Shout-out!

     This is the first of an ongoing series of short posts I’ll be doing to highlight exceptional local businesses, restaurants, and events.  They’re worth sharing here because of the high-quality of their food, service, and/or entertainment.

Fairview Tree Farm Haunted Trail

     This past Sunday night, Erica, some friends, and I went to the Fairview Tree Farm Haunted Trail.  This was my first time going to a haunted event and not being on the scaring side of things; I had a blast!  Though having a good scare (or laugh) at haunted trails and houses can depend largely on what friends you go with, the employees at Fairview Tree Farm did an excellent job making sure each group passing through got their money’s worth.  They used a variety of different scare tactics and costumes throughout the walk, resulting in Erica nearly pulling my arm from its socket several times.  The excellent pre-walk decorations and long line on a Sunday were certainly a testament to their high standard of quality.  Waiting to enter, our anticipation grew with each patron we saw exit screaming.  Beyond simple gory scares and surprise screams, they also tapped into other fears such as creepy dolls, sensory deprivation, and eerie twins a la The Shining.
     If I had one criticism, it would be to include one or two gates to hold up traffic during the walk.  Some of my crew were so well-scared, they ran us right up to the next group, not leaving the employees enough time in between to reset themselves for us.  Perhaps they could include a short maze or dark chamber, where a hidden exit panel is opened only when the next set of actors are ready.  Despite being hurtled through, I had an excellent time, and definitely recommend the Fairview Tree Farm Haunted Walk for your season’s thrills.

Fairview Tree Farm

2 Saw Mill City Rd

Shelton, CT 06484

What are These? Graves for Ants?!

     Got the garlic in last week!  Hopefully they’ll have a good jump on next year’s growing season.  This year’s crop wasn’t ready until July (Thanks Connecticut…), but the cloves were delicious and the bulbs have stored very well.  People who love garlic, LOVE garlic.  It’s made a great gift.  I’ll be shipping off another batch soon, this time for Erica's mother’s famous garlic-studded Cuban-style Thanksgiving turkey.

     I've found that punching holes with a stake or digging long troughs are more effective for planting quantities of garlic than digging individual holes.

I am Cast Iron Man

     I love cast iron.  There, I said it.  I love it.  The way it evenly distributes and maintains heat make it unbeatable for a number of different cooking methods.  The care instructions and price of cast iron cookware can make it a daunting choice for someone who’s not familiar with it, but trust me, its well worth having at least one or two pieces in your kitchen arsenal.  In fact, if I had to shrink my cookware down to only a few pieces, I would still include a Dutch oven or deep skillet made of cast iron.  Now [insert deity]-forbid something should go wrong with your expensive pan, instead of sending it off to landfill heaven, all you need do is take a little time to refinish it.  You’ll have a like-new pan quicker and cheaper than a trip to the store!

     Today, I’m refinishing one of my cast iron Dutch ovens that we use for camping and historic reenactments.  It suffered some damage at a festival this season when it was moved from a spit hanging cozily over the campfire directly into the fire with a pound of bacon inside.  If you were wondering, one pound of bacon and grease at 800 degrees works out poorly for both the pot and anyone within smelling distance.  It certainly added a deeper authenticity to our historic camp, with that 18^th-century-I-haven’t-bathed-this-month-and-oh-by-the-way-something-died bouquet.

     A quick search on the interwebs will turn up many thorough guides to refinishing cast iron, so I’ll be brief here:

  Re-Seasoning Cast Iron

• Scour off old debris, rust, & residue with steel wool and coarse salt
• Rinse
• Dry in a low oven
• Lightly coat with oil
• Cure in 350° oven for an hour

     My goal is to encourage anyone out there who hasn’t tried cooking with cast iron to do so.  If you’re willing to buy used and refinish it yourself, you can pick up old cast ironware for fairly cheap at flea markets, estate sales, or thrift shops.  These pots are wonderfully durable, and can even become heirlooms.  I proudly use one that has been serving our family meals for at least 4 generations.  Just remember, the handles do get hot!

Frozen Assets

     Nighttime temperatures are plummeting in CT, which means it’s time to rip out any annual herbs and preserve whatever foliage is left for winter cooking.  My basil did great this season, and I thankfully have tons left on the plants.  However, this does beg the question: what method do I use to preserve it all?  I suppose that nearly all chefs would agree; cooking with fresh or fresh-frozen basil is far superior to dried flakes.  In the past, I’ve preserved fresh basil by placing shredded leaves in ice cube trays with a little water.  I read recently that some people freeze their basil in olive oil, making it easier to portion out.  The oil never freezes solid, so you can scoop out exactly what you need.  I’ll be giving the oil method a try and will review it here once I use some.

In Case of Vampires...

     Just ordered garlic for fall planting! Being that I waited so late into the season to order, supplies were limited with most sellers, especially on heirloom varieties.  Additionally, like seed potatoes, shipping rates can really add up depending on how far the bulbs are being shipped.  All of this means that I just went for the first company with reasonable prices to turn up in a Google search.  Territorial Seed Company won the bid.  To their credit, it appears they have a wide selection, organic and not, and a very attractve, updated website.  I ordered the “Great Garlic Combo”, half Duganski and half Susanville.  Both are mid-season varieties, one soft-neck and one hard.

     Speaking of seed potatoes, last year’s attempt at a fall planting was a complete failure.  I tried three varieties, planted deep and mulched over, but the New England winter is just too damn cold!  Maybe I’ll try potatoes again this spring.

An Apple-a-Day... bye!

     In a stroke of luck, we both had yesterday off from school and work, so we actually cleaned and organized the whole house like real adults so we went apple picking!  Since moving to CT, I’ve been working on a list of the best farm stands and orchards to visit within a reasonable drive of Milford.  Yesterday I was able to add 3 more to the list.  Before heading into the vast, dangerous wilderness of southern Connecticut, we stopped to peruse at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (which I’ll rave about in another post).  Autumn in New England is a bittersweet time.  Like an all-you-can-see buffet for your eyes just before total, abysmal whiteout 10 ft deep and 5 months long.  If you can handle the cuteness without vomiting, it’s a great couples outing to go apple picking and see the changing leaves.

     First up on our trip was Drazen Orchards in Cheshire.  Their roadside stand was exceptionally nice, with displays of mums, millet, and pumpkins out front.  Inside, employees were sorting large bins of apples near the freshest looking display of local CT veggies I’ve seen yet.  If you stop in, grab a few rolls of the homemade fruit jerky – it makes a killer car snack.

     Norton Brothers Fruit Farm was next on the itinerary, and was the one we decided to go picking at.  Their shop was one of the most comprehensive I’ve seen.  They had homemade baked goods, house-pressed cider, local produce, fresh flowers, and all the country store sweets, jellies, & knickknacks your grandmother could ask for.  We grabbed some of the best cider & donuts we’ve ever tasted, along with a beautiful pot of mums in mixed shades of orange & red.

     My favorite type of eating apple is the Macoun, a cross between McIntosh and Jersey Black.  It was developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, and was first introduced in 1923.  Despite the variety’s problems with short stems and unreliable harvests year-to-year, Norton Brother’s orchard did not disappoint.

     The last farm we stopped at was Hickory Hill Orchards.  They also offered pumpkins and apple picking, and had a whole floor of their shop dedicated to Christmas decorations.  We grabbed a maple soda from the case and some hazelnut biscotti sourced in from a local bakery before heading back to Milford.

A Star is Corn

     Turns out one of the crock-pot dips I made for this past weekend’s outing was a big hit with the fam.  My style of learning new recipes involves surfing cooking sites, blogs, and Pinterest for ideas, then combining those ideas based on my own taste.  I love roasted corn, and had a few cans in the cabinet from the last time they were on sale (always buy in bulk!).  I saw some pins for spicy crock-pot corn dip and the gears started turning.  You can serve this as a warm dip with tortilla chips, as a topping for chili, or as a sauce over chicken & veg.

  Cheesy Jalapeno Corn Dip

• 2-3cans roasted corn, drained
• 8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, cubed
• 8 oz pepper jack cheese, cubed
• ½ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup grated parmesan (or any other cheap, white, sprinkling cheese)
• 1-2 jalapenos, seeded & minced
• 2 tbsp sweet red Thai chili sauce
• Salt ‘n’ pepa’

     The best part: just throw it all together in the crock-pot on low heat for an hour or two and it’s done!  I imagine you could really kick this up with some crispy bacon crumbles, black beans, or a squirt of lime.  I went with 2 jalapenos, seeded, but you could leave some seeds to really kick this up.  Also, if you’re not familiar with sweet chili sauce; it’s the sweet-hot, clear-reddish sauce that comes with spring rolls in most Asian restaurants.  Most grocery stores carry it nowadays.

If I See One More Pumpkin Spiced Anything…

     Well folks, summer is officially over in New England.  3 days of cold rain and a hurricane that may or may not (ah, to be a weatherman) wind its way up the coast mean it’s time to begin winter prep in the garden.  There’s still hope for some red cabbage, beets, and, of course, more squash than we know what to do with.  Time to run out and grab any tomatoes and peppers left on the vine.  Hopefully I’ll remember to order some seed garlic this week; this year’s crop was delicious and very easy to grow.

     Heading off to a weekend family gathering in the Poconos, which means the ancient tradition of obligatory crock pot dips & casseroles.  If anything really stands out, I’ll make sure to share the Pinterest link recipe here.  The weather has already put a damper on any plans for a family golf-outing, so I’m packing up my favorite card game, Munchkin.  Since PA has over 3.5 million residents of German descent, here’s hoping tomorrow’s Oktoberfest street fair isn’t rained out too!