I'm Moving to Old Lyme...

I’m obsessed with the city, but every once in a while I need to escape. I need to walk on green grass and breathe fresh air. But when you grow up with this (see image below) being your back yard can you blame me? I’m really a country girl at heart.



This past weekend I went to New Haven (technically Old Lyme), CT to visit some family friends. Mike and Brian came down from Boston as well and we had a fantastic and rejuvenating weekend. We’re already planning a trip back it was so wonderful!!

I took the train up Friday night and got off at the Metro North Old Saybrook stop. I met my friends and the boys there. As I’m sure most of you know, it’s unseasonably chilly – that night was cool with a blanket of misty rain that rested over everything like a deep sleep. This made it the perfect night for comforting food. So, what did we have? Pizza! We started with a delicious, crispy salad of romaine, fresh garden tomatoes and mushrooms, fresh parmesan and a house olive oil, balsamic dressing. I would have been happy with just the salad! But then came the pizza and it was wonderful! We had a chicken cacciatore, a Bacon, broccoli and tomato and a pesto with sautéed mushrooms (which was my favorite). Yum!

My friends’ place is idyllic – a bit of heaven on earth. Seriously…it’s the perfect retreat! We slept in on Saturday and when I woke up in my room upstairs I felt like Anne of Green Gables…they live in one of the oldest houses in Old Saybrook and it’s beyond charming. They’ve done a wonderful job decorating it! I woke up to the sound of birds chirping!! How cliché yet perfect is that?! And, call me ridiculous, but I was so excited about the fact that I looked out my window and saw a lush, vibrantly green tree! SO much better than an apartment building. Their yard is amazing!
Breakfast consisted of homemade oatmeal (no, she didn’t grow the oats, but what I mean is that it wasn’t instant…), fresh, warm bagels with cream cheese tomatoes and onions. The perfect start to the morning!

Then the boys and I did a little touring. We went to the beach!!! I took my shoes off and walked around barefoot. I could have died happy at that point. There’s something so liberating about walking barefoot on a beach. (Brian has all those pictures, so I'll have to wait to post them until he sends them to me...)



We drove through the old towns, went to a charming book place called the Book Barn (where I wanted to buy everything!) and saw a lighthouse where we shot pictures despite the fact that we weren’t supposed to. Oops :)



Lunch consisted of ice cream from the Old Lyme Ice Cream Shop (hey, it’s dairy, right?!) I had black cherry chocolate chunk. So you see - I even had a serving of fruit in there!



We went to the Bee & Thistle Inn (to be re-visited later) and sat down by the water on these three chairs...



Aren't you jealous? :)

Then we went back to my friends’ house and learned how to play Boules (the French version of lawn bowling) and now I’m slightly addicted! The boys were actually very good…I, however, need some practice. But we had a great time playing two rounds before dinner.



Did I mention that my friend is a food critic and an EXCELLENT chef? We have Caesar salad with freshly-grated cheese and homemade croutons, pasta with Bolognese sauce and warm bread straight from the oven.



For dessert we went to the Bee & Thistle Inn (owned by their friends) and let me tell you – this is everything every inn out there should aspire to become!
We were treated to the following:
Lemon custard cake with fresh berries and cream
Chocolate pot de crème with fresh whipped cream
Phyllocinni (Phyllo dough shredded, brushed with butter and sugar then baked) ice cream sandwiches with warm strawberry rhubarb compote and vanilla ice cream.
Um…hello!! It doesn’t get any better than that!

Basically, the weekend was perfect!

The results are in...

(well, half of them anyway...)

That's a "NO" on the avocado and lima beans and a half and half on the alfredo sauce...I don't hate it anymore, but I'm not sure it will ever be my first choice at a restaurant...

I still haven't been able to bring myself to eat cottage cheese...that was by far my least favorite. And I haven't seen any cordial cherries, so maybe I'm off the hook :)

Grown Up Tastes???

So you know how you’re often told when you’re little that your tastes will mature? And how your mom uses that as the reason you need to keep eating things you don’t like – because one day your “tastes will mature and you’ll like them”…I never understood that. Why force yourself to tolerate something? Chances are you never really will enjoy it, but rather just numb yourself to the taste so your gag reflex no longer kicks in. There are a few things I hated as a kid that I bet I’d dislike just as much today, despite my oh-so-mature nature :) haha.

For example:
Lima beans



Avocado




Alfredo sauce



Cottage cheese




and

Cordial Cherries



I'm known in my family for knowing exactly what I do and do not like, and being very specific with my tastes. Just go to a restaurant with me once and you'll probably know what I'm talking about. Sometimes I feel badly for the servers when I ask them how a sauce is prepared or if I can make certain alterations/substitutions (sadly, that doesn't stop me from asking…oops :) …I apologize to those who find this annoying. I promise I'm not really that bad!).
I've decided to see if my tastes really have matured or if I still don't like any of the aforementioned things. So within the next week or two I'm going to try them and return with you the results…

Now, as it’s not the holiday season, does anyone know where I can find cordial cherries? :)

Vita e Bella

So Liz and I have both been in the mood for a good tear-jerker for the past few weeks. What can we say? We’re girls. We need that every once in a while. We had g-chat conversations about the perfect one. There were some great contenders: Stepmom, The Painted Veil, A Walk to Remember, Finding Neverland, My Girl (remember when you were 12?!!)…but in the end we thought Life is Beautiful would be a good choice. Well, after putting it off for a while and then not having it the night we wanted to watch it, I decided to order it from Amazon.com. (Love them, by the way, a total one-stop-shop!)…
Yesterday I got a wonderful email alerting me to the fact that my box had been delivered…Of course I had to g-chat Liz right away! We both agreed that it couldn’t have come on a more opportune day and decided to watch it that night. It was wonderfully poignant…I laughed, I cried…was inspired and moved. It’s such a beautiful movie!! And I love Roberto Benigni. He’s brilliant.
This is an unforgettable movie that truly demonstrates life, love and the power of the human spirit. (wow, I should write movie tag lines!! Haha) Watch it. You’ll love it!