Posted in Around the Lakes Region, eat local, Food Adventures, For Fun, Local Food, maple sugar, seasonal eating on March 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Tapping at home!
Last year around this time, I did a post about how pothole season means maple syrup season around these parts. You can check that out if you’d like more information about the nuts-and-bolts of maple sugaring (in NH, sugar is a verb!).
Meanwhile, though, if you live in or around NH, I’d encourage you to check out your local sugar house this weekend during NH’s Maple Producer open houses.
Mmmmmmm…
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, eat local, Food Adventures, For Fun, Local Food, New Hampshire on February 6, 2009 | 4 Comments »
My egg store. Sandwich, NH.
Fresh eggs. Self-serve (write your name in the log and deposit cash in the box).
Make your own change.
Open 24-hours.
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, Dogs, New Hampshire on February 5, 2009 | 3 Comments »
I just haven’t put anything up here. I missed this week’s Dark Days update, but I already have stuff in the works for the next couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, here’s how we’ve been spending our weekends. Conditions have been fabulous for snowshoeing this year, and it wears the little bugger out!
Off Sandwich Notch Road, Beede Falls/Cow Cave parking lot. Sandwich, NH
One of the aforementioned Cow Caves.
Wait for me!
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, Food Politics, Need Help, Thoughts on January 13, 2009 | 11 Comments »
Brooklyn Bridge
In the town next door, there is a small, independent, locally-owned grocery store. Generations of students from the high school where I work and the neighboring high school have learned responsibility and the value of the dollar through gainful employment at this grocery store. The store supports school activities through donations, offers community groups the chance to sell goods in front of their store, and offers discounts for seniors on Tuesdays.
They also jack their prices up in the summer to take advantage of vacationers and island-dwellers who can dock their boats across the street. Their produce section is only so-so, with local offerings occasionally (especially in summer, with produce from farmers I frequent at their stands) and maybe 12 organic items regularly.
And now, just a few more miles down the road, there’s one of these:
Their prices are so much more competetive. The variety of all their products is larger. I could probably live without those things.
But, in every aisle there is an organic section (organic rice, organic beans, organic spices!). They had Maine shrimp! Organic potatoes and onions – from New England!!! Oh my. My no-Whole Foods-within-a-100-mile-radius shopping experience is showing, I know.
But, I’m conflicted.
I love the prices and the variety of Hannaford, which happens to be a New England company, as well.
There are plenty of jobs for high school kids there, too, right?
I mean, organic EVERYTHING, people.
But the local grocer is an authentic member of the community, right? He has supported this community for GENERATIONS! What kind of impact will this chain store have on the fabric of life in our small towns?
Ugh. My guilt.
As if to make it that much worse, I have to drive by the independent store to get to Hannaford.
It mocks me.
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, For Fun on November 22, 2008 | 5 Comments »
For some reason, back in July, I decided I would train for, and run a 5k. I used this program to go from never, EVER, having run before, to being able to run for, well, at least as long as it took me to finish the Wolfeboro Turkey Trot today.
My goal was only to finish. I did. And let’s just say there’s a really good chance I could have a better time if I keep going and run another one. Let’s also just say, that if you are ever in charge of organizing a roadrace, please encourage your course spotter folks not to ask, “You’re the last one, right?!”
But I really, really don’t care about my time. I really, really, care that I can say I did it.
So will I do it again? I don’t know. As winter begins to take hold here in NH, it becomes a real challenge for me to stay motivated to keep running. I’m going to take the next few days off and think about it.
Meanwhile, if you’re like me, you can spend the rest of the weekend doing some Thanksgiving planning and getting the house in order. Enjoy!
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, EatLocalChallenge, For Fun, moultonborough, New Hampshire, Travel on October 14, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Feels like this is all I have time for right now!
It’s been two weeks since the beginning of the October Eat Local Challenge and I have done exactly zero update posts.
It’s not that I’m ignoring the challenge. It’s just that I’ve been a little distracted the last couple of weeks. In fact, I’ve only got a few minutes to update those of you who have miraculously still been stopping by. So, I’ll give you my last couple of weeks in pictures. By the end of this week, all should be fairly calm again and I can get back to regular posting.
What have I been up to (look for these adventures to show up in future posts!)?
Well, I’ve been processing these:
Laughing at this sign in Montreal:
Checking out the “World’s Largest Penny Candy Counter:”
Keepin’ it local by finally making my own pasta:
Baking:
And, finally, enjoying one of the most colorful New England autumns I can remember:
Not to mention enjoying most-certainly-not-local fried pickles at the local fair and trying to survive the last 21 days of this election.
See, aren’t you tired? I’ll be back in just a few days. Promise!
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, For Fun, moultonborough, New Hampshire on September 17, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Every year, just as the Big Lake finally calms down and arguably the best boating season is upon us, the “World’s Largest Steamboat Meet” takes place just a mile from our house. We keep our boat just a few hundred feet from the meet site, so every year we enjoy their company for the week after Labor Day.
Besides being colorful and fun to watch,
steamboats are an experience for your ears and nose, too. Even a mile from the site, we can hear the boat whistles in our living room and smell the wood fires that power the steam engines.
On the final Sunday of the meet, the boats have a parade. Usually, we boat out to the parade route, throw down the anchor, and enjoy the chilly morning air while waiting to see the boats. This year, the remnants of Hurricane Ike as well as other assorted fronts were forecast to move through on Sunday, so we made sure to boat by on Saturday, a gorgeous September day.
The steamboats can be charming and traditional
or even have a theme.
They are big or small.
The steamboat enthusiasts are great folks, and many people take advantage of the free steamboat rides during the week.
I always know we’ve turned the corner into fall when I hear the steam whistles and smell the wood smoke from the steamboats.
I also know fall’s on the way when the buoy pumpkin shows up!
Buoy Pumpkin, Hemlock Harbor, Moultonborough, NH
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, eat local, Local Food, One Local Summer, seasonal eating on September 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Kim, where are you?
I have been hard to find lately here at Yankee Food. My posts have only been weekly for the past several weeks. And, once again, I’m late with my final OLS entry.
For some reason, I’m feeling the need for some new inspiration right now. The food around here right now is, frankly, spectacular. The weather has been fabulous, and, well, this is where I live, how bad could it be?
View of Lake Winnipesaukee, NH from Red Hill Fire Tower
So it’s not bad. It’s…well…not as challenging to eat good, whole, locally-produced foods right now. Maybe that’s why I haven’t felt the itch to update here more often?
Or, maybe it’s because school started today and instead of computer time, I’ve been enjoying the final few weeks of long days, fresh food, late-night TV and leisurely dinner preparation.
Well, now that I’m back to the regular routine of school and school-related activities, perhaps I will begin to once again feel compelled to write here.
Until then, though, here’s my final OLS meal.
Over at Urban Hennery, Laura recently asked people to comment about what they eat “when nobody’s looking.” Well, when nobody’s looking and I don’t feel like making a blog-worthy dinner, we usually have Salad and ________________. So perhaps it’s fitting that we should end the summer with the same.
This week, it was Salad and roasted chicken. The leftovers, really, of a fun party with friends the night before that consisted of a roasted chicken, a big green salad and steamed corn.
We enjoyed it on the boat. Perfect.
The round up:
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, eat local, Local Food, New Hampshire, News on August 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I wish I had a super-fabulous post in honor of the first day of NH Eat Local Week, but, I don’t. In fact, I don’t even have my post ready for OLS this week! It’s been quite hectic here the last several days, so I haven’t been able to feed my internet addiction as I would have liked.
I have, though, updated the Lakes Region Food Resources and Why Eat Local? pages. I thought that, if someone stumbled upon this site, they might find some helpful links there to get them started.
So, thanks for your patience, and stay tuned for my OLS entry, as well as more adventures in local eating!
Posted in Around the Lakes Region, eat local, Local Food, New Hampshire, One Local Summer, seasonal eating on July 6, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Like lots of other folks, our weekend has been filled with family, food and relaxing. While I’m sure the family part could fill a whole other blog (couldn’t everyone’s?), let’s stay focused, shall we?
I suppose I could have picked the barbeque we had on the fourth itself – fresh tomato & basil bruschetta on bakery bread, Rock Farm steaks, salad with local lettuce, cukes, tomatoes and radishes, and an Asian slaw with tatsoi and pac choi from our first CSA share. I could have, but, alas, I have no other photos of the day, save the bruschetta, and this one:
Is it weird that sometimes one of my favorite things about entertaining is that afterward, there are usually flowers in the bathroom? Anyhoo, you can all keep your psych 101 diagnoses to yourselves, thank you!
Moving right along, I could probably have chosen to feature breakfast with lunch lady eggs and local bacon.
Nope.
I’m choosing this meal as my OLS meal this week. A sandwich:
enjoyed on our boat. Bakery bread, local butter, local lettuce, local tomato and local bacon.
Ahhhhhh.
Monday? Who said it was almost Monday?
