Warm Lunch at Home Idea: Pockets from All You Knead Bread, Artisan Bakers

Stopping in to All You Knead Bakery, the bread store in the middle of Main Street, to get my breakfast bread and bagels, I saw a larger variety of the warm pockets that you can take home and warm up in your oven for an easy and nutritious lunch! I melt provolone or mozzarella cheese on mine and warm a side of tomato sauce and pretend its a calzone.

And OMG, the proprietress gave me one of her vegetable Samosas that just came out of the oven, and OMG, it is so good! Fresh peas, ginger, other things, and a great dough wrapped around. Thank you All You Knead Bakery! I've been really missing my Samosas that used to be in walking distance when I lived in Manhattan, and now I can walk to you!

Egg and Spinach on a Brioche Bun Breakfast Sandwich at Beacon Bread Company

On Saturday morning, I met with the girls who run Hudson Valley Compass, the new website that helps you find things to do in the Hudson Valley. Beyond meeting two great people, I was really looking forward to trying a breakfast sandwich at Beacon Bread Company. I'm very particular about my breakfast sandwich, and on the weekend, I can pull out all stops for a large meal to carry me through to a great Saturday night dinner.

I ordered the egg sandwich on a Brioche bun. My breakfast partners ordered an omelet with spinach, which we learned was a garlic infused sautéed spinach. I piggybacked that side and added it to my order, and also ordered Gouda cheese in my scrambled egg sandwich. The eggs can come in any style you want. And they were gracious enough to let us be picky with our orders.

I like a cheesy egg sandwich, where cheese is oozing out the sides, and this cheese was scrambled in, so no ooze, but still delicious and hit the spot. Plus, I felt so healthy with the topping of spinach! To add to the excitement was my freshly squeezed orange juice, the squeezer machine of which you can see behind the counter. It's like a Farris wheel of oranges.

The Brioche bun filled me right up and I didn't need hash browns, although could have handled them. Just in the nick of time, the chef had finished cooking a bread pudding with raisins and maybe cinnamon, a sample of which was delivered to our table. OMG. Danger. You could easily have that bread pudding instead of French toast! Was so good.

For a great overview of Beacon Bread Company and how they started, check out this interview done by Wigwam. As for their bread, what owner and boulanger d’pain Ralph Clemente says in that interview is true: “Bread is just something I do. I know bread.” Yes he does. I've been buying loaves from Beacon Bread and All You Kneed for all of my bread needs since they opened.

Kids Writing Pad Tools, Water Wow Pad at Vogel Pharmacy Drugstore

If you wish it, Main Street in Beacon has it. My daughter Ruby has expressed interest in learning her letters, but she's getting really frustrated at not being able to write letters on demand, so throws the pen and paper across the room.

 

Not a great solution. But what IS a great solution is tracing letters to learn and get satisfaction from making those shapes! Now that my brain was piqued to find this solution, Ruby and I headed to Vogel Pharmacy drugstore to shop their kids section for a birthday present. While there, I told Ruby to look for letter making things. A little birdie from behind the counter heard me, and showed me these Melissa and Doug water pads, the Water Wow, where you fill up this pen brush with water, and trace these letters! Then wipe it away and write it again! They had all kinds of pads, like trucks and numbers. Solution solved!

 

And the other thing Vogal had was a pack of card games including Go Fish! Which I was also wishing for to A. give us a family game, and B. to help the kids strengthen their visual memory matching! 

Thanks Vogel Pharmecy and Melissa and Doug!

Deviled Eggs on the Menu at Dogwood and BJ's Soul Food

Even though the thought of beer and Deviled Eggs alone makes me wonder if it's a good idea for a combo, I love seeing it on the menu of Dogwood. Actually, eggs with an order of chicken wings followed by an order of Dogwood's famous macaroni and cheese would be perfect. But we came to try their burger, so I held off on the eggs, but the burger was spot on for a Friday night. The kids liked ours so much , we had to order the kids their own (after they ate their mac and cheese and grilled cheeses).

If you want a little competition for your Deviled Egg, you could go to BJ's on Main Street for a real picnic type meal. Deviled Eggs, fried chicken, mac and cheese that rivals Stouffers, killer butter soaked cornbread, and a generous slice of 3-layer cake.

Zoinks!

If you've had Deviled Eggs in the area, please do tell in the Comments!

Weekend Drive: Woody's Farm to Table in Cornwall, NY

Deep in the hundred acre woods of Cornwall, NY, is Woody's Farm to Table restaurant. Don't let this sign fool you: "Woody's All Natural Burger and Fries". They have an expansive menu inside of chicken sandwiches, grilled cheeses, soups, a lobster roll??

Yes. A lobster roll from the fresh catches of the icy waters of Maine. In fact, most of their fresh meat is from Maine. Which is fascinating about a little restaurant in the Hudson Valley because who would have thought they'd know the secrets of Maine's locally produced food? I know I do because I'm a wanna-be Mainer in the summer when we drive up for vacation.

Speaking of driving, we took a family drive to Woody's to sample their burger, fries and a milkshake. The first hint that it would be good was the vintage looking soda fountain in the front, offering cream sodas of many flavors from Boylan Bottling.

And the burger? So good. So good that I forgot to take a picture of it before gobbling it down. Served on a brioche bun (which I normally fear in a burger because I don't like my burgers too "bunny"), the bun was soft and buttery. The lettus and sliced tomato were crisp, yet complimented the cooked burger. So happy was I, that I couldn't share it with my daughter, which was fine because she was too distracted by the chocolate fudge swirl milkshake.

The grilled cheese was...ok...nothing memorable but certainly worth eating the leftovers on. Why were there leftovers? Because my kids also devoured the fries, which might have been hand cut, and cooked perfectly. Sometimes an order of fries at a burger joint is bountiful and you can split them. At Woody's you'll want to order your own side of fries.

Overall: Worth the drive, and even better in snowy weather on a full belly!

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Thank You for Snow Plowing!

At the time of this blog post writing, there is probably 3ft of snow in everyone's yard in Beacon. It took a while for our winter to get fierce, but that time is this week. After many snow days announced, this week produced snow blizzards that made everyone plan around future snow days and snow plows. Last week, a blizzard passed through, dumping close to 1.5ft of snow. Schools weren't closed that day because they'd had so many closed days already (so is the opinion of this blog). Snow plowing had actually been slow. What I hadn't realized was, a second blizzard was due in just a day or two later. So maybe everyone was saving up their snow days, salt and plowing.

Today has been one of the heaviest blizzards I've been through, and I've been through a few, including the one two Halloweens ago that devastated power lines, and one in 2009 that dropped 31" and cut power for three days. Plus, I grew up in the snow belt of Cleveland, so getting buried in snow is normal, and schools don't close as often ;)

Today's blizzard dumped 1.5-2ft of snow on top of the already 1.5feet that hadn't melted yet, was very blowy, and then paused for an hour. Right on schedule at 9pm, the sleet came, locking in the mounds of snow on sidewalks. And thunder and lightening! Fortunately, the City had the foresight to remove the plowed snow from sidewalks just one day before this storm, so that new mounds could be piled up on our sidewalks.

Today, snow plow trucks have been whizzing up and down our street continuously. There is even a new 2 foot hole on our street somehow! This blog post is one of gratitude to Beacon and the mayor for planning these plows so well. Hopefully it's like this all over this great wide town. From here, everyone is doing a great job. Fingers crossed the power stays on.

Thanks!

SALE at Reservoir & Wood, People

If you've been dying to find the time to shop in Beacon's highest fashion boutique, Reservoir & Wood, the time is now because they are having a SALE! Find coats for 20% off, sweaters for 30% off, and more! Not sure if these are on sale, but she has maternity leggings, Preggers.

Have fun!

Feel-Good Valentine's Day Gift Ideas for Funky Ladies and Little Girls!

All the ladies in the house...who isn't buying themselves a Valentine's Day gift for themselves this year? And how about one for that little toddler or teenager in your life?

Cherry Bomb has several Valentine's Day gift ideas for ladies and girls, and time is running out to claim these unique gems. The popup shop closes after Valentine's Day.

Many of the gifts you see here can only be bought in the store.

 

Love Potion! And I've heard that this company has an effective anti-eczema oil as well...

 

 

Some of the cutest button-rings around. And this melted plastic heart necklace? You won't see it anywhere else.

 

 

My very own sexy sleep masks for travel from Katie James. You won't find these at my website, only here at Cherry Bomb for now! And look in the Sale area - I put a few on sale just for you ;)

 

Please buy and eat these brownies in a bag. Because they are so dang good looking.

 

This doll went over well with my daughter. She loved the pink boots and big eyes!

Lattes at Beacon Bagel

Do you know what's really good on a cold but sunny day? A vanilla latte. Do you know where you can get one while you're shopping on the East end of Main Street? At Beacon Bagel. And do look for their muffins on the counter too...they are really good...

Gourmetibles is Beacon's Candy Sweets Shop

Main Street is getting devilishly good. A cupcake shop is coming to town, plus a second wine bar, not to mention the cafés w coffee and bakery selections. What has been most fun to watch evolve, perhaps because the aromas inside the store are so warm and gooey, is Gourmetibles (and here is their Facebook page). If you don't know, a Gourmetible is a toffee cookie crunch bar. But what Gourmetibles has become, in Beacon at least, is a sweets shop with eye catching candy, chocolate-dipped-anything, and chocolate baking classes in the back. Usually targeted towards kids birthday parties, I'm thinking of pulling some moms together to just have a "let's get our kids together to make chocolate" kind of party.

Every Main Street needs a grocer type store with candy for sale, as well as a fun twist for more stuff. Gourmetibles has found its stride.

Be warned: you won't be able to walk in and walk out without a little sweet of something...

The 70% off Clearance Sale is ON at Cracker Barrel!

The Cracker Barrel on Rt 9 is having their annual 70% off sale in their oh so cute store (WHO are the buyers for this place? Geniuses!).

This lamp was $49.99 and is $15.99 in the sale. Last year I found a sock monkey rocking horse in the sale. And the sock monkey collection has only grown since then, if you are a sock monkey junkie.

Plus the other country stuff in the store, like this sign for the garage.

Hand Designed Fabric at Reservoir and Wood

When I asked Erin Murphy, owner of Reservoir and Wood on the east end of Main Street, where she found her fabric for her own line {em} Reservoir, she said simply, "I design it."

Dream!! This sequence piece here is of fabric Erin designed. She does find fabric elsewhere from her secret sources, but what we have here is an amazing local designer.

What the...? Santa's at Poppy's!

Santa is stopping in for a burger at Poppy's! The Bike Holiday/Christmas tree is lighting tonight just down the block on Main Street with plenty of music and jingles.