Thanksgiving in Connecticut…

Tags

Connecticut, Holidays, pies, Travel

No, it wasn’t Christmas, but Thanksgiving in Connecticut was lovely and relaxing.    Higganum is roughly the size of Paramus NJ or that of the town I grew up in, Natick, Mass.  However, the populations of each are ~ 5,000, ~ 36,000 and ~ 33,000, respectively.  For perspective’s sake, the town we currently live in is ~ 75% smaller, 2.3 square miles, than those towns, with a population of ~ 25,000.  Yes, we’re rather close in Lodi.

The Connecticut River Museum located in Essex, CT

Higganum, which lies on the Connecticut River, is a ‘village’ in Haddam just south of Middletown and is considered mid-state.  As I thought the town was smack dab in the middle of nowhere, I was pleasantly surprised to find it a 20 minute ride to the ocean.

The timing of our arrival and that of the bird’s cooking clashed and we made our entrance just ahead of dinner which was excellent and had some new twists on classic Thanksgiving fare.  Dessert was yummy and my pie a success.  Other sweet delights included pumpkin and pecan pies, the pecan was fantastic, and a chocolate cream pie, which came to the festivities from Middletown, CT, via Massachusetts.

 

Contemplating the next great shot.

On Friday, we ventured to the Florence Griswold Museum, the ‘home of American Impressionism,’ in Old Lyme and then went to the beach for lunch.  The Museum was decked out for Christmas and had an exhibit from post-Depression era photographer, Walker Evans. 

Not knowing the name, I was pleasantly surprised to recognize numerous images.

The remainder of the grounds included a main house, barn, and gardens that meander along the Lieutenant River.  Loving historical homes and period furniture, I went to the house and was taken aback by the abrasive and somewhat militant little old lady giving the ‘tour’ (come on, there are 4 rooms and you can’t really go into 3 of them).    Interestingly, the main floor features a series of ~ 40 ‘painted panels’ on various doors and in the dining room.  Painted throughout the early 1900s, Old Lyme Art Colony members began decorating select panels and it was considered an honor to be chosen to paint a panel.   

The Hot Air Club

It could be argued that, without knowing it, these artists were living an epicurean lifestyle.  It was not uncommon for new comers to be welcomed into the dining room with a flurry of activity as chairs were shuffled to make room at the table.  And, on summer evenings, the artists would escape the heat of the house by dining on the side porch.  What started with a handful of bachelors, ‘jackets removed and sleeves rolled up’, the entire community eventually joined the group.  Soon, they named themselves the ‘Hot Air Club’ for both the weather and the lively conversation that inevitably ensued.

We ended our afternoon at Hammonasset State Park.  I love the beach, especially in the off-season.  We had turkey sandwiches (what could be better than a day after Thanksgiving sandwich?), watched some polar bear fools dive into the ocean (albeit, the water probably wasn’t that cold), and visited the Meigs Point Nature Center, effectively, a tiny building with some indigenous critters on display.

The remainder of the weekend was spent in Lodi, baking and rearranging the living room furniture. More importantly, we finished our annual Christmas letter and began plotting some Connecticut culinary adventures.

Random Musings for a Friday Night…

Tags

Holidays, Maker's Mark, pies, Travel

While tired, I’m completely content.  Thanksgiving was spent in Connecticut, Higganum to be precise, which is an idyllic New England town; coupled with perfect fall weather, the day was amazing and well needed for the family.  Dinner was splendid and it was great spending time with family and friends in a warm, inviting setting.  Today, another perfect fall day, was spent at the Florence Griswold Museum and Hammonasset State Park (details to follow over the coming days) on the beach.  The holidays, and Thanksgiving in particular, should be spent with good friends and family and I’m fortunate to have been with both this week.  

As I embark upon the second half of the weekend, which, hopefully, will be as enjoyable as the first half, a few thoughts:

Still not afraid of the crust:   As I suspected, the pie was great.  While visually not eye pleasing, rustic was the term being thrown about, everyone enjoyed it.  When baking, I try to use fresh ingredients and am a firm believer in grating my spices as needed so the pie had freshly grated cinnamon and nutmeg and, even, three types of apples (rule of thumb is to use at least two).  I’m also a firm believer in doing something with the crust, whether it be an egg wash or sprinkling sugar on top; the crust does need its own tender loving care to give it that something special.

There are hidden gems everywhere:  Old Lyme, CT, where the Museum is located, is a vibrant, historic arts destination where city folk of yester year, from New York and Boston, would flock to.  It’s amazing to think of all the hidden cultural gems that abound in the Northeast.  Connecticut has a well-known antiques trail and, today, I noticed a sign for the Connecticut wine trail; Route 2 in Massachusetts is sprinkled with cultural, historical, and outdoorsy activities; and Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are teeming with equally intriguing towns.  I’m committed, in 2012, to do more exploring of such destinations and vow to bring to you my discoveries along the way.

Plan with the sun in mind:  Traveling frequently by car between the Cape, my siblings throughout New England and my personal homestead in New Jersey, I always try to factor in the setting sun.  Few things are as annoying as driving into a blazing sun, setting oh so slowly into the horizon.  I tend to take Route 84, albeit not today, and if you don’t time it right, you spend a good hour, hour and a half, driving with the setting sun in your eyes.  The whole process is rather tiring and can turn an otherwise pleasant drive into a pain in the arse; thus, I always advise those driving to keep such things in mind.

Always have a treat on hand:  Growing up, we always had something stashed in the freezer in case someone popped in (this proved to be most helpful for my mother and Mims and has saved me on a few occasions).  Mims, and mom, always had fudge, quick breads and inevitably, a Pepperidge Farm cake or two at the ready.  I’m not as diligent throughout the year, but come fall, I’m steadfast in doing a bit of freezer friendly baking for the holidays.  Last week, I made biscotti from Ruth Reichl’s The Gourmet Cookbook and froze them in serving sized containers.  Have already taken two containers out as a quick little desert for guests.

Cinnamon Girl:  I’m a big fan of Maker’s Mark and make my own little concoction (as far as I’m aware no one else has come up with this).  Essentially, I do a Maker’s and seltzer and add cinnamon.  It’s a very simple way to get a bit of additional spice into one’s life.

Am doing some local New Jersey things for the remainder of the weekend.  My father is visiting and, I believe, we’ll either be going to Thomas Edison’s House or a farm in the Hudson Valley and, am inclined to say, we may even kill a chicken for brunch on Sunday.  Perhaps we’ll enlist the help of a few friends, one of whom, Manny, is Portuguese and an absolutely amazing cook.   Will fill you in on the details over the coming days.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid…

Tags

cookies, Holidays, pies

Ha. While I’m not afraid of the pie crust, I certainly have not perfected it. To be fair, this was only the second crust I ever made and, apparently, there is a learning curve. I decided that I’ll be describing it as a crumb crust to my family on Thursday. I’m confident it will taste good; however, it’s visually non appealing. I knew I was in trouble when I kind of had to patch the whole thing together; like making a quilt, without any of the implements, just dough. Not sure if it’s the surface I was rolling my dough out on, if I didn’t have enough flour on said surface, or if it just didn’t have enough water. I don’t know, but would love to hear any tips on making crust. Thus far, I’ve only used shortening, but perhaps butter is better.

The funny thing about the crust is that I had planned on snapping pictures of it so I can add some multi-media to my site (I don’t think there’s much ‘multi’ about a picture, but whatever). Another big Ha! I immediately eliminated the pre pie picture, desperately grasping at the hopes that the process of baking the pie would deliver a picture-perfect, edible delight. And, alas, my hopes and dreams were dashed when I peeked into the stove to check on the baking process (who doesn’t do that?) only to see a big, crumbly mess. That was the moment when I decided it best only to post things that come out camera worthy (or, something that makes you double over laughing!). Don’t get me wrong, some of the best fare isn’t especially pleasing to the eye, but I’m not going to be the one to flash those pictures around in a public forum.

My next baking project, probably taking place on Wednesday, is to make cookies for our youth group meeting at church on Sunday. We’re doing a Thanksgiving/first Sunday of Advent dinner and I’m making Pumpkin Cookies. It’s actually the recipe I found when Tony announced, unexpectedly, that he needed cookies for some event or another. It has all your standard cookie ingredients, plus a can of pumpkin. It turns out, with that one, the larger concern wasn’t the ingredients for the cookies, but rather the glaze recipe they provided as I only had ½ the ingredients. The cookies came from www.verybestbaking.com. The glaze I wound up using (after doing an online search) follows:

1 C Powdered Sugar
5 Teaspoons Hot Water
½ Teaspoon Vanilla

We’ll be in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. On the ride home, thought we’d do a not-too-far off the beating path side trip. Would love your suggestions on any fun towns or interesting places we should consider checking out along the way back (we do Tappan Zee, 684 to 84 and vice versa).

A House Filled With Yum…

Tags

bars, pies

The O’Henry bars are out of the oven and the house smells great. I love this time of year and, even all the baking it entails. No candle can take away from or, even, enhance the wonderful aromas given off by baking (sorry, my Fresh Wave friends).

The O”Henry bars are easy to make. I could make them in my sleep. In fact, I made O’Henry bars as my demonstration speech in my college public speaking class. I’m convinced, as speaking publicly at that point in time was relatively new, that the only reason I got an A was because I came with enough premade bars for everyone.

I think back on this and wonder, was this the turning point toward a career in the hospitality industry? Alas, I don’t think so. I think it was something else, something deeper….something we’ll ponder at another time.

Tomorrow it’s ‘frosting’ the bars and making an apple pie for Thanksgiving. Need new cinnamon sticks, but other than that, should be relatively straight forward.

Random Musings for a Friday Night…

Tags

bars, cookies, Epicurean, Fannie Farmer, Food, Friday Night, Holidays, Maker's Mark, pie, verybestbaking.com, Williams Sonoma

Friday night; the night I usually do my ‘once a week’ things (sad, used to be the night I’d go raging on the town). Blogging might just prove to be a fun avoidance from those pesky little things moving forward.

Am baking O’Henry bars and an apple pie, for youth ministry and thanksgiving, respectively. An old family recipe, the O’Henry bars are quick, easy and I’ve yet to find someone who does not like them. The apple pie recipe I tend to use, and I have a ton of apple pie recipes, is from the ‘bible,’ aka The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Given to me by my sister, who excitedly exclaimed as she presented it to me, ‘it even tells you how to boil eggs’, I find the book to be a valuable resource in my various culinary endeavors.

So, before I go embark upon my exciting Friday night, a few thoughts:

Don’t be afraid of the crust: Pie crust is easy to make and takes one’s pie to the next level of yummy. While I remember, as a kid, making crust with Mims, my grandmother, my mother was the one who introduced me to the frozen crust. “It’s so much easier than making it from scratch and just as good,” she said. And dutifully, I listened. Well, it is easier and I’m a proponent of keeping one around just in case; however, it definitely isn’t as good (sorry Mom). So, go ahead, try a crust. The bible has a few easy recipes and you won’t be disappointed.

Fresh is the way to go: We’re a childless couple, and in the food department, that’s borderline being single. My sister and her family came over once, the kids were hungry, and the only thing I could offer was a can of sardines; apple sauce, that expired 3 years prior — we may have even moved in with the jar; or rice, that wasn’t cooked. My sister triumphantly pulled a box of microwave popcorn out and, we, sadly, couldn’t produce a microwave (we even called friends). So, sometimes, it’s a sad state when it comes to the food in our house. This doesn’t bother me as we tend to buy food as we need it, whether it be from a grocery store, the farmer’s market, or the local ‘farm’ by work, DePiero’s. And, I’ve grown to enjoy this. We don’t have food sitting around aimlessly and the quality is always better than things left in the fridge for Lord knows how long. So, I say go local, go fresh. In fact, my husband, Tony, and his friend, Manny, even buy a lot of our meat as needed and I’ve vowed to go with them to the chicken farm to pick out our dinner one night…ekks.

Ice can be fun: My fine friend’s at Maker’s Mark (who have a marketing budget I would kill for) send gifts at Christmas to their ambassadors (yes, I’m an ambassador). The gifts have been great, Maker’s Mark wax stamp, they’re known for their wax bottle top; a mini shaker and bar accessories; and, last year, bourbon ball ice cube trays. Well, we loved the frozen bourbon balls and used that thing so much that it cracked apart. So, for Tony’s birthday, I got him some fun ice cube trays. Actually, what I got him was this silicone baby food freezer thing from Williams Sonoma (really?  Do people really make their own baby food?). So we have half bourbon balls and they’re fun.  Sometimes, it really is about the simple things.

FYI, Ikea also has fun ice trays, however, the main draw back is that the ‘cubes’ are little. 

Keep the basics around: I once needed to make cookies for some sort of event (thanks, Tony, for the advance notice) and really didn’t have a lot of things in the cupboard (again, we don’t keep a lot on our shelves). I pulled what we did have out and searched the verybestbaking.com website for some recipes.  Happily, I now have a recipe for amazing pumpkin cookies!

Holiday Shopping: It’s that time of year. I work in a department with few employees. Christmas time has always been awkward with gifts. However, last year I stumbled upon an amazing candy jar at Williams Sonoma. I got the assortment and used them as gifts for my colleagues, which they loved. So, I highly recommend, for those needing to buy for numerous people, these fun confectionery treats as they’re inexpensive, yummy, and a classic gift for just about anyone.

I’ll update you on my baking endeavors this weekend and hope, as we get closer to Thanksgiving, to hear about your successes, challenges, and tips and techiniques you used to keep sane…opps…I mean to make your masterpieces.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Tags

Epicurean, Food, Northeast, Travel, welcome

It is the most wonderful time of the year…for baking!  I’m a baker, albeit an amateur baker; but, none the less, I’ve always enjoyed baking.  Is it because it brings back fond memories of helping my Grandmother, Mims, when I was a kid, the wonderful aromas baking fills the house with, or because I find comfort in the simple pleasure of baking and watching those I love enjoy the fruits of my labor?  Not quite sure and not really interested in pondering it (at this moment), but I do love baking.

There’s a certain je ne sais qoui about growing up in New England and the various epicurean pleasures that abound.  Chowdah made with cream, the wonderful scent and even better taste of an apple crisp coming out of the oven on a chilly fall day, clam bakes by the ocean.  The food is delightful and the entire region is right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  Warm, inviting, harking back to a simpler time and place; capturing this feeling and offering it to those I love has, over the years, become my mission.

And, today, I begin to share this with all.  Why Nor’east?  Well, because I’m now a Jersey girl (must be read in a obnoxious tone…Jerzee).   And I’ve grown to love…ekks, that may be a slight exaggeration, the area.  Why Epicurean?  Well, I’d like to enhance my skills as a baker and perhaps figure a thing or two out about cooking.  So, I’ll be traveling the Northeast, taking baking and cooking classes, visiting culinary artisans, sampling local fare; and will bring my discoveries here to entertain, educate and delight readers of all ages.

So, I invite you to join me.  Come to a class with me, share recipes (I get a kick out of old family recipes and trying to recreate them), tell me about your journeys and epicurean discoveries along the way.  Most importantly, I hope you enjoy the journey I take you on.