Now, as you might imagine, Salem, Mass. can be a pretty interesting place to live. And when it comes to celebrating the rites of Spring, I’d argue that no one does it better—this side of ancient Rome, that is.

Last weekend, we hit Salem’s fourth annual Spring Fling event, hosted by our favorite kitchen shop in town, Pamplemousse, and Magic Hat beer.

I’m pleased as punch to be able to share a different slice of life in our fair city with you guys. (See? We’re not *all* about Halloween here in Witch City…)

Spring Fling was held at the Old Town Hall in Derby Square.

The event was two floors of wine and beer tasting, local artists and vendors, and dancing.

About Bacchanalia

Spring Fling finds its roots in the ancient Greco-Roman Bacchanalia, springtime rites celebrating the god Bacchus (Dionysus in Greek mythos), the god of wine.

During bacchanalia, “priests and aged priestesses, adorned with garlands of ivy, carried through the city wine, honey, cakes, and sweet-meats, together with an altar…in which…sacrifices were burnt.”

While I don’t think anyone was burning any sacrifices, folks were definitely doing their best to give Spring a hearty welcome. There were cakes, wine, and garlands a-plenty. Here, see what I mean.

Pictures from Spring Fling

Far be it for us to miss a party where the wine, beer, and mead are flowing freely. Oh, and did I mention that it’s also a toga party? Roman attire was encouraged. As you can see, lots of folks rose to the occasion.

There were a lot of Animal House-esque togas (think knotted sheets over jeans with sneaks).

But some folks definitely went all out, donning their armor, and even gold body paint.

There was a living statue.

Our warrior for the evening was performance artist Cady Vishniac, who also does a lot of work in Salem around Halloween. (What’s a living statue, you ask? Just what it sounds like. Take a peek at some of Cady’s other work. I give her a ton of credit. She’s one patient girl.)

And a lovely lady kind enough to help serve the fruit.

You could consult an oracle.

The band, Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket, was sporting their best Roman regalia.

Faces from around Salem

A lot of local business owners were out and about. I didn’t remotely get all of them, but here are some of the friends we ran into.

This is Diane Wolf from The Lobster Shanty. (We love Diane!) You might remember The Shanty from when we met Guy Fieri there last year, back when Penelope was just a pipsqueak.

And, of course, Diane, one of the owners of Pamplemousse. That’s her in the middle.

(Everyone apparently loves it when a mouse demands that you “say cheese!”)

Our buddy DJ Vudu was there, in full armor. (Don’t mess with him, eh?)

As well as two of our favorite girls in town—Lynn from Dirty Witch Soaps (left) and Lizzie from Witch City Wicks (right). These two make soap and candles that smell seriously good enough to eat. (More on that soon. I’m going to see if I can con one or both of them into doing a giveaway.)

We also saw artist Nick Demakas, who paints great portraits of beasts wearing their shiniest finery.

And Aepril Schaile, one of the region’s finest bellydancers.

And, of course, the vendors

You could buy or sample a ton of different goods here. There were masks and jewelry.

An artist drawing portraits.

And a couple girls painting on tattoos.

And beer…

…more beer…

…and yet more beer. You get the idea. Not to mention the wine. And the mead.

Oh, and the samples of food from local restaurants.

The end of the night

When the event broke up, everyone was happy and definitely well feasted.

I think it’s fair to say that a good time was had by all.

The Angry Chef and I hung out ’til the end of the night, watching happy revelers filter out into the twinkling, cobblestoned streets of Salem.

Oh, and speaking of Bacchus

Stay tuned for a review of one of my favorite vineyards!

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Ya know, I can’t believe the summer got away from me the way it did. I meant to post this months ago.

No matter, though. This post is essentially about cheese. (And as all good cheese-lovers know, cheese is timeless.)

So way back in June, my mom and I were tooling around in Northern Connecticut, in search of delicious, local treats. We visited a garlic farm and learned all about garlic scapes, we also scored some beautiful strawberries at a roadside stand.

But my favorite stop, however, had to be Sweet Pea Farm in North Granby, where they make (you guessed it), homemade goat cheese.

Sweet Pea Farm is idyllic and inviting—but is still very much a working farm.

When you drive by, it’s easy to want to stop in and say hello. You can see the goats from the road. (And they certainly see you. They lined up for me when I approached their pen.)

The family’s cat came to greet us when we got out of the car, and trotted along beside us as we walked around.

(Friendly little things, aren’t they?)

But you know me. Goats are nice. But I was interested in the cheese.

We headed over to the farm’s shop, which is small but packed with all sorts of treats.

I bought a container of fresh goat feta (mild and slightly salty), and some cow’s milk yogurt (tangy, creamy, and thick). We topped salads and toast with the cheese, and ate the yogurt for breakfast with a drizzle of local honey.

In addition to plain chevre, they also had a bunch of different flavors, including dill, black pepper, maple pecan, and cranberry. It was definitely hard to decide what to walk out with. I’d love to go back and sample some different cheeses. They also sell fresh milk.

Best of all, the shop has a large window that looks in on their cheese-making operation.

A look at how goat cheese is made

Sweet Pea Farm is run by the Hayes family, who were nice enough to let us interrupt them for a few minutes and ply them with excited questions about their cheese.

They even let us take a quick peek at the batch of cheese they were starting.

I’m leaving some steps out, but here are some scenes from the cheese-making process.

Fresh milk is heated in a large, sterilized kettle:

Vegetable rennet is added to the milk to help it curdle:

When the milk/rennet mixture has curdled, the curds are cut and then strained well to release excess moisture:

Cheese-making has been on my list of things to do for years. There are a handful of good, online tutorials on the subject, as well as a bunch of interesting-looking books. Stay tuned!

Scenes from around the farm

On top of the goats, we also saw some very nice chickens (who weren’t at all interested in a mouse with a camera):

A couple of plump ducks:

And a handful of geese. (Geese are supposed to be very good watch dogs on a property. True to form, when I approached them, they flapped their wings, let out a few loud honks, and hissed at me.)

Visit Sweet Pea Farm

If you’re ever in the Northern Connecticut, definitely stop in to say hello to the goats and pick up some delicious, fresh cheese.

Sweet Pea Farm
151 East Street
North Granby, CT 06060
(860) 653-4157

Cheers!

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Ya know, you can find treasure in the most unexpected places. For example, I never would have guessed that this small shop in Salem, Massachusetts would have some of the freshest—and most economically priced—spices around Boston.

You all know I’m a Penzey’s devotee, but when I’m up on the North Shore, I’ll definitely be hitting the West India Goods Store, as well.

I’m not sure how they do it, but their prices are amazing and the quality of their spices is top notch.

About Salem, Massachusetts

Let me back up for a sec before we go inside the shop.

So the West India Goods Store is located in Salem, MA—a.k.a. Witch City—which is about a 20-minute drive north of Boston. The town is the home to the Witch Trials of 1692.

It’s right down the road from the House of Seven Gables.

Salem is full of lots of beautiful, historic homes. If you go for a visit, definitely take a walking tour. Any architecture or history buff will be absolutely tickled pink by the sights.

Click here for a more detailed peek right around Halloween, when the town is in its prime.

The West India Goods Store is located at 164 Derby Street, near Pickering Wharf.

Inside Salem’s West India Goods Store

When you step inside the shop, it’s absolutely packed to the gills with all sorts of sweet and savory treasures. The center table is covered with packages of fragrant coffee and loose tea.

The wall to the left is lined with dozens of orderly little boxes, each stuffed with packets of fresh ground or whole spices.

I bought a handful of spices I needed for my recent adventure making quick, fresh pickles (no canning required!).

There are displays of books about the local area and its history.

And a really good selection of gifts and other goods.

And, of course, a few jars of penny candy.

The Mouse House is relocating to the Salem later on this month. This is just one of many articles to come on Witch City’s secret culinary treasures.

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Recently, my mom and I took a little road trip around the countryside in Northern Connecticut. When we happened across The Garlic Farm in West Granby, we knew we had to pull in and investigate. Here’s a photo tour of the farm, a bunch of info on garlic scapes (including how to cook them), plus a super simple recipe for some of the most garlicky, mouthwatering pesto you’ve ever had.

Now, it’s going to sound silly, but garlic is one of those things that kind of seems like it just…you know…appears. I’ve never really given much thought to the plant that it comes from—or the idea that there might be whole farms dedicated to growing the stuff.

I certainly had no idea what a garlic scape was or what to do with it in the kitchen.

A basket of garlic scapes at The Garlic Farm in West Granby, CT

Wait, let me back up and set the scene.

How can you resist this sign?

So Mom and I were driving along. We had just come from Wilhelm Farmstand. I’m not sure how any garlic-lover could pass this sign without stopping.

This sign cinched it for us, though. Mom and I looked at each other, both with the same thought: What the heck is a scape?

We turned down the dirt road, and made our way to the barn which was nestled at the end of two swaths of tall, arching trees.

What is a garlic scape, anyways?

A garlic scape, as it turns out, is a flowering stalk that shoots wildly off a garlic plant.

It’s long and thin, and twists into a whimsical curly-que.

We parked and made a beeline for the rows of green baskets outside.

They were overflowing with garlic scapes. As we got closer to the barn, there was just the mildest hint of fresh garlic on the breeze. My mouth started to water just a little and I immediately wondered: “How do I cook these things, because they must be amazing?”

Garlic farmers cut the scape off so that the garlic plant can concentrate on making the garlic bulb bigger.

The scape itself looks kind of like a coiled, green rubber tube.

If left on the plant, the end will eventually explode into a pretty purple flower. You can see the beginning of the flower bulging here:

When you cut into them, they kind of have the consistency of fresh, young asparagus. They have a fabulous and green garlicky scent.

Inside the barn at The Garlic Farm

The farm itself is in a charming, converted tobacco barn.

There are tobacco barns all over this part of Connecticut. Quite literally, they’re barns in which tobacco leaves are hung to dry. Today, the barn’s rafters are used to hang and dry The Garlic Farm’s impressive harvest of organic garlic.

Tobacco barns are really neat and can be surprisingly bright inside, since every other slat on the barn is hinged and opens. (This was originally to help get enough air to the tobacco leaves.)

A hinged slat on The Garlic Farm’s barn

Inside, they sell a handful of seasonal, native produce. In fact, the farm is having a tomato tasting in early August. They’ll have about a dozen varieties of tomatoes to sample.

(The Garlic Farm is located at 76 Simsbury Road in West Granby, Connecticut. For more information, visit their website or call 860-653-0291.)

As delicious as the strawberries looked, though, we were there for the garlic scapes.

Into the garlic fields!

I took a walk out to the garlic field, to take a peek at the plants firsthand.

As I got closer, I could see the garlic scapes twirling around.

Here’s one up close:

On the edge of the field, we spotted a few Swallowtail butterflies, stopping for a mineral-rich, muddy drink.

How to cook with garlic scapes

As it turns out, the good folks at The Garlic Farm not only grow and sell organic garlic and garlic scapes, they do a fair amount of education about them, too. All their garlic is grown from seed and is organic.

(Gary Cirullo , the owner, signed the Connecticut NOFA pledge, which means he’s committed to running his farm with sound economic and ecologic principles.)

Mom and I spent a fair amount of time talking to Nancy Dunn, who was there minding the scapes.

Garlic scapes, she told us, are really very versatile. You can grind them up into pesto, grill them like asparagus, saute them and serve them in salads or sides, and even eat them raw. You can also blanche and freeze them. (Not to mention keep them fresh in water *and* have a pretty striking centerpiece for your dinner table.)

Hmmm. Pesto, eh? My wheels started to turn. We bagged up a half-a-pound and headed home.

Don’t miss the garlic scapes!

The Garlic Farm will be running its Garlic Scape Weekend for one last weekend, on June 20-21. If you’re in the area, definitely swing by. (For more information, visit their website or call 860-653-0291.)

Phew! That concludes today’s lesson on garlic scapes. On to the pesto!

How to make garlic scape-based pesto

This is some of the garlic-iest stuff I’ve ever had in my life. It’s packed with fresh garlic flavor that’s tempered by generous amounts of grated Parmesan and high-quality extra virgin olive oil.

A handful of pine nuts deepens the flavor and adds a little, well, nuttiness.

A little goes a long way. Toss it in pasta. Slather it on sandwiches. Use it as a dip for raw veggies. Thin it out with more olive oil and a little lemon juice for a fabulous impromptu salad dressing. In short, treat it like regular pesto. It won’t disappoint.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1/2 lb. garlic scapes (about 15 scapes)
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice from half a lemon

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Wash and chop the garlic scapes

Grab your garlic scapes. (Say that 10 times fast.)

Rinse them well under cold water and towel them dry.

Chop them up roughly, so they fit better in the bowl of your food processor.

Grind the garlic scape pesto

Put the scapes into the bowl of your food processor.

Toss in the Parmesan.

Add the pine nuts.

Cap your food processor and pulse it a handful of times.

You want the ingredients to be roughly chopped, like this:

With your food processor running on low, drizzle in the olive oil.

Process the pesto until it’s thick, creamy, and fairly smooth, like this:

Squeeze in your lemon. (Traditional pestos don’t include lemon, but I’m glad I added it. It gave the pesto a nice brightness. Add it or leave it out…totally your call.)

Your finished pesto should be able to hold its own on a fork. (If you like your pesto thinner, add more olive oil.)

Scrape the pesto out into a bowl. Garnish with pine nuts, if you like.

The pesto should keep for about a month in the fridge, well wrapped. Like all pesto, it will separate. Just give it a stir before serving.

Enjoy!

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Recently, my mom and I were driving around in the country, and found ourselves in the northwest corner of Connecticut, in the town of Granby. It’s a sleepy little farm town with a handful of hidden culinary gems. Wilhelm Farm’s roadside stand is one of them. When we passed by, we knew had to stop and sniff around a little. Here’s a peek at the farmstand—plus a quick recipe for strawberries macerated in port wine.

The farmstand is on the side of a fairly main road.

It’s set on the edge of a large field.

You know what they say: Less is more. Since it’s the beginning of the season, the pickings were fairly lean—but what they did have out was clearly fresh from the field and looked utterly mouthwatering.

There were two rows of plump and rosy native strawberries.

We wound up taking 2 quarts home with us.

I can’t wait for the native strawberries to come out each year. The flavor is so much more intense and sweet than your run-of-the-mill supermarket berry.

They also had a handful of rhubarb stalks.

And a shelf with a few rows of jewel-toned, homemade jams.

This farmstand is like many in this area—charming, unmanned, and run on the honor system.

We dropped our money in, and went on our way. Before the day was done, we wound our way through the hills, by way of both a goat farm and a garlic farm. (More on both those to come soon.)

Oh! We also drove by the majestic Granby Oak, which has to be the most impressive tree I’ve ever seen in my life.

It’s more than 400 years old and spreads out over 130 feet.

Ah, strawberries

Now, I could have done any number of things with these berries—like make a Strawberry Brunch Tart with Thyme and Black Pepper…

…or a Strawberries and Cream Cake.

But I was struck with a serious—and rather urgent—case of berry greed. (I am, after all, a rather hungry mouse.) So I sliced them up and macerated them with a little bit of tawny port and sugar.

While it may sound like an unlikely pairing, the flavor of the port really brings out the sweetness in the berries.

Spoon these over vanilla ice cream or a thick slice of angel food cake. Or, you know, just eat them with a spoon.

Port Wine Macerated Strawberries

2 quarts strawberries, sliced
3 Tbls. sugar
3 Tbls. tawny port

Nip off the leaves and stems, then slice up your strawberries. Put them in a large bowl.

Toss in the sugar and the port.

Toss gently to combine.

Let the berries sit on the counter for maybe 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

As they sit, they’ll start to give off all sorts of lovely juice.

After about 20 minutes, your sliced berries will be soaking in gloriously fragrant syrup.

Serve over vanilla ice cream or thick slices of angel food cake. (Or just have at it with a spoon.)

Enjoy!

Passing through Northern Connecticut? Visit Wilhem Farm.

Here’s where to get your own berries. (I probably don’t have any left.) Wilhelm Farm is owned by Ann Wilhelm and Bill Bentley. It’s located at 329 North Granby Road, Granby, CT.

View

329 N Granby Rd in a larger map

Cheers!

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