilled bananas (:-D). Dad has steak delmonico which he practically inhaled, so I can only assume it was good. Mom had scallops that were prepared simply but perfectly. And we all had Princess Louise Birthday cake for dessert- a simple white cake with vanilla buttercream and raspberry puree- the perfect ending.

And we have one more!

The following day, we visited Taylor Brook in Woodstock. Hands down, best wine tasting deal of the weekend- possibly in all the 20 wineries I've been to in CT thus far. For $6 you can taste all 13 wines. You can't keep the glass, but honestly I don't mind that- we have such a big wine glass collection from all our tastings that it's kind of a hindrance.
I won't go through all their wines- 13 is a lot (bring a DD or a picnic. Seriously. Clint and I shared a single tasting, and it was still quite a lot for me). I enjoyed them all, but particularly:
the Traminette, a sweet, light Gewurztraminer
the Cranberry Riesling, a Riseling base with fermented cranberries added. A dangerous drink, since it tastes so much like juice.
Autumn raspberry, a riesling with raspberry essence added
Raspberry Rendezvous, a raspberry dessert wine that's not overly sweet
the Merlot, which isn't listed on their website but is a nice, light, 100% CT grown Merlot grape wine (we bought a bottle).

it's nice there are so many wineries clumped together in some sections of the state, a winery tour is a lovely way to spend a sunny weekend day.

Another good clump you can knock off in a day is over in Litchfield County, the northwest section of CT. We visited CT Valley, Jerram, Land of Nod, Miranda, Sunset Meadow, and just barely missed Haight-Brown, all on one Saturday afternoon. It's too bad they all close at 5pm!

What's Baking? July: Bake Local

This month's What's Baking? theme was chosen by Lindsey, and is Bake Local- bake anything from your local area! I decided to use cherries. Tougas Farm has recently started producing cherries, so I jumped at the chance to go cherry picking! I've never done this before, so I was really surprised by how many cherries grow on each branch of a cherry tree! It was a perfect day for fruit picking of any sort (warm but not too hot, partly cloud, plus I was under a mesh canopy that provided a little more shade), so I went slowly and enjoyed myself.

I only got 7.8lbs of cherries- I'd have liked to pick more, but they were not cheap, so I did not want to take any chances of not using up all the cherries in time- plus the cherry field is cash-only, and the girl only has so much cash on her at a given time (birthday money, haha!)

I made many things with these cherries, including a classic cherry pie and cherry hand pies for a picnic,

but for the bake along I like to go with something different: cherry foccacia.

Cherry Foccacia
from Martha Stewart Living, July 2011

Martha had a big spread on sour cherries in the July issue, and she made some really different things, things you'd never think to put cherries in/on. I was using Bing cherries, not sour, but I like all cherries so I didn't care. This was my first attempt at foccacia, and while it didn't turn out exactly like bakery foccacia, it's still delicious and worth the time and effort. It's not hard, you just have several risings to deal with.

2 and 3/4 cup warm water
1t active dry yeast
1.5lbs (4.5-5cups) bread flour
1-2t salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2T fresh rosemary (I used dried)
1.5-2 cups cherries, pitted and halved

In a large bowl (say, of your stand mixer), combine the water, yeast and flour. Mix just until combined (dough will be very sticky) and let rest for about 20 min. Add the salt and mix, then knead for about 5 min. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1.5-2hrs.

On a floured board (just enough flour so it doesn't stick, and the dough might be really, really sticky), knead the dough just a bit, then flatten out into a square/rectangle-ish shape. Fold the top third down towards you, then the bottom third up away from you. Pat to get the air bubbles out, and the 2 flaps should overlap. Then do the right side third, then the left side third, and pat. Place in a floured bowl, cover and let rest for an hour. Then repeat the folding process again, and let rest for another hour.

In a rimmed 13x17 baking sheet, pour the oil and spread around. Stretch out the dough a bit and place it in the pan, working it to reach all the edges (this is tedious and can take awhile- it won't stick to the pan because the pan is oiled, of course, so you just have to coax it to stretch out).

Heat the oven to 450F, and let the dough rest for 15-20 min.

Finally, place the cherries on the top of the dough (I did some skin-side down, and some skin-side up, whatever you like), and press them in gently. Sprinkle with some coarse (kosher or sea) salt and the rosemary. Bake at 450F for 30-40 min, turning around halfway through.

Once the bread is done, let it cool in the pan for just a few minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Drizzle the top of the bread with the olive oil from the pan.

Go on a picnic and bring the foccacia to share with all your friends. :)

A Successful Strawberry Season

(unlike last year)


And it seems like it's been a year since I last posted. Insert some lame excuses here- I really have none. Travel interfered with posting and cooking, but I've been back for a couple weeks now. Really, the problem is that unemployment sucks.

Regardless, back in June I went strawberry picking twice (since I'm a loser without a job, I can.) and I made some tasty things with them- only one of which I've mentioned.

I don't want to bother going into a lot of detail about my strawberry fun now that strawberry season is long over and it won't really help you anyway, but let me share my success with sorbets. I've tried sorbet once before, but I neglected to consider how different some berries are compared to each other while making the sorbet, and ended up with more of a bluish granita studded with whole blueberries. A bit odd, but tasty. Fortunately, when trying strawberry sorbet for the first time, I went with a real strawberry sorbet recipe, with excellent results.


Strawberry Basil Sorbet
recipe from The Nifty Foodie

1.5lb fresh, hulled strawberries
1 cup +2T sugar
1.5T lemon juice
pinch of salt
handful (around 1/4 cup) fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Slice the strawberries and toss with 2T sugar. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour, turning occasionally. Then combine in a food processor with the remaining sugar and other ingredients, process until pureed.

Pour into your ice cream maker and follow its instructions. Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet
based on a combination of the above recipe and this recipe from the LA Times

2 fat or 3 regular stalks of rhubarb, diced (about 6 oz)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water, plus 1T or so more
1lb hulled strawberries
2T cup sugar
1t lemon juice

In a small saucepan, stir together the rhubarb, 1/2 cup sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 min. Remove from heat and let cool to room temp. Meanwhile, toss the strawberries with the remaining sugar and let sit for about 30-45 min, stirring occasionally. Combine rhubarb mixture, strawberry mixture and lemon juice in a food processor, puree, then pour into your ice cream maker and follow the instructions.

These sorbets were very popular in our house, and didn't last long. I like my fruit desserts to be not so sweet so you can really taste the fresh fruit, and these were perfect. I'm definitely planning on using the 13lbs of frozen strawberries in the chest freezer for more sorbet later, as well as the remainder of last year's peaches.