We drove along the Hudson to Connecticut to visit family and then took an overnight trip around Rhinebeck, NY near Bard College where Adam went to school. Along the way we ate some really great meals and soaked in as much sunshine as possible.
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| Croton Point Park |
Our first stop on our gluttonous tour was a quick bite at the Westchester Diner. We were passing nearby from Croton-on-the-Hudson and needed some fuel in our bellies to continue on the road to Oakdale, CT for a show.We didn't want to fill up too much, so Adam ordered the Garden Salad with Grilled Chicken and I went straight for a big bowl of Matzah Ball Soup (one of my all time favorite things to order anywhere).
Usually diners are super fast, so much so I'm always worried I'm getting an old order from someone else.
Westchester Diner did take a little while to bring out the food, but when we did we were pleasant surprised with the quality and quantity on our meal.
Adam's salad was huge, served in a bowl that should be used for a family of four. The grilled chicken was hot and juicy. I definitely stole bites from his giant bowl throughout our meal.My soup has the largest matzah balls ever created, ever. Seriously, look at the size of these things. If this isn't food porn, I don't know what is. Yes - please admire my giant balls! (hehe)
The soup was fantastic. Fluffy perfectly salted matzah balls in a lovely chicken broth with lots of onions, carrots and celery. It wasn't overly salty, which is something I always worry about when ordering this soup. Definitely made top 5 best matzah ball soup I ever ate and this includes homemade at my cousins' house during passover.
Now that we were SUFFICIENTLY full (we were only supposed to get a snack!), we made our way to see Adam's dad play in his band at a local bar (Shortie's Pub) in Oakdale. Here is ordered chicken fingers and french fries, but didn't bother taking a photo since it was typical pub fare.
On Saturday, we journeyed through back roads to Rhinebeck and Kingston. I was fortunate enough to get a fun email from Refinery29 (which I read daily) about 5 secret shopping destinations 3 hours outside NYC. We were going to drive near a few anyway, so Adam humored me and let me check out Millerton, which we were passing through near the border of Connecticut and New York state.
We did stop in all four stores mentioned in the email:
1. Harney & Sons: Had tons of really cool teas. I tried their organic raspberry iced tea which was super tasty with a nice sweet hint of raspberries!
2. Hunter Bee: This place was so incredible with lots of expensive vintage finds. They had this really awesome giant bird cage that I really wanted. Everything was far too much for my poor ass to afford, but one day!
3. Terni’s: I thought this place was super weird. We walked in and the old man working there look confused by our presence. We took a quick look around and left. They had random clothing, most of which looked like it was for more outdoorsy types.
4. Kamilla’s Floral Boutique: Best floral shop ever. They had the craziest flowers with a focus on orchids and succulents. Totally affordable too, but I kill all plants with my black-thumb and refrained from even the smallest purchase. (Perhaps for a wedding?)
Adam and I did stop in for lunch at the really cute coffee shop in town, Irving Farm Coffee Company. It was really busy and smelled delicious, so we ordered soup and a sandwich to share. You order at the counter, then get a little number so someone knows where to bring your food.
Adam ordered the split pea with turkey soup was really good, although not exactly hot in temperature. Definitely homemade with lots of flavor.
I ordered went for the curry chicken sandwich, was very bold of me (if you ask me).I had no idea what to expect, but it was absolutely delicious. It was chicken salad with a hint of curry with a bit of sweetness from dried cranberries.
It came on this amazing toasted "health" bread with lettuce, onions and tomato with a side of chips (which I'm happy to report I didn't eat except for a few). Irving Farm was awesome, so check it out if you're in the area.
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| View from Olana Estate |
We couldn't have asked for a nicer day! We took in the sunshine and the lovely views of the Hudson. It's amazing to think that just 3 hours south in busy NYC!
After a few hours, we worked up quite the appetite and got ready for dinner!
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| Olana's front door. Now this is an entrance! |
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| Enjoying a cold beer in the Bard gardens. |
Adam and I have a tradition of going to the Beekman Arms & Delamater Inn when we're in the area. The Beekman is America's oldest continuously operated hotel and the restaurant is absolutely delicious. First off, this place looks old but its in amazing condition. A lot of love goes into its care to ensure that an Inn built in 1766 is still standing as tall and as proud as it did back then. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
There was a little bit of everything on the menu, so everyone is bound to find something they like. Adam and I ordered whatever our heart desired, since everyone's diet should go out the door when you come here.
They sat us in the garden greenhouse, which was lovely. It's a fairly upscale place, so we had to be on our best behavior. We started with the Sweet and Sassy Shrimp ($9), which our awesome server recommended and described as being fried shrimp in a sweet and spicy sauce.We didn't know what to expect, but they were AMAZING! Small fried shrimp in this delicious sauce. Whatever they put in the sauce, it was to die for and we savored every bite. We were super excited for dinner at this point!
I ordered the 16 oz 
This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was SO dark (and romantic) where we were eating. It was a nice portion of braised beef ribs with creamy mashed potatoes and sweet, crisp carrots. The sauce was rich and dense, but I had no idea it was coffee based until after we were done eating. I'm glad we shared our meals, since both were so unbelievably delicious. And no dinner is complete without dessert!
This was called the Lemon Curd Napoleon ($8), but it was a total surprise when we finally saw it.
It was crisp slices of cooked puff pastry with a lemon curd center, a lollop of lemon meringue on top, some pineapple relish and raspberry sauce.
Needless to say it was light and mind-blowingly delicious! We practically licked the plate, and we were already stuffed from dinner.
It was a glorious dinner that made us weak at the knees. We had to take a walk around Bard Campus to ensure we didn't slip into a deadly food coma. We'll definitely keep coming back for more of Beekman Arms whenever we have a chance, its just too damn good and really not that crazy expensive for what you get!
On Sunday, we took it down a notch and enjoyed breakfast at Michael's Diner in Kingston, Adam's old haunt from when he went to Bard. He loved this place back then because you could smoke inside (remember those days?) and their food was good n' cheap, what every college kid needs.
Adam ordered his usual, which might not really be a usual since he hasn't ordered it in about 8 years.
Here we got scrambled eggs, home fries and a toasted corn muffin.
I stole some of his home fries since they were super tasty, with that extra crisp from being fried in butter. The corn muffin was awesome - I wish I had ordered one. Or better yet, a blueberry muffin! YUM!
I was totally indecisive and went with the Michael's Special which had a little bit of everything including two pancake, two over medium eggs (the way I like 'em), two slices of well done bacon and a sausage link.
The only thing that could have made this better was some home fries, which is why I stole from Adam's plate. The pancakes were really good as was the sausage which I'm not usually a fan of. All I left on this plate was a bit of egg white. Yes, I'm a disgusting pig in the morning.
Later on we had a lovely bbq with a ton of Adam's family, but I didn't bother taking photos of that. I was being lazy playing monopoly with his younger cousins. And yes, I definitely kick some kiddie butt in that game! I win! Adam didn't do so well :) Sorry Adam!
On Monday - July 4th - we had a MASSIVE BBQ at Adam's mom's house. Her name is Barbara and she's absolutely lovely.
We went absolutely buck wild with shrimp, lemon sole, salmon and a ton of delicious veggies. Here's a recap on the insane amount of food for 3 people.
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| Delicious Quinoa (pronounced Keen Wa) |
We bought a giant bag of frozen shrimp, which we defrosted and skewered with some pineapple. We did one skewer of shrimp with a nice marinade made of olive oil, minced garlic and fresh basil. These came out amazing!!
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| Grilled Veggies! |
Barbara made some delicious quinoa, which is apparently super easy to make. Just make the quinoa as directed on the package and added whatever veggies you have on hand. Here we have raw carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes as well as black beans and cooked broccoli and zucchini. Mix everything together with a splash of salad dressing (Italian if you prefer). It was fresh and light, perfect for summer!
Everything else was incredible. The lemon sole was super tasty and was more interesting than your run of the mill salmon. The salmon did come out perfectly though, but the lemon sole stole the show.
The shrimps were sweet and succulent. You would never know that they were initially frozen. Most supermarkets don't sell fresh shrimp any ways, so might as well get a bag of flash frozen, with the skin still on so they have that nice shrimp flavor. They only take 5 - 7 minutes to defrost under cold water.
The veggies were awesome as was the quinoa, which I'm planning on making sometime next week.
We obviously cooked way too much, but the left overs will not go to waste! Food for a week?
It kinda sucks living in an apartment with no backyard access, so when Adam and I have a chance to grill, we go all out. At least we have family we can take advantage of!
Adam was obviously VERY excited for all the food! He's ready to serve up everyone's plates.
<------ Adam and his mom, Barbara, ready to dig in and enjoy our feast!
This was my plate, and yes I did eat everything except for the whole corn. The corn wasn't as delicious as we had hoped, but it was on sale at the supermarket (5 ears for $1, so we didn't except much from them).
So that was our weekend. We took the train back to good ol' Brooklyn.
It's always so nice getting out of the city and look forward to our next gluttonous adventure, which will be Chicago in a few weeks. Something tells me I'll be forced to eat deep dish pizza before the end of the month. Oy!
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