Connecticut, Day 2: Salmon, Eggs & Ice Cream

After getting up at 5:30 a.m. to drop Mint off at the train station in Hartford in time for a 7:00 a.m. train to Penn Station (hey, not everyone gets two days off work back-to-back, a.k.a. a "weekend"), I managed to return and grab another hour or so of sleep before getting up all over again in time for 10:30 a.m. mass with Grandpa and the Family.

Afterwards, we all stopped by the house of close family friends Magda and Al, quite possibly the most entertaining and genuinely charming Polish couple you will ever meet (and living in Greenpoint I have some experience with Polish couples.) Breakfast was procured from Magda's kitchen: eggs scrambled with fresh chives, homemade salmon (1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of salt, chopped dill--layer with fresh salmon in plastic wrap and let sit for 24 hours), toasted bagels, sliced sausage, and surely more coffee that can be healthy to consume in one sitting.

The plan for the afternoon was to drive to Newtown and watch some old-timey baseball. It's a lot like regular baseball, only with more 1898. Unfortunately, old-timey baseball was not to be found--I think the story sounds better if we just pretend that it was, uh, all sold out because, um, it was David Beckham's debut game or something and not because we got lost trying to find it--and so we opted for ice cream at Dr. Mike's in nearby Bethel. Which really is not a bad compromise.

White chocolate raspberry w/ homemade whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles

Maple Jelly is Amazing!

THE LAST TIME I visited my aunt and uncle in Connecticut, Mint and I were encouraged to stop by a neighbor's house known by another more yummy name: River's Edge Sugar House. Mmmmmm... that winter morning, along with my Aunt Kathy and my cousins, Paul and Adam, we pulled up the Sugar House driveway to find the place disappointingly quiet.

We stomped through the snow to peek at the horses out in the yard nearby, assured by Kathy their owners were friends of hers and wouldn't mind. As we were turning to leave--a noise in the woods! We all stopped. It moved closer and we started off, quicker this time, as a man with a rifle bounced out of the trees, yelling after us, "Hey, how are you!"

In this post, the role of Man with Rifle is played by friend Bill Proulx, who is also the owner of the aforementioned horses and (of relevance to this post) the River's Edge Sugar House. He is is also a purveyor of fine maple products, the man who has converted me to 100% real maple syrup, and, this past weekend, the man who sold me a $6 glass jar of homemade maple jelly.

Maple jelly makes a tasty sandwich!

Maple jelly, by the way, is a-mazing. I imagine it requires very little extra sugar to make, since the maple syrup used to make it is already something like 60% sugar itself, and might I add it pairs up ridiculously well with peanut butter. Want some? Well, my jar is gonna be empty pretty soon, so I'll just give you this:

River's Edge Sugar House - Pure Maple Products & Local Honey
326 Mansfield Road (Rt. 89); Ashford, CT 06278
(860) 429-1510 | www.riversedgesugarhouse.com

(You know you want some.)

The Mystery Snack

IT'S A MYSTERY. I attempted to get my uncle to tell me what was in the little plastic bag, but he wouldn't budge, offering only, "I think you'll like it." That's decent logic, I'll admit, but then again I always think my mom will like pine nuts. Fortunately for the both of us, she frequently reminds me that she's violently allergic to them.

Myself, having no food allergies or broad distastes to speak of, and certainly not being one to turn down free snacks, I accepted the little plastic bag of dried goods on my way out the door of my aunt and uncle's house. When I later found myself alone and hungry on my Amtrak ride to New Haven, I rummaged through my bag and pulled out the mystery snack.

Mostly, I was bored. I definitely wasn't hungry. I had a huge brunch followed, on account of early afternoon train and plane departure times, by a huge lasagna lunch with my family in Connecticut just a few hours ago. This back-to-back meal "event" is explained by the simple fact that earlier in the weekend my aunts Eileen and Kathy had made two lasagnas, and as of Sunday afternoon no lasagna had been consumed. Have lasagna, will eat, I always say. Have two lasagnas, one will travel back to Brooklyn with me in my suitcase. True story. I really say that.

Since I couldn't eat a frozen lasagna on the train, I decided to pass the time with this bag of something. My first guess had been some type of crunchy, cinnamon baked business, but I should have known better. That would have been too predictable. The "Willimantic Co-op" sticker on the bag suggested something altogether odder. Still, I was expecting crunchy when I popped the first piece in my mouth. Imagine my surprise to find: chewy!

What is it?

Dried apples, maybe apricots. Cinnamon. Those were both pretty clearly involved, and I'll admit I was pretty disappointed. Here I'd been hoping for bizarrity in a little plastic bag and ended up with boring old dried ap--woah! Spicy! Cayenne pepper! Well, I'll be damned! As the slow burn hit me, my mystery snack finally lived up to its hype and the flavor whisked me away to... no, I was still on Amtrak. Sigh. But if my uncle will own up to his purchase, perhaps I can tell you where to find this spicy, mystery deliciousness.