Melithaca - Day One Saturday

As you probably know, Ithaca, NY is one of my favorite get-aways. It is a 4-5 hour drive so I don't get to go as often as I would like, but I have been fortunate to have been able to make monthly trips the past three months. Generally, this blog is about menus and food I cook to share, but since Ithaca is so committed to local, sustainable eating and reflects my ideal way of life (I choose to ignore the horrendous Wal!@^~ that takes up part of what used to be Buttermilk Falls State Park land), I thought I would include it here. Besides, I bought so much food at the farmer's market, that surely this will serve as background for another entry or two.

Generally, we would leave before 8 am to beat the traffic and to take advantage of a full day when we arrive. This weekend however we took it easy in the morning (particularly since we hosted the Pampered Chef party the evening before), and left at 9:45. The traffic on Rte 80 was awful about an hour into the trip, but besides some minor construction congestion, that was the only hold up.

We stopped for lunch at our regular spot, Binghams Restaurant in Lenox, PA (it is about a half hour from when you get on Rte 81 off exit 211). The first time I went, I was skeptical . . . animal heads on the wall and a front dining room full of cigarette smoke generally are not signs of fine dining. To be honest, it's really not fine dining but it is solidly good, home style cooking with fresh baked bread and pretty good coffee. I ordered the bowl of cream of broccoli soup (tasty but a little lumpy) with a side of homemade whole wheat bread. Okay . . . I admit. . . the main reason I stop at Binghams is their pie. They have the most amazing pie. This time, I had a slice of Apple Crumb Caramel (yes! this is as good as it sounds). Chris had the wild blueberry pie warmed up and topped with vanilla ice cream which was also quite delicious.

About an hour after leaving the restaurant, we turned off the highway onto route 79 and began the final 45 minute leg of our trip. As we drove the winding roads through small towns with quaint old churches, signs for chicken barbecue, and beautiful views of tree filled hills, I felt myself begin to relax. We opened the car windows to take in the fresh air. Signs that we were getting close are the Six Mile Creek Winery and the turn-off to Cornell University and Collegetown.

When we got to the downtown area, we parked the car and took a walk on The Commons, a community centered pedestrian mall with lots of independent shops and restaurants. While on the Commons, we bought our tickets for Saturday night's screening and discussion at Cinemapolis, a non-profit independent movie theater.

On the way to our motel, we stopped at our favorite coffee shop, Gimme! Coffee. We picked up a copy of The Ithaca Times while we sipped a truly perfect cup of coffee. We also bought a bag of beans to bring home.

The motel where we stay is not one I would recommend. It's a little run down, but the price is right and they offer a microwave and refrigerator in the rooms. Basically, we just need a place to sleep at night and don't spend a whole lot of time in the room. So I won't plug them here, but would gladly recommend the Frog's Way Bed and Breakfast in the the EcoVillage. You have to share the kitchenette and bathroom with whoever is staying in the second room, but the owners are super nice, the simple breakfast is fresh and energizing, and it is fascinating to spend some time in this intentional community. There are a million lovely bed and breakfasts as well as cottages, inns and hotels. For information, go to www.visitithaca.com. Of course, the state forests also offer beautiful camping opportunities.

Because it was so late when we checked in, we didn't get a chance to go to dinner on Saturday night. Instead, we went straight to the movie theater. Missing dinner was okay though. Cinemapolis has the best movie theater popcorn, popped in peanut oil and topped with real butter. They also have really cool spice toppings. I tried the "Eastern Spice Mix." Really, how can I ever go back to microwave popcorn?

Later this week, the Dali Lama is visiting Ithaca and Cinemapolis was offering a special preview of "How to Cook Your Life," a light documentary film inspired by Zen Master Dogen's "Instructions to the Cook", which uses the preparation of food as a metaphor for the cultivation of our spirituality. It was really interesting and the main person in the film, Zen Master Edward Espe Brown, presents himself as very human - not necessarily what I would imagine a Buddhist monk to be like. One of the most meaningful parts of the film to me is when they talk about the way that food cultivates your three minds: "Big Mind, Joyful Mind, and Kind Mind." If you are really into food as a connection to life, I would highly recommend this film.

Following the film was a panel discussion with Julie Jordon, who operated the Cabbagetown Café for 18 years and authored several vegetarian cookbooks; and Gary Redmond, operator of Regional Access, a food wholesaler and supplier of organic, local and regional products. It was fun to participate with like minded people and hear their thoughts about Ithaca's progress in supporting local farmers and creating hydroponic methods of agriculture.

On the way to the motel, we stopped at the Green Star Co-op for a late night snack. I took some membership material to review (more about that later).

Sunday - Day 2 in Ithaca

We slept in on Sunday and I took a short drive to Smart Monkey Cafe (which has a drive through window) and bought our morning fair trade organic coffee. We hung out drinking coffee and watched CBS Sunday Morning before heading out to church. After parking the car, we had a couple of minutes to enjoy Cascadilla Gorge. St. Paul's United Methodist Church is my childhood church and the church I chose when my family first started worshiping. I love the music, the domed choir area with angels looking down, the beautiful stained glass window with Christ pictured at the door holding a lantern. Most of all, St. Paul's draws people from diverse backgrounds and ages who are warmly welcoming. It is a community of active disciples and I always feel at home. My childhood pastor and his wife have retired back to this church and it was a delight to see them.

Following church, it was off to the Ithaca Farmer's Market. The market is in a permanent wooden structure on the lake. In addition to produce, there are flowers, cheese, yogurt, meat and eggs for sale as well as cider, hard cider and local wine. Local artisans sell jewelry, cutting boards, pottery, soap and other high quality crafts. There are musicians scattered throughout providing folk music and it's not unusual to see children dancing. The farmer's market is a wondrous place! There are also numerous (mostly ethnic) vendors selling fresh cooked food.

For lunch, we had a Jolly Burger, made with quinoa and sweet potato. It was served on a whole grain roll with sprouts, pickles, sauteed onion, lettuce and tomato. I bought four to bring home for lunch this week. The people who worked there were so friendly and happy. In our afternoon at the farmer's market, we also sampled a spinach and cheese empanada and peppermint tea.

I stocked up on winter squash. They make great autumn decorations until I can get around to eating them. I also bought beautiful red chard and a bag of Liberty apples as well as caraway seed cheese and to make an apple chard quiche and cumin seed cheese that I will perhaps use in pumpkin quiche. I couldn't resist the basket of purple potatoes just 'cause I remember my beautiful birthday mashed potatoes. Would it be too weird to each purple potato soup? The farmers are so friendly and I enjoy learning about their farms and the food.

On the way back to the motel to change into our hiking clothes, we stopped at the Ithaca Beer Company for a tasting. They had a number of brews as well as Root Beer. It was the best root beer I’ve tasted and is made with cane sugar. We bought 2 growlers (64oz) of Ithaca Double IPA a specialty brew using all NY grown hops. We look forward to bringing our growlers back for a refill and in the meantime will bring one growler to Katie and Dave's Oktoberfest and will invite Bruce and Gina for dinner to share the other growler.

After changing into hiking clothes, our next stop was Taughannock Falls. There are two trails: the Gorge Trail is a flat path through the gorge to the base of the falls. It is less than a mile. We chose the rim trail with a steep incline and then a flat trail around the top of the gorge with spectacular views. There is a perfect look out spot to see the falls from the top of the gorge. The rim trail took us about an hour and a half all the way around. It is truly an awesomely beautiful example of God's creation.

After the hike (goodness, time flies!), we shower and rest for a bit (and I snacked on some Ithaca "art" Dark Chocolate). It was a little after 7:00 and I was starving. We figured the Moosewood on a Sunday night would be reasonable. We quickly discovered there was a 45 minute wait to be seated. Because I was starving and starting to get a bit irritable, we decided to have our Moosewood meal as Monday's lunch. There is no shortage of good food options in Ithaca and we walked over to Taste of Thai on the Commons. It seemed crowded but we felt good about only having to wait for 15 minutes to be seated. Unfortunately, I was really starving at this point and we had to wait almost an hour more to be served our food. We noticed that absolutely nobody had their food. . . it turned out the computers were down (were the computers cooking the food? I wondered). The manager was gracious (smart?) enough to give us a 10% discount. My spring rolls were crispy and tasty and the Panang tofu was really flavorful. I am happy I ordered a hot level of "one" (of 7) because it was extremely spicy. Once I got over the crabbiness of my hunger, I enjoyed the meal.

While we planned to go to the movies, we were kind of sleepy by 9:30 and ended up crashing around 10.

Pampered Chef

Among Cassie's many endeavors is her new role as Pampered Chef consultant. To kick off her sales career, we hosted a Pampered Chef party at our house. Since it was her first demonstration, it was helpful that she knew most of the guests. People who own any of the products, love them and we were all promoting our favorite tools. I'm still working out my final order. There are a lot items I would love to upgrade in my kitchen.

This was the first time in months that we have had company since we have been unsure of our moving situation, but we decided to just go forward with our out life and we love entertaining so this was a great opportunity to put our home back in order. It was a lovely mix of guests and it was great that we could have some time to socialize while supporting Cassie (and ordering some new kitchen items too!)

I provided a light harvest meal that was almost entirely local from the Hoboken Farmers Market (what am I going to do for produce when they close at the end of the month?). I reconfigured some other recipes that I've made before and was happy with the results. This menu served a dozen guests:

Butternut Squash Soup:
Saute:
1 Medium peeled and chopped butternut squash
3 Carrots chopped
1 Apple peeled and chopped
1 T minced fresh Ginger Root (I used a microplane)

Cover (just barely) with Vegetable Stock and add Salt and Pepper
Bring to a boil and then simmer until squash is very tender (about a half hour)
Puree with immersion blender, food processor or blender

Potato Leek Soup:
Saute in Butter:
6 peeled chopped Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 sliced Leek (choose a fat leek or use 3 skinny ones)
1 sliced Fennel Bulb and/or Leaves (optional)
1 T Crushed Fennel Seed
Add 6 Cups Vegetable Stock
Salt and Pepper
Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender. Puree with immersion blender, food processor or blender just until smooth (over processing will make it gummy)

Salad with Maple Dressing
The Maple Dressing recipe is in the Thanksgiving blog entry. It is made with Maple Syrup, Cider Vinegar, Olive Oil, Mustard

The Salad was Mixed Greens topped with:
Organic Feta
Thinly sliced Red Onion
Thinly sliced Red Apple
Sliced Heirloom Yellow Plum Tomatoes
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper


Pears Baked with Cardamom Syrup
Place peeled cored halved Pears cut side down on Buttered baking sheet
Sprinkle over pears:
Brown Sugar
Crushed Cardamom Seed
1/2- 1 Cup of Water
Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes turning twice and adding water if needed
Serve warm or at room temp