Ides of July

I cannot believe it is mid-July already.  Had a great time visiting with Sim's family and friends for the last several days. Really super folks and super food!

Clarissa and Sergei had us over for brunch last Friday in their mountaintop house.  She made all kinds of wonderful food and we ate on the porch overlooking the Brookfield Pond.  The take home food was a delightful silver dollar size pancake made with crushed pineapple in place of any oil. It was fried in olive oil and was delisheroony.  Something like-- http://www.bhg.com/recipe/pancakes-waffles/pineapple-pancakes/ but she used Aunt Jemima mix.

We had several wonderful meals at Ariel's that included a fresh pea soup with aioli panne cotta in the middle. Also was fabulous Brussels sprouts deep-fried. Garlic scapes was the go to veggie not only at Ariel's but also from Ed's garden in South Hero.  The roast chicken at Lee's was terrific as well as the leg of lamb with farro. http://www.arielsrestaurant.com/

Last night several of the Brookfield neighbors gathered at Rob and Andrew's gorgeous house on the pond for some ribs and entertainment (I played fiddle).  The sweet potato salad was Andrew's specialty  and I hope to try to make it soon. In addition to the ribs, Lee brought dessert wich included great pistachio ice cream.  She used "Jeni's"  recipe that does not contain any eggs and soaked the pistachios before straining them out. So there were no crunchy bits in the ice cream.  Makes me want to buy an ice cream maker. http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Jenis-Ice-Cream-Base

I headed back to NH and Sim went to Montreal for the day with Lee and Richard.  He only had a picture of his passport so I hope they let him back in the country.  He returns to NC tomorrow.

Below are some pics,

Sim on the floating bridge in Brookfield

Sim with his 3 children some grandchildren and 2 great grandbabies

Dinner at Rob and Andrew's house in  Brookfield on the pond

Richard, Noah, Lee, and Sim

Sim and me at the VT capitol in Montpelier 

Sim, Nicole, and Aliana at the farmer's market in Montpelier

Eric and  great niece, Aliana

Lee with her finished pizzas, yum

Pizza oven in Lee and Richard's backyard

Bread baking in the oven, a daily routine for Ariel's

Brookfield VT

I picked up Sim from the Burlington airport and we drove to Brookfield VT where his daughter, Lee has a chef-owned and run restaurant, Ariel's.  It's quite wonderful.  The next day, Sim and I together with Lee and her husband, Richard, met Patti and Jeff at Simon Pearce Restaurant for lunch. It's on the Vermont side of the Conn. River.

Last night Sim and I went to Monpelier to see the "Lone Ranger" then had some sushi before driving back to our mountaintop house.  Today we just returned from brunch with Lee's neighbors, Clarissa and Sergei.  She made marvelous pancakes and shared  the recipe.  We'll be seeing more of Sim's family this weekend and this evening we'll visit Brucie in Northfield.

South Hero VT

I have spent 3 wonderful days visiting Ed and Mary at their farm in the middle of Lake Champlain. I saw their new winter house at Wake Robin in Shelbourne, and ate in many lovely restaurants as well as lobster dinner at home.  We played a rousing game of Hearts with Suzie and Bill whose scoresheet is now posted on the icebox door.

July 4 Pics

Jeff, Patti, Molly, and Matt

Matt and Molly

Patti and Maddy

ML and R on the other coast

Sunapee

We arrived in Sunapee after a 5-hour drive. Lots of rain up here.  Below are some pics.

On the road...

Spent 5 day in Charleston after the festivities. Much time was taken up with Zelda who had diarrhea. We saw vets and gave her medicine and cleaned up all her messes, which were numerous. Thanks to Sim, we got her a better medicine which took care of the problem. 

I had dinner with Kathie and lunch with Claudia, as well as more sushi and dinner at Berry Hills. I watched lots of tennis and worked with Sears Monument to get a grave marker for my dad. Since he was a veteran, I am trying to get a free stone from the government. But of course there are many hoops. John found me his SSN and Patti sent in a request for the service number. It might take 3 months, but it will probably be accomplished by November.

Today we drove most way to NH in a caravan with Patti and Jeff. Am currently at a pet-friendly HoJo in Middletown NY. Tomorrow will be at Sunapee. 

Day Four

Last day of weekend celebrations ended with the Charleston Light Opera Guild's final performance of "Civil War, the musical". We went to St. John's this morning for church. In the afternoon, Ned and Royal went to the Taste of Charleston while Patti and I did the Sunday puzzles, we then went to the Sunrise Carriage Trail for some fiddling and other entertainment.

Below are some pics from Catharine and Deborah who were in Nantucket last week.  They are standing around the tree that was planted last August for Aunt Liddy. It blossomed at the end of the week.

Chamblees and Catharine by Aunt Liddy's tree in Nantucket