A couple of things I took away from our weekend at Steve's fancy shack upstate:
1. Breakfast for a group can be a challenge -- scrambled eggs are only appealing as soon as they come out of the pan. Better presentation: a frittata, which you can cook in a big pan and serve everyone at once. Late wakers can eat frittata wedges cold -- utensils optional. Winnie made a fab chorizo frittata. For mixed veg/omnivore crowds, try a frittata with nettles, which add a meaty depth to the eggs. It's too late in the season for nettles and green garlic, but heirloom tomatoes and parmesan would be good, or maybe Black Tuscan kale and goat cheese. I liked the breakfast strategy at Steve's -- make a ton of food, like bacon, home fries, pancakes, frittata -- and just leave everything out for people to graze on.
2. Cochecton has an amazing organic farm stand with freshly pastured chickens, Tonjes dairy goods, and some impressive produce. We got these heirloom tomatoes, blondie heirloom cukes, purple peppers and beans, some tall mizuna, and tons more. I especially loved the tiny radish-sized beets. I roasted them with their elephant garlic, which was like one huge, clementine-sized clove. You can just lop a bit of the top off, stick it in with the beets, and squeeze the single clove out of its round, papery shell. They also had cute lambs, goats, and boars, which you could buy live or...not live.
3. I've never shown any natural aptitude for a video game until this past weekend. Now I'm totally obsessed with Guitar Hero. I have got to find a way to rent a Playstation for our annual Hudson trip.
4. Port Authority is a place for crazy people. I got yelled at by the crazy Shortline bus lady who told me I would wind up 45 miles away from where I needed to go, and that I ought to go take a different bus. She made me doubt my route, so I went downstairs to talk to the information booth woman, who was super friendly and sympathetic. She put her hand up against the plexiglass in solidarity and told me to just go on following my path. The buses may get out of Manhattan faster, but food options there suck. And the pigeons trapped inside the station go nuts, flying way too close overhead for my comfort. It's a fucking weird place.
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