TOO BAD I'M ON THE HOOK TO COOK TONIGHT

Because I ate my way through the day. And I ate well.

Michael already mentioned Weathersfield Inn's sliders -- Blackwatch Farm hamburgers with a wild garlic mayonnaise. I had three.

Home Hill Inn of Plainfield, N.H. served up minted couscous with braised Morrocan lamb from Shephards Hill Farm in Taftsville, VT. Chef Hollis Snow also made these amazing little Ceasar spring rolls with prosciutto, romaine lettuce and Ceasar dressing wrapped in rice paper.

Juniper Hill Inn of Windsor, VT served tenderloin of beef stuffed with goat cheese and balsamic vinagrette along with a cheddar ale soup made with Harpoon IPA.

Hanover's Canoe Club tripped back in time with a cheese fondue -- a combination of Bunten Farm's smoked gouda, brickyard yogurt cheese, and smoked mozzarella.

The Hanover Inn's Yucatan style lamb ragout in a filo crust rounded out the menu.

You could tell the folks who had been here before -- they were carrying around their own plates and bowls.

No dinner for me tonight.

Upcoming Event: Trek to Taste

Put June 6th on your calendar. That's the date for Trek to Taste, which will be held on the trails of Woodstock from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event is still being planned (you can find out more about developments at the Walk Woodstock website), but the basic concept revolves around three walks--from easy (about a mile) to about four and a half miles (more strenuous). You can choose your walk--or do all three. What you'll find at your destination(s) are stations where local foods are offered for taste by elementary or high school students, or local organizations. The event concludes with a strawberry festival at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Historic Park's new Forest Center.

The event is cosponsored by a host of Woodstock-area organizations. Stay tuned for more details--it sounds like a winner!

The Cheeses of Flavors

Vermonters know that this is a great place for anyone who loves cheese. I live in Taftsville and the variety of cheese sold in my local country store rivals that of small gourmet shops in a midwestern city. Of course, as I was reminded today, making cheese is a necessity for some farmers simply because there's no way to make a decent living selling milk today.

There were some great cheesemakers represented at Flavor this year.

Vermont Butter & Cheese Co., a venerable Vermont cheesemaker, was showcasing some of their aged goat cheeses this year: Coupole, Bonne Bouchee, and Bijou. They served at room temperature and were perfect. I particularly like the Bonne Bouche; it's aged in poplar ashes, which cuts the sharpness of the rind just a tad.

Cobb Hill Cheese is certainly well known locally--that their stand at the Norwich Market is typically mobbed. They were sampling both their award-winning Ascutney Mountain Cheese and the Welsh-Style Cheddar. The cheddar is smoother and more buttery than the extra-sharp Vermont-style cheddars. The Ascutney Mountain cheese is a multiple national award-winner. No website, but you can email Jeanne Kilbride. (Photo above: Cobb Hill Ascutney Mountain Wheel 99 gets cut for sampling.)

Who knew that Organic Valley made Vermont cheddar cheeses? The national, farmer-owned coop was sampling medium, sharp, and extra sharp Vermont cheddars.

Like chevre? The fresh, soft goat cheese is very popular and can be used for a huge variety of dishes. Or eaten fresh. Fat Toad Farm from Brookfield uses its goat cheese as a base for a large variety of flavored chevres, including one for olive lovers and another flavored with sundried tomatoes and basil.

Finally, Jericho Hill Farm from Hartford was sampling its Jericho Jack and Colby cheeses. These cheeses are made from the milk of a small herd--seven cows, in fact. The fifth-generation farm began making cheese to stay in business when milk prices dipped. Linda Miller credited the Vermont Cheese Council and Vermont cheesemakers--including her neighbors at Cobb Hill--with helping Jericho Hill get started. "It's wonderful how collegial people are here," she said.

I <3 Co-ops!

Often described as the perfect balance between Socialism and Capitalism, cooperatively owned businesses are that and more. Chatting with Kye from the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, just a cat's toss from the Vital Communities office, and the Lebanon and Hanover Co-op table, I again feel lucky to live in an area with so many co-ops conveniently located around me. This stands in sharp contrast to my living situation this summer in Chicago where Kye's daughter and I both lived without any grocery co-ops at all.

Though I worked with the Dill Pickle Food Co-op in my neighborhood to try to get its doors open, the dream remains deferred and the love of food co-ops for Chicagoans is still unrequited. Thankfully a group of granite grown New Hampshirites craved oranges from Florida (a rare non-local blessing) soon after the Great Depression and banded together to buy a few cases. From their hankering for citrus, the Upper Valley's love affair with co-ops continues to burn.

Join the Upper Valley Co-op for their next event Hemp and the Rule of Law film and presentation April 30, 6:30-8pm or for any of their other events held in store.

Top Tastes Thus Far ....

Diana and Moira both wrote about some of their favorite tastes thus far. Here are some of mine:

• Hamburgers made from Black Watch Farms beef, served with an aoili made from ramps. No wonder these taste so good: they were cooked up by Jason Tostrup, chef at the Inn at Weathersfield. The pungency of the ramps is a perfect foil to the richness of the beef.
• House-made and -smoked pork sausage on crostini from the Norwich Inn. The pork is from hogs raised by Hogwash Farm. Smoked just enough but not too smoky.
• I first tasted Walpole Creamery ice cream at last year's Flavors. Loved the ginger and cookies n' cream. And if you want an alternative, NOFA is dishing up Strafford Dairy ice cream.
• Marceau's Fine Foods is offering a taste of Dark 'n Stormy Chocolate Torte. Billed on the Idlewood Restaurant menu as "the ultimate chocolate experience," I'd say it's close. Creamy, dense, with a hit of not-too-sweet caramel sauce.
• And I can't forget the roasted potato with homemade ketchup at Your Farm's table.
• And the raw carrot from Killdeer Farm.
  

Smooth as Honey

After five hours, two handwashes, and walking out in the rain, my fishmonger's hands are still smoother than ever after applying some Shekinah Mountain Honey, LLC hand cream. Thanks to the honey bees and the out-of-kitchen operation to which I owe a hand for producing such effective products in addition to oatmeal honey rolls and honey both Steve Tyler from Aerosmith and I will now use. I wonder whose hands are smoother.

BEEFALO

Fear not for the extinction of beefalo. As I learned the 3/8 bison, 5/8 cow ratio ensures that the rocky top beefalo of Rocky Top Beefalo & Swine Farm will not die out since the bulls aren't sterile. Invented in the 1960s, this hybrid meat beefalo produces extremely healthful meat sold in various farmers markets throughout the Upper Valley.

One of my favorite markets in Canaan, NH (though now the goat cheese operation no longer exists) and a market I'm told will become a favorite if I visit Cornish (a favorite for locals due to the food but also the excellent supply of diverse, local gossip) will both feature a sustainable supply of beefalo meat for the near future.