Hen Of the Wood: Task 20

There is this amazing restaurant in Waterbury, Vermont called the Hen of The Wood that I have heard about several times since moving to Vermont.  The two things that have kept us away, are 1. we don't go out enough (our last date was a year ago) and 2. you have to make reservations a month in advance to get a table at this place.  I put it on my to-do list for the year, so we would finally visit this fine dining establishment.  It was amazing!

 

The Hen of the Wood is in the basement of an old grist mill with open beams and candle light.  The ambiance is amazing.  There is even a beautiful waterfall the flows by the mill.  We already decided that we need to come back in the summer when we can sit on the deck by the waterfall. 

 

  Then there is the food. The menu changes with the season and is sourced locally.  Andy wanted to order fries for our appetizer, but I convinced him to try the beets and riccota.  It was amazing.  There were pine nuts and basil in the riccota and it was wonderful.   I had lamb for my main dish and it was fall off the bone amazing.  Andy actually forgot what he ordered, so we are not 100% sure what he was actually eating, but it was good.  Then of course there was dessert.  It was devine, and to be honest we struggled with not ordering the whole dessert menu. 

 

Overall it was an incredible meal, and we decided that we need to go out more often. 

 

Conflicted

A week ago, I ran a beautiful half marathon in New Hampshire.  It was a beautiful course, and the weather was perfect.  At the finish line they handed out these really cool finisher metals. 

One of the woman(a Vermonter) whom I ran with, flipped over the metal and saw this.......

 

 

In any other state I would have been thrilled that the metal was made in Vermont (the state I currently live in).  I take an immense amount of pride in my current state and the things that are made there.  However, I was born and raised in New Hampshire, and I was a little annoyed that the metals were not made in New Hampshire.  Come on New Hampshire get it together and take some pride in your beautiful state. 

 

OK I am done now. 

A Little Behind

It has been pointed out to me by several family members that I am a little behind on my blog.  Two months behind to be exact.  It has been busy, school started, soccer season started, I have had races and it is cross-country season.  The last thing I want to do in my free time is sit at the computer.  Since it is supposed to be a rainy week; I thought I might get back in the groove.  To start with, I guess I should cover the last two months for all those people who wonder if we have dropped off the face of the earth.

My two months of absences on the blog scene started with my annual race up Mt. Mansfield.  4.3 miles up the auto road, and I managed to complete one of my tasks for this year (beat last year's time).  I also managed to convince Andy and his brother to do the bike race!

During the time of the race we also managed to get in some family time.  Andy's family came to Vermont, and we did the tourist thing for the week leading up to the race. 

Little Man started first grade, and loves his teacher this year.

 We have managed to squeeze in some family time.  Fair with Papa.

 Pumpkin Chunkin with grandma.

 I have done a lot of traveling with my cross-country team around the Northeast.  My favorite race so far was Van Courtland Park in the Bronx.  We even had our own little homeless shelter that the moms crafted out of shower curtains for us since it was pouring that day. That on top of the fact that everyone was wearing trash bags (parents included) made for quite the sight.

 Little Man played soccer all fall and starts hockey in a week.

 He has also been inserting his own sense of style into the traditional fall pictures.  Soccer outfit and sunglasses for apple picking. 

 Moose Vest for the corn maze.  Andy later pointed out that I took him into a corn maze wearing a moose outfit during hunting season. 

As always trying new foods.  Sugar shack poutine with cheese curds, maple syrup and bacon.  They were amazing. 

 Feeding the starving children.

 Trying to enjoy every minute of a simply beautiful fall.