Eggs Chizmar c/o Bolete

The next day I had to do some work, but got up early enough to do most of it before M&A even awoke. This worked out perfectly, as M. suggested we go to Bolete for brunch. Though I'm out in that general area rather frequently, I am most often alone, and so generally do not go out to eat, which means that the last time I enjoyed Bolete's cuisine was pretty much the last time I saw M&A. So it had been a while, and even longer since S. took me, A. and H. out to brunch back in 2011. The brunch menu was slightly different, but I was pretty much drawn to what I enjoyed that last brunch time: Eggs Chizmar, which features crisp oysters, mushrooms, bacon, mizuna, house-made buttermilk biscuits, chive, and hollandaise sauce. I also ordered a Bloody Mary, which I had forgotten I was rather indifferent about the last time I ordered it. It remained stiff as far as alcohol content, but was a little thin in terms of actual texture and spiciness. I like me a little more horseradish.

While the beverage wasn't a big happy-making success, the eggs held up better. My plate was basically clean - minus the stray potato - by meal's end. The oysters hold up well, even when their crispiness is lessened by the eggs, mushrooms and sauce that are piled on top of them. I'd definitely recommend this dish if you're into Eggs Benedict but what to fancy them up a bit.

A lovely meal with lovely folks. Though I would say that Bolete is better, on the whole, for dinner and not brunch. 

Eggs with Caramelized Onions and Sauteed Chanterelles

One morning I decided to try my hand at caramelizing some onions. It's something I've never really done before, but a culinary act I did feel I could master with the aid of a fair amount of butter. That assessment was pretty spot on. Butter and patience and not too high a heat resulted in some nicely browned and buttery onions, to which I added chanterelle mushrooms for a little bit more of a cook time before finally adding eggs into the equation. I also thought that a smattering of parmesan cheese wouldn't hurt anything. Pretty tasty on the whole, though I think I could have done without the cheese....um, that may be the first time I've ever suggested not wanting more cheese in my life. First time for everything I guess!

Bob Evans Breakfast

The next morning was certainly not the easiest. Originally I had suggested going to a kind of fancy brunch spot but the collective decision was that some of our party were too hungover to appreciate fancy food. So instead we went to Bob Evans. I must admit that I was momentarily saddened by this change of plans before remembering a)it wasn't about me and b)damn Bob Evans makes some good gravy! We all got different things but I got the two egg breakfast that came with sausage, biscuits, gravy and potatoes. The eggs were ok, nothing too special and I actually felt similarly ambivalent about the sausage. But that gravy? I would not be surprised if they put MSG in it because I just kept coming back for more.

This Christmas I made K., A., W., and K. all shirts. Well, I didn't make them with my bare hands, but I did put a picture that I made, which Cuz K. has always enjoyed, through an internet magic thing and had shirts made for them. I had seen them before but not all of the recipients in the shirts at the same time so one of my last requests before departing Ohio was to get them all together. There were two small issues with this. The first was that W. didn't know where his shirt was (teenage boys, what are you going to do about it?!) and the other was that it was night time and I was not giving them any very good direction about how to stand or smile. So I took a bunch of not terribly awesome photos. But the proof, it remains. Except for W. I was going to cover W.'s head with Jay Z's head...but then I realized that I don't know how to do that and gave up.

Frittata, Walkabout and Catan

The next morning I was very excited to make a frittata for CPM and R. I beat about eight eggs with a bit of half and half, sauteed mushrooms and green peppers, and then put the eggs in a big skillet before adding the mushrooms, peppers, goat brie, tomatoes and smoked salmon. The result was quite delightful in my humble opinion.

After breakfast we took a bit of a woods and field walk.

Brutus was pleased about it.

This is just pretty.

Obligatory 'I have friends sometimes' shot.

We then played two additional games of Catan before CPM and R. headed out. I was quite happy to have the company and get to spend some time with them all. I am such a sucker for simply sitting around, reading books, playing games and cooking for people. It's basically all I want to do, and that is why I often think the best option for me would be to run a B&B somewhere wonderful. Of course I have also realized that most B&Bs don't actually make money so there's that small problem, but a girl can dream can't she? Yes. Yes she can.

Dog love.

Breakfast and Burgers and the Fourth of July on Lake Champlain

On July Fourth I awoke before J. or K. (or J.'s additional family members who had arrived in the preceding evening). I needed to do an internetty work check in, which couldn't be done from the cabin itself, so I drove to Port Henry to take advantage of the weird glory that is parking in front of a small town library and using their wireless. A thing no one did ten years ago...though I did, at that stage, walk to a small town library and go inside to use their internet. The times, they are a'changin'. In any case after getting the work stuff out of the way I drove and took a gander at the view of the lake by a nearby church, and then decided that I'd have breakfast at the little old-school diner next to the town's grocery store. The diner does have that very quaint small town look to it, and though it's not the most iconic in terms of a longer rail road car-like set up, there was a bit of that. I made the choice of sitting at the counter, which was generally wise as I think that it had a little more character than the backroom with tables. One drawback, however, was that my feet couldn't touch the ground on the stool and there was nothing to really easily rest my feet on. This wouldn't have really been that big a deal if it wasn't for the fact that the food really did take forever and a day to actually arrive in front of me. Basically I ordered two eggs, sausage (I was told they only had Italian sausage) and home fries with a roll and then sat for about 45 minutes. The lady behind the counter was diligent in refilling my coffee cup and it wasn't an entirely unpleasant experience, but by that same measure I really had expected to be in and out in about 45 minutes, so the delay kind of cramped my style a bit. The food was good and the cook/owner came out to say hi to me once he saw a camera involved. Basically I have no ill will towards this place, but the wait wasn't entirely counterbalanced by what was a pretty unremarkable breakfast.

Then there was more swimming and sitting. I think this was the day that J.'s uncle was using his motor boat to let people go 'tubing.' I have always thought of tubing in terms of moseying down a river without a care in the world in something that, you know, actually resembles a tube. But on lakes there seems to be a completely different take on the activity....covered tube-like things at the end of a long rope attached to a power boat that drives you around in fast fun circles. I have no photographic evidence of J. and I tubing in tandem, but it was fun and I'm glad I didn't wuss out as I was thinking I might. Each bump over a wake of water was like a little roller coaster adventure, but with the knowledge that the worst that would really happen is that I would fall into the water, which was delightful in temperature. I also went out to the middle of the lake with J.'s younger cousin and enjoyed diving into the really, really deep water, which was even cooler and speckled with sunlight than the shores I kept to for most of the visit. Then the sun began to set and it was beautiful.

And I momentarily lost a hand and looked weirdly pale and bald with a comb over.

I mixed up ground beef for burgers that night, which K. was in charge of grilling to perfection. Some were "fancy" and some were "non-fancy" to appeal to those with an interest in my version of burgers (little salt and pepper, soy sauce, worcestire, garlic, cumin etc.). Turns out that J.'s family doesn't even salt and pepper their burgers usually, or that's what one of them said in any case.

J. testing out a fancy photo with his mom nearby.

K. jumping into the action too.

Three!

Yup. Cheese makes the world go round.

Then there was a period of time sitting around a fire with J.'s extended cousin network. Looking at fireworks that were being lit all over the shores of the lake north and south and east (we were on the west shore.

It was not a good year for me and taking photographs of fireworks. I'll have to try better with the next opportunity I am given.

At some point K. and I headed back towards the cabin we were staying in and ended up going back down the the lake for a night swim, which really was a wonderful experience. Floating in water and being able to see a bazillion stars (and I think the Milky Way) all while naked without a concern of anyone seeing you is pretty much a winning situation for me, and one that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

And that pretty much wraps up the days I spent on Lake Champlain. It truly was a relaxing and satisfying experience. In addition to all the swimming and Catan and eating, I also read three books in quick succession, which really reminded me how much I actually love to read. I even started thinking about my novel for the first time in so long there is no point in even pointing out how long it actually has been. Not that I've actually made any progress with those notes, but I felt momentarily excited for the first time in forever.

Two Nights Into One: July Fourth Vacation Fun on Lake Champlain

In late winter or early, early spring K. and I connected about a potential camping adventure somewhere between Philly and Boston. After a few emails back and forth a new plan was formed, and that was to meet between Westport and Port Henry New York, at the family cottage of K.'s bf J. I hadn't seen K. or J. since visiting them in 2010 on the way to L.'s wedding, and meeting up at a cottage on Lake Champlain sounded like a really solid way of reconnecting. My drive up was slightly more eventful than I would have liked. My phone charger stopped working, my oil needed to be changed, I went through a toll and my EZPass didn't work. Just little things that stress me out and when piled on top of one another didn't leave me entirely free of worry. But I had written down the directions because I knew we were going to be in a pretty much cell and internet free zone (hallelujah) so I didn't get terribly lost until the very end of the trip, which was not surprising whatsoever. That first night we caught up, snacked on one thing or another, had some drinks and generally eased into a nice rhythm for the trip. At one point K. and I were outside and J. ended up fast asleep in this chair for quite some time.

And then the next day was upon us. K. made us all scrambled eggs with caramelized onions, cheese, and maybe scallions?

Then we drove to Port Henry to do a more thorough grocery shopping trip for the next couple of days. It was a gorgeous area. Lake to the east and Adirondack mountains to the west. Just magic stuff scenes around every bend and curve of the road.

That second day I made my artichoke jalapeno dip and we ate it while playing a game of some kind.

J.'s family has been coming up to this area for a good lot of time. His grandparents, his mother and her siblings, and now he and his sisters. For the majority of our time there it was just the three of us in the cottage itself, but the neighborhood certainly had a bustle to it. Plenty of folks with similarly long histories in the area taking advantage of the holiday week. Not that it was a week of holiday for most. The world certainly went on around us, but I enjoyed more fully unplugging than I've done in quite some time.

So I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to stop in Kingston, NY on my way north to buy some meat to contribute to our meals from Fleisher's, and it's good that I already had that inkling, because about 60 miles south of the Kingston exit my phone died, and about 30 miles south of Kingston my car began telling me it would like an oil change. This was also when the EZPass debacle took place. I just. The thing worked the whole time except going through that exit and now I know I'm going to get some sort of crazy ticket and I'll be mad about it. ANYWAY. I got off at Kingston and eventually was able to find a place to get an oil change and then another place to buy a new car-phone-extension thing. And it was only then that I finally turned my attentions to locating Fleisher's, which wasn't so hard. I arrived at the tail end of the Kingston farmer's market, which was kind of neat. Once I arrived in Fleisher's I tried to flirt with a butcher and make myself seem hardcore by suggesting that me and my three friends wanted to eat a steak that was nearly "blue." This wasn't entirely untrue we did end up with a pretty rare steak, but not blue-rare...though I mean really, how is talking about a willingness to eat nearly raw steak in any way a sign of flirtation? Pretty much it isn't. In any case. He did suggest and give us a really nice cut of steak and I truly did consider inviting him to join us (mostly joking...all joking?) in consuming it. So the second day of our vacation or was it the third? Steak was grilled, never mind the rain that was falling.

And my god. It was delicious. No joke delicious. Seriously. At K.'s suggestion I did almost exactly three minutes per side and then just left it alone to rest. LEFT IT ALONE. I need to get better at leaving my meat alone while smiling at strangers and learning how to flirt. All this meat flirt conversation is confusing, I'm sure. I believe that this was a dry aged sirloin?

K. made an arugula salad with tomatoes, roasted pine nuts and shaved parmesan.

I brought a bottle of wine my father had given me while in North Carolina, which went down easy and well with the steak and salad.

And while it certainly was pink, I don't think anyone would call it quite "blue." My butcher boyfriend might have been relieved. Or disappointed. I'm not sure. In any case, if you have the opportunity to get meat from Fleisher's, do.

And then I taught K. and J. the glory of Catan and we never turned back. I believe I won this first game (I was blue) but they were quick learners and our Catan playing from that point on was often not concluded with a victory on my part. GOOD TIMES.

Steak and Eggs c/o McCrossen's

The next morning CG and SP and I met up at McCrossen's for brunch. For all the hours I've logged at that spot over the last couple of years, I hadn't been to its brunch since T. totally revamped its menu, which was going on three years back I think? While there were a number of other spots we could have tried, it just seemed right to finally give it a go. Given all the beer I had consumed the night before, and the incredibly late hour at which I finally went to bed, the good deal on bloody mary's or mimosas didn't really appeal, but I did order a virgin bloody mary that had a serious and delightful kick of horseradishy spiciness. I chose to go with the variation of 'steak and eggs.' which was really just a burger with eggs on top, fancied with a bearnaise sauce and chive potato cake. It was pretty good. I must say that service was a little wacky. SP requested a side of toast at the very start of the meal, then had to ask for it again...and it only arrived when 2/3 of his plate was already eaten. $2 for bread that didn't even arrive in time to be properly used seemed slightly bad form in my estimation.

It was lovely to spend some time with these two individuals when such life-changing and happy times were in front of them. Yes indeed. Good times.

Last Breakfast in Gettysburg

Well I'm back from a vacation, of which you will eventually see evidence...but now I gotta just get through this Gettysburg trip that happened in late February. Our last meal was at a '50s style joint pretty much catty-cornered from Ernie's, and if I recall correctly also had a man's name in its title. In any case it was a cold day, but we got a pretty sunny set-up, which kept us warm and gave me nice light for photos. A number of us ordered french toast, which looked pretty good.

I. seemed contemplative about her bites.

I had the two eggs, sausage and homefries combo. I would have liked my eggs just a little more cooked after being flipped but it wasn't anything tragic. Sausage and potatoes were good.

Then we all drove in our respective cars out to one of the battlefields. It was so unbelievably windy and cold that I don't think any of us were too excited about staying out in the elements for long, so then we splintered into two groups. I was in a group that went to check out outlet stores nearby. I was particularly interested in finding sunglasses, but ended up buying two pairs of jeans for $30.

And thus concludes the family weekend in Gettysburg.

Morning and Breakfast in the Virginias

I woke up earlier than I planned the morning after Thanksgiving. I tried to go back to sleep, but the light coming through my bedroom window and the views beyond it made it hard to shut my eyes...so I decided to get up and get on with it. Dad and I were the only two guests in the house this particular evening, so I wandered a bit and took photos of the light and slightly outdated decor. Seriously, if I could I would buy this house and live in it forever. I'd make a few changes to paint decor and the like, but it's got a pretty good layout and feel to it.

Outside there was still a light frost on the grass and my car. And, in the instance of my car, also a fair helping of bird crap. Note to self: do not park under a tree in the country.

To one side of the house were an old shed and barn, both of which had seen slightly better days. I think there's a word for photographs featuring buildings in various stages of decay. The following photographs could, I would think, belong to such an oeuvre.

What I always find curious about barns like this, is just what the order was to its decay. Was it already filled with a million different kinds of junk and then one of its walls fell down? Or did one of its walls fall down and folks thought, 'well we might as well throw some junk in that there hole'? I'm guessing the former, but you never know. I also wonder at just what moment a barn went from functioning structure to something abandoned and unkept. It is a conscious choice? A simple matter of finances or change of ownership or circumstance? You can drive around any rural area and come across so many barns and even houses with this total feeling of neglect, and yet they are still standing, falling apart one board, one roof shingle, at a time.

After my house and barn tour I decided to go on a larger adventure, which ultimately led to breakfast at Mountain View Diner, where I ordered myself a full breakfast of two fried eggs, sausage links, toast and grits. Funny thing, there really wasn't a mountain view to speak of nor would the mountains that could potentially be seen resemble the mountains their website features. The breakfast was satisfying and met my basic standards for diner fare, but I wasn't terribly wowed.

A nice start to the day.