If only all November weekends were like this one!

Having barely had any exercise since we returned from Boston two weeks ago, I was very anxious to get outside this weekend. We thought a hike on Saturday and a bike ride on Sunday would be a good idea given the glorious weather. For our hike we headed down to Cobalt, CT--I know, you've never heard of it! It's a tiny place near East Hampton, roughly across the Connecticut from Middletown. To get there you take route 66 east from route 9 to the intersection with 151 (Depot Hill Road). Turn left, then at the fork bear left up a steep hill. You then turn right in Gadpouch Road, and after it turns into a dirt road, look for blue trail markers on the left. There is a little semi-circular pull off across from the trail where you can park. It is hike number #25 in the book 50 Hikes in Connecticut. The very first part of the hike takes you through some mucky terrain and across some brooks, but the tall trees and the craggy outcrops had us oohing and ahing despite the distinct possibility of wet feet and turned ankles. Soon however, we were climbing through the rocks up to the top of the ridge. There were plenty of downed trees due to winter storm Alfred but some had been removed from the trail, and others already had a beaten path around them, so they were not as much an obstacle as we had feared.

Once on top of the ridge, we admired the views of a small lake below and the twisting Connecticut in the distance. I was ready to eat the steak, fig, spinach and mustard changes I had made, but Ray said "Not yet!""Fine" I sighed. We continued along the ridge, heading north towards a cascade we were supposed to reach after 2.5 miles. It was not particularly difficult because we had already done the biggest part of the ascent, but going around the enormous trees and being careful not to lose our footing on the many loose stones beneath the leaves had us moving more slowly than we had hoped. I glimpsed a deer  leaping through the dappled sunlight and Ray stopped to admire the shapes of the huge recently fallen trees. The weather was so perfect! The only thing giving away the mid-November date was the daylight that made it seem much later than it was. This and the realization that it was the first Saturday of the hunting season had us turning around not long after we encountered some old-timer hunters at a road crossing. The cascade, only about 1/2 a mile away, would have to wait.


Still, we got back to the car unscathed, albeit a little muddy. The descent is the most difficult part for me so I was glad when we were out. Ray's knee held up magnificently. And he even had enough energy to go out to dinner!

We decided to go to Firebox in Hartford. It's such a cozy place for an autumn meal. We sat at the bar, which is what we normally like to do. It is at once more intimate and more social. It was quite a challenge selecting a bottle of wine, but once the mission was accomplished, we selected our food. Ray had the duck, which I barely even saw it was consumed so rapturously and so quickly, and I had the salmon--beautifully plated. The colors and the balance of flavors and textures were exquisite! The chianti was a perfect accompaniment.

Sunday morning we arose, did a few chores and errands and then headed to our local bike trail in Vernon. We were prepared to find it closed, or at least difficult, but although there was massive destruction of venerable old trees, the trail had been cleared. There were quite a few "widow makers" dangling overhead, but plenty of joggers, strollers and fellow cyclists were out enjoying the beautiful day, seemingly oblivious to the dangers. We joined them. Sixteen miles is a mere jaunt now and we pedaled along contentedly. It is rare for us to be on this trail among barren trees, but we did see things we never knew were there. The gentle and unseasonably warm afternoon light filled us with a glow of "bien-être". We are not sure how many calories we burned, but we feel we deserve the Cornish game hens on the menu for tonight.

The Cornish game hens with onion compote were yummy. I had to go to Highland for the hens, where I bought the only one they had. It was certainly enough for two, so I only made 1/3 of the recipe. I added a little of the fig mostarda compote that Marsha had given me, and I used less sugar than called for, but other than that I followed the recipe. I roasted some little potatoes with the hens and we had a spinach salad. The hens were succulent and the onion compote was a great addition. I made the pan sauce, but it might not have been necessary. Ray had hoped to serve a Chinon, but was disappointed in it, so we had our standby Campuget Costiere de Nimes. We've said it before, but Rhone wines seem to go with everything! Chateau de Campuget is particularly delightful because it always brings back the wonderful lunch we had there last summer.

Escaping from a storm - photographic retrospective...

Back to normal--almost!

Despite a nightly battle with Comcast (we have internet but our big TV has been getting sicker and sicker) we are spending our first evening feeling we are indeed, home again. Partly to welcome Maggie on her first visit to our home without Margaret, and partly to thank Marsha and Dennis for their hospitality while we were homeless (or at least toiletless), we are making one of our favorite comfort food meals - Osso buco! I have used this recipe from Epicurious for years, and it's always a hit. It's one of those dishes that really benefit from being made the day before and my favorite tactic is to forget it in the oven! The first time this happened, Ray had wandered by and seeing the oven on, turned it off. I was typically oblivous and had completely forgotten  that I had left it in the oven. So I went to bed. At 2:00 am I awoke in terror. "OMG! The osso buco!"

I scurried to the kitchen in the dark and carefully lifted the pot out of the oven. Sure smelled good. I put it in the fridge and the next evening, it was magnificent! I was hoping for the same result tonight, although I didn't repeat the forgetful part, so it might not be quite as good. But if you are thinking of making it, do not skip the gremolata. The lemon and parsley balance the richness of the stew perfectly. To accompany it, the recipe suggests polenta, but I have not been too successful making it, so I make a simple risotto with onions, parmesan, chicken broth and a tiny bit of saffron. A salad, some bread and voilà!

Ray, Marsha and Maggie sampling cheese

As I was making the risotto, everyone sat around the island and sampled the cheeses Ray had bought at Whole Foods. One, a blue from Bourgogne was particularly good. What was it called? Good question, we will return and buy some more to find out. (Update: It's called Persillé du Beaujolais) For our red wine we had a simple but delicious Toscana (2007) from Villa Antinori. No time to make dessert, so I bought a lemon meringue pie from the Vernon Diner, and everyone seemed to like it, but I wish I had had time to make my own...

Saved in Boston

So the plan was to hop in the car and drive off to the Ayers / Nashua bike trail. The morning was, um, quite cold, but crystal clear. The previous night had not been restful due to an exuberant wedding party that just would not quit. We did manage to get free breakfasts and 10,000 extra Marriott points for our bleary-eyed complaints, so that was OK.

After a few false turns we found ourselves in the middle of Ayers, Massachusetts. A pretty depressing post-industrial place with a Subway, a Mobil station and a Dunkin' Donuts. The trail nonetheless, presented itself, along with a fully outfitted couple of young cyclists with East European accents. Dressed in skin-tight black cycling pants they sped off ahead of us onto a leaf covered trail. We darted around several downed branches and ducked under several dangling branches before we encountered the yellow police tape and "Do Not Enter" sign across the trail. The young couple picked up their bikes and went around the tape. What could we do? Of course, we followed them. But it got worse and worse, and more and more dangerous. When we finally encountered an entire enormous oak tree across our path we turned around. Arriving back at the car, we realized our friends had followed us out. Now what? Our mood had rapidly changed from cheery to cranky. It was a beautiful day. We couldn't ride our bikes. It was futile to find another trail, especially since it would be getting dark early on this first day back in EST. So...Boston!

We set the GPS and headed southeast. After briefly discussing parking strategies, we decided to drive directly to Newbury Street and take our chances. We crossed the Mass Ave Bridge (does it have another name?) from Cambridge and immediately found a parking place on the street! A good omen! We could not ride our bikes because we didn't have our helmets and they are rightly pretty strict about it in Boston. We don't always use them on trails because we are not that fast, and I often get splitting headaches from mine. Also, the wind blowing through my hair makes me feel like a ten year-old! But we are (ok, I am) fairly law-abiding so another day of urban-hiking was in order.

We headed up Newbury Street, across the Common and noted the bizarrely green grass and trees that had not yet lost their leaves. We had just gone through a treacherous winter week but it looked and felt, like late September. Strolling up Charles Street we thought first of brunch at the Beacon Hill Bistro, but there would be an hour wait, so we continued to Toscano Restaurant. I remembered having a delicious pasta lunch there years ago with Margaret and Sheila (both together or separately I'm not sure). It did not disappoint! I had a delicious butternut squash soup that had tomatoes and Parmesan croutons with a tricolore salad, and Ray had a seafood stew. After lunch we crossed over to the park along the river and walked back to our car. Boston is so beautiful! We debated the virtues of a pied-à-terre there or in Providence. I love Providence, but as long as this is all imaginary, I vote for Boston.

Once back in Tolland, we commiserated with the neighbors, got some more underwear and headed over to the Meegans, who had graciously accepted to feed us and lodge us for the night. We watched the Patriots lose, ate a wonderful spaghetti dinner and learned that our power was back on. Briefly, as it turned out, but long enough to drain the septic system. We were highly skeptical about the return of power without any work having been done. Had they simply flipped a switch that could have been flipped a week ago? Were they just trying to pump up their numbers for the evening news? Awfully transparent, its seems to me.

Exiled on the North Shore - don't cry!

Having returned briefly to Connecticut, and finding the welcome, well, not warm, we gathered some more clothes and zoomed off on a new adventure. We headed to the Marriott in Woburn, which is convenient, clean, cheap and gives me extra points for a free night somewhere, sometime soon. Feeling the need to take a break from the fine dining scene, we ordered pizza from a famous Boston area chain - Regina Pizzeria and settled in to watch TV and admire the sunset over route 93.

My Trails app view

A beautiful, chilly morning welcomed us and we decided to explore the picturesque fishing ports along the North Shore. It would be a walking, rather than cycling day, since the temperatures, the hills and the traffic made urban hiking a better choice. In Marblehead I tried my  "My Trails" app to track our walking tour, and it was pretty cool, although I really need to do a better job of charging my iPhone. It totally died before we were done.

The jumble of early American architecture, rock walls, and seascapes glittered in the brilliant morning sun. Particularly impressive was the hilltop Old Burial Ground. After our walk we had very nice lobster salads and a glass each of Murphy Goode Sauvignon Blanc at the Landing.

Then it was on to Salem, where we had our obligatory afternoon coffee followed by a visit to the Peabody Essex Museum. We had been there years ago, but it has been greatly expanded and aside from the impressive collection reflecting Salem's seafaring past, its Asian connections and its amazing Native American display, we learned a lot about surrealists Lee Miller and Man Ray. Our afternoon ended with a sunset stop in Rockport, where there were too many shops and too many tourists, but the view was nonetheless worth the trip.

Escape to Providence! - a winter's tale

Trees over power lines on Crystal Lake Road

The Surprise Halloween storm of 2011 brought 12" of snow to Tolland. Ray and I, knowing there would be snow, had planned on a quiet weekend of hiking, snowshoeing and putting our house back in order after the whirlwind French Exchange. Well, we got the hiking in on Saturday morning, but then it started to snow. Massive outages were predicted due to the wet white stuff and the leaf-laden tree branches in this atypical autumn.

We didn't really believe it. After all, we had just experienced a five day outage in August with Hurricane Irene. Could this really be happening again, and so soon? Alas, the answer was yes. By 4:30 pm we had no power. We managed to get the gas fireplace on before the power went out so we thought we were OK. Plenty of wine, a lamb steak to cook on the grill, yummy vegetable leftovers to heat alongside the lamb. Plenty of candles. We set about to make dinner on the grill. We made it through the first night.

But then on Sunday morning with all the snow on the deck, making coffee seemed problematic, so I sent Ray out to find some, not realizing how terrifying it was going to be. Crystal Lake Road was barely passable-- dangling power lines and tentatively hanging tree limbs were everywhere. The ominous sound of snapping branches echoed through the woods. There was nothing open anywhere. No coffee. So we cleared the path to the grill, made one last pot of French press, and then hurled our laundry, our bikes, and our electronics (one macBook, one iPad, two iPhones, one iPod and two digital cameras) into the car and headed to Rhode Island.

From East Providence to Bristol

And then we got the call--no school for two days. Staying with Ray's dad was fun, but this was an opportunity too great to pass up. A first-ever fall vacation! Ray's company had no power so no trucks were going out, and, oh yeah, there were no restaurants open to deliver to so-o-o... we decided an adventure was in order. Margaret suggested hotels.com and we got an amazing deal to stay at the Biltmore in Providence. But first, this beautiful sunny day in Rhode Island, such a contrast to the frozen landscape we had left, deserved a bike ride. The 28 mile circuit was a little more than we had done recently, but the conditions were perfect and there were few riders out on the trail so it was optimal cycling. We then checked into the Biltmore and found our first in a series of amazing  restaurants. New Rivers has been in Providence for twenty something years. It is just at the bottom of the hill, across from downtown, and is in a nicely restored old industrial building with tomato soup colored walls and twinkling lights. We felt like we had walked into a dream. The menu, and the wine list, were French inspired and the staff was friendly. Soon we were chatting with the owner and trading "when I was in France" stories. Duck cassoulet, autumnal vegetable platter, cheese and charcuterie were among the dishes we sampled. A stellar first day away from the storm!

Café Choklad

The next morning we had our first cup of coffee in the hotel Starbuck's and then headed out for an urban hike. First stop was a second cup of coffee at Café Choklad - a Swedish (of all things) breakfast place. Then we headed the Rhode Island School of Design's museum - easily my favorite small museum on the planet - and that is saying a lot! We were so enthralled that we became members on the spot, and hope to return often. Not only is the collection exquisite, but the colors of the wall, the careful display of the pieces, the magical views as you gaze from one room to another, all combine to make this  well worth a trip by itself, and yet that was not all we did! It was here that I got the word - no school for the WEEK!!

Charcuterie at La Laiterie

This was pretty exciting--and certainly unprecedented. So after the museum, the sun now warming the streets, we continued up the hill, through the Brown campus and down to Wayland Square. We had lunch at La Laiterie, a cheese shop (the Farmstead) and restaurant combined. It came highly recommended by Margaret and Maggie and we were not disappointed. The charcuterie platter was especially amazing! We then continued our hike, stopping for coffee at the Coffee Exchange and wandering back downtown. For dinner we stopped at the bar at the newly opened Dorrance. The food is still a work in progress, but the setting is spectacular.

We were running out of clothes, so on Wednesday morning a stop at City Place Mall seemed a good idea. We then headed out of town to our other favorite Rhode Island bike path, the Blackstone River Bikeway. After an easy twenty miles along the river and canals, past waterfalls, old converted brick warehouses and factory buildings, and yellow woods, we headed back to town to meet up with former student Corey Anderson. Corey is a culinary arts student at Johnson and Wales, one of the nation's premier schools for would be chefs, sommeliers and restauranteurs. Corey gave us a tour of the campus and we were amazed! We felt so fortunate both to have Corey as a guide, and to be there during the week so we could peek into the labs and see classes taking place. It was so cool! All the students were wearing white lab coats and toques, and the classes were very hands-on. There was wine-tasting, coffee-making, cake-baking and everything else you could imagine. The modern glass building was full of light and activity. There is also a culinary arts museum --our second favorite museum in Rhode Island!-- and yet another delightful surprise on this most amazing voyage.

A wonderful day was capped by another great meal, this time at Siena on Federal Hill. We have never been able to get into this restaurant, although we have been trying for years. We were not disappointed. Even on a Wednesday night, the place was hopping. We split a caesar salad, a delicious mushroom and truffle-oil pasta, a tuscan veal scallopini and an etherial tiramisu.

This was all very well and good, but I don't stay in one place for long and by Thursday I was ready for a road trip within a road trip. The climatic conditions were perfect for a day on the Cape Cod Rail Trail so off we went. I had had several thwarted trips to this trail, so finally getting there on a beautiful day with no crowds was particularly sweet. We cycled mostly uphill from Dennis to Orleans, thinking our trip back would be easy, so we stopped for lunch at the  Land Ho - a kitschy red checkered table cloth place in Orleans. Ray wanted chowder, which I don't normally order because it's usually either too gloppy or too boring, but this chowder was the best I have ever had. I made him let me eat half. Back on our bikes, we found we were cycling into strong headwinds that had suddenly sprung up. Not exactly surprising on the Cape so we just kept pedaling--pretty slowly--even downhill. Good for the thighs and the burning of calories. On the way back to Providence, Ray conducted some frantic business on the phone and we sailed into the sunset. Our last evening was spent at New Rivers where we talked to more people about France, one of whom is the aunt of a former student!

We will never forget this trip--particularly since I have now written it all down! :-) Who knows when school will open again, but we are headed to the North Shore (MA) tonight after a day back in CT (me at Starbucks, Ray at work). And if we don't have power back on Sunday, we plan to spend the night with friends in Longmeadow.

Waiting!

Waiting to go to the airport, to be followed by waiting to get to the airport, waiting in the airport, waiting in the plane! After 20 or 30 trips like this, how can I still be so EXCITED!!!!:-D


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Location:Northport NY