Going slow on the farm!

Hello friends,

Today I took a trip down to Sprout Creek Farms to pick up some goodies for the Slow Food Flower and Garden trip tomorrow. Because it is an educational farm, they welcome visitors to wander all over and pet the animals, it's delightful!

The flowers on the property were stunning! The whole place smelled wonderful.

Look at this sweetie.

 

The animals were so friendly, you could tell that they are all very well loved, they came right over to say Hello.

 

From the market that the farm has, we bought two cheeses for the trip; one soft goat cheese and one harder cow's milk cheese. Then, because I can not resist local goodies, I bought some oatmeal cakes for myself (SO good!) as well as some Hudson Valley chocolate milk and perfect Apple pie granola. I can hardly think of a better way to spend a Saturday morning than roaming a gorgeous farm with a wonderful friend and some great snacks. We got to chatting with some of the people who worked there, and they let us in on a little secret- there is a bar around town which has line dancing lessons on Wednesday nights. I know what we're doing next weekend!

Here's hoping that we have a good turnout for our Slow Food trip to the flower and garden show tomorrow! Anyone keeping a garden? I'd love to hear about it!

An abundance of love,

Paige

Some mornings simply set you up for a splendid afternoon.

And this morning was certainly one of those. 

Yesterday I was visited by a bit of a cold, so after a great deal of green tea and orange slices I took to bed early in hopes of chasing away the sniffles. That means, of course, that I woke up bright and early this morning, feeling fit as a fiddle! So after bundling myself up in my cozy lace cowl and doubling up on socks I took to the chilly morning air and made my way up to Roth Hall for a spot of breakfast. 

For perfect company I took too, my volume of Sherlock Holmes adventures. 

My dear Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; you may be one of my new favorite authors.

His writing is so beautiful, but more than that his stories are arresting and his characters are so personable. His wit and bright sense of humor stare up at you from the pages, and while I had meant to get through perhaps the first half of a story, I tore through the entirety of The adventure of the Empty House. 

My breakfast too, was completely delightful. I had scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese, onions and mushrooms. A generous helping of home fries came along with me too, and the table which usually holds bagels and fruit was overflowing with croissants, cheesy pretzel bread, danishes, and myriad other treats for the taking. So, naturally, along with my usual smuggled banana I also cautiously slipped into my pocket book some gorgeous pastries, delicately wrapped in napkins and tucked away for safe keeping. Oh K16 breakfast, how I adore thee. 

I arrived at 6:45, and did not return to my room until 8:30 for finding such great company in my Sherlock Holmes Volume. There is something so lavish about a breakfast spent alone with a good book, lots of coffee (with half and half, of course. Come on, indulge. You deserve it.), and a beautiful plate of eggs and home fries. I love the white-noise chatter that Farq Hall affords. 

Later in the day I have Cafe Savory Productions, where I will be working on ricotta gnocchi and tomato sauce. Yummy!

What is your ideal morning like?

an abundance of love,

Paige

A weekend with the Folks!

I am most decidedly and steadfastly an enormous homebody. I much prefer hanging out with my family watching silly movies and knitting over glamorous weekends of college goings-on. So when my parents wanted to come up for the weekend, I was thrilled. I get restless on campus by myself all weekend studying and doing homework, I needed a break!
Firstly when they came, we had brunch at the Eveready Diner, which is simply adorable inside.

I munched on banana foster pancakes and filled my parents in on what I had been up to lately, feeling very homey as I did so from the 1950s decor!

After we ate we went for a tour of the Roosevelt estate, which I had been dieing to do! It was enormously inspiring, and although I am a huge history buff, I think that it would be great fun for just about anyone. My mom just so happened to be wearing her mittens that I knit for her, from a pattern written by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt! How appropriate!

We toured the main home and the library, I would love to go back and visit Val-Kill; which is open seasonally.

We also visited the town of New Paltz, where I found a store devoted to hand crafted goods. The owner was there and working on a crocheted hood, how fabulous! I had a quick chat with her and learned that she and her business partner knit and crochet all of the things sold in the store, and everything else is created by local artists. They sold loads of different things, jewelry, soaps, and YARN! Hand died, luxurious wool or cotton yarn, along with cheaper (but no less lovely) alternatives like lion brand and Caron. I was so pleased! I wish that I could recall the name of the shop; but fret not, I'm sure that I will be returning.

We ate lunch at a Turkish restaurant, which was really great. I got Turkish tea and my dad got Turkish coffee, both of which were fantastic.

It was so inexpensive too! And it was great to duck out of the cold for a moment, it was 24 degrees that day!

Yummy! Huge portions, and tons of vegetarian options. 

I had no idea how perfectly I would fit in at New Paltz, loads of fair trade shops and hand crafted goodies. I have so much more exploring to do! I can not wait for it to warm up so that I can ride my bike around the town. It's not far from campus at all. 

To my CIA friends, good luck on finals this week!

Love and oolong,

Paige

The Old Chatham Sheepherding company

A dear friend and I were assigned a project for our gastronomy class on a chef named Melissa Kelly who owns Primo restaurant in Maine. It consisted of a power point presentation and an eight page essay, and while we were rooting around for information on her, we discovered that the first place she worked after graduating from our school (first in her class, certainly a mammoth task!) she became executive chef for the Old Chatham Sheep herding company bed and breakfast; which is only an hour and a half drive from our campus. Road trip!

So we loaded up the car with a few other delightful kids and took the drive through the simply gorgeous Hudson Valley to a primarily farming community called Old Chatham. We found the sheep herding  farm, which is the largest in the United States and makes cheeses and yogurt from the sheep milk, and began to roam. We came across a man who worked on the farm and asked if we could have a poke around, to which he told us that they do not really do tours but he would be happy to show us around. Fabulous! We got to see the milking equipment and the baby barn, the sounds that those little guys make will melt your heart. Then we bought lots of cheese and went out in search of the bed and breakfast after a great deal of petting. Sheep are way too cute.

 http://baby-animals-photos.blogspot.com/2011/03/sheep.html

We could not find the address of the bed and breakfast which Chef Kelly had worked at, so when we saw some joggers we asked if they could help. Much to our chagrin they informed us that it is no longer open! But they did show us to the building, which is now a private residence. Oi Vey! 

But creep we did.

We could not let the trip end so quickly, so we drove over to the neighboring town and had some lunch. There was a yarn shop there! Oh I almost cried when I found the sign saying that it is closed on Sundays. I have been searching for a yarn shop! But as disappointing as that was, there were some other great stores there too, we found a great health food store who had my very favorite Tazo tea, Lotus blossom.

http://www.amazon.com/Lotus-Decaffeinated-Green-Tea-Bags/dp/B00028PVAO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326154601&sr=8-2

Finally we headed to a town called Hudson, and got some gorgeous chocolates from a confectionary that we found on a doodle map of the area, so good!

**

I took the written portion of my baking and pastry techniques final today, as well as my knife cuts test. I think that I did alright, but only time will tell, I can't wait to get my grade!

Only one more week in this clump of classes before finals, oh goodness!

One more quick word, started a new lace scarf pattern that I found on knitpicks, it is beautiful, and it is definitely helping me not lose my marbles over all the tests that I have coming up. Thank goodness for knitting!

Love and laceweight,

Paige

19 big fat years;

December 11 was my birthday, and by a little wink of happy coincidence my school just so happened to plan a trip to New York City on Sunday! For $35 we got transportation to and fro as well as our ticket to The Radio City Christmas Spectacular! A fine birthday celebration if there ever was one. 

We left school at 9am, and were in the city and just past 10. While Elf played over head I knitted happily away on a pair of mittens that I am working on and a got to see a lovely tour through the Hudson Valley. I greatly appreciated that our bus driver took us through the scenic rout, rather than just jumping on the parkway. When we got there I garnered my layers against the cold and headed into the 19 degree New York City streets. I was lucky enough to be with some fantastic gals who knew the location of the Time Square Shake Shack, so I had my first Danny Meyer experience. Oh my word, that was absurdly tasty! I got the shroom burger, oh it was so cheesy and perfect. That bun! So eggy and decadent. Also, it would be blasphemy not to get some sort of custard treat, so I got a strawberry milkshake as well, and it was absolutely delightful. 

 After shake shackin' it up, with a full belly and excited spirit we headed out once more. Coming upon an enormous Forever 21 we immediately jumped on the chance for some heating and a spot to sit and rest, so while my friends shopped I warmed my bones and tried my best to resist the adorable sweaters and sparkly shoes the store was tempting me with. 

    The show did not begin until 5, so we had plenty of time to gallivant about time square. Let me tell you, I'm typically a snacker, I'm not too much of a big meal type of gal, besides breakfast, but that lunch at Shake Shack kept me full until after the show, which ended around six thirty. The show was, of course, fantastic, and made me want to hop on stage and try out my kicks too. Looking forward to Zumba, thanks to those Rockettes!

   The day before my birthday my parents came by for a visit, which was so nice! We tried out an Asian restaurant in New Paltz that was reviewed in La Papillote, the school newspaper. I'm certainly feeling that Christmas Spirit, and simply can not wait to go home and see that tree! 

Love and sugar plums,

Paige. 

I left my heart in Tennessee.

For anyone who has seen Morgan Spurlock's documentary The best movie ever sold.

While we were on our way I was so excited to come across one of these, and because of that movie, we just had to stop here to gas up.

It was quite a drive, but when we finally got there we were not disappointed. The cabin was beautiful, and so secluded! The trip up the mountain was horrible,I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie, luckily we had the pro to drive us up. I've never seen a steeper road than the one leading up to our cabin, once we made it up the mountain we didn't want to go back down!

The cabin even had a fire place, it was so cozy!

he he, we had a big old bath tub right in the middle of our living room!

They must have known I was coming!

A view to die for right from our back porch!

Daddy enjoying the scenery.

We were so extra careful with our crazy doggie Stella in the mountains, we were afraid she would make a run for it, but she was a very well behaved girl. She loved it out there just as much as we did!

On our first night there we ate at The Old Mill restaurant, and my mom found this unbelievable quilt hanging on the wall. Pigeon Forge really took to heart local craftsmanship, the cafe we ate lunch in the following day served everything on hand made pottery which was absolutely beautiful! (The food was fabulous as well.)

Wild turkeys were all over the place!

We found a cross stitch store! Oh goodness I was so thrilled. I went a little crazy with the photos, so here are a few of my favorites!

Most of these were displays so you could see how your project will look when you're done, but they did sell a few finished projects. Totally takes all the fun away!

Alright, enough about cross stitch, back to Pigeon Forge! They had the coolest mini golf, I only took pictures of one, but look at this madness!

After roaming all over town, we went to Dolly Parton's amusement park; Dollywood. And goodness gracious, what a fun way to spend an afternoon! They had so many shows we weren't even able to see them all, and the food was dandy as well. Just take a look at this pie...

How much do you think this puppy weighed?

That's right, 25 pounds.

After drooling over all of the goodies in the bakery we rode some rides, which were great. Dollywood is such a beautiful park, it was all decorated for Autumn and the people who worked there were so nice!

The next day we drove one town over to Gatlinburg to see Tennessee Moonshine being made! It was so cool, they had a little stage with a ton of over sized rocking chairs facing it, so while my dad had a look at the museum I took a seat and listened to the live music. And what a character! The musician was totally decked out in Hillbilly garb, he was actually really great. Bluegrass music certainly grew on me during this trip. Oh I wish we could have stayed longer.

A more beautiful town could not be found.

Suffice it to say that Tennessee has my heart in its hand.

Who knew this Jersey girl would have such an affinity for the south?

Love and hush puppies,

Paige.