Upstate New York Family Reunion

There's nothing like some fresh mountain air to rejuvenate your spirit. This past weekend my mom's family had a family reunion at my grandparent's home nestled in the mountains between Lake George and Lake Champlain in New York State. They moved there initially to open a restaurant many years ago, before I was born. And although the restaurant dream didn't last very long they've stayed and continued to build their lives there. Growing up and visiting Gram, Pop, and the rest of my aunts uncles and cousins were always exciting adventures. This time around, Chris, Emily, Dante and myself packed up the Jeep and headed North.

Over the weekend the house was full of family I knew, some I haven't seen in years, and some I only just met. And of course, nothing brings family better than good food and drink. It was lovely to reconnect with people and catch up on each others lives. I love to hear stories about my grandparents when they were younger, or of ancestors long before me. And even though it's been two years since my gram has passed away, she is never forgotten when the house is full of merry makers.

The house at sunset. Currently everyone is watching the clay pigeon shoot out on the hill.

Middlebury Vermont is close by. We took a tour of the Woodchuck Cidery.

Frogs are just one of the many creatures that live nearby.

And tiny toads too.

Wildflowers stud the surrounding fields.

UPDATE: Emily has posted a bunch of beautiful photos on her blog from the weekend. Go check them out!

Vision in the Desert

I made these for personal downloading and/or printing. This is a photo from our "would be" home in Apple Valley, CA. You can get the font here. It's called "One Direction". Little did I know, it's the font of the UK boy band... Eh, I still like it.

Tico: 222 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA

Photo Credit: Melissa Ostrow.

This past Saturday we dined at Tico, whilst in the Boston Area for a bridal shower. We ended up here through a suggestion from Chef’s Feed. An awesome app that crowdsources where local chefs eat. Because who better to tell you where to eat, right? Download it now! But I digress. Tico specializes in Tex-Mex style tapas. An array of different flavors and styles all presented in small plates. Typically I don’t like sharing my food, but in places like this I hang up my only-child hat and embrace the experience.

The place has a very up-beat vibe, there was a good crowd for a Saturday, but not so loud you couldn’t hear your own conversation. I began my meal with a house margarita made to perfection with salt on the rocks. We started off with Mixed beef tacos, Chorizo in Chimichurri, and Roasted Cauliflower. The tacos had melt in your mouth shredded beef, then a sprinkling of crunchy beef, topped off with fresh cilantro and radishes on soft corn tortillas. Texture won me over on these. Chorizo came skewered “ala plancha” in a Chimichurri marinade. The marinade soon also marinated hunks of bread after the Chorizo was devoured. My favorite of the evening was the Cauliflower. It came roasted topped with a mild shredded cheese, a creamy chipotle sauce and toasted fava beans. Again the textures were amazing, and the creamy chipotle complimented the mild cauliflower quite nicely. It’s something that I may try to replicate in the future (especially since we just got fava beans in our CSA box last week). After that we had some room in a our bellies for one more plate. Mushroom quesadillas with a truffle oil and olive tapenade. Another favorite, these mushrooms were divine, housed in a crispy, chewy, flaky quesadilla. Oh Hello, truffle oil and olives, did you want to hang out too? It was a delicious ending to the meal. So delicious we opted out of dessert. If I lived in the area, I would certainly be back to bring more friends.

*My only teeny criticism is that they need to fine tune their playlist. It almost sounded like it was a staff members iTunes library on shuffle. Control the ambiance with music, it’s very important!

Purchasing Land in the Mojave Desert

We took a West Coast adventure in March with the intention to buy some land in Apple Valley, CA right in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Many called it “crazy”, we called it an “investment”. One plane ride and mini road trip later, we signed some papers… In the end, the seller pulled out of the deal and our plans for a sustainable-off-the-grid-bungalow were scrapped.

The views are literally breathtaking at times. The mountains surround you on the seemingly alien foreground of rock and fauna. Desert one moment, lush oasis another, and snowy mountain top the next. You can experience all these in one day’s car ride.

Moving out West may or may not be in our future plans, but for now we can say, “Remember when we went to California for a weekend?”.