Archive for the ‘Food & Drink’ Category
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Have you ever had one of those nights where everything was just way too fun? That’s what happened to me last night.
Around 8:30, I finished up dinner and walked back up to the kitchen to put the dishes in the dishwasher. I did a little tidying up and poured myself a nice glass of Brandy. Then, I took a small sip and walked up to my office for a little work. That is basically where the problems started.
I had a few more small sips of my drink and started getting into my usual 8:30 – 11:00 routine. A little work here and a little work there. I wasn’t doing anything all too serious, so I decided to turn some music on. Of course, I started listening to my new favorite band, “Days Of The New.” Seriously good music. Well, the next thing I knew, I had the music playing way too loudly and my drink was gone. The worst part about the whole thing is that I was halfway through a blog post. Let me just tell you this – it was magical.
I always worry about those types of posts. Good thing I never actually publish them because I mostly tell you what I really feel. Well, this time was a bit different. I finally started working on my story. Remember the one I told you about? It’s the one that’s going to knock your socks off. Yeah, I am trying to make this one worthy…worthy enough to be a chapter in my most unique book that my sister Lauren is going to put together for you.
I saved the post as a draft last night and just took a quick look at it. It’s not long; probably a few hundred words. I was quite surprised to see that it was better than I had hoped for. I would really like to post it, but I’m a little nervous about what people will think. It’s pretty odd at times. I’ll think about it. It isn’t that big of a deal because it’s just a prelude anyway. Maybe I’ll have my mother edit it before I do anything with it.
——
So Rob came over to the house tonight. I told him to remind me to get a picture of the two us us together so I could write about the visit, but he forgot. So, unfortunately all you ladies out there won’t get to see a picture of the two most handsome guys on the east coast. Maybe next time I’ll put the camera on the desk or something to remind me.
I think we had a really good visit. I gave Rob the house tour and then we talked business for a while. That was fun because I like seeing the fire in Rob’s eyes. He is a born entrepreneur…maybe even more than me. Let me remind you that it was Rob who was doing this stuff before me. He’s one of the people who came up with crazy ideas that actually made money long before I ever did anything. All I need to do this time is keep him on the straight and narrow and things should be fine.
After we talked business, we headed out to pick up some pizza and salads. That was cool, because I got to show him the new car and how it drove around these winter roads. I asked him if he saw the “driving in the snow” videos and he told me he hadn’t. So, I am linking to it right here. Michele, please pull him to the computer and have him click this link. Thank you.
The pizza was pretty good. The salads were pretty good. Typical stuff, but Rob liked the thin crust.
After we were done eating, I thought it would be a good idea to load up a big bag with about 42 empty beer bottles. I am giving them to Rob, so he can use them for his beer making. I am also letting him borrow the capper and some caps. I gave him 6 of my prize-winning beers too. We cracked one of the chocolate ones open and I have to tell you that they are tasting much better these days. Very full of body.
As Laura and I were saying good-bye to our dear friend, we made a vow that we wouldn’t let another year go by without seeing each other again. We have way too good of a time together to let these years pass by so fast like this. After all, we are only an hour and a half away.
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Sunday, January 11th, 2009
I now accept and eat the samples at Costco.
I completely forgot about this post. When we were shopping in Costco last week, I was all, “ooh and aah” about what I was going to write. Then, we left and I forgot all about it. It’s simple really…I just wanted to tell you about a change that’s going on in my life.
It takes a certain type of person to eat samples while shopping. My old self would avoid the whole “sample station” altogether. I have seen people bump, scratch, kick and scream to get at that food. Unless, of course, it’s a slow night. If it’s slow, the opportunity is there to have a wonderful morsel of goodness.
As we are all aware, samples taste really good. The store gets you when it counts; while you are hungry. What better way to sucker you into buying pizza bites than to hook you with a small dose when you know you already have to lay out all that green for the rest of the groceries? The problem is, samples are usually of the food you should never in a million years buy. Pre-made food is a no-no. I will admit though that these guys do a particularly good job at temping souls such as myself.
I’ll tell you how it happened. We were shopping in Costco a few weeks ago and I saw a sample lady standing all by herself. I felt bad, so I walked up to her and asked her what she had there. Her face lit up as she told me all about what she was serving. Since it didn’t contain meat, I accepted. Well, little did I know, I had just entered the sample underworld, a world my father had entered many years earlier. He just loves Costco samples and tells me stories of the science behind it. Stories now, that I listen to with great interest.
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From that point on, every time we go to Costco, I look around to see what is available to nibble on. Laura doesn’t seem too interested, but then again, I am a little more pushy when it comes to these types of things. I also like to look at the name tags of the people handing out the samples to say hello to them. Oftentimes, they have had a long day and a bit of excitement from a tall guy with red hair wouldn’t hurt.
One sample I enjoyed during our last visit to Costco was “POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice.” It was thick, rich and wonderfully delicious. I also hear it’s good for you. I was just looking at its website and learned a little more about the pomegranate. I think I am going to pick some of this stuff up next time we go shopping. See, it’s working…
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Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
I played a little tennis this morning. I didn’t know if I was going to make it, because the weather was kind of rough out there. I gave the club a call about 45 minutes before the clinic started and they let me know it was “on.” If I tell you one thing today, let it be that I love all-wheel-drive. This is like the tenth time I spun all four wheels going up the driveway. I keep doing it because it’s so much fun. This X5 freakin’ rules. I drive around in the snow like it’s nobody’s business. It also has descent control, so when I want to get back down the driveway, all I do is push a button.
I showed up on time, but the others were late. That was fine with me, because it gave me a chance to become acquainted with the ball machine. Man, about 5 minutes with that thing and I was whooped. I really need to get out there more. The older I get, the worse it becomes.
Laura has been talking about a treadmill lately, so I have a feeling that is going to be making its way into the basement. There are days when we can’t walk because of the weather. I tell her that I have an allergy to the whole “exercise at home” thing. I have seen basements full of rarely used equipment all my life. I have to give her credit though, she is beating up that Bowflex. I have never met someone who actually does what she says like this. Amazing.
Tennis was fun. There were only three of us, plus the pro. Small groups are always a good time and we used our time wisely. I am still practicing my forehand, so things are a little weird, but I expect to get it one of these days. I remember back when I was on the swim team over at the town beach. I was the worst one in the whole group at freestyle. I was doing 22 second laps. I went to visit a family friend in Long Island with my father one weekend and practiced swimming in their pool. When I came back, I was doing 16 second laps. I remember the look on the coach’s face…”WHAT?” That ended up being my best stroke. I’m tellin’ ya Mike, I’m tellin’ ya.
In between other things for the past few days, I have been painting the purple room. If you forget what the purple room looks like, you can check it out here. It’s the one that’s purple. I decided to get off my duff and start painting upstairs of the house. It took a while, but I’m doing it. I cleaned out the room, painted it and then moved my office in it tonight. Here, you can take a look…
Office
Oh, you know I went down to the flooring place in town. I was going to go all out with the top floor, one room at a time. I was first going to put down new carpeting in each room, then I lost heart at during my visit. I brought back samples of pre-finished hardwood. It only took a few hours for me to completely change my mind and lose all motivation to turn this into a multi-week project. If we ever want to re-do the floors, we’ll do them. For now, we are only going to worry about paint.
By the way, can you believe I have that much stuff in the little office? Geez.
Now that the old office is cleaned out, we can start painting in there. After that, the bedroom and finally, Laura’s office. It will probably be spring by that point, so I’ll be outside for the rest of the season.
After I was finished moving all the furniture, I went downstairs to grab myself a glass of Brandy. I must tell you, after tasting that Scotch, I have admitted that I am a Brandy man. It’s the whole, “after dinner” thing, I think. It’s just the way I am. I don’t need any more hair on my chest.
I did a little looking around and decided that perhaps someone should buy me a nice bottle of Christian Brothers XO Rare Reserve Brandy. I would really like that. If you want to just drop it off, cool. If you want to meet me someplace, I can do that, just let me know when.
Finally, let’s talk about music. I am done organizing my albums into nice, neat folders on my computer (backed up, of course). I have a whole slew of them and they are mixed with most of Laura’s. She still has a while to go. As I was sitting here in the new office tonight, drinking my Brandy, I decided to cruise through some of the folders. I knew what all my albums were, but there are some of Laura’s that I really am not all too familiar with.
I first listened to one of my favorites, Christopher Cross. Then, after that was done, I opened one of hers. I listed to the first part of the first song and decided to give it a chance. I was in the middle of working, so I didn’t notice all that much after that, until the third song. It was “Days Of The New – Enemy.”
Now, I know you are chuckling under your breath, mumbling that I am not as “hip” as you are when it comes to music. You’re probably right, but I have already gotten over it. I really like the song and I would like to share it with you. Enjoy. (You’ll have to click here to see it. They disabled embedding.)
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Monday, December 29th, 2008
One of these days, I am going to stop writing about beer. Then, you guys are all going to come crawling back, begging for my famous beer posts. Until that day, I will continue writing.
Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Ale is a very fine ale that I found in my recently purchased holiday 12 pack. I was actually trying to avoid this beer, because I usually don’t like ale, but I figured I would give it a go ahead this time around.
I’m tellin’ ya, this is a great tasting beer. The spices the fellas over at Sam Adams put in really wake this one up. As far as regular ales go, I think they are rather light. To me, it’s like drinking a Coors. Fezziwig Ale has a full body and a great finish. How do you like that?
Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Ale
Here is what Beer Advocate thinks about it. They gave it a B+ with 676 reviews. I would give it a B+ too.
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Friday, December 26th, 2008
We did it. We really did it. For the first time in our lives, we didn’t exchange Christmas gifts. It was a bold (and more difficult than expected) move, but one that we thought we needed to do.
If you haven’t noticed, the exchanging of Christmas gifts has…well, lost something throughout the years. I notice it more and more as time goes on. Throughout each year, we seem to take quite good care of ourselves, which leaves little to be desired towards the holiday seasons. Instead of falling into the cyclical trap again this year, we decided that it would be best to enjoy a relaxing evening together. No presents, no stress, no guilt. All we wanted was to go someplace nice for a quiet dinner to talk amongst ourselves.
That is exactly what we did.
Last night, I decided to make this one of those really long posts. When I woke up this morning, I felt the same way. There really is so much to write. As I sit now typing away, I think I am going to cut it short. The reason I am going to do this is because I have quite a few pictures, and I don’t really want to dilute my message; the message about our dinner. Perhaps I will discuss our trip through Southbury, Woodbury and Washington another day. I’ll still include the few photos I took of those areas in this post though.
Okay, so we took off around 4PM for our 6PM reservation at the Mayflower Inn in Washington, CT. Washington, CT is probably most famous for the Mayflower Inn and the Gunnery. The Gunnery is a private 9-12 private school and is located across the street from the Mayflower. When I look at the area on Live Maps, I always confuse the two, because of the similar architecture of their main buildings.
The ride was pretty non-eventful getting out of the Hartford area. One thing I did notice was a ski mountain that I never knew existed. It’s right next to where 691 intersects with Interstate 84. I’ll have to find out the name to that one. We made it through Waterbury and got off the Southbury (Rt.6) exit.
Now, this drives Laura absolutely nuts. A long time ago, we drove over to Southbury, CT to check out a motorcycle I thought I wanted to buy. It was dark outside, but the location has been festering in my mind ever since. The area was really nice and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. We drove around a bit last night, but I could tell that I was boring my lady, so I stopped the search. This all happened on our way back, so we were probably more interested in getting one the highway anyway.
Either way, the Southbury, Woodbury, Washington area is really fun to drive through. Woodbury is antique central and offers those great sidewalks that sit back from the road. It’s a great walking town and is truly New England. It sort of reminds me of Ridgefield, CT. Washington is situated so far back in the woods, it actually hard to find. If you are wealthy and privacy is your middle name, Washington is your town.
We have been to Washington many times, but have never taken Washington Road from Woodbury to get there. Let me tell you, it was quite the trip. At one point, I didn’t think the mountain we were climbing would ever end. It doesn’t matter which way you get there (from New Milford, Brookfield, New Preston or Woodbury), you are bound to drive through some pretty tight roads. The darkness of winter doesn’t help much. The good part about the trip is that when you finally arrive, it is usually a pleasant surprise. It never gets old and there is always something new to discover.
We pulled in the parking lot of the Mayflower Inn at about 5:20PM. I snagged a sweet parking spot right up front and we climbed out of the car to head inside. The first thing I did once we got out of the car was to pull out the camera. I took a quick shot of the walkway going up to the spa.
Mayflower Inn walkway
What’s very nice about the Mayflower is the service. I don’t think we have ever been there and haven’t had the front door opened for us. Although, all of the “Hello”s, “Merry Christmas”s and “Can I get you something”s puts me a little on edge. It is really very welcoming, but being the home town boy that I am, I am just used to doing it myself. It’s still hard for me to let anyone do anything for me, even if it is their job.
Since we were a bit early, we decided to head straight for the library. I mentioned my love for the library in one of my previous posts. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but I’m sure the fireplace, warm colors and cozy seat below the large window helps. I took a few pictures of it, since I knew you would be just dying to see what I am talking about.
Mayflower Inn library
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My favorite seat - under the window
Me, looking all spiffy
Looking in the library from the porch
Mayflower Inn library
It felt great to relax in there for a little while. The best part was that no one in the entire inn came into the library when we were there, before and after dinner.
After checking out some books for a few minutes, we wandered over to the bar area, where we ordered a Samuel Adams Oatmeal Stout and a Victory Donnybrook Stout. I liked the Outmeal Stout, while Laura enjoyed the Victory Stout. That may have been because those are the ones we chose.
We sat and talked for a while and decided to do a little exploring. We got up and walked out to the porch. It’s a bit odd walking around on a completely heated porch in the middle of winter, but really cool at the same time. The inn encased the entire porch in double paned glass to keep it heated and cooled year round. There were tables and chairs set up for the entire span.
Mayflower Inn porch
Mayflower Inn porch
After we wandered around for a little while, I decided to go back up front to grab a few quick shots. Dinner was about to begin, so I had to put the camera away. Here is what I got.
Mayflower Inn lobby, staircase and Christmas tree
Room leading to the library
Mayflower Inn staircase and Christmas tree
Sitting and relaxing room
Okay, I got that out of the way, so we were ready for dinner. We walked in the to main dining room and sat at our usual table. It’s the one in the right, rear corner. During the day, you can look out the window at the garden. At night time, you face the seats so you are looking at the rest of the dining room.
I am not going to say much about dinner, except the fact that it was delicious. The only complaint that I had is that I couldn’t have another…everything. The dessert was especially annoying to finish. I kept scraping the plate with my spoon in an effort to get every last bit. It was good. It’s rare to find food that good, it really is.
About an hour and a half later, we left the dinging room to head back to the library. Once we got back in, Laura spent her time browsing the walls for some good books to flip through. My eyes kept wandering around to see how the fireplace worked and how everything was put together. At one point, I picked up a few books myself. I found a set of really neat books called, “The Historians’ History of the World.” These books were very thick and very ancient. By ancient, I mean 100 years, not a million. I decided that someone should buy me the set of these; they looked very interesting. It would make for some good bed-time reading.
If you’ll notice, I didn’t drink a glass of Scotch. That might be because I haven’t found my flavor yet or because I didn’t want to smell like a bottle of liquor while driving down the road. Either are good excuses.
After a while, we decided it was time to head up to Washington and take a little tour. We got in the car and made a right out of the parking lot. We made it to the top of the hill and didn’t see a soul. It’s a very quiet and well behaved town on Christmas night, I suppose. We made a quick left, when I thought we should turn around. As I was turning, I looked to my left and saw an enormous church. I had to take a picture of it, so you would see what I am talking about.
The First Congregational Church, Washington, CT
Now, this is a serious church. They aren’t messing around. This is like the “center of town” church. I thought it looked really cool, especially being that is was Christmas night.
We continued down the hill to pass the entrance to the Gunnery…
The Gunnery, Washington, CT
After that, we made a few wrong turns, but eventually made it back out to the main road.
I’m almost done, but there is one other photo I took that is pretty neat. On the way back, we passed by the Woodbury Ski Area. Now, you know me and I can’t pass up an opportunity to take a picture of something so lit up as this. Here is a shot of some night time skiing.
Woodbury Ski Area
Well, there aren’t many people skiing, but I am sure you can imagine what it would be like if there was.
That’s my Chirstmas post. I hope you liked it as much as we liked living it. Till next time…
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Thursday, December 25th, 2008
I think that’s what it’s called. I burned the box last night after we put the beer in the refrigerator, so I’m not quite sure. What I do know is that there are 12 beers total, two of each winter classic.
This isn’t my Christmas post. Unfortunately, that will have to wait for tomorrow, since we just got back a few minutes ago. I wanted to quickly get on so I could write about two tasty new beers we tried last night on Christmas eve.
Okay, so we went food shopping last night. We thought that would be a good idea, because no one else on earth couldn’t possibly be out on Christmas eve. Wrong. It seems that everyone else was out. They were all at Whole Foods in Glastonbury. For the first time, we drove in the parking lot and had to actually drive back out and circle around to find a parking spot. We ended up parking at the bank next door. It was pouring rain, so we got a little wet walking over to the store. Yes, I know, this is just a continuation of yesterday’s post. I’ll get to the point.
Laura sent me over to get one of those boxes of clementines that seemingly are only available at Christmas. I thought that was a neat idea, so I agreed to the order. I was in the produce department already, which made hunting for these boxes all the easier. I walked to the back of the department, found some stacked 12-packs of Sam Adams Winter Classic beer, grabbed one and walked back to Laura. I didn’t even look at her. I just rested the box of beer on the edge of the cart and said that I couldn’t find the clementines. She really didn’t seem to mind because I think she had beer on the brain.
I asked a fine gentleman who was working in the produce area where the clementines were and he pointed over to the front of the store. We walked over, but since this post has absolutely nothing to do with clementines, I will move on.
When we got back to the house, Laura was kind enough to chill and open two bottles of beer. The first one was Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic and the second was Samuel Adams Holiday Porter. She poured half of each beer in two glasses and the other half in two more glasses. That way, we could both enjoy both types of beer.
Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter
I must say, I really enjoyed tasting two different types of beer at the same time. It was like another mini tasting. I dug it.
Both beers were very good, but the Cranberry Lambic was a hint too fruity. If it just had a bit less sweetness to it, it would have been perfect. The Holday Porter was awesome…right up my alley. That’s my kind of beer. Neither of these beers were all too heavy, but they really hit the spot.
The beer, the sushi, Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman made for a wonderful evening.
Merry Christmas and be sure to stop back tomorrow. I am going to post all my pics of tonight dinner at the Mayflower Inn.
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Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
This post is dedicated to my good friend Robert, who, as it turns out, is a Scotch man.
The other day, I wrote a post telling you that we were planning on traveling over to the Mayflower Inn, in Washington, CT for Christmas dinner. In that post, I described how I was going to finish eating, order a nice Scotch and walk over to the library to look out the window. Well, just as luck would have it, my friend Rob read that post.
Just yesterday, Rob called me up and started talking about how much he likes Scotch whiskey. He asked what kind I prefer the most. I said, “I don’t.” “What do you mean? I thought you were going to drink Scotch after dinner on Christmas,” he replied. I said, “Yeah, I am, but I am not sure I have ever actually tasted Scotch.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have a long history tasting various types of whiskeys and I am sure I bumped into Scotch along the way, but for me to remember what I was actually drinking would be difficult. It’s been kind of a long ride. With that in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to study up on various whiskeys and even taste a few.
Today, Laura and I headed up to Whole Foods to get a bunch of delicious stuff to eat tonight. Oh man, we got sushi and various types of cheeses and all sorts of goodies. It’s going to be fun. When we finished shopping and loading the food into the car, Laura suggested that we cross the street and visit Glastonbury’s finest liquor store (or at least one of Glastonbury’s liquor stores). I agreed and we began walking across the street.
Upon taking two steps into the store, I was faced with two distinct boxes that had the name, “The Glenlivet” on them. I said, “Hey, that’s Rob’s favorite Scotch right there.” I was pretty surprised because I thought it would be a more challenging find. Guess not; I’m sure Christmas brings the expensive Scotch out front and center.
I picked up one of the boxes and started looking at it. Then, I picked up another brand that was resting close by. I kind of fell in love with the other brand because the bottle was in a really cool tube and it looked like an extremely clean piece of jewelry when I looked through it. It twinkled in my eye and was simply marvelous. I informed Laura that this bottle of Scotch was indeed the bottle that I intended to crack open when we got situated on the couch tonight. She jumped on board and walked with me to the counter to pay up.
When we reached the counter, I was forced into a quick decision making situation. Right behind the lady at the register was a whole shelf full of those little sample bottles of all different types of liquor. I thought, “Should I keep the one big bottle of Scotch that I had in my hand or should I get a few different types to try them out?” I especially needed to see if I liked them or not. I thought it would be a wise choice to put the big bottle back and grab a few of the little ones.
Here is what I bought…
Mini Scotch bottles
We walked back to the car and Laura could see the excitement on my face. It isn’t very often a man like me gets to find a new favorite thing to love. I was wondering if Scotch would be one of them.
When we got back to the house and after we unpacked the groceries, I couldn’t help but to stand the little bottles up on the counter next to each other. I did that and they looked really great. A few seconds later, I began thinking to myself that since they were all just standing there, they really should be opened for an official tasting. Laura is always right next to me for things like this. I believe she was just as curious.
I opened up all three bottles and picked up the Johnnie Walker Red. Now, Wikipedia tells me that this type of Scotch is meant for making mixed drinks. Oh well, because today it wasn’t going to be mixed. I brought the bottle close to my lips and when it was about an inch away, I immediately had a flashback. The flashback was of many, many moons ago. I won’t even got into it, but let me tell you that Johnnie Walked Red smells just like good ol’ Irish whiskey. Man, oh man.
I took a small sip and handed the bottle to Laura. I kind of shook my head a bit to get used to what I had just tasted. Laura took a sip and then we proceeded to try the Johnnie Walker Black and the Glenlivet. Laura immediately chose the Johnnie Walker Black as her favorite. I told her that I didn’t have a favorite because I really didn’t see myself continuing to drink any of them.
I don’t think Scotch is my drink. It reminds me way too much of whiskey, and whiskey was really never my thing. You might say, “Well Jay, Scotch is whiskey you idiot.” I might respond, “Yes I know that, but thank you for pointing out the obvious.”
We both gave the bottles another round and I informed Laura that if I had to choose a favorite, it would be a toss up between Johnnie Walker Black and the Glenlivet. They both seem to have more of a distinct taste and both offer different advantages.
We agreed that if we were to relax at an inn with a few good friends, Scotch would be perfect. If we were planning on staying over and were allowed to let the liquor work its wonders, Scotch would definitely bring us to the place we needed to be. I say this while recognizing that I am simply a boy who performed a very small Scotch taste test this afternoon.
I would like some feedback. I am sure there are many people reading this right now who have some pretty strong opinions on liquor, one way or another. Please fill me in on your favorites and what you choose to avoid. I am sincerely interested. I have come to embrace the fact that I am a sweet liquor kind of guy. I have a bottle of blackberry Brandy on the kitchen counter that has been serving me well. I love after dinner drinks, so I guess I will stick to what I like.
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Sunday, December 14th, 2008
Today was the day to get in the car to go for a drive up north. We have been planning for this drive ever since we came back from Thanksgiving dinner. We are basically looking for someplace to have a nice Christmas dinner.
The original plan was to drive up to Woodstock, CT to visit and eat at the Inn At Woodstock Hill, but we arrived kind of early. Dinner service started at 5PM and we were standing in the lobby at about 2:30PM. I knew we were early, but we wanted to check it out anyway.
We took a quick look around and decided to we would get back into the car to drive around for a bit. Since dinner didn’t start for a good long while, we had the time. Unfortunately, my stomach was growling. I was very hungry.
We headed back south a bit and stopped by the Mansion At Bald Hill, thinking they offered dinner service a little earlier. I liked the mansion’s website and thought it looked like a great place to visit. This time, we didn’t even see another car in the parking lot. Okay, moving on.
We continued to drive and ended up at the Harvest Restaurant in Pomfret, CT. We walked in and asked what time dinner service started and were pleased to hear that they began serving at 4PM. By this time, it was already 3:30PM. That was good enough for us. We sat in the waiting area, just bickering away.
Finally, the time came to be seated and to start eating.
We ordered our traditional Guinness and browsed the menu. I really hadn’t expected the restaurant to be so charming (how often do I use that word?), but it really is. They sat us next to the fireplace and were very attentive.
Harvest Restaurant fireplace
We ordered and then talked a bit. The food came out of the kitchen fairly fast and was really good. Towards the end of dinner, I was telling Laura that I had a very nice time. I expressed that I was happy, because we didn’t have to do any work. People just kept coming by asking us questions about what we wanted. It was refreshing.
I took some photos of the restaurant. They are the best I could do without getting caught. Yeah, I’m the guy with the camera.
Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
Harvest Restaurant wine rack
Harvest Restaurant Christmas tree
Harvest Restaurant, Pomfret, CT
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I think I am going to give the Mayflower Inn a call for Christmas dinner. If they have the room, we’ll go over there. If not, we better get up and boogy to see if we can eat at the Mansion At Bald Hill before Christmas. I like to see what I am getting into before we go somewhere for a big occasion.
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Friday, November 28th, 2008
I made a very important self discovery today. It took all of my life, but I finally discovered that I am a critic.
It feels really great to at last figure out what my problem has been for all these years. At times, I have thought deeply about why things are, how things are, where things are, etc…It truly has been exhausting.
Now, as a newly discovered critic, I don’t feel nearly as terrible as I used to for being so critical about people, places and things. It’s the way I am wired…it’s uncontrollable. Come to find out, it’s in my DNA. I am sure there is someone in my family I get this from. Hmmm, anyone?
This afternoon, we drove to the Berkshires for another exciting Thanksgiving dinner at the Red Lion Inn. If you have been reading this blog since its inception, you’ll know that this has become a tradition for us, one that we really look forward to.
The Red Lion Inn offers some of the best charm in the Berkshires. It is centrally located in Stockbridge, MA and is probably the most popular inn the entire Berkshire region offers. Unfortunately, all its popularity may be its undoing, with us anyway.
We have always liked traveling up to the Berkshires for a variety of events…concerts at Tanglewood, shopping in Lee, strolling in Lenox, lunch in Stockbridge, well, you get the picture. We generally have a very good time. Although, there have been times that I have come back with a bit of cognitive dissonance. Rob knows what that is. We learned it way back in marketing class at WCC. It’s when someone feels uneasy about something, like there is a mild conflict in their mind. You can look up its definition here. For business majors, it applies to marketing, but it is generally applied to social psychology.
I’ll give you a short, but true, example of a time I experienced cognitive dissonance and then I will get into my story about tonight.
When Laura and I stayed over at the Red Lion Inn last Christmas, we enjoyed ourselves very much. We had fun doing so many things, but when it came time to eat dinner in the main dining room, there was something that bothered us. About half way through dinner, we heard a stampede of kids running up and down the main hallway above us for about 15 minutes. I will tell you that the Red Lion Inn is not a “solid” building, so we heard this commotion loud and clear. I thought the plaster on the ceiling was going to start crumbling.
Since we pay a good price for our time at the Inn, I decided to walk up to the front desk and inform the girl working it that there were some rowdy children upstairs ruining my night. She replied, “Um, yeah, I know. We have already had a few complaints about that. My manager is going to be in tomorrow morning and I am going to leave a note for her.” I was stunned and almost offered to take my shoe off and chase these kids out of the building, but I remained civil. My even temperament took over and I grudgingly went back to the table.
When I sat back down, I told Laura that I was a little fed up and that we should reconsider future visits to the Red Lion Inn.
Fast forward a few months.
In September, we went apple picking up at Windy Hill Farm in Great Barrington and ate lunch at the Red Lion Inn. We had a wonderful meal and decided to make reservations for Thanksgiving dinner. When we have a good time, we get a little caught up in the moment.
Fast forward to tonight.
We had a 4PM reservation for dinner. What always struck me as odd was, while making our reservations, this inn has insisted on telling me that men must wear coats to dinner. I never knew why they were telling me this, because I dress nicely each time I visit. I didn’t like the fact that someone was telling me how to dress, but I chalked it up to “informing the tourists.” There are people who would try to eat dinner in Bermuda shorts if you let them. As I mentioned earlier, this inn is situated in one of the Berkshire’s most popular areas, there are bound to be tons of hungry looky-lous, and there are.
We arrived today at 3:30PM. While waiting, we strolled around and kept ourselves busy. Laura went into the gift shop and I sat at a chess table. Here are some photos of that:
Red Lion Inn gift shop
Red Lion Inn chess table
As I was sitting at the chess table, I snapped a photo of a painting on the wall. I had no idea what it was of and I wasn’t even going to use it for this post. Upon later examination, I realized it may be the side lawn at Tanglewood. Here, check it out:
Side lawn at Tanglewood
We usually sit where the flowers are in the painting.
After Laura was finished in the gift shop and I was done taking my photos, we walked in the main lobby of the inn. This is where I noticed something strange. I saw a guy walking into the main dining room wearing a cheesy, wrinkled sweater and sneakers. Now, trust me, I am not being judgemental, I am using this as ammo to make a point later on.
A few more minutes of waiting and we heard the golden word, “G.” Ok, now we were in business. The hostess walked us over to a table for two towards the front of the dining room. I would have preferred the rear because it is quieter back there, but the front was ok, I suppose.
We sat down next to a few larger tables to the side of us and another table for two directly behind me. This is where it gets interesting…
At the moment of my butt hitting the chair, I heard this loud, female, raspy, drunken voice scolding her (soon I would find out) boyfriend for being so lousy over the 20 year span of their relationship. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I could feel my face getting red, like it did when the kids were running around upstairs.
I took a breath and figured that I should keep my mouth shut because they would be done in a few minutes and they would leave. After they left, we could enjoy the rest of the night with the rest of the well behaved guests.
Apparently not.
For the entire duration of our meal, we were forced to listen to this woman, very loudly scold her boyfriend that he was no good to her and no good to his mother. She claimed that he was going to leave her and that he wanted to kill his mother. I am not joking. This woman was plastered. She was slurring her words, but not drunk enough to keep ordering more drinks. She also found her way outside for a smoke every 10 minutes fairly easily.
Each time she went outside to smoke, she would come back into the dining room. She would smile at everyone and make small talk with people here and there. The minute she sat down, “You rotten, good for nothing, bast….”
Remember when I mentioned that we would wait until these people left to enjoy our dinner? Nope, apparently, these were the type of folks who sit and eat all night. If at a bar, these are the type of folks that you have to physically ask to leave when the bar is closing…then only to find out they are hiding in the bathroom. They were there before us and they remained after we left.
I know all this because we grew to know them intimately. All the folks at the surrounding tables knew them as well because they were very close too. I had such temptation to get up and grab the drunk lady by the throat, but I kept coming to the same conclusion that if I approached this woman, I would only get excited and mad and have my night ruined, I was confident that she would just enjoy it too much and she would make a very loud scene. In addition, in no way was this supposed to be my problem. Which brings me to the point of this post…
Where in the world was the uptight, rule enforcing waitstaff and hostess? I paid for this evening and nothing was done, in the least, about this Jerry Springer trailer park scene. It lasted an hour and all we got were a few uncomfortable smiles from the employees of the Red Lion Inn. In my opinion, this was unacceptable garbage. Everyone heard it and everyone knew what was going on. The problem was that we were too deep into our meals to change tables. Even as we were eating, a guy wearing a button down, lumberjack shirt walked by. You know the type of shirt…big red and black squares. So much for this “dress code.” I guess I should have dressed more comfortably.
I did a little search for upscale inns in the area after we got back to the house and found that our dinner at the Red Lion Inn was actually more expensive than comparable dinners at these other inns. I don’t want to sound like I am whining here, but I just figured that maybe, just perhaps I could have a nice classy night out with my lady without my blood pressure raising through the roof. It is, after all, the service and “experience” we are paying for.
I get excited about these nights out and I hate being let down.
After reading some reviews on Zagat, I have come to the conclusion that the Red Lion Inn is simply too popular with the tourists. It appears that this is an “anything goes” restaurant, as was evidenced by the gentleman walking in wearing sneakers and the scene that went on behind us. Oh yeah, the kids running up and down the hall way during our previous visit was a sure treat as well. Each time, nothing was done to even look like an attempt was being made to stop what was going on or to comfort the people who were trying to enjoy their holiday at the Red Lion Inn. I know this because, believe me, I watched and waited.
Unfortunately, I think we have been burnt by the Red Lion Inn for the last time. We can’t do it anymore. There are far too many restaurants and inns in the Northeast to have to put up with this kind of place. We decided that if we were in the area and wanted to stop for lunch, maybe we would give it a shot, but certainly not for dinner.
On a lighter note, hats off to the chef tonight. The food was excellent. As a matter of fact, if the staff of this place would get some guts and start throwing some of these people out on their ears, we wouldn’t have a problem at all. The waitstaff and other employees are always very nice and easy to get along with. It’s the other guests that are the problem. Problems are bound to arise, it’s what is done about them that matters.
Finally, here are a few shots of some tables and, of course, my Guinness.
Dining tables at Red Lion Inn
Pint of Guinness
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Thursday, November 20th, 2008
We got about 20 steps away from the car when I noticed the Christmas lights on the trees at Somerset Square. “Oh yeah, can we go back to get the camera?” I asked Laura. I thought I would ask nicely, even though I was already headed back.
Can you imagine me out and about, not attached to my camera? If the shoe were on the other foot, I would probably be pretty annoyed by this point. When you’re 10 years deep with someone, you tend to let things slide a little. With my personality, a lot slides.
We did a little shopping up at Pottery Barn this afternoon. I went up to finish purchasing the office furniture. I made a little list. It was on my Blackberry…another annoying trait, I’m sure…Blackberry-itis. Either way, it came in handy. My list was this: small table, floor lamp, garbage pail and mouse pad. I knew I could get everything but the mouse pad at Pottery Barn. Perhaps I would pick that up another day. Can you believe I have had my hands on like 50 mouse pads in my life and have none to speak of? I worry that I am going to put a dull “circle” in my new desk from rubbing the mouse around directly on the wood. Either I get a big piece of glass for the top of the entire desk or I get a mouse pad. I think the mouse pad with do.
We went in to Pottery Barn and looked around a little. It’s always the way…when you go in for something in particular, you seem to wander around aimlessly for a long time. If you go in with no money in your pocket, you want everything in the store after 10 minutes. After a while, I decided that I really didn’t need another table, since the desk and cabinet I already bought still sit empty. Also, the wicker garbage can was $57. Laura’s response said it all when I told her the price. “What?” Okay, forget that one, I’m no fool.
I settled on a nice Chelsea Floor Lamp Base with a medium shade. It’s funny, Pottery Barn sells the lamp bases and the lamp shades separately. Sorry, I’m used to Home Depot.
We thought an hour was long enough in that store, so we left. We wandered over to Williams-Sonoma for some kitchen items I had on another list. Out came the Blackberry again. By this point, I began hiding it. I hate people with Blackberrys. Seriously. I don’t want to turn into that guy, but folks, it’s getting very difficult for me. There honestly are good reasons for using it.
I mainly needed things to assist me in making my next pizza. I have a killer herb pizza recipe and it is a true winner. The only problems I have are rolling out the dough, grating the cheese and slicing the pizza. Oh, that’s all. So, with that in mind, I picked up a rolling pin, a cheese grater and a pizza cutter. I also got a nifty french fry cutter that I have been wanting for the longest time. I make a mean sweet potato fry.
There, the items on my lists were all crossed off.
We left.
Half way back the the highway, I said, “Ooof, I totally forget to take you to lunch.” That had been my plan all along, but unfortunately, that wasn’t in my Blackberry. Oh well.
A few thoughts very quickly flew through my head…”Maybe I can get away with it and we can just eat something at the house,” and “Maybe we can quickly pick up some takeout,” and “Maybe we can just eat tomorrow,” but finally I thought, “Jay, stop being such a dirtbag and take the girl out to lunch.” Ladies, we all think it, I’m just the only one who has the guts to write it.
I tried, I really tried to get to Glastonbury in one shot. Nope, couldn’t do it. I must say, the roads around here are a little tough if you have no idea where you are going. I do use the GPS, but if you have absolutely no idea of what direction you are driving in, it’s very hard to get places. I haven’t been able to “orientate” myself yet. It’s the whole “84″ and “384″ thing that throws me. It seems like there are a bunch of “off ramps” that turn immediately into “on ramps.” Do you know the kind? I don’t think anyone handles them well. I do, but when I am driving on the regular highway and someone is trying to get off one and I am trying to get on one, it seems like we just drive side by side staring at one another until I force them to slow down and I miss the on ramp. I have done this a million times. I did it again today. You think I would learn.
Anyway, I was coming back from Manchester, trying to go to Glastonbury and ended up on the other side of the river. Go ahead Liz, laugh. I know you already are. I am sure you can also imagine my face turning red while I was cursing out all the stupid drivers who caused me to end up in this mess.
We made it to Glastonbury Boulevard at about 4PM. I really wanted to take my lady to Houlihan’s for a late lunch. We turned down the road and I started getting my swagger back. “Oh yeah sweetheart, here we come. I hope your taste buds are turned on because this handsome old man is…what, Houlihan’s is closed? Oh MAAAAAN!!!” We drove past a few other restaurants and finally learned that these places are dinner restaurants, not lunch and dinner ones.
Since we were an hour early, I had a few thoughts run through my mind again, but I won’t put you through that again. We thought that a little food shopping at Whole Foods would help pass the time. I also secretly decided to take her to Max Fish, instead of Houlihan’s. That was my little bit of trickery and deceit. We spent about about a half hour at Whole Foods and the next half hour walking around Somerset Square in the cold. The cold felt really good against my face, strangely enough.
To make a long story short, we ate at Max Fish. Here are a few pics of the event:
Somerset Square with Christmas lights
Christmas lights on tree
Max Fish in Glastonbury, CT
Inside Max Fish in Glastonbury, CT
Max Fish business card
I hope you don’t mind, but I am going to offer a short review of both Max Fish and Houlihan’s. Here we go…
When my brother and I left Houlihan’s over the Summer, I told him that I just ate one of the best meals of my life. It was really incredible. I went and told Laura about it and have been trying to get her to come back with me ever since. In the meantime, my brother and I went back to the restaurant and basically ate the same meals again. Since they were no surprise to us, the first time may have seemed a bit more satisfying.
This evening’s meal at Max Fish was delicious. There is no doubt about it. After we left and began driving in the car, I started thinking out loud. I thought, “You know, I just basically ate the same thing I ate over at Houlihan’s, but Houlihan’s was half the price. The Ceasar Salad over at Houlihan’s was actually better than Max Fish too. If I want to go out for a beer, I will go to either restaurant, but if I want to eat, I am going back to Houlihan’s. The tables at Houlihan’s were much bigger as well.”
There you have it folks, the strangest restaurant review ever given. And to think, it only took a half hour of reading to get to it.
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