Posts Tagged ‘summer’

leFarm’s pink lemonade

September 4, 2010

Feeling disappointed you didn’t score a spot at second Souterrain on October 3? There was a mere 6 hour window before this dinner sold out!  Don’t despair, you can whip up a taste of Souterrain in your own home.  The fine folks at leFarm in Westport, Connecticut have graciously shared the recipe for the “pink lemonade” featured at the August Souterrain.

On this long holiday weekend, why not embrace raspberry season? Mix up this refreshing cocktail and be sure to enjoy in the late summer sun.
Cheers,  liz 


leFarm’s pink lemonade
servings: 1

Ingredients
2 oz vodka
2 oz St. Germain
½ lemon, juiced
½ lime, juiced
1 tsp agave nectar
handful of raspberries
splash of club soda, Prosecco or Sprite

Instructions
Add raspberries to the bottom of a glass and gently muddle. Fill glass with ice cubes.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add vodka, St. Germain, lemon & lime juice, and agave nectar. Shake vigorously.
Strain contents of cocktail shaker into the glass, leaving room to top with a splash of club soda, Prosecco or Sprite.
Garnish with lemon & lime wedges.

Recipe courtesy of Andrea Dinan of leFarm in Westport, Connecticut

Notes:

  • leFarm’s vodka of choice is Tito’s Handmade Vodka.
  • St. Germain is a sweet elderflower liqueur that can be found at many liquor stores.
  • Agave nectar is natural sweetener with a lower glycemic index than sugar and a more neutral flavor than honey.
    It can be found in many grocery and heath food stores.

It’s raspberry season here in Connecticut. Many folks seem to be surprised that it comes so late in the summer, but typically picking starts in mid August and runs into September. On Sunday, Eunice and I drove out to Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford. Hours vary so be sure to call ahead. (203) 458-PICK.It was hot out there, even at 10 am.  My advice? Go raspberry picking on an overcast day. Every year “sin bin” sign is out. I never realized the proceeds go to the Guilford Land Trust.I don’ t snack in the fields. I’m there to fill that white bucket up as fast as I can and head for some shade!Check back after Labor Day, next week the blog will feature a raspberry lemonade recipe from leFarm in Westport.

I’ve done a number of posts about the Woodmont Farmers’ Market, but I wanted to share a few shots from Treat’s, the farm that hosts this Wednesday event. It broke my heart when they got rid of the ramshackle shed a few years ago. It was always dark and sweltering hot in the summer, but you felt like you were buying produce on a farm. The new barn/market is much bigger & cooler inside and now Treat’s is such an enjoyable place to shop on a warm summer day.  I have a few favorite things here…

  • native corn (don’t touch! tell them how many you want and they’ll hand select the ears for you)
  • orange flesh melon (appearance: honeydew-like on the outside,  cantaloupe-like on the inside. Taste: always amazingly sweet)
  • Smyths’s Trinity Dairy milk (you’ll get your deposit back when you return the thick glass bottle)
  • Judies baked goods (my favorites are the the assaggio shallot and the peasant baguette)
  • pies from Blackbird Bakery (wild blueberry crumb!)  and Scratch Baking’s mini pies
  • jumbo-sized fresh eggs in the refrigerated case (so big, there are often double yolks)
  • chocolate cookies with nuts (see glass jars between the middle cash registers). This is my #1 impulse item.

I wish they would bring back Milford’s own….Buck’s ice cream… but not really… who needs that kind of temptation every weekend!?

a doorstep surprise

August 19, 2010

Yesterday morning, there was a surprise waiting on our doorstep. A huge THANK YOU to my loyal reader Karen shared some herbs from her garden!!!
And extra bonus points for delivering the herbs in such a cool hinged glass jar!

Decisions, decisions. The three of us couldn’t make up our mind. Death & Co. Painkiller, Vandaag, Angel’s Share? In the end, we went with the reliably fantastic Pegu Club for our Saturday night cocktails.  Pegu welcomes you at 5 pm, which is an hour earlier than most cocktail hotspots. Getting there at opening is the key to getting in, getting a good spot at the bar and getting full attention from your bartender.

Below is Michele’s off-menu gin cocktail, muddled with cucumber and apples.Burke bemoaned that his drink selection often seems to include floral decoration. Hmm, no comment, but I did love the unusually petite-sized dendrobium orchid that coordinated perfectly with the coconut and kaffir lime flavor of his cocktail. In just one sip, this refreshing taste of Thailand transports you to a tropical happy place.What do you think about these black straws? You absolutely need a way to get to your drink without disturbing the beautiful garnish on the rim of the glass… but the black definitely ruins the photograph in my eye. Would a clear straw be that much better?

No sooner than I announced that I do not like to bake, I found myself seduced by the shiny tart cherries from upstate New York. They’ve been selling them at Trader Joe’s, but unfortunately, I think the end of the season this short cherry season is upon us. I grabbed a few of the remaining baskets and improvised based on the Sour Cherry Pie with Almond Crumble recipe from Smitten Kitchen. (Please see their blog for WAY better photos and the full recipe)

I didn’t have time or energy to bake a crust from scratch. I found salvation in the freezer section at Whole Foods and used a spelt pie crust! It was all that was in stock, and I wasn’t going to another store just to get an Oronoque Orchards pie shell. It actually wasn’t bad, though you can never compete with a crust made with butter! The almond crumble comes together very easily in the food processor, so that leaves pitting the cherries as the only daunting task. I will definitely try this recipe again with other fruits, the possibilities seem endless in the summer.

PS: I don’t have a cherry pitter and don’t want yet another kitchen utensil sitting around unused for most of the year. I used a metal toothpick. I don’t endorse this method, but it worked in a pinch. I’ve also heard of using a paper clip or a chopstick, but after doing a little research online, it seems like a lot of folks like using a pastry tip. I wouldn’t mind trying it, except I don’t own this kitchen accessory either! What’s your favorite way to pit cherries?

This past weekend a few college friends came to town and I wanted to show them a unique summer dining experience, so we headed to The Place in Guilford, Connecticut. I’m not sure why it’s so much fun to sit on a tree stump and enjoy your food in the great outdoors, but everyone always loves it here.I HATE eating corn on the cob in public, but I’ll make an exception for this roasted version. Our table always ends up littered with black bits of charred corn husks. My other favorite is the roasted clam special. The littlenecks are served up on a hot grill, already doused in cocktail sauce. By the time our 1 lb lobster arrived, it was too dark for photos.  Plus conditions were *way* too messy to be touching my camera.Everything (including your lobster) can be cooked on the outdoor grill and below is the one-and-only menu:The Place is BYOB and you can fill-in the rest of your meal by bringing other sides from home. You may have read about my incomplete broccoli quinoa salad, but we still did manage to put out a nice cheese selection from Villa Gourmet, a tomato and mozzarella salad and a strawberry JELL-O pie. 

If you go: A tablecloth isn’t a bad idea and forget the plastic, The Place is cash only.

easy as pie

July 29, 2010

Not into baking? Neither am I. Enter Gail Brookover of Blackbird Baked Goods. She is founder of the Georgetown Connecticut farmers’ market and her wild blueberry pie is available at Treat’s Farm in Milford on summer weekends. Perhaps it’s also there during the week, but I’m never able to get home before close of business.
I do love crumb pies in the summertime.  In the past year, pies have won a fond place in my heart as I had to part ways with super creamy/rich desserts. Ice cream, panna cotta, crème brulée, cheesecake… sadly, we can no longer be friends without the assistance of Lactaid.

a day in the burbs

July 27, 2010

Last weekend Jo and Pete packed up the twins and took the show on the road… to our house. These little New Yorkers enjoyed the green grass and the super warm temps while splashing around in the kiddie pool in our backyard. Another thing they don’t have in their Upper West Side apartment? Stairs. Emily and Michael turned one in May and recently started walking. They did a lot of exploring in our house and upon discovering our staircase, they headed up to the second floor more times than any of us care to remember. I’m sure Jo is really glad their apartment doesn have a single step! Emily is a lot more smiley these days. During all of our other visits she used to stare me down with a really intense look, but now she is seeming more lighthearted and fun-loving like her brother.

at compo

July 23, 2010

There’s plenty of shoreline in our hometown, so I always forget about trying other beaches in Connecticut. Luckily for us, Eunice still has a pass for Compo Beach in Westport as the day rate for weekend parking is $40!!! Recently, we found ourselves there spending a lazy Sunday afternoon of sun & surf, with grillmaster Dave dishing up some great sliders and grilled corn. Thanks Team Z, I think we pulled off the perfect beach picnic!
Don’t you love the curls on Nina’s younger son?We were too busy eating, but some people were just there to take in the sunset.