THE LOCAL

A new restaurant just opened up around the corner and has been getting rave reviews. Curious to see what it was about, a group of us decided to go check it out.

It's called THE LOCAL - and in the simplest of terms, it's a nice, laid back restaurant and bar.

 There was a slight wait for tables, so we put our name down and paid a visit to the bar to grab a drink and wait for our name to be called.

The set-up of the whole establishment is well thought out-- so although it was crowded, it never felt too packed. With a nice amount of bar-counter area, as well as standing room, we were able to comfortably and happily mingle about.

Once our name was called, we were brought to our table and handed our menus.
Within seconds, we were all "oohing" and "ahhing" over the selections.

Can you say "fried pickles," anyone?

 

Featuring what I'd call "pub food" with a creative and upscale flair - everything sounded equally delicious and naughty. Especially that lobster mac & cheese.

Although we wished to order the entire menu, we also knew that the doors to exit were only so wide.

Among the things we ordered, here are some of my favorites:

*The golden beet salad with Vermont goat cheese, pistachio pesto, baby arugula, and sherry vinaigrette. Nice and light, with a great mix of flavors - especially the pairing of the pistachio and goat cheese.

*P.E.I. mussels in an old brown dog ale and dijon cream sauce, served with some grilled bread. This was really tasty. I'd never think to have mussels and dijon together, but the sauce was lick-your-fingers tasty. The bread was a nice addition too - very handy for sauce mopping.

*Creamy Anson Mills polenta, with a beef & pork ragu, topped with a crispy poached egg and grilled bread. This dish intrigued me when I saw it on the menu, and continued to intrigue me as I tasted it. Quite rich from the creaminess of the polenta and heartiness of the ragu, you could definitely make a meal off of this guy. My favorite part about it... the crispy poached egg. Genius. I don't know how else to explain it other than as a fried, poached egg. Crispy yet gooey - it was the perfect topping.

*Caramelized onion, roasted spinach, and Vermont goat cheese flatbread. This was the perfect blend of sweet and savory. The caramelized onion made it for me. That, and the thin, crispy crust. There is no way you could only have one slice of this. 

 

 *And now for the favorite of my favorites... 

"The Grandfather of Meat" prime burger and hand cut fries.
 Probably one of the best burgers I've had in a long time.

And those fries... so. addicting.

 

 

Overall, I'd say our dining experience was a great one. The atmosphere, service, and food were fabulous; and as we were leaving, we were already discussing what we'd be ordering our next time back.

It's nice knowing there's a LOCAL place around to catch up with friends over a drink and enjoy  a casual and tasty meal.

xo Belle

It's About Time!

Is it me or does it seem like it's been a while since a good rom-com came out?
Romantic comedies are my genre of film. It's not that I don't like other kinds -- it's just that I enjoy the "happily ever after" ones best. And because Hollywood has been lacking in the production of these types recently, I've been rotating my favorites at home.

 (In no particular order)
1. Under the Tuscan Sun 2. Morning Glory 3. My Best Friend's Wedding 4. Crazy Stupid Love  
5. Love Actually 6. The Proposal 7. Four Weddings and a Funeral 8. A Good Year 9. Leap Year  
10. The Wedding Date 11. Life As We Know It 12. The Holiday 13. Two Weeks Notice  
14. Letters to Juliet 15. It's Complicated 16. Notting Hill 17. Mean Girls 18. French Kiss  
19. Pitch Perfect 20. What's Your Number? 21. Wimbledon

I seriously can't remember the last time I really wanted to see a movie in theaters that was funny and light-hearted...

until I saw a coming attraction for one the other day.

It's called About Time.  In the simplest of terms, it is a British film about a guy (Domhnall Gleeson) who, on his 21st birthday, discovers he can time travel- a "power" that all men in his family acquire. Using this ability to his advantage, he tries to change his past to make for a better future. One of the changes he makes is having a girlfriend (Rachel McAdams). Through his time travel and experiences though, he is faced with a choice: should he continue to go back and change things in his life, or should he just live and let life happen.

The film is written and directed by Richard Curtis - creator of some of my favorite movies, including:

Notting Hill
Love Actually
Four Weddings and a Funeral

and has gotten pretty good reviews thus far (it's already been released in the UK).

It premieres November 1st - and I definitely plan on seeing it.

Here's the trailer if you're interested.

It's About Time (ha!) we had ourselves a good romantic comedy to look forward to seeing!
 
xo Belle

Puffs

'Tis the season for... puppies!

My neighbor is a golden retriever breeder. And every fall and spring she usually has a litter. Often sold to loving families before they're even born, the puppies only stay with her until they are old enough to go to their new homes.

That leaves only a small window of time to visit with or catch glimpses of the "little puffs" (aka puff balls, as I affectionately call them). With a large yard for the puppies to run around in, I often see the pudgie puffs running and rolling about as I drive by.

And each time I see them, my need want for one of them grows.

 

At the top of my Christmas list this year...

A puff. With a big red bow tied around his/her neck. 

 

How could you not want such a cutie?

xo Belle

Belle's Traditional Apple Pie

So as promised in my last post, here is a quickie on my traditional apple pie.

Sometimes the best recipes are the classic ones, right?

To make, you'll need:

Crust:
1/3 c. cold water
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. shortening
2 c. flour

Filling:
6-8 apples- peeled and cut into bite-size pieces (I recommend using Honey Crisp and Macoun)
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar (packed)
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ginger
1 T. butter
1 egg, whisked

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

The crust is the one I used for the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.
Prepare and roll out the same way.

As for the filling...

Get yourself a large mixing bowl and mix the apple pieces with the lemon juice till well coated.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugars and spices together.
Pour the dry mix onto the apple and toss until the apples are completely coated.

Pour the apples into the crust-lined pie dish.
Cut the butter into slices and lay atop the apples-- "polka-dotted" evenly over the dish.
Top it off with the other half of the crust. Brush the top of the crust with the egg wash
and make a few slits in the middle. Sprinkle some sugar over it all and then cover the edges of the pie with foil.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil from the edges. Bake for another 25 minutes.

Once finished, you'll have a handsome little fella that looks something like this...



And tastes like heaven on a fork.

xo Belle

Belle's Apple Streusel Crumble

I think someone has done some magic to the apples I picked. It seems as though no matter how many crisps, pies, muffins and cakes I bake, the amount of apples we have will not diminish.

I'm serious. I feel like I've been baking with them non-stop and yet, I still have dozens. 

And since I've already made all the "usual" apple-dishes (I'll post the recipe for my pie later - cause it was that yummy), I decided to get a little creative and experimental. 

Now, let me preface this post with true honesty and say that the end result of this apple-recipe experiment was NOT what I was going for. My intention was to make a apple coffee crumb cake. 

And although the outcome was not the one which I had planned on having - I have to say that I think it was better! Instead of a crumb cake, I ended up with a sort of apple-crumble "mush." And when I say "mush," I mean it in the best way possible. 

"Mush" may actually be the wrong word to use entirely, because it does have some structure to it. But I can't think of a better way to describe it...

Apple Streusel Crumble, maybe?

Anyways, if you're up for it - which you should be, cause it was "ohhh, just one more bite" good - here's my recipe. 

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar, light or dark

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Topping:

2/3 cups granulated sugar

pinch of  salt (if you use unsalted butter)

3/4 cups flour

1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Cake:

3/4 cup butter softened

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 1/4 cups milk

3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

3 small/medium apples

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9 x 13" pan. 

To start, make the "Topping."

Whisk together the sugar, salt, flour and cinnamon. Then add the melted butter and whisk till well combined. 

 

Once it's mixed and "crumbly" looking, set aside.

Onto the "Filling." 

Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa. Then set aside.

And now for the cake.

In a large bowl, beat butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. 

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

In separate bowl, whisk together yogurt and milk till well combined. 

Once done, add flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/yogurt mixture, beating gently to combine. 

Then, peel a few apples, chop them into small pieces, and fold them into the one mix.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan.

And spread it out evenly.

Next, take your "filling" and sprinkle it on top.

Spread the remaining batter over top.

And then finish it off with the topping.

Pop it into the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Let it sit and cool.

*This is important - if you cut into it when it's still piping hot, it will be too "mushy." Letting it sit allows it to firm up a bit.

Once cooled, go for it.

My favorite part are the edges-- from the cooking process, they turn into this caramelized, chewy, crust.

A recipe gone wrong = a delicious mistake = a new, yummy apple dessert.

One thing is for sure, this is one mistake I will definitely make twice. 

xo Belle

Autumn is for Apple Picking

This past Saturday, I went apple picking with my Mom and Cait at Honey Pot Hill Orchards.

It was a perfect autumn day - blue skies, sunny, and crisp.

We arrived right when the orchard opened to the public, so as to beat the crowds...and get our hands on the best apples, of course.



We grabbed some apple-bags to pile our pickings into and headed out into the orchard fields.





It's quite a large orchard - with around ten different types of apples to choose from. From MacIntosh to Cortland, to Macoun, Spencer, and Spartan, to Red Delicious, Mutsu, Empire, and Honeycrisp - we hopped from row to row and tree to tree - getting a mix of them.

We were most interested in the sweeter types - as we had big baking plans for our spoils.
And wanting the big, red, juicy, sweet ones - we had to do some climbing to reach those top branches.





Cait taste-tested (just to be sure we were picking the good ones, obviously).



With good remarks - we kept on with our picking...







until our bags were spilling over and as heavy as ever.

We wound our way back through the apple-trees, and had ourselves a very scenic trip back to the Honey Pot store.



As we got closer to the store, the smells of warm caramel and cinnamon swirled around us.

We took a peek in the store - which offered honeys, apple and pumpkin butters, picked apples and pears, as well as cider.

But having been too enticed by the smells of the more sinful offerings, we made our way outside to the store windows to order some caramel apples, apple cider doughnuts, and warm apple cider.

My first choice was the caramel apple.

Isn't she a beauty?

Delicious.

Mom also couldn't resist the sticky-goodness.

But Cait went for the apple cider and honey sticks - which she loved just as much as we loved ours.

A perfect, sweet ending to a fun and apple-filled autumn day.

xo Belle