The Everlasting Why

Flat Mr. Hunter was flat-out tickled to find this cucumber in the shape of a question mark at the farmer's market the other day.  Fans of the film A Room with a View might understand his excitement.

"Make my boy realize that, at the side of the everlasting "why," 

there is a "yes." And a "yes" and a "yes!"

(one of Mr. Emerson's immortal lines from the delicious 1985 film A Room with a View,

screenplay adaptation by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala)

July 2013

The Vermont Cheese Trail

Mr. Hunter and family spent a day driving around southern Vermont, and we realized that there might be some good cheeses to be found along the way.  Turns out there's even a Vermont Cheese Trail, although many of the dairy farms and cheesemakers were located further north in the state.  

But in addition to sampling cheese at the Vermont Country Store, we managed to visit two dairy farms: Taylor Farm in Londonderry, makers of Gouda cheese and home to some wondrous Beglian draft horses, and Hildene Farm, which is located on the grounds of Hildene, the Vermont summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln.

Mr. Hunter appreciated the name of this brand of cheese: Hunter.

You can sample a big variety of cheese at the Vermont Country Store.

We spotted some Hildene Farm cheese among the many cheeses
at the Vermont Country Store.

Vermont Cheesemakers map.
You can find this map online, too.

On the porch of the Vermont Country Store,
Mr. Hunter climbed onto a tall stack
 of wheels of Cabot cheddar cheese.

Mr. Hunter considers the selection of goat cheeses at Hildene Farm.

A sign across the road from Taylor Farm.

The Vermont Country Store

Taylor Farm

Hildene Farm

Weston, Londonderry, and Manchester, Vermont

September 2012

Vermont Cheese Trail Map from the Vermont Cheese Council - 

http://www.vtcheese.com/cheesetrail.htm

Blast from the Past: Tab

Everywhere we looked in the Vermont Country Store, we'd find some product from way back when.

Mr. Hunter and I laughed to see a can of Tab nestled in a cooler filled with ice and cold drinks.  Tab!  We were immediately whisked back to the 70s.  

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Wikipedia article about TaB - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(soft_drink)

Mr. Hunter Lives His Life with Moxie

Hey, you!  Don't forget to... Live your life with Moxie!

Moxie began not as a soft drink but as a patent medicine called Moxie Nerve Food.  Learn more at the Moxie web site.

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Drink Moxie official site - http://www.drinkmoxie.com/

Wikipedia article about Moxie soft drink - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie

Mr. Hunter, The Candy Man

The Vermont Country Store boasts a selection of what they call Nostalgic Candy.

Mr. Hunter found plenty of scrumptious-looking posing opportunities.

Candy Buttons remind Mr. Hunter of Farrell's Ice Cream Parlours.

Candies familiar and unfamiliar to Mr. H, including
Smarties, Joys (?), Look!, Nut Goodie, Spree, Bottlecaps, and SkyBar.

Mr. Hunter had to pose with the Necco wafers!
Also on these shelves: Bosco milk chocolate bars,
Halvah, Chiclets Gum, and 3 Color Coconut bars.

Hard candy.

In the licorice section, we noticed some cute licorice Scotties.

On one side of the candy room,
there was a big counter devoted to chocolate.
You had your selection of truffles, sure.
But also chocolate covered potato chips!

Doesn't Mr. Hunter look happy here,
nestled among Slopokes, Black Cows, caramels, Squirrel Nut Zippers,
Watermelon Chews, and Lemon Heads?

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Visit the Vermont Country Store's Candy & Chocolate section online 

to see if they sell your favorite sweets.

Snacking His Way Through the Vermont Country Store

You can't find everything at the Vermont Country Store, but when you're browsing the shelves, you're likely to find enough surprises and products that are old friends that you want to keep looking, just in case.

You might recognize a familiar face on the shelves
with the jellies and preserves.
That's a canister of Vermont Common Crackers for some jelly tasting.

Mr. Hunter was hoping to find some squashed-fly biscuits--
indeed, he did find them further on in the store--but first he posed
with these similar-looking fruit biscuits.

Raspberry Wasabi Dipping Mustard
from Robert Rothschild Farm.

I took this photo in honor of Krumbs.

Ovaltine and Postum.

Mr. Hunter's uncle is a big fan of Otter Creek's seasonal Oktoberfest beer.
But if you're tempted to buy it, remember that you can drive to the grocery store down the road
 in Londonderry, where they might have Otter Creek beers for better prices.

Mr. Hunter found some of those Garibaldi "squashed fly" biscuits.  Yum!
And yes, he bought some of these.  

Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Mr. Hunter Recommends... Bryant House Restaurant

Mr. Hunter and family made the trek to Weston, Vermont, to visit the famous Vermont Country Store.  And we timed our visit so that we could eat lunch at Bryant House restaurant.

Potato bacon soup.
Seriously decadent and utterly delicious.

One Bryant House specialty is the chicken pot pie, which is topped with biscuits.

Indian Pudding served in a classic Corningware dish.

Bryant House Restaurant

The Vermont Country Store

Weston, Vermont

September 2012

Official site for the Bryant House Restaurant -

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store/company/static/Visit-Us/Bryant-House-Restaurant

Vermont Goodies at the Apple Barn

Mr. Hunter's uncle bought some soft serve maple ice cream.

The Apple Barn.

Mr. Hunter met up with some bobbleheaded moose.

The Apple Barn and Country Bake Shop

Bennington, Vermont

September 2012

Official site for The Apple Barn - http://www.theapplebarn.com/

Good Eats at The Blue Rock Restaurant

Mr. Hunter had a delicious meal in Shelburne Falls when he and his family dined at the Blue Rock Restaurant. 

Pork tenderloin with local maple and lavender glaze.
This was SO GOOD.

We also indulged in a serving of The Blue Rock's deep fried ice cream,
which featured vanilla ice cream and a delicious strawberry sauce.

The Blue Rock Restaurant

Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts

September 2012

Official site for The Blue Rock Restaurant - 

http://thebluerockrestaurant.com/

Official Facebook presence for The Blue Rock Restaurant - 

https://www.facebook.com/TheBlueRockRestaurant

Mr. Hunter Recommends: Pittsfield Rye and Specialty Breads

A few years ago, Mr. Hunter's companions were shopping at a small farmer's market in the Berkshires when they happened upon a truly decadent loaf of bread made by a local bakery, Pittsfield Rye.  The bread was called Death by Chocolate, and every person we've shared this bread with has reacted with something akin to a swoon.

Death by Chocolate is not like a cake or a quick bread; it's a loaf of bread that's made with cocoa, with chunks of semisweet chocolate to be found in each slice.  

Mr. Hunter cozies up to the chocolate bread.

Mr. Hunter also recommends the Cinnamon Burst bread
and the Apple, Cinnamon, Raisin, and Pecan bread.

If you find yourself in the Berkshires on a Friday or Saturday morning, head on over to Pittsfield Rye to taste Death by Chocolate and their other scrumptious breads.  (We quite enjoyed their Farmer's Bread, as well.)

Pittsfield Rye and Specialty Breads

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

September 2012

Official Facebook presence for Pittsfield Rye - 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pittsfield-Rye-Specialty-Breads-Co/183257608354904

With a Cherry (and Mr. Hunter) on Top

You know how people sometimes say, "That's just the cherry on top" to talk about something great that happens that's a bonus to the good things that have already happened?  Here's Mr. Hunter adding even more of a bonus to this super-sized sundae outside of Ben & Jerry's at the Marina Village.

This bench was quite a people magnet.  Most days we walked by, the bench would be too crowded with ice cream eaters and other tourists posing with the sundae.  But one morning we happened by much earlier in the day on our way to the ferry, so Mr. Hunter finally had his chance.

Ben & Jerry's

Marina Village

Atlantis Resort

Paradise Island, The Bahamas

July 2012

Back to Bimini Road

Mr. Hunter and crew found themselves rather unexpectedly back at Bimini Road for dinner just one night after the junkanoo chicken disappointment.  This time, the meal was a much more satisfactory experience.

Mr. Hunter and a local beer.

My "rake and scrape" sandwich,
which had portobello mushrooms and peppers.  Yum!

Mr. Hunter tries to become one face among many near the wall murals in our corner.

Bimini Road Restaurant

Atlantis Resort

Paradise Island, The Bahamas

July 2012

Hey, Conch!

Remember that conch fritter Mr. Hunter sampled earlier in his Bahamas trip?

Here's a look at the conch meat and the conch shell, courtesy of Bimini Road's seafood display.

Conch is a big theme not just on menus but also in some of the tourist patter you encounter.  Later on the trip, we took a ferry to Nassau, and in both directions we were treated to slightly different versions of the same "conch as aphrodisiac" jokes...

Men should eat two bowls of conch salad a day.

It's like Viagra.

It'll put some slide in your glide.

Some pep in your step.

Charlie the Cool Cat, the narrator on our first ferry.
He may be pointing out the Sivananda yoga retreat
and telling jokes about all the rules there: "No tobacco,
no meat, no doobies, no drinking... and no hanky panky."
(Pause.)
"That's why there's no one there."

The yoga retreat in question.

Bimini Road Restaurant

Atlantis Resort

Paradise Island, The Bahamas

July 2012

Dinner at Bimini Road

Mr. Hunter's family stayed at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas.  I suppose it shouldn't have been a big surprise that the Atlantis dinners were so expensive, but we were also struck by the relatively small selection of places to eat and by the seeming lack of Bahamian dishes at many of the places.  

One restaurant that did offer some Bahamian food was Bimini Road, located in the small Marina Village that's part of the Atlantis property.  Our first meal at Bimini Road was a mixed bag.  It started with a dish of banana chips (yum), and then for an appetizer we ordered conch fritters.  

Conch (pronounced "konk") is a classic Bahamian food ingredient (anybody remember that episode of Top Chef: All-Stars when the finalists had to snorkel for conch?), and on menus with Bahamian food, you're likely to see mention of conch fritters, conch salad, conch chowder, and more.  

The all-powerful conch fritter.

A couple of us ordered something called the Junkanoo Chicken Salad for our entrees.  The chicken in question was described as having jerk seasoning, but we were sad to find out that this particular jerk seasoning was... well, for us, it was inedible.  But we did return to Bimini Road later in the trip (did I mention that there weren't many nearby restaurants to choose from?), and on that later visit, more of us had satisfactory meals.  So Bimini Road is no Jamie's Italian, but they do serve some worthwhile dishes.

Mr. Hunter is afraid that he cannot recommend
the Junkanoo Chicken Salad.

A burger that had a big scoop of pulled pork on top of it.

Bimini Road Restaurant

Marina Village, Atlantis Resort

Paradise Island, Bahamas

July 2012

Official site for Bimini Road: http://www.atlantis.com/dining/casualdining/biminiroad.aspx

Mr. PotatoMouth

Mr. Hunter turned himself into Mr. PotatoMouth after he spotted some notably connected potato wedges at a pre-flight lunch at Heathrow.

Giraffe

Heathrow Airport

London, England

September 2011

Official site for Giraffe - http://www.giraffe.net/classic

Mr. Hunter Still Loves Jamie's Italian

Mr. Hunter and I have already sung the praises of Jamie's Italian in an earlier post.  But seeing as he and his companions dined at Jamie's more than once, he'd like to remind you how good the food was -- especially the addictive Mushroom Fritti appetizer.  Somehow those little paper cones of fried portobello mushroom slices never held as many fritti as we would have liked...

Spaghetti Bolognese

Mushroom Fritti

Bruschetta with ricotta cheese and delicious tomatoes

Of course, the restaurant's menu changes with the seasons.  Mr. Hunter can't wait until he can return to London and see what's for dinner at Jamie's Italian.

Jamie's Italian

London, England

September 2011

Official site for Jamie's Italian - http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/