Localvore

I recently had a conversation with one of my Aunts about being more concerned with things being local and not organic. Of course, local food around here also tends to be organic, so I win out either way. Actually, I have recently discovered I am a bit of a local snob: I drink local beverages, get my vegetables from a farm down the road, our milk from the dairy of a family in our church, and the list goes on. For those of you who have never tried this mode of thinking, I dare you to give it a try for just a month. I guarantee you will be hooked and never go back. Trust me, just one month of eating locally and you too will be a localvore and will tend to frequent restaurants that serve local food. Even the coolest food network states embrace this mode of thinking. A majority of the restaurants in Vermont tend to also. Let me give you a taste of the amazing places I have eaten at this past month (so much better than fast food).

For starters we have this amazing place the next town over where I joined three of my mom friends (no kids or husbands) for dinner. The Belted Cow. I have to start by admitting this is not a place I get to eat at often because it is not a kid friendly place and it is not cheap, but the food is amazing! We ordered two entrees and a few appetizers and shared everything. It was amazing! The only thing I did not love was the fact that it was a bit spicier than I would typically eat, not due to the fact that it did not taste amazing. Most of the food comes from local sources and the menu changes with the seasons and all of it is fresh and amazing. The bread that we ate was baked that morning at one of the local bakeries. Everything had amazing flavor and I would recommend the restaurant to anyone looking for a kid free night out.

The second place that I have visited twice this past month is Archie's Grill. It is a new Burger joint in Shelburne that serves local meats and is pretty good. (I should also mention that it is owned by the father of one of my cross-country runners which makes it extra special. When you can go in, order a burger, and know that you're supporting someone you actually know and have a connection to, that's a neat feeling.) The restaurant also has pictures of athletes from the high school I work at on the wall; it makes enjoying my burger even better when my two year old can point out people on the wall that he knows and has watched . As a side note, I think my two year old has a crush on most of the girls on my cross-country team.

The most recent location we visited is a place I have been meaning to stop at for a few months now. My aunt, who knows that I love local places, suggested I check out Red Hen Baking Company for lunch some day. My son and I finally stopped in on the way back from Grandma's for lunch the other day and it was pretty good. My son loved the fact that he could sit at the window and watch the guys making bread. I occasionally had to remind him that he needed to eat his lunch.

All three of these embody why eating local is so much better: you are supporting people you know - not some corporation who care less about your family. You know the food is fresh and quite frankly tastes better because it does not have all the preservatives (because it does not need to), it came straight from the source and onto your plate in some cases that same day, and you actually know and in some cases see what went into making it. I love the fact that my son knows that his milk comes from a cow and not the store and that he can actually watch the bread he is eating being made.

I'll end my soap box by suggesting you give it a try, for just one month. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. You can even do it when traveling, just ask my poor husband who had to go cherry picking on a road trip to Michigan, I'm totally obsessed.

The Perfect Reason to Have a Child

Friday, one of my coworkers made a general comment on Christmas and having kids. He said, "We have them so we can share the excitement we got to enjoy as kids with them." After the weekend we just had I think he is right.

A theme park near where I grew up called Santa's Village decided four years ago they were going to open up on the weekends leading up to Christmas. I have to say it was a great business plan, what better time of year for a place called Santa's Village to be open? Little Man had a blast, so much so that there were a few times we were worried that there was something wrong - he just went around with this awestruck look on his face, and when you finally managed to snap him out of it, you couldn't shut him up. It was really cute. For those of you who also grew up going to Santa's Village, it it much more impressive at Christmas.

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View from the monorail

The following day we took an early Christmas present from Grandma out for a spin.

What It Takes to Be a Northerner

I was born in New Hampshire about an hour away from the Canadian boarder, My husband in Virginia south of the Mason Dixon Line. While he has acclimated well to northern life, there is just something unnorthern about about him (outside of the slight southern drawl he still possesses). While I was outside with my son last night (the first day when there was actually enough snow to justify snow pants, I realized what it is). My husband hates the cold and hates the snow. A true Northerner embraces it and makes the most of it.

Little man could not wait to get outside and was crushed when I told him we needed to go and invest in new pair of mittens first. Then of course we had to eat lunch and take a nap. This did not go over well with the 2 year old. Of course I remember my mom doing the same thing to me as a child, and knew that mittens and a nap would be needed before embracing the cold. It also made me think of a good friend of mine in New Hampshire who prays for snow all summer long and I am pretty sure cries the day it melts away in the spring. I have to admit there was a part of me that wanted to play in the snow as much as he did, however, cold hands make for an unbearable 2 year old, so I patiently rushed him to the store for a new pair of mittens, if I was the prepared type I would have anticipated this back in March and purchased mittens on sale then. But look how cute my little kola bear is..........The matching mittens and hat were totally worth the wait.

Then as soon as were were outside little man grabbed the shovel and stated cleaning the walk. No, not really, he was actually shoveling it all into a big pile to jump into, off of and oh did I mention he is really into skateboards(I had to explain to him in the snow, you use snowboards)? Yes, he used the shovel as a snowboard to come down off the mound of snow a few times.

As you can tell by the picture, it was dark out by the time I finally convinced little man that hot chocolate with marshmallows might be a good idea. Although, I should not have been surprised at this since as a teenager I used to plop down into a snowbank with one of my closest friends and talk for hours looking up at a starry sky. For those of you not from the north, the best nights for start gazing are freezing cold ones.

And where was daddy for all of this......inside complaining about how cold it is.

Egg......And a Really Big Storm

During the epic storm we had a few days ago (no joke, trees falling in front of cars, extended power outages, roofs being ripped of trailers oh and did I mention Santa and his reindeer flying down the road?) we finally found our first egg in the coop. To see it and hear more about the storm, go to Andy's Northern Baby Blog.

I may actually let the chickens live for a little bit longer :)