EAT AND BE MERRY … WHILE EATING LOCAL FOOD
Jessie’s Monthly Recipe
November 2019 Recipe – Pumpkin Chocolate Tart
As I have mentioned before in the pages of this magazine, I am not one of those folks who waits around all year for pumpkin season to arrive. This is not to say that I have anything against fall. I adore autumn and all of its accompanying holidays and sweets, but I am not a huge pumpkin fan (sorry haters) and most definitely not a fan of pumpkin pie. However, I AM a fan of preparing and serving up sweets that appeal to the masses […]
October 2019 Recipe – Apple Cranberry Crumble
If there are two camps – the pie camp and the crumble camp – then I think it is fair to say I am very much Team- Crumble. Do I love pie; making it, sharing it, eating it, etc? Why, yes, and if it is à la mode, well then all the better. But what I really love is when softened, lightly sweetened – and perhaps spiced – fruit is topped with a buttery sugary crown (no oats, please) and served up warm in big […]
September 2019 Recipe – Cinnamon-Sugar Toast
There are few things I love more than cinnamon-sugar toast. Toasted white bread, spread with softened butter and sprinkled with a sweet-spicy blend of cinnamon and granulated sugar is that which all of my best childhood breakfast memories are made. The bread was Pepperidge Farm and the butter Land O’Lakes (or maybe even Fleischman’s Margarine) and it was all just too good to be true.
As an adult, I indulge in cinnamon-sugar toast far too infrequently, but I make up for it by almost always having […]
August 2019 Recipe – Galettes
You might think of a galette as the lazy-baker’s pie, and you might not be wrong. For those of us who love the combination of buttery pastry and lightly sweetened fruit, but don’t totally love the time spent rolling out a perfectly round circle of dough, that is the perfect 1/8-inch thickness; and then transferring said circle (without ripping it, mind you) to a pie plate; and then delicately and decoratively crimping its edges; and then praying that said perfectly crimped edges do not slump […]
WINE OF THE WEEK
Bubbles Make Everything Better
This is a motto I’ve come to live by. Yes, I like a lovely dry red or a minerally refreshing white. And there are wines that definitely make some foods taste better (and worse). A wine that’s almost universally wonderful, though, is sparkling wine. In France, Champagne. In Spain, Cava. In Italy, Prosecco. In the US, Blanc de Blanc. We get introduced to sparkling wine at especially celebratory occasions like weddings and graduations or holidays like Christmas and, of course, New Year’s. Sparkling wine has […]
BLOODY GOOD
I’ve been a fan of the Cune wines from Rioja since my days in Manhattan trolling wine stores for bargain bottles. I had a favorite shop that had lots of Spanish and Portuguese reds, and that’s where I first discovered their wines. I learned then what I know now: There isn’t a bad one coming from that winery in the northern part of Spain. I picked up a bottle of the Crianza 2016 (under $15), which the label told me, “…was produced by the fifth […]
Bastide Miraflors
I was in the mood for a succulent red the other day, and I found myself in East Chatham Wine & Spirits. I love this store. It’s cozy and cute and stocked with great wine. The owner, Mary, is super-nice and happy to make recommendations. When I described what I was in the mood for, she immediately directed me to the French wine, Bastide Miraflors. It’s a 2016 Syrah with Old Vines Grenache. Just the ticket for my craving. I was delighted by the deep […]
Balderdash Cellars
I can’t help it, I just want to keep showcasing local wines. There are so many good ones in easy reach of Main Street enthusiasts. One not to be missed – especially this time of year – is Balderdash Cellars in Pittsfield. With Halloween just weeks away, how can you not want to try and stock up on wines from a place whose motto is “Wicked Wines & Tall Tales”? But wait, it gets better! They have a line of wines called Truth Serum with […]
Look for a “Wine of the Week” review by Dominique and Carlo DeVito of Hudson-Chatham Winery. Besides owning the winery, both have backgrounds in food and wine publishing. Carlo writes a blog called “East Coast Wines.” Their winery and vineyard are based in Ghent, NY. Cheers!
REVIEWING LOCAL RESTAURANTS IN OUR REGION:
MORGAN’S RESTAURANT AT THE INTERLAKEN IN LAKEVILLE, CT
Morgan’s is a little hide-away on the outskirts of Lakeville, CT, at the Interlaken Inn. They have recently renovated their restaurant and it’s a great little place to go for meetings, dates, and family dinners.
We went there on a beautiful summer Sunday evening, with kids and in-laws in tow. There were a handful of folks at the bar, with about half of the tables occupied in the restaurant – we’re early birds. The atmosphere is … well, for lack of a better word, “fresh.” It […]
THE MARKETPLACE KITCHEN TABLE IN GREAT BARRINGTON, MA
The Marketplace is located across the bridge from the Main Street area of Great Barrington MA. For those of us with a longer memory, it’s located where Friendly’s used to be. How they’ve transformed the once chain restaurant location is amazing. I had driven by a few times, even checked out their website and had meant to go. So on a Tuesday, my mother’s birthday, we had a girls’ day and headed over to Barrington and made Marketplace our lunch destination – not really knowing […]
