Morning at North Branch Farm

July 5, 2011 //

I spent my last morning in Vermont at North Branch Farm in Ripton, up the mountain from Middlebury and a few miles from Robert Frost’s log cabin. Frost moved to Vermont in 1920 to “seek a better place to farm and especially grow apples,” and stayed for the next forty years.

I’m not sure what else Frost grew besides apples. Kale? Chamomile? Elderberries? Garlic scapes? That’s some of what my friend Kate is growing at North Branch, in addition to raising pigs, chickens, ducks, and sheep. Kate and her partner Sebastian have been in business for around five years, selling their meat and sometimes produce at the local farmers’ markets as well as through online orders and local businesses.

Before leaving to head back to Brooklyn today, I made a date to have breakfast on the farm with Kate, Arianna, and her two-month-old son Rafa. Kate served us her own eggs and bacon and I brought a yummy olive and rosemary bread from Otter Creek Bakery, a Middlebury institution since 1986. (It was difficult passing up the orange almond croissants, blueberry scones, and olive pretzel twists, some of my favorites from my Middlebury days.)

After breaky we were given a tour of the farm, starting with veggies, then Pekin ducks, Cornish Cross hens, pigs, ducklings, chicks, and what Kate calls her “mowers”: two sheep, new members of the North Branch Farm who are definitely earning their keep in Ripton.

Categories Farms, Summer, Vermont

3rd of July BBQ

July 4, 2011 //

Now is that a photo of summer or what?

Yesterday’s birthday party / summer bbq / hope & jess wedding celebration part trois was a success. We all helped out in the kitchen beginning around 8 am, and were putting the finishing touches on salads when guests started arriving around 2:30. Arianna helped me with the chive gougères which came out well despite all the moisture in the air. The sour cherries we pitted for hours on Saturday went into a salsa and a fruit topping for ice cream.

Probably one of my favorite eats from yesterday was a cashew spread that filled little celery stalks. It’s a Mark Bittman special from his 101 inspired picnic dishes. This is the recipe in its entirety: “Process a cup or two of cashews, a chili or two, some garlic, a splash of soy sauce and enough water to get the food processor going; fold in chopped cilantro or chives. Fill celery sticks and chill. This is the best celery-filler since cream cheese.” I agree.

On the grill: swordfish, tuna, ribs, chicken, and two hot dogs (one for my father – “hey it’s my birthday” – the other for a 5-year-old guest). We actually had two sets of ribs, one from a family friend, the other from my brother’s friend Chris, owner and executive chef of Blackstrap BBQ in Winthrop, Mass.

There were pasta salads, potato salads, tabouleh, caprese, green salads, crab salad, green salads. Eric and Amos brought their own just-baked bread and croissants from Good Companion Bakery, a bakery and farm across the street from my parents’ house. We were sufficiently fed.

Categories Summer, Vermont

Living the good life in VT

July 2, 2011 //

My train pulled into the Castleton station last night at 11:15, only a half hour behind schedule, which, for Amtrak, and this particular line, is not bad. My dad pulled up in his rustic—ok, dirty—Volkswagen right on time and we made the hour-long drive to Ferrisburgh, getting in just after midnight, with everyone else in the house already fast asleep.

I awoke to a glorious morning of sunshine, chirping, and the distant sound of a riding mower. Saturday! Time for the Middlebury Farmers’ Market. I loaded up on squash, carrots, and eggs before heading over to the Co-op for the rest of my shopping list: olives, honey, feta, mozzarella, capers, and cherry tomatoes.

As I write this, Taj Mahal is blues’ing away in the background, the sun is beginning to set, and I’m sipping a shiso sour. Shiso is a marvelous Japanese herb that tastes like mint and sometimes fennel, earthy, bold, and refreshing all at once. You may know it as perilla, and it can be green or purple. My stepmom, Bonnie, has managed to grow it each year since first planting it four summers ago.

I muddled a few of the small purple shiso leaves in a tall glass then added ice, a splash of cranberry juice, seltzer, and fresh lime juice, with a sour cherry from the tree outside as garnish. It’s sour and cold and not at all sweet and just the thing I wanted to drink right now.

Other adventures today included a stop at the Lincoln Peak Winery to buy growlers for tomorrow’s party, stocking up on Aqua Vitae Kombucha on tap from the Co-op, and checking out what else Bonnie had growing in the backyard – the arugula, mustard greens, and Romaine have almost started bolting but not quite, and the Swiss Chard looks ready for the taking. Fred the cat made a late afternoon appearance.