New England

You are currently browsing articles tagged New England.

Fall Saturdays

Fall in New England leaves no shortage of weekend activities, especially when the weather is fine, and it’s a wide open Saturday. This past weekend we slept past high tide, meaning we couldn’t take the boat out for a final brunch at Liberty Wharf, as planned. But sometimes sleep is needed more than boating, and our plans quickly changed to a trip to Concord to check out the leaves and see what else we could find along the way.

Concord, MA

First, we found tons of traffic heading to our hopeful first stop, Walden Pond. We decided to drive toward Concord center instead, and remembered that Verrill Farm was somewhere nearby. A quick GPS search and a few miles later, we were pulling up to the farm, which was having a harvest festival. The festival turned out to be for kids, so instead of going on a pony ride, we decided to put a dent in our week’s grocery shopping at the farm store.

pumpkins

pumpkins

The farm store at Verrill Farm is pretty great, featuring baked goods, prepared foods, local milk, eggs, and cheese  in addition to their own homegrown produce and their free range, Concord beef. If my grocery budget was larger, I would shop exclusively at a place like this. We figured buying some locally produced food was better than nothing though, and I love how the New England terroir shines through in the food we did buy.

apples

cranberries

turnips

Since we were so close to Acton, we HAD to go to the new-ish Bueno y Sano there. The Bueno y Sano in Amherst was one of my favorite parts of college. Their tacos and hot sauce are addictive, and I could eat them every day. If I could only find the hot sauce recipe somewhere, my life would be complete.

Bueno y Sano

 

While we had a really great day, I do have a confession to make. I’ve recently decided that I dislike fall almost as much as winter. It’s been too cold for me already, dark too early, and the dreary Sundays have meant little fall boating. The fall recipes I make tend to be delicious, but they’re ugly in photos, photos that now lack natural light because it’s dark too early!  The one thing I love is fall produce, the beautiful colors and funny shapes and the plethora of uses in food and drink. Our trip to Verrill Farm helped me to shape our week’s meal plan around local produce, something that excites me probably a lot more than it should.

On the menu this week:

pulled chicken sandwiches with vegetable bbq sauce – with apples, onion, and zucchini from Verrill Farm

roasted pumpkin, kale, lentil, and goat cheese salad – with sugar pumpkin from Verrill Farm

chicken sausage skillet – with potatoes and chicken sausage from Verrill Farm

roasted turnips and a turnip gratin

apple cider cocktails – apple cider from Verrill Farm, plus whiskey and pumpkin pie spice. . . yum!

What are you cooking up this week?

Tags: apples, autumn, Concord, fall, fall foods, farms, New England, pumpkins, Travel

Sometimes an overcast weekend is just what you need. Leading up to this weekend, plans changed a million times due to some outside factors we couldn’t control. Ultimately we decided we would take a day trip to Portland, one of our favorite New England destinations. That is, until our poor cat Scout started having some issues with her teeth and gums. Plans quickly became a day at the vet. Lots of money, bags of medicine, and an appointment for a full on dental cleaning, anesthesia and all later, I was about to lose my mind ready to relax.

During the week we discovered that Hull was hosting its annual Hull Harbor Illumination to benefit Hull’s Lifesaving Museum. For one night a year, the harbor is illuminated with flares, creating a dramatic, moving scene from land and sea.

From 365 Things South Shore:

The flares help us Honor, Celebrate, and Remember. Some people’s flares honor a beloved parent, others a place of great meaning, and some just shout Yes! to the night, a silent salute to this moment of collective beauty we all create together.

We hope to take the boat, but the fog out at sea told us the car was safer. Our first stop was Tosca in Hingham (post to come) for delicious cocktails and a light dinner. Then we headed onward to Hull’s Sea Dog Brew Pub which boasted some of the best views of the Harbor Illumination.

Sea Dog, Hull

I can’t help how much I love the Sea Dog. He is too cute. The Sea Dog in Hull is perfectly located on the water adjacent to  large marina and beaches. We decided to have a beer at the bar and checked out the space inside. It’s light, airy, and features floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sea. As the bar got crowded, we noticed that the outside patio had a little overhang over it, so we decided to go outside with our beers to enjoy the fresh, briny smell of a rainy night by the sea.

Can you tell we’re kind of obsessed with all things ocean?

Sea Dog, Hull

The Sea Dog patio is large, and I am sure it is crowded on nice days. We were one of two couples out there waiting for the Harbor Illumination, so it was quiet and peaceful, a great way to relax. You can’t help but be happy when you see the Sea Dog everywhere.

Sea Dog, Hull

While we relaxed, I sipped on a Sea Dog Apricot which was a delicious, fruity beer with just enough sweetness. We also ordered some un-photographed house made potato chips with onion dip because I have never met a fried potato I didn’t like.

Sea Dog Apricot

Hull Harbor

As the rain intensified and darkness fell, I finally got too cold to sit outside, so we moved our car from the Sea Dog parking lot to along the beach where we watched as Hull residents lit flare after flare along the harbor. It was so beautiful. Even in the rain, everyone parked along the water got out of their cars to experience it.

Hull Harbor Illumination

Hull Harbor Illumination

Hull Harbor Illumination

Hull Harbor Illumination

I’m glad we decided to brave the rain to head to Hull for this event. It was truly moving, and it gave us yet another chance to stop in the midst of a busy life to just enjoy the moment.

Tags: beer, events, Hull, New England, Travel

Between my blog, conversations I have with friends and colleagues, and my appearance on Fox, I have probably said it a million times, but I will say it again. New Bedford, MA is a great little stop on a New England day trip. It’s not Provincetown or Portland, but it oozes with New England charm in its cobblestone streets, fishing boats, and whaling history. And it’s quickly becoming a place to wine and dine as well.

We wouldn’t have discovered New Bedford if it wasn’t for our love of Travessia Urban Winery wine, but we now visit at least a couple of times a year. On our most recent Southeastern MA excursion, we worked up our appetites tasting wine at Westport Rivers and Travessia, and we (really, I) desperately needed to eat by the time 6:00 rolled around.

I knew exactly where I wanted to go. Cork Wine and Tapas Bar, located right across from the shipyard, is a restaurant we have passed on our many New Bedford trips, but we had never stopped. We made a beeline from Travessia right to Cork for a fantastic wine and food experience.

Cork Wine & Tapas Bar

Talk about New England charm. Cork is in the Joseph Tabor building, which has stood proudly there since 1836. I learned from Cork’s website that the building was designed to be a warehouse to produce, house and maneuver large nautical equipment. It’s an impressive structure that now makes a great space for dining.

Cork Wine & Tapas Bar New Bedford

Cork’s menu is fresh and seasonal and offers small plates in addition to heartier options like fish and chips.

Cork Wine & Tapas Bar

They also offer wine flights, something that I love in a restaurant. It was a wine-tasting kind of day, so I decided to go with a flight of bubbles. Surprise, surprise!

sparkling wine flight

Three glasses of sparkling wine were placed in front of me: Segura Viudas Reserva, Deor Prosecco, and Santa Julia Brut Rose. The Segura Viudas was the hands-down winner with me and the other  judges, my mother-in-law and husband. The Prosecco was just okay; while I am a fan of most bubbles, I don’t love the overwhelming pear flavor some Proseccos have. The Santa Julia Brut Rose was lovely, lots of strawberry and cherry flavors, and of course that gorgeous pink color.

sparkling wine flight

While I am usually a fan of tapas style eating, I was pretty ravenous by the time we were ready to order, and I wanted one thing, Coconut Curry Lobster: Claw and knuckle lobster meat with scallions and grilled corn in curried coconut milk. Served over jasmine rice.

To.die.for. Everything in this dish added something special, from the tender lobster to the lively curry and sweet corn and rice. It was such a filling yet light option, perfect for a hot summer day and lunch the next day. My mother-in-law and husband also really enjoyed their meals. We all agreed that the service, atmosphere, selection, and food would have us coming back again and again.

lobster curry

I’m a huge lover of wine bars, cozy places to get a glass or two, with no expectation of ordering a huge meal (unless you want to), and I wish Boston had more places like Cork and my favorite Galway wine bar, Sheridan’s.

Since we’re wine club members at Travessia, we’ll have reason to visit again in the fall, and I am making a trip to Cork mandatory.

Cork Wine and Tapas Bar on Urbanspoon

Tags: day trips, dinner, Food, New Bedford, New England, Tapas, Travel, wine, wine flights, wine tasting

« Older entries § Newer entries »

new restaurant
WordPress SEO fine-tune by Meta SEO Pack from Poradnik Webmastera