Selective Palate

This year we didn’t exactly have the coin to go on a vacation but we managed to get some travel in even if it was local. One thing M and I like to on a nice weekend is take a drive through the mountains with the top down. I like to do what I have dubbed “The Loop”. We start going south out of town then we hang a left and climb up a mountain, go around a mountain, and eventually come down a mountain and we end up north of town. Like how that works, welcome to Vermont!

Along the way we stopped at a state park named Texas Falls; falls yes Texas not so much! But it is 1 of my favorite spots to just hang out. It is also, 1 of the first spots we found when we moved here and there is a great story that goes with it but I am not ad liberty to tell it ;).

There was some kind of wedding taking place this day so we could not get a good picture of the falls, but I can say they were nice.

There is also a blue berry patch that we often stop and pick our own leaving our money in a box left for just that reason and we end up stopping whenever we see something cool.

This year with all the rain we managed to see quite a few waterfalls just along side the road and it made for very nice views as we climbed the mountain. We stopped a couple of times and got some pretty shots. It was a coolish day the sun was in and out with a little rain. We did have to put the top up towards the end of the day but we had a good time none the less.

Here is a view from the top of 1 mountain we climbed that day. It is 1 of my favorite roads. You have to drive (either direction) a very steep and winding road. You are actually riding the side of the mountain and it gives you a weird feeling as you look down and realize you are just hanging off the side of this mountain and there is nothing stopping you from going over except this tiny guard rail. Its pretty cool. (And yes Amity this is the road where I believe you said it “made you week in the knees”!) By the way they close this road in the winter for good reason.

Towards the end of the drive we find ourselves in a nice little town with 1 of our favorites restaurants and a creamy stand! For those not in the know up here they call soft serve ice cream, creamies. It is fitting no?

Well since this is a “FOOD BLOG” I guess I should tell you all about our early evening dinner. If you ever find yourself in Bristol Vermont (about 45 minutes south of Burlington) The Bobcat Cafe should not be missed. We really enjoy this place. The food is always good, never pretentious, and the atmosphere is very comfortable. We have never had a bad time here. Over Christmas I even took my dad for a few drinks and snacks on our way home from Burlington. Even he loved it with its antique bar great selection of wines and home brewed beer.

When we arrived it was fairly early so we were not in the mood for a huge dinner though we deffinately could have gotten our fill. M ordered a small bucket of wings. Now M is quite the wing afficiando and is very picky when it comes to chicken wings and this is 1 of his favorites. They give a good size portion and they are perfectly crispy however, they do their sauce a bit different than other places. It is more of a savory chili sauce. M asks them to heat it up a bit and they have no problem with his request. They are saucey, spicy and crispy served with a side of house blue cheese. He ordered a side of herbed fries with a chipolte mayonaise. Not exactly the healthiest meal but it sure was tasty!

I was a little chilly so I ordered their steamed little neck clams in a bacon potato ale chowder. Yes it was as good as it sounds. It was a good size portion of the steamers bathed in the goodness that is bacon and cream! I think I might have licked the bowl. I topped it off with a nice glass of Chardonay and was more than satisfied.

We finished our meals and took a short walk on over to the creemee stand for dessert. We enjoyed it with a view looking over the mountains. Vermont is really pretty and though “you can’t [always] get there from here” it is a nice place to call home.

Over the weekend I was not much in the mood for cooking; allergies! So we ate out of course.

M never turns down the chance for pizza; in our house it is a rare treat unless I make 1 from scratch. But for M nothing beats take out so we decided to try a fairly local pizza joint that we had not tried yet; Green Peppers. We had heard pretty good things about it so why not. M of course got a a large 4 cheese pepperoni pizza and an order of hot wings; what he’s a growing a boy! I ordered their eggplant parm on whole wheat. I was asked if I wanted peppers, onions and mushrooms on that but thought that was odd for a parm sandwich so I declined.

When we got our food I was shocked at the size. Lets just say we still have pizza in our fridge. The pizza was very good. Not at all what I think of when I think pizza however. It had a thick crust but not like a deep dish and it was not overly heavy which surprised me for the thickness of the crust. The cheese was abundant but not oozing off your pizza and they did not skimp on the pepperoni but it was not greasy. Over all we liked it! This is the type of pizza I would try non traditional toppings with to mix it up and have fun.

Next up the wings. Now both M and I enjoy our hot wings. As evidence in this post where I tried Alton Brown’s version. So we got an order of 10 HOT. Being that we are pretty picky when it comes to wings I have to confess these were pretty good. Not as crispy as we would like but then again we got take out so they sat in a plastic container steaming themselves and they were still good. Also, their hot sauce is not very hot but definitely tasty.

And lastly I got myself an eggplant parm “grinder”. Up here they call most heroes, grinders even cold ones. I remember when we lived in PA grinders were only hot sandwiches but not cheesesteaks or parmesans. Funny how different regions label things. Anyway back to my sandwich. It was good! The eggplant was thick cut lightly breaded but not deep fried and there was quite a bit of it. The cheese was a good amount but not over whelming and the same with the sauce. I decided on the mild sauce this time around but next time I think I am going to go for the spicy. Over all it had a good taste and not fussy at all.

She may not have been the prettiest girl at the dance but she was the one you wanted to take home if you know what I mean!

So if you ever fine yourself in the Middlebury VT region and want to try something differant you should stop by Green Peppers on Washington St.

Bad blogger! I know I know I said I was going to tell you all about my unconventional valentines dinner and the traditional Sunday dinner I made. Then I up and never did. I am so sorry, life got a little in the way but I will work on that promise.

Ok to get back to it as promised my unconventional Valentine’s dinner!

We started off with a nice appetizer of Sundried Tomato Hummus with just a hint of anchovy.

This was my course. This is one of my favorite dishes. When iIam “playing” single this is usually my dinner with just some crisp pita chips; YUM!
This was so simple to make it took me no time at all.

Ingredients

1 can white beans or chick peas, drained and rinsed (I used white beans this time)
1 clove garlic mashed into a paste
1 anchovy fillet mashed into a paste
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes reserve about a T. for top
2 T. tahini
1/4-1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, reserve about a T. for top
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Parsley

Place first 5 ingredients (except what is reserved for garnish) in a food processor pulse to combine then with the processor running drizzle in the oil just until you have a nice creamy but still thick consistancy. Taste and add salt and pepper. Top with the reserved sundried tomatoes that have been cut into a jullian, a drizzle of olive oil, and some fresh chopped parsley. Serve with some toasted pita or just a spoon!

Next up was M’s dinner choice!

Yup thats right Buffalo Wings! This has actually been a tradition for us since our first valentines for good reason its one of his favorite foods!
This year I really didn’t want to drag out the fryer plus we have been trying to eat better. Instead I followed Alton Brown’s wing method. Its a bit time consuming but it works well. My times were different than his by an extra 30 minutes but overall I think this is a keeper. The wings actually do cook up pretty crispy, hold sauce well, and don’t make your house smell like a KFC kitchen! Plus you don’t have to do a hole hell of a lot but wait. While waiting for the wings we had cocktails and hummus, not a bad way to pass the time!

So there you have it my special valentines dinner.

Tomorrow (I promise!!!) I will post my Top Chef inspired traditional Sunday dinner.