Concord Grapes

Our family shares a home in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, where Andrew and I were married in 2005. We were pleased to find that Concord (pronounced "concerd" not "con-chord", by the way) grapes grow throughout the property - and at the entrance to our wedding field. My mother and I harvested these for the first time several years ago and made a spectacular jar of Concord grape jelly together. I have since done this on my own, but I was unable to find any grapes this year. Perhaps it was the terrible rainy weather we had, or maybe the animals beat me to it, but I left our anniversary weekend in New Hampshire empty-handed.



My mother, being much more persistent, was able to collect a substantial bag of grapes when she made her visit this October. She has given up on grape jelly, so I am using these grapes to make our winter supply of this treat. We will use it sparingly, but its flavor is so bold and powerful that a little definitely goes a long way. Our technique:

Remove the grapes from the stems and rinse.
Boil the grapes, skins and all, until they are falling apart.
Work the boiled grapes gently through a sieve until the juice stops flowing.
Boil the juice with sugar until it gels (~3/4-1 c. sugar per c. of juice - this sounds like a lot, but the juice is *really* sour).

This "recipe" is suspiciously free of measurements - this is because we have never measured, but have experimented instead. I use the Joy of Cooking guidelines for making jams and jellies. So far I haven't had a disaster...

Root Vegetable Season

Root vegetable season has begun! Autumn is my favorite time of year, and I love the comforting, earthy flavors of fall and winter vegetables. In my research, I found this poem, so there are obviously others as passionate as I about the humble root vegetable:

Root Vegetable Ghazal

The moon swings off in a bag like a market lettuce

And everyone gropes home by ant glint & beetle shine.

In the Hotel Potato, in waxy marble ballrooms,

The waltzers rustle to the croon of enzymes.

In the curved corridors of the onion palace,

The smell of mushrooms seeps from unlit closets.

Our city is littered with wormseed & forcemeat;

Mummies are hymning in our turnip-purple church.

Radishes cruise through the revenant storage warehouse.

The bones of a goose mark the way to an amphitheater.

Now we can scale the carrot, our tapering campanile,

To watch the platoons of gravel, the water-bead parade.

We with our thorn-wrapped hearts & ivory foreheads!

We with our mineral tunnels awash in mole-glow!

from David Young, The Planet on the Desk. (1991)

When I came home at 9 pm tonight, after teaching my class, I found Chef Andrew hard at work preparing dinner from the vegetables we got in our CSA box last week. He created a fantastic curried leek, potato, and carrot soup, which was a scrumptious meal - especially with his homemade bread, too. What a cozy way to finish my evening, and what a spectacular husband I have!

Recipe:

Sautee one leek (or whatever you have) in the bottom of a soup pot with a bit of water, olive oil, and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Add to this a few chopped vegetables: sweet potatoes, one regular potato, and approximately 6 carrots. Cover with chicken or vegetable stock (homemade is always good!), and add 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. dried mustard, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. ground black pepper, and salt to taste. Let this simmer until veggies are soft, then blend into a soup. Add water, milk, or soy milk to adjust the consistency.

For the love of fall: cider doughnuts

Anne and I were inspired to make cider doughnuts this weekend, which we fed to a group of our favorite, hungry guys. We had intended to go on an outdoor adventure to enjoy our beautiful New England autumn, but we were foiled by rainy weather and decided to stay inside instead. Watching the leaves swirl by the windows in the warmth of our kitchen was adventure enough, and Anne kept the boys busy with pumpkin cake while we worked on the doughnuts. We chose to double the recipe posted on katyelliot.com, who adapted her recipe from the Washington Post. We used King Arthur flour and Kate's butter, though the "local" in these doughnuts was less important to us than their fabulous-ness. Using a pint glass and a shot glass, we cut out the little doughnuts and prepared them for frying. Initially, we were both terrified of the 350-degree oil, but once the first doughnut went in we lost all fear and threw ourselves into the process!


We would recommend extending the cooking time. The first doughnuts came out goopy in the middle, so we cooked the large doughnuts for 1:30 on the first side and 1:00 on the second side. Warm doughnuts rolled in cinnamon sugar, with a mug of hot cider laced with rum = perfection! We're both obsessed with becoming farm stand owners, and have added cider doughnuts to our imaginary offerings...

Farm Potluck

To celebrate the end of harvest season, Susan, Tim, and I attended a potluck lunch at Waltham Fields on Saturday. In honor of Halloween, many people (and all the kids) were dressed in costume - we loved watching the kids' costume parade. In true farm spirit, there were lovely vegetarian dishes and a variety of homemade desserts, as well as crafts for the kids, and a slide show of the summer season. We all agreed we loved being part of our farm community, since it has become much more than just our weekly veggie pick-up. We already can't wait 'til next year!


Photo courtesy of Waltham Fields Community Farm

To add to the lunch bounty, I made a butternut squash pie from farm veggies, and Susan made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Tart

pastry dough (I used Whole Foods organic frozen tart shells)
1 small butternut squash (about 1 pound)
olive oil
1 small-medium onion
a bit of unsalted butter (optional)
1 whole large egg and 1 egg yolk (2 whole eggs would probably be fine)
1/3 cup heavy cream (yipes - I used nonfat buttermilk, but nonfat milk or soy milk would also work - try less liquid for a firmer pie)
3/4 cup grated hard cheese (like Parm, Fontina, or Pecorino)
1/4 cup crumbled mild soft goat cheese (about 1 ounce)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh or dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and marjoram leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Halve squash and scoop out seeds. On a baking sheet roast squash, cut sides down, in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until soft (I often pour water around the squash to help it steam).

While squash is roasting, thinly slice onion and in a heavy skillet cook in a bit of butter (optional) and olive oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Cool squash and scoop out flesh. In a food processor purée squash. Add egg, liquid, and blend well. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in cheeses, herbs, onion, salt, and pepper to taste. Pour filling into shell, smoothing top.

Bake tart in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until filling is set. Cool tart.

This recipe is adapted from Gourmet, November 1998

Vegetannual

Lovely print from Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. This print reflects the bounty of a northeastern summer and fall, and the quiet of our winter.

End of Summer

We have had our last Waltham Fields Community Farm CSA pick-up, and we are mourning our spectacular summer bounty! We have to wait more than a month for our winter share to begin, so we will be venturing back to the grocery store for our produce.

Garden Memories

The Foster-Jones household (my sister and her boyfriend Tim) had a garden extraordinaire this summer. Tim built a raised bed in the back yard of their sunny Watertown home, which they filled with soil collected on Cape Cod. In this magical soil, they planted many varieties of tomato, marigolds to keep away the pests, as well as basil, thyme, lemon verbena, peppers, and parsley. When the garden began, it was modest:



However, despite the horrible rainy weather we had, their tomatoes flourished (I really loved the yellow tomatoes):



Susan was forced to combat a small animal who chewed the tomatoes closest to the ground. She placed old windows around the periphery of the raised bed to keep the little animal away, which saved her crop. Sue and Tim were careful not to bring other tomatoes into their house or near their garden to prevent spreading the tomato blight that destroyed New England's tomato crop this year. It was difficult to get good tomatoes, but - thankfully - Sue and Tim were generous with their crops and the rest of us were able to benefit from the fabulous bounty. We enjoyed tomato and basil salad from their garden, with local mozarella.

Eggplant

Anne of So Many Veggies blogged about eggplant, so I thought I would add what I have been up to. Our farm offers many kinds of eggplant, including the standard large eggplant, long eggplant, and fairy eggplant. (Say it a few more times and the word "eggplant" will lose all meaning...)

Fairy Eggplant

I have made baba ghanoush and ratatouille from these, and they were both amazing. My recipes are adapted from The Joy of Cooking. The tahini is not from New England, obviously, but I was able to buy a jar at one of the amazing Middle Eastern markets in Watertown - and it comes from Lebanon!

Baba Ghanoush:

I peeled and sauteed about 3 eggplants until they were very soft (roasting just takes too long).

I blended these with 2 T of tahini, 2 chopped garlic cloves, the juice of one large lemon (Andrew's mom brings these from CA), and 1/2 t. salt (all this can be altered to taste, depending on the amount of eggplant). I topped the bowl of baba ghanoush with olive oil and chopped parsley.

Homemade baba ghanoush, pita chips, and falafel.

Ratatouille:

This is one of my all-time favorite summer meals, and it takes full advantage of our farm veggie supply. I use my Le Creuset cast-iron, enameled pot for this because it's heavy and prevents burning. In olive oil and a bit of water, I sautee a chopped onion and 3 minced garlic cloves. When these are soft, I add more olive oil (up to 1/4 c.), and enough cubed eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers to fill the pot. To this, I add fresh thyme, a bay leaf, salt, pepper, and a bit of water to help the veggies steam. When these vegetables have softened, I add ~1.5 cups or more of chopped fresh tomatoes and let it all simmer until the veggies are beginning to fall apart (peeling and seeding the tomatoes is nice, but not necessary). It's wonderful on polenta, with fresh bread, on pasta, or added to tomato soup.

Long-cooked ratatouille.

Picnic at Walden Pond

My sister Susan and I have had a long tradition of running around Walden Pond in Concord, Mass. and then jumping in the water for a refreshing swim. Walden Pond was made famous by Henry David Thoreau, who lived and wrote there in the 19th century. He was the only resident in those days, and while it is now a frenzy of people swimming, canoeing, and hiking, we are always able to find a little corner of peace at one of the private access points. Recently, we took Andrew on one of these runs and packed a picnic for a post-swim feast. We all agreed it was one of the best picnics we'd ever had, especially since Andrew ate his in the water! Andrew and I repeated this adventure this week (minus the run) and enjoyed a very local picnic. He loves to swim, so I set out the food while he took a long swim across the pond.

Our menu:

Local tomatoes with garden basil and mozzarella made in Everett, Mass.

Russo's bread (ok, so I don't know where the ingredients are from, but I know where it was baked!)

Goat and cheddar-style cheeses from Vermont and Lancaster Co., PA

Local berry crisp made with Kate's butter and Vermont King Arthur Flour

(and maybe we snuck in a little white wine, too...)

Salsa!

Our CSA is now offering tomatillos, hot peppers, and husk cherries, so Andrew was inspired to make salsa! Using our favorite Mexican cookbook by Rick Bayless, Andrew made two different salsas:

1) Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (with husk cherries!):

Following Bayless' instructions, Andrew packed 6 halved tomatillos, several halved garlic cloves, a handful of husk cherries, and a jalapeno into a cast-iron skillet and roasted them on the stove top. When they were nicely roasted, he blended them with some salt and chopped white onion (he left this out of my portion, given my aversion to raw onions), and we ate this with rice, beans, and homemade tortilla chips. The husk cherries added a nice sweetness to the salsa, but did not overpower the tomatillo flavor.

2) Roasted Fresh Chile Salsa:

We have picked a variety of chiles on our farm and they are all pretty mild. For this salsa, Andrew halved the chiles (left in the seeds) and 4 garlic cloves, roasted them under the broiler until the skin began to blacken, and then blended this with 2 tablespoons of lime juice. Yum! The smell of roasting chiles in the kitchen was warm and delicious.

The two salsas mixed together were wonderful, as well, and everything tasted fresh and authentic...and brought back happy memories of home in Berkeley and our favorite restaurant in Chicago, the Frontera Grill.

New England Summer Fruit

We have had a difficult summer with too much rain and cool temperatures. The fruit has been less than abundant, but when the weather turned, I decided to go in search of local fruits. Several weeks ago, I visited Russo's with Anne and Susan, where we found an amazing bounty!

These peaches, strawberries, apples, and blueberries were all grown in New England and have provided many meals. We have eaten them plain, mixed with a little maple sugar, baked in crisps, and in oven-baked french toast. The apples are part of our apple share through our CSA and I am planning on freezing lots of apple sauce in the next few weeks (see my post on apple picking for my apple sauce recipe).

New England blueberries are *very* different from the large, high-bush blueberries that come from New Jersey and California. These grow close to the ground and they are very tiny. They are also a bit more sour, but have a huge blueberry flavor. Picking them yourself is work-intensive, but worth it! Their harvesting window is short, but they can be found on the slopes of New Hampshire's and Maine's mountains...if any of you have read Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (of Make Way for Ducklings fame), you will know how special these berries are in New England.

Family Food History

Richard Foster with the results of his foraging!

Eating locally, learning to can with the Bassetts, and broadening my food horizons has me thinking about my own “food education” - and I have my Mom to thank for that. Food and eating are central to our family life. My Mom, Margaret, has a degree from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, and she is synonymous with cooking and creativity. When she and my Dad were first married in the 1970s, they established a little antique store in Cochituate, Massachusetts, where I grew up. This store specialized in antique kitchen equipment, and they spent many weekends exploring New England and upstate New York for things to sell in their own shop.

The Kitchen Cabinet - Mom's shop on Main Street in Cochituate, Mass.

She has always had fabulous taste!

Later, after we had lived in France and she was inspired by the culinary delights of the Dordogne Valley, Mom went to cooking school and established her own catering business out of our home. She has some painfully funny stories from those days, but I mostly remember the incredible desserts she brought home and that cool outfit she got to wear! We had a beautiful garden behind the house at 12 Shawmut Ave, where we could pick asparagus, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, lettuce, tons of raspberries, corn, sour cherries, and other home-grown veggies. Mom kept us in vegetables during the summer, and sometimes surprised us with frozen raspberries in the deep of New England winter. My Dad, Richard, was the forager and often came home with mushrooms he gathered himself. He would sit at the dining room table with the mushroom guides, and I would wait for someone to keel over dead at the dinner table. Homemade bread was - and still is - a staple in our house, and both Mom and Dad have perfected their own baking styles. The smell of baking bread always makes me feel at home.

Mom at cooking school at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.

Now that she lives on Cape Cod and has a smaller garden, Mom spends more time exploring the locally available vegetable and fruit options. The Cape is home to tomato farms and strawberry fields, and the corn stands are always packed at the end of the summer. She has also joined the local Coonamessett Farm, where she can pick her own hydroponic lettuce (grown in water!), gather eggs from the chicken coop, and pick the fruits and vegetables in season. It has been so fun to get to know her local growers - though the winters are bleak. Of course the freshest fish catch is always available at the Falmouth Fish Market or from the Clam Man, and it’s guaranteed to be local year-round.

As an adult, I can see how this incredible focus on food and home has helped make me who I am. Andrew and I have that in common, and our lives continue to revolve around the kitchen.

To see the Coonamessett Farm, see my upcoming post or visit: http://www.coonamessettfarm.com/

Boston Area Farmer's Markets

The Boston Globe reported recently that the number of small farms in Massachusetts has increased dramatically, and the evidence is in the farmer's markets! There are so many new markets in the area that they are actually competing for farmers and their wares. In fact, such competition may lower prices at the markets for the consumer. The farmer's market is back on track - look at the wide literature for the reasons why - and ours in Davis Square is small but lively, and offers a wide variety of wonderful local foods.

After a year-round market in Berkeley, CA, we were saddened - but not surprised - to find that ours is open for less than half the year. Snow, ice, and the dark days of New England winter explain this, so it pays to take advantage of the market while it's here. While we belong to a CSA and don't need our farmer's market for everyday produce, I have found two fantastic sources of food there:

1) Seconds tomatoes. In Cali, we often made deals with the farmers to take home boxes of "seconds" tomatoes - those that may be bruised or over-ripe and perfect for sauce - for $0.50 a pound. Here I've found the farmers offer these tomatoes for quite a bit more ($1.00-1.50/pound), though I am far too wimpy to haggle...when I get these tomatoes home I skin them immediately by dousing them in boiling water with the stems removed, then I store them whole in the freezer for winter. We had tomato-based meals in the depths of winter last year that tasted like the happy days of summer.

Image from "Farmer Al's Seeds of Wisdom" published by Albert Stoddart

2) Honey from Farmer Al! Farmer Al, or Albert Stoddart the honey man, has a farm in South Lancaster where he makes his own honey. Last year he was the first farmer we met when we arrived in Massachusetts and he gave us free veggies as a welcome. Along with those veggies, he gave us his book Farmer Al's Seeds of Wisdom, which is based on - in his own words - his "own involvement and observation in the things of nature." Farmer Al tells us "to grow food for tomorrow takes a lot of faith in seeds" and "try as you may an apple tree will not provide an ear of corn." Should you want your own book of wisdom, visit Farmer Al!

Waltham Fields Community Farm

The greenhouse at WFCF

Last fall we joined Waltham Fields Community Farm in Waltham, Massachusetts so we could get our vegetables from a local and ecologically-friendly source. According to their mission statement, WFCF "...promotes local agriculture through growing and distribution practices that are socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable. We forge relationships between people, their food supply, and the land from which it grows." We fell in love with this farm, which is nestled in the outskirts of Boston among suburban homes and industry on the University of Massachusetts climate field station site and nearby Lyman Farm. They maintain several acres of fields, which they farm using mid-century tractors, volunteers, and a devoted team of farm staff. Not only do they grow vegetables for the Community Supported Agriculture members (like us), but they are committed to organic, sustainable practices, education, and hunger relief.

Susan picking peas.

Each week we venture out to the farm, where we collect our weekly share of veggies and participate in the you-pick selection, which allows us to enter the fields and choose our own food. The food comes from the plant to our hands and goes directly to our table, which has been the goal of this entire eating project! We feel fulfilled each week when we visit the farm and feel that this is a wonderful reciprocal relationship: we get tasty, fresh, and healthy produce and they can continue their efforts with our support. If you are interested in following what is happening at WFCF, read their newsletter, which is published each week.

Baby Blake's Food

My dear friend Jennie came to visit recently and we had so much fun feeding baby Blake his meals.  I don't know if Blake's food is local, but I couldn't pass up the fun shots of him eating with abandon!  

Makin' Pickles

Ah, the bounty of summer!  We are overrun with cucumbers from our summer CSA at Waltham Fields Community Farm right now.  Since cucumbers and I don't really get along, I decided to make pickles.  My mother-in-law and Grammy-in-law taught me some of what they know about canning and gave me a $1 Ball Blue Book: Easy Guide to Tasty, Thrifty Canning and Freezing to help guide my way.   I am most comfortable making pickles and jams because they are the most fool-proof and safest (because of the sugar and vinegar contents).  I followed the recipe for fresh-pack pickles, and even ground my own pickling spices and used fresh dill from the farm.  Grammy is a canning artist, and while it has often been a necessity for her, she maintains that canning should be fun - don't try to do too much in one day or you will lose interest.  I am keeping the pickles in the fridge, because I am not yet fully confident in my abilities - if anybody has tips on becoming a confident canner, I would love to know! 

The canned beauties.

Local Beer Tasting!

Downtown Wine and Spirits in Davis Square has one of the largest selections of beer, bar none!  Given Andrew's deep love of beer, it's been a quest to find the best local beers while we are living in Somerville.  He and his dad, Alan, had a tasting this summer to find their favorite local IPA.  They tasted approximately 10 beers from Maine to Delaware, and threw in a California favorite as a control (Bear Republic's Racer 5).  Although Racer 5 will always be the favorite, a new "local" choice from Delaware is Dogfish Head 90-Minute IPA, which came in a close second.  

Recently, Downtown Wine and Spirits offered a tasting of Blue Hill India Pale Ale from Canton, MA, the brewery's first bottle!  It's an excellent local IPA that rivals all other local choices.  Andrew even got a free glass with a purchase of a 6-pack.  

MIT Farm Stand

In early spring, MIT debuted its first fruit and vegetable stand!  In an effort to get students to eat more fresh foods, they have partnered with Russo's to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to the MIT community.  My friend Anne, who is a vegetable and fruit enthusiast and keeps her own blog "So Many Veggies", met me there one chilly afternoon to peruse the bounty.  I love this photo of Anne with the Boston skyline in the background and the beautiful Florida oranges brightening up the winter scape.  We were amazed at how many students came to take advantage of this, and we both thought it was a sign that we city folk need more access to healthy produce.

Long lines at the MIT farm stand.

  

Maple Syrup in Somerville

One New England tradition that makes Andrew weak at the knees is maple syrup making.  We discovered that the Growing Center in Somerville has a very small production of maple syrup!  They tap trees with school kids at the Tufts University campus, then bring the watery sap to the Growing Center where it is boiled to make syrup.  This is an outdoor system, rather than the traditional sugarhouse, but it gave us a great look at how the process works.  The system was made by students at the local technical high school, and the syrup was given to those who participated in the process.  A local triumph from beginning to end!  

Tapping the trees to collect sap.

A local child shows us how it's done!

Andrew, in love with the outdoor sugar shack.  Wood is loaded into the fire through the door on the right, which boils the sap on the trays above.  The syrup is done when enough water has boiled off to leave behind the tasty elixir.

The names of the high school students who made the stove.

Apple Picking

Andrew with an apple-picker

Our blog is far behind, but I am ready to catch up now that I'm enjoying summer vacation.  Our winter here was hard and long, but I love the snow so much that it didn't bother me one bit.  We adapted to the winter vegetable hiatus by getting a CSA box from Enterprise Farm, and enjoying traditional, local events:  apple picking and maple syrup making!

We visited an apple orchard in northern Rhode Island with our friends Kris, Steve, and Greta.  This was Greta's first trip to an apple farm and she was a bit wary of the huge trees - until she got her hands on the sweet, tasty apples.  We picked Macoun, MacIntosh, Cortland, and other New England varieties. 

Steve and Greta Dahl, Kris Bovy

I made much apple sauce from this bounty, using the following method:

Core, peel, and roughly chop as many apples as will fit in your stewing pot.  I mix all varieties, though I'm sure other cooks will have opinions about the best apple sauce apples.  If you can, peel in the longest strands possible.

Mix the apples with long strands of the reddest peel (you should pull this out at the end, but it stains the apple sauce pink!), a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, and about 1/4 c. of water.

Simmer this gently and crush the apples occasionally with a spoon.  It's done when the apples are falling apart.  Remove the strands of apple peel - this is the reason I try to keep them as long as possible.

I don't find this recipe needs any sugar, but you may add some to taste.  This can be canned or frozen, or just enjoyed right from the pot!  Here's enough sugar to last you all winter long:

Greta choosing a Halloween pumpkin!

California Dreamin'

After six months of living in New England - where I grew up - we have some perspective on what it means to eat locally here.  Because we both started with new jobs in the fall and I was fighting to finish my dissertation, we haven't begun this project in earnest until now.  We moved from Northern California - where Andrew grew up -  where the locally available produce, meats, and grains were plentiful and available year-round.  Our lives involved a lot of grocery shopping, making bread and pasta, and regular visits to the farmer's markets and our family's Sebastopol farm.  Our favorite flavors from our year of local eating in Berkeley are the lemons from our tree, Sebastopol plum jam, goat cheese, our own sun-dried tomatoes, and California wine.

Fast forward to New England: winter.  There is nothing like a New England winter.  The snow falls, the city gets quiet, and I love the sound of the snow plows going by in the night with the promise of fresh snow-fall in the morning!  We felt instantly at home here among our old friends and family, living in the simultaneously progressive and traditional town of Somerville. Living in the city has almost eliminated our need for a car, but we struggle with the energy demands of an old house in the freezing winter weather.  New Englanders have jumped at the chance to eat locally, and small farms and producers of all kinds thrive here.  However, when winter comes, our food supplies dwindle.  Without the preparation of canning and drying supplies, what were we to do?

Our solution has been to buy eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, and butter that come from New England, and we stocked up on honey, molasses, jam, and King Arthur flour basics that are made (and sometimes grown) here.  But, what were we to do about produce all winter long?  In the autumn, we depended on our Davis Square farmer's market and the locally-available produce at the grocery store.  Now, we have decided to sign up for a winter-CSA box.  This is a Community Shared Agriculture box of produce that comes from Enterprise Farm in western Mass.  While this small farmer doesn't grow all the produce, he contracts with other small east coast farmers from Maine to Florida to provide us with organic produce all winter long...I shed a few tears of joy when I opened the first delivery. 

We hope this blog will provide you with a little bit of insight into our eating adventures - please share your own photos and stories here, especially if you are a New England local eater!