Irene.

I’m not even sure really where to begin this post. As you all are well aware, Hurricane Irene had devastating effects on several states up and down the east coast. While there is extensive damage everywhere, the damage that hits the closest to home for me is just that – home.

Remember how we were just in Vermont a couple weeks ago?

That Vermont has been drastically changed since we came back to Maryland. In fact, if we had gone the following week like we originally planned, there is a very good chance we may not have been able to get back.

While Irene was only a tropical storm when it hit Vermont, it had absolutely horrific effects on this precious little state. Widespread flooding has completely ruined the state’s infrastructure of roads, leaving many towns and their residents on a virtual island.

This is a during- and after-shot of Route 4 heading east in Mendon, a town neighboring Rutland, where my family lives. This particular segment of road is roughly two miles from my parents’ house, was featured as #17 on BuzzFeed’s 25 Scariest Photos from Hurricane Irene, and was a road I used to drive on every day to work. This road is also the main artery that locals use to get to Dartmouth, the area’s nearest hospital offering specific specialties. Many, many people rely on this road to get to their primary physicians. And now this road isn’t expected to re-open until mid-October.

And this is what the entire state looks like.

Just take a look at this Emergency Response map from Google. The red lines all indicate roads that are completely closed, the red x’s are bridges that are completely gone.

via

We are so incredibly blessed and grateful that my family came through unscathed. Both my parents and my grandparents live on high ground and sustained little to no damage. The bridge on my grandparents’ driveway was a bit washed out, but was able to be repaired within a couple days.

But so many others were not so fortunate.

I put together a little video of photos I’ve gathered from Facebook that were uploaded by Vermonters. The photos I included were all roads I have driven, streets I have walked, and places I love. These do not begin to include those from the rest of the state.

**Update – this video DID have music…unfortunately I’m not talented enough to figure out how to get YouTube to let me play it. Sorry! **

Relief organizations are still attempting to get a grasp on the situation, and in the weeks coming I am hoping to organize a bit of fundraising/donations to send to these poor families. In the meantime, here are the immediate ways out-of-stater’s can help:

DONATIONS

•    Text FOODNOW to 52000 to donate $10 to Vermont Foodbank. The Foodbank will turn each donation into $60 for families in need.
•    You can also donate to the American Red Cross of Vermont and the New Hampshire Valley. The Red Cross set up shelters immediately after Irene hit for flooded-out families to stay in.
•    The VT Irene Flood Relief Fund is raising money to help people and communities affected by flooding. 100% of all donations will be distributed to businesses and families. The fund was set up by Todd Bailey (the former director of Vermont League of Conservation Voters) and is being administered through the Vermont State Employees Credit Union.
•    Vermont Baseball Tours has set up the 8/28 Fund to raise money. Donations of $20 or more get you a cool t-shirt.
•    The MRV Community Fund has been reestablished to help Mad River Valley farmers who saw devastating crop losses due to the flooding.

VOLUNTEERING
•    VTResponse.com is working to connect volunteers ready to help with those that need assistance. If you want to help clean up and rebuild, let the folks behind this site know.
•    Montpelier Alive is coordinating volunteer efforts in that city through their Facebook page.
•    Volunteer and cleanup efforts are also being coordinated on Twitter via the #VTresponse hashtag.
•    The Vermont Flooding 2011 page on Facebook is functioning as a community bulletin board of sorts.
•    Vermont Helping Hands is also coordinating relief efforts via Facebook.
•    The Help Vermont Facebook group is another place to share recovery information.
•    The Red Cross is in need of blood donations. Stop by their donation center at 32 North Prospect Street in Burlington, or the Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital Blood Donation Center at 125 Mascoma Street in Lebanon, NH.

(all volunteer information via Common Good Vermont Blog)

Please keep Vermont’s families in your thoughts and prayers as they regroup after this natural disaster. I’ll be updating again soon.

The Food We Ate

As you’ve probably figured out by now…I LOVE food. I love growing it, buying it, making it, and seeing it served at restaurants. I consider this passion a huge blessing, since eating is one of those things that you have to do every day. And we did a LOT of eating on our vacation, both at restaurants and at home, since I finally had a large group of people to cook for.

So what would a series of vacation posts be without one entirely dedicated to the food we ate?

Let’s start with the food we cooked at home.

Grilled Pork Chops with Chipotle-Mango Sauce

(recipe to be posted soon!)

We spent our last night in Vermont at my grandparents’ house, and we brought with us the ingredients to make dinner. I had made the mango sauce ahead of time so that our prep would be easy while we were there.

My daddy, the grill-master.

We served the pork chops and mango sauce with plain brown rice, and green beans from my mom’s garden with sautéed red onions and mushrooms. I definitely underestimated the punch that the sauce would pack as it contains one chopped up chipotle pepper, however it still wound up being a huge hit with my family of non-spicy-food-lovers. Mixing the sauce with the brown rice and pork chops added just the kick the meal needed, so if you love spicy food but your friends don’t, this would be a great compromise dish.

Lobster!

My parents’ grocery store had fresh lobster on sale for $8.99 a pound – which to anyone who pays attention to the average lobster price, is a pretty big deal. Lobsters are usually anywhere from $13.99 a pound to $18.99 a pound….which is quite expensive when you consider it’s usually one lobster per person. Being the lobster-lovers that we are, we couldn’t pass up the deal. We also snagged some little-neck clams, some crusty bread, and whipped up some simple broccoli salad (recipe to be posted later!), to make for a delicious meal.

Look at those beauties. If you’ve ever seen the movie Julie & Julia, you’ll understand why Scott and I were singing “Lobstah-Killaaahhh” the entire time we were cooking them.

And a dinner like this wouldn’t be complete without a fabulous dessert would it?

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

Quite seriously the easiest dessert I’ve ever made in my life – and considering that we traded the ice cream for a creamy-blend frozen yogurt brand for the lactose-intolerant among us – it’s also quite (dare I say it?) healthy!

Recipe to come soon as well, but the crust is a simple mixture of rice krispies, chocolate and peanut-butter, and the center was just a full container of frozen-yogurt spread into the crust. I shaved some chocolate on the top just to make it pretty, but we’ll discuss that later. Let’s just say – be looking forward to the post one this one, because my family got into loud arguments over the last few pieces, and my mom actually wanted the recipe. Which is huge, since mom really doesn’t enjoy making desserts at all.

Yum.

Moving on!

Feta Cheese-Stuffed Cucumbers

Mom was begging me to make something to use up their bumper-crop of cucumbers, so I decided to serve these as an appetizer while we were waiting for the lobsters to be cooked. Super-simple, lovely to look at, and delicious to eat (if I do say so myself).

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Mom also had a huge bumper-crop of tomatoes, so one cool morning I made a batch of slow-roasted tomatoes (recipe to be posted later). Perfect for serving with meats and pastas or on sandwiches. Yum.

Alright, so if you thought any of THAT looked good…just wait until you see these photos from food we got at some restaurants we went to.

The Mountain Top Inn Restaurant

It was Burgers & Brew night, which we couldn’t pass up. Scott snagged a giant, juicy hamburger, and Mom & Dad both had incredible-looking Portobello-Mushroom burgers, all of which I sadly didn’t get a photo of. Since I have not developed a taste-bud for beer yet and strongly dislike every variety I’ve tried (GASP), I passed up the Burger & Brew option and settled on a Lobster Salad and a glass of Malbec wine. Yum.

Are you ready to see this salad?

Whew. Now I ask you…is that a salad, or is that a salad??

Fresh lobster, corn, peppers, green onions, tomatoes, chevre (goat cheese), with a citrus vinaigrette. Perfect portion size, as I was full but not stuffed and completely content after the last bite. Also, for those with sensitive tummies like mine, I’m proud to announce that this was a breeze! No trouble whatsoever. Which automatically bumps this meal up about three notches in my book, for sure.

Combine this salad with the view of the mountains and the Chittenden Reservoir, and I was one very, very happy girl.

Roots

This was the other restaurant we visited which completely knocked my socks off. This small and intimate place won my heart as it prides itself on serving only local ingredients. Since I’m a fan of buying local foods and making meals based on seasonal ingredients and healthy options, I was blown away when they saw their menu. Almost all entree options were friendly to those with gluten allergies, and some even for vegetarians.

With my stomach, I usually roll into restaurants and say to myself, “Can’t eat that…can’t eat that…can’t eat that…”, but with Roots, it was completely the opposite. I felt like a kid in a candy shop as my eyes roved over the menu and each option seemed more delicious than the last…all of which were not likely to cause me any discomfort. Woohoo!

I highly recommend going to their website to check our their menu. Absolutely fantastic.

On the recommendation of our dear contributor Lauren, I tried my very first basil martini. Referred to as the Basil-Cucumber Cooler, this cocktail was made with “Hendricks gin, fresh muddled basil and cucumber, and a splash of ginger ale.” Two thumbs up for sure, and I’ll stand right alongside Lauren with her opinion of these concoctions!

We all split two appetizers for our whole table, both of which were just mind-blowingly good. No words, really.

Fried Risotto (gluten free!)

“Risotto filled with Maplebrook Mozzarella cheese, fried and served over a roasted tomato and basil sauce.”

I can promise you, I will not rest until I figure out how to make this. I’m pretty sure it ranks as one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten in my entire life.

Cheese Fondue

“A blend of Vermont cream, assorted local cheese, herbs and blue cheese gratin, served with fruit and grilled bread.”

Heaven in a dish. Sadly, I will not be learning how to make this because if I do, I might as well start buying plus-size clothing now. There would be no self-restraint, whatsoever. So I’ll just thrive on the memory of how good it tasted.

Drool.

The last thing I’ll show you from Roots was an entree that three of the five of us wound up getting because it sounded so enticing.

Raspberry Scallops (gluten free!)

“Fresh scallops pan-seared to medium with raspberries, arugula and shallots, finished with a white wine and butter sauce, served over a polenta cake.” 

My photo sadly doesn’t do this dish much justice. This was served with a seasonal vegetable, in this particular instance – beets. I’m not a huge fan of beets but this is the first time I’ve been able to eat them tolerably, so bravo, Roots!

And I’ll tell you what…this meal opened my eyes to the world of polenta. I’ve never had it, always hearing it as some dry, mealy hippie food. Polenta loaf. So many negative connotations in my mind. But hoooo-boy. It was moist and creamy with a perfectly crusty exterior, and added the ideal complement to those scallops. It made me feel brave enough to want to try making some at home. I’ll keep you posted on how THAT goes, since I hear that polenta is a tricky thing to work with.

And that, my friends, just about sums up our culinary adventures on vacation.

Are you hungry yet?

No?

Good, because I have one last thing to show you.

Remember how I showed you the photo of our run-down snack shack where we get Creamies?

Behold. The Creamy.

I think rainbow sprinkles are under-appreciated, and I usually take EVERY opportunity to get them.

If you want more information about Roots and the Mountain Top Inn & Restaurant, check out the Little Stirrings page on Facebook. We have their pages “liked”, for easier access for you!

I’ll leave you with this thought, and I hope you all have fabulous meals in your lives this week!

Meet Kit

This was actually the first time I ever met Kit, even though our family has been hiking on his property for years. When we stumbled across him on our most recent trek across his turf, we were all thrilled to meet the mysterious man of the mountain.

Some background?

According to my Pop-Pop (which is from memory – we apologize if there are any errors in this!), Kit was born in Japan, which is the root of his affinity for Oriental structures – particularly the pools and statues found in one region of his property. He eventually migrated to New York City, where he was one of the photographers for a “little” show called Candid Camera (ever heard of it?). They lived in an apartment in Greenwich Village, spending their summers in Vermont.

Somewhere around 40 years ago, he and his wife purchased roughly 450 acres of land in Hubbardton, Vermont. Kit began to create trails, Oriental gardens, pools, and a hydraulic system that brings water from a stream running across the property to maintain the pools. Since purchasing the property, he has made it his one purpose to protect the land, and to share it with the world. He established and continues to maintain the trails completely by himself. Inquiries with the Nature Conservancy led to the discovery that while his property is remarkable, it does not contain enough unique habitats/species to receive aid in making it a wildlife preserve, and other organizations are up to their ears in maintaining the numerous trails that make Vermont the beautiful state that it is.

Aerial view of Kit's property, courtesy of Google Maps. The circle is a very rough approximation of his property, expanding over a mountain, down into the valleys and surrounding farmland.

View of one of the smaller set of cliffs at Kit's.

So Kit keeps on alone, with occasional help from neighbors and family.

He and his wife continued to winter in New York, migrating back and forth, until just recently when they finally gave up their home in Greenwich Village and began spending winters two hours north of Hubbardton in Burlington.

(For some of you wondering, why winter elsewhere? Spend a winter in Vermont, particularly in a small, isolated town at a high elevation down a driveway several miles long…and you’ll be convinced you want to winter elsewhere too.)

As you can tell from the photo, Kit is way beyond the normal age of maintaining several hundred acres of property on his own, and yet he continues. When we ran into him, we were able to chat with him for a bit before he moved on to continue checking the trails.

To speak with someone so absolutely dead set on protecting the property for the enjoyment of future generations was incredible. We found out that he has actually finally been able to enter negotiations that would allow the property to be turned over to the Vermont Land Trust, which was the best news he hoped for. He said he had considered trying to sell the property to another private owner, but couldn’t bear the thought of that owner someday selling the property to some rich city-dweller who would spend a month at the property and then leave it to grow over the rest of the year, not being shared with anyone.

And that’s one thing that is so remarkable about Kit. His passion is to share his beautiful property with anyone and everyone who will come. He openly publicizes the acreage, encourages the Green Mountain Club to have annual gatherings there, and doesn’t worry one bit about the legal liabilities that are opened up when allowing visitors onto private property.

Last year, Rhea and I on Kit's property.

Growing up with my grandparents, avid nature enthusiasts and dedicated members of the Nature Conservancy, I was raised to have a mean green-streak in me. Conserving the intricate and awe-inspiring wildlife we have been blessed with strikes a chord deep within my soul, and it was a breath of fresh air to briefly encounter someone like Kit, who so humbly gives himself and his work to the community. Who recognizes the gift we have been given with the natural world despite the overwhelming trend of our society to destroy the environment surrounding us without a forward thought.

Oriental Gardens at Kit's

Going green is a huge trend right now, and there are so many ways to do it. Green cleaners, organic farming, all-natural products. All of which are wonderful things. But I encourage you to go to the heart of the matter and to find little essence of Kit inside of you. Open your eyes the grandeur of seemingly simple surroundings. Remember to respect your environment everyday, even when that trash can seems too far away and sitting in front of the television is much easier than going outside for a walk or gardening. Remember to share enthusiasm for beauty around you with everyone you meet, and to share your passions as well. Like we say over and over on this blog…

“Don’t ask what the world needs.Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

[Howard Thurman]

Gorgeous view from Moot Point at Kit's

Froggy Wildlife

Beautiful rock formation .... which can be climbed on, if you're brave (or stupid) enough.

View of Hubbardton Battlefield from the Revolutionary War from the Cliffs.

The People & Critters We Saw….

I’d like to introduce you to some of the main reasons I love Vermont.

First…my mom and dad.

I absolutely hate that they live so far away, but a girl has to grow up I guess.

Reasons number two and three that I love Vermont: 

My Pop-Pop and my Gramma Trude.

Some of the most wonderful and fun people you’ll ever meet. Both can out-hike my entire family, despite being in their eighties, and my Gramma Trude will whip just about anyone’s tail in ping-pong. She’s sneaky like that.

Moving on to reason #4. My Opa.

This is the man that you can credit my snarky streak to. Whether or not that’s a good thing you can decide…but I personally think that a little snark adds some spice to life. Snark snark.

Next: RHEA!

Although she technically lives in New York, she’s only about an hour and a half from my parents’ house in Vermont, so we try to meet up with her every time we are up visiting. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and still one of my favorite people in the world.

On to some furrier reasons…

My precious pups.

Our little "fox" - Punkyn.

Zeb...my old man.

These are the pups that I grew up with. We got them both when I was in the sixth grade and they’re the ones that kept me company through thick and thin. Zeb was my dog, and slept on my bed almost every night that I lived at home. He never left my side when I was sick with mono and after my foot surgery, and I know every whisker on his face. This was a bittersweet trip, as we recently found out that Zeb has cancer and most likely won’t make it to our next visit. I shed a lot of tears and snuggled him as much as I could. Growing up hurts sometimes.

Sigh.

Moving on!

Hellooooo COWS!

I’m not sure if we’ve ever addressed the fact that I love cows. They’re scary as anything when you’re standing outside next to them and you realize just how large and powerful they are, but I just love their big sideways ears and soft noses. These lovely ladies greeted us when we were headed to our favorite easy hiking spot.

Which leads me to my last favorite thing in Vermont, for the time being.

Meet Kit.

…but more on him later. 🙂 Muahaha.

Where We’ve Been

 

 

…on vacation!!! Can I get an amen?

If I close my eyes, I can almost believe I’m still in that lounge chair in my grandparents’ backyard. Sigh.

For the past 9 beautiful days, we were in Vermont getting some R&R and spending a lot of quality time with my precious family who I do not see nearly enough. Vermont has always held a large part of my heart after I lived there for a year after college, working for a ski resort. Not to mention I spent the majority of my childhood summers there. There’s just something about the smell and the feeling of life up there that I just can’t get enough of.

That said, the next few days I’ll be doing a little re-cap of our vacation adventures.

Don’t be fooled…we did a LOT of sleeping…and probably even more eating. But it wouldn’t be worth blogging if I couldn’t share my Vermont-love with you!

So…what did we do while we were there?

Well…

We hiked…

We canoed…

We drove to Lake George, New York to visit one of our wonderful college friends…

Where we were also treated to a rainbow just about the entire time we were there…

We played mini-golf…

We ate out at several lovely restaurants…

Our view from dinner at the Mountain Top Inn

My mom making sure my dad doesn't steal a bite of her dessert at Roots - a restaurant serving only local foods.

We went to a farm and got to pet the sheepies and the moo-cows. I mean…sheep and dairy cows. Ahem.

And I was talked into going into a corn maze…

…which was definitely not one of my wiser decisions.

…two and a half hours later, we gave up and took the early exit out of the maze, determined to talk to the owner and to figure out what this thing looked like from the air.

Now that I’ve seen the aerial view…I’m amazed we even found the early exits.

I’m still having nightmares about being stuck somewhere and I can’t get out. If you need me, I’ll be curled up in the closet in the fetal position.

It’s a good thing I revive quickly when it comes to ice cream, or “creamies” as we call our favorite, oh-so-very-run-down snack shack that we’ve been going to since I was a little girl.

That’s it for now… more to come in the next few days!

Have you been on a wonderful vacation lately? I’d love to hear about it!

>And we’re back!

>

I know, I know. I shouldn’t have abandoned you all like that. But the good news is, I have 7 days worth of vacation pictures and stories from snowy, beautiful Vermont for you!

Since we were stuck in traffic in New Jersey for what felt like 12 years (along with every other citizen on the east coast…which is another rant entirely…) I haven’t had much time to write, but I do have lots of pictures.

Here are some of sledding at my grandparents’ house (pre-blizzard snow). Enjoy! 🙂

My brother (right) and our friend Sandy (left) racing down the driveway.

Me and my daddy racing (hopefully you can tell us apart!). Please note that I am about to be run down by a crazy black lab. We love that animal though. 😉

My brother and his wifey. Also please note the black ears in the bottom left corner. We’ve started referring to Addie (their dog) as “The Blur” – she moved faster than the sleds and would try to jump on you as you were moving downhill. She is a BIG fan of sledding. Crazy dog.

My 85 year old grandfather…racing a sled. Have I mentioned I love him?

My brother Andy and….who is that with him??

Not only does she like to chase sleds, she likes to ride on them too!

Off they sail into the sunset.

Andy’s war face. His arm is reaching out to “gently” nudge away his competitor.

Again, my 85 year old grandfather, leading the troops. Hilarious.

The sun setting on a gorgeous day of sledding. Vermont is beautiful this time of year, haven’t you heard?

Don’t worry. There are plenty more photos to come!

>Fall in Vermont

>It’s a sick day for Megs today, which always makes me homesick for my parents, and with them, the entire state of Vermont. The trees in Maryland are just about bare, with the exception of a few brilliantly colored Bradford Pears, but I’m still reveling in the beauty that is Fall in Vermont. Here are a few photos of my home-away-from-home for you to enjoy (which, don’t be deceived, has already had snow…I’m just still in an Autumn-state-of-mind.).

A classic Vermont sugar shack. Ever wonder where your maple syrup comes from?

Fog across the slopes of my favorite mountain and where I used to work – Killington.

>Llama Faaace!

>

Alpaca, to be more precise. Since I have a meeting to go to tonight, today’s post will be short. I’m missing my Vermont badly lately, and this photo is one of the reasons why. Not only is Vermont stunning in the Autumn (if you’re ever planning a trip, go at this point in October – it will take your breath away), but I’m always amazed by the state’s use of natural resources. These alpacas were at a local farm about an hour from my parents’ house – being raised for their wool. Funny, fluffy, and productive. Maybe I’ll have a couple of these someday?