We Are Not There Yet
This is the third in a series of tales from FarmShare folks about their travels and tastes over the past summer and fall months.
By Sarah Humm, FarmShare staff
“Are we at Oma’s house yet?” says my 2-year-old son at the end of our driveway. The first of approximately 87 times he asked this on the way to grandma’s house in upstate New York. This question must be first in the manual that kids get from the manual fairy when they turn 2, how else would they know? This most charming of questions is also a big reason why, when traveling with a toddler, you always stop to sit down and eat and allow at least 15 minutes for him to run off some steam.
So, we have changed the way we take road trips, for the better, since Theo’s arrival. We used to just cruise on Interstate 80 through the middle of Pennsylvania, which, while beautiful, doesn’t really pass anything resembling a major city. We now take I-90 through New York passing the cities of Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany. More major cities makes it easier to stop at a restaurant in or near a town, rather than a fast food chain along the freeway.
We made a real effort this time, with help from our Garmin, to stop at local restaurants. Diners are always a safe bet for making everyone happy, and we ate at three on this trip. On the way out, at Johnny B’s Glenmont Diner outside of Albany. Patty melt, chicken fingers and Greek salad. Near Oma’s house in Millbrook, New York is our favorite, the Millbrook Diner. More chicken fingers, mac & cheese, and fish & chips. And on the way home, Uncle Joe’s Diner in Hamburg, NY. No chicken fingers, Hot Dog, harvest salad (with apples), and a bowl of chili. So while we weren’t likely eating locally-grown food, we were eating at locally-grown businesses. It’s a start.
That gives me an idea for a guidebook of local-food restaurants near well-traveled roads. The research would be fun- when Theo outgrows the “are we there yet?” phase. Look for the book in about 20 years.
Purple Soup
A big part of vacation for me is making sure there is food in the house for when we get home. I love the break from cooking, but by the time it’s over, I’m ready to eat my own food again. So the Saturday before we left, I was busy most of the day in the kitchen. Like most days that I’m in the kitchen a lot, I just want someone else to cook dinner. Happily, it wasn’t raining that hard and we got to go to the Garlic Festival in Shaker Square, a new favorite tradition.
Luckily, the Farmshare delivery before the break was full of ingredients that made for great freezer food. Cory’s Potato and Corn chowder recipe froze extremely well (leaving out the milk). I also made an Italian-style lentil soup, and the best of all freezer foods, pesto. It is absolutely the easiest meal for the evening you arrive home after a road trip.
The lentil soup looked so pretty before it started cooking: red tomatoes, red-orange lentils, yellow onion, and purple carrots from FarmShare. A rainbow in my blue Le Crueset. As it happens, those purple carrots must have way more purple than they can hold onto over a little heat. Soon my beautiful rainbow was all purple. I’m not sure there is a less appetizing color. But I had a gallon of it, so you have to go with it. It was delicious freshly made, and even more delicious when we returned home.
By Sarah Humm, FarmShare staff
So, we have changed the way we take road trips, for the better, since Theo’s arrival. We used to just cruise on Interstate 80 through the middle of Pennsylvania, which, while beautiful, doesn’t really pass anything resembling a major city. We now take I-90 through New York passing the cities of Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany. More major cities makes it easier to stop at a restaurant in or near a town, rather than a fast food chain along the freeway.
We made a real effort this time, with help from our Garmin, to stop at local restaurants. Diners are always a safe bet for making everyone happy, and we ate at three on this trip. On the way out, at Johnny B’s Glenmont Diner outside of Albany. Patty melt, chicken fingers and Greek salad. Near Oma’s house in Millbrook, New York is our favorite, the Millbrook Diner. More chicken fingers, mac & cheese, and fish & chips. And on the way home, Uncle Joe’s Diner in Hamburg, NY. No chicken fingers, Hot Dog, harvest salad (with apples), and a bowl of chili. So while we weren’t likely eating locally-grown food, we were eating at locally-grown businesses. It’s a start.
That gives me an idea for a guidebook of local-food restaurants near well-traveled roads. The research would be fun- when Theo outgrows the “are we there yet?” phase. Look for the book in about 20 years.
Purple Soup
A big part of vacation for me is making sure there is food in the house for when we get home. I love the break from cooking, but by the time it’s over, I’m ready to eat my own food again. So the Saturday before we left, I was busy most of the day in the kitchen. Like most days that I’m in the kitchen a lot, I just want someone else to cook dinner. Happily, it wasn’t raining that hard and we got to go to the Garlic Festival in Shaker Square, a new favorite tradition.
Luckily, the Farmshare delivery before the break was full of ingredients that made for great freezer food. Cory’s Potato and Corn chowder recipe froze extremely well (leaving out the milk). I also made an Italian-style lentil soup, and the best of all freezer foods, pesto. It is absolutely the easiest meal for the evening you arrive home after a road trip.
The lentil soup looked so pretty before it started cooking: red tomatoes, red-orange lentils, yellow onion, and purple carrots from FarmShare. A rainbow in my blue Le Crueset. As it happens, those purple carrots must have way more purple than they can hold onto over a little heat. Soon my beautiful rainbow was all purple. I’m not sure there is a less appetizing color. But I had a gallon of it, so you have to go with it. It was delicious freshly made, and even more delicious when we returned home.