Update - July 16th, 2013 and Vermont

Update - July 16th, 2013 and Vermont 

An update on the blog as well as a short recap of my trip to Vermont this July 4th.

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to write an update saying the move was successful, but I'm still very much in the process of getting acclimated to my new apartment and my new neighborhood. In the mean time, I'll be posting quick little posts like this one until I get some more time to write proper ones. Expect everything to get back to normal when I get back from Kentucky in early August--yes, I need a major vacation! In the meantime, enjoy this small summary of my July 4th trip to Weathersfield, VT with all my high school friends.

I'm sure I'll elaborate on this more in the future, but I always look forward to our annual trip to Vermont in the summer. We all carpool up for a long weekend of relaxation, cliff jumping, and all around drunken debauchery. This year fell over the long 4th of July weekend, which was a much needed break for all of us I'm sure. This year activities included slip and slide, hiking to the summit of Mount Ascutney, relaxation, grilling, general boozing, watching Andy Murray win at Wimbledon, a trip to one of the highest rated restaurants in Vermont, badminton, our annual trip to the Vermont Country Store, and fireworks.

I won't write much about the slip and slide, instead you can watch the video below and draw your own conclusions. Thank you Amy for all the content!

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Also, take a  look at all of us at the top of Mount Ascutney. I've been getting really into hiking recently, and this was better than any view in the tri-state area that I've seen.

As far as our culinary travels, we hit our usual places like Country Creemee, which has the most amazing soft-serve black raspberry ice cream, but also went out for our first team meal in our five years of coming to Vermont. Lucky for us, it was at The Inn at Weathersfield, one of the best rated restaurants in Vermont. Our group of nine was seated in their private room down in the wine cellar, which was a great space. We were originally seated in their main dining area, but a sudden deluge caused all the deck diners to come in to seek shelter and finish their meals. The word chaotic can't begin to describe what a restaurant turns into when sudden weathers is put into play, but the staff handled the situation perfectly through and through. We enjoyed our meal every step of the way from our appetizers to our desserts. The winners on the menu were the muscles with white beans and andouille, and the chicken under a brick with fennel and kale panzanella and tomato emulsion. I wouldn't normally trust muscles in a land-locked state, but they were cooked perfectly and all fresh like they were plucked from the water that day. The chicken was absolutely wonderful, the skin perfectly crisped and the flavors all melding together like an Italian dream. I finished the night with a spicy Bailey's cocktail, and we went home to pass our satisfied from a long sun-drenched day.

We grilled burgers and hot dogs on the 4th of July with mushrooms, peppers, squash, and zucchini. I manned the charcoal grill with my friend Jordan, and I'm glad I didn't lose my charcoal skills from tailgating with a gas grill last year. We made steak sandwiches with fresh tomatoes and Russian dressing. There were pancakes in the morning with fresh Vermont maple syrup and eggs with sharp Vermont cheddar. Amy's mom even made her now famous pulled pork for us which we ate twice over--once with fresh buns from Baba-a-Louis Bakery in Chester, Vermont and another with scrambled eggs in the morning in lieu of bacon or sausage. We also had a strawberry rhubarb pie from Baba-a-Louis that was amazing and we paired it nachos and vanilla ice cream... somehow that paired extremely well. We drank a lot of beer, moonshine, tequila, wine, Bloody Marys (from Tipped), Pimms, and basically everything else under the sun. We ate fresh local strawberries from around the corner and Amy even made amazing scones to eat while watching the Wimbledon finals, just for that British flair. 

The finale of the trip were fireworks, the first in eight years, put on right across Amy's road at the local airport. I've never sat so close to fireworks and the finally actually made us all giddy like little children. Our whole field of vision was filled with the snap of fireworks while our ears rang heavy with the constant crack of the explosions. The finale lasted maybe five seconds, but it reminded my why we love fireworks. 

I hope everyone enjoyed this little summary! Keep an eye out for more consistent, shorter posts on food musings when I get the chance to. Enjoy your summer!

-Adam from Tipped Mixology