New England and Americana, the Road Trip: Part One

Lest you think that I've got Scotland-colored glasses on, I will be focusing on American travels today!

Perfect croissants in their limelight at the CIA

Here's the story of how I got to take this road trip. (You didn't think I just decided, ex tempore, did you?)
After a failed attempt at scheduling a meeting of old friends in Edinburgh, those same friends turned out to be visiting the U.S. for a holiday of their own-- in Vermont. So Sue very kindly asked if I could figure out a trip to Vermont, as it was 'in the neighborhood' and they'd be in the beautiful mountain country for over a week. Google Maps informed me that the drive from DC to Vermont would take about 10 hours. Knowing Europeans' penchant for underestimating distances in the U.S., I had thought this would probably be too far-- not to mention getting the time off work. However, I quickly calculated: the drive from Northampton to Edinburgh would have been over 6 hours, and that was what I had asked of them... so I daydreamed and got a little creative.

Witchy woods at Innisfree

During the dates they had booked, I had a large work meeting to help run in Philadelphia. This got me 2 hours closer to my northerly goal, and on the company dime-- yes! Too, I had a family member who lived in upstate NY who I would have loved to hang out with-- my halfway house! If I could engineer the schedule such that I could leave the meeting, stay with my cousin-once-removed, and take a few days off, this could work! So I sent my thoughts out to the universe and...
it worked!
So here are a few photos from the first part of the journey: staying near New Paltz with Ginny, visiting mosquito-ridden but oh-so-beautiful Innisfree Gardens, and stopping for lunch at the C.I.A.

A stone set 'just so' with its lake and lily pads beyond

 The always-fresh moss growth which had Ginny wanting to breathe it all in at a gulp

 Ginny capturing an intense red bud amid all the greenery

 After some serious stalking, we annoyed into flight what we think was a Great Blue Heron. He thought himself quite the Cock of the Walk, I must say- hard to perturb that one!

After getting eaten alive by the midges and mosquitos (wasn't raining hard enough to keep them out of our hair), we gave in and drove over Poughkeepsie way to the Culinary Institute of America.

Funny note: the CIA's grand building was originally a Jesuit novitiate seminary, which succeeded Frederick, MD for the care and feeding of Jesuits from 1903 to 1969. There is still an inlaid crest at the entry which signifies "For the glory of God" in Latin. I suppose one can cook to the glory of God as well...

The Apple Pie Bakery's Grilled Chicken Sandwich (verdict: mighty good)

 Ginny enjoying her Truffled Grilled Cheese (N.B. Apple Pie Bakery is the only restaurant at the CIA campus that doesn't have a 'dress nice' code and require reservations, so it was perfect for us garden gnomes)

 My golden standard: the chocolate chip cookie (verdict: I've had better. They couldn't decide the statement they wanted to make)

After feasting on all this (and stocking up on bakery goods as best we were able with clear consciences), we browsed the bookstore a bit and perused the gift shop items (verdict: many interesting imported gadgets and homey heartland delicacies, but the prices caused some dismay). After that, we barely had enough time to get back to town and the grocery store to pick up the lynchpin to Ginny's Master Plan for my stay: eating lobster.
I'm not sure what made her think of lobster, but think she did, and it provided quite the adventure for my palate, having never had plain lobster before (lobster bisque or lobster ravioli being the closest I'd yet come). With non-sugarplum'd daydreams of Julie Powell's encounter with Real Live Lobsters vaguely making me uneasy, I still wanted to see how it was done, in a real Yankee kitchen. And I'd tried some really sweet King Crab legs at a Washington waterfront eatery, so I imagined lobster meat would be sort of similar.

Awaiting judgment in the bag on the table

Ginny was the best of instructors, patiently waiting for photos, explaining necessary steps, and encouraging heartily to 'suck the marrow out of' the lobster'-- if only they had some! We settled for trying to get at all the joints of the little legs, 'little' being relative. And I enjoyed the cracking and popping of those legs as much as I do that of my own joints: you kind of know you shouldn't do it, but it relieves the tension.
Oh, and there was lemon butter sauce. Don't forget the expert mise-en-place!

 Like a deer in headlights...

 A little culinary fun: Scary Crustacean terrifies Vinton the Cat (notice the brandishing of the lobster, and the two eyes glowing from the cat doorway... Mr. Vinton was not best pleased.

 Bon Appetit!

Fish Tea, Stravaigin, and a See's Candy look-alike

Scottish Food, Installment 3 of 3
And here I've got my final three food experiences, all in Glasgow, and all pretty positive (2 out of the 3 also had some annoyances associated).
These first couple pictures are of the "Fish Tea" I ordered at The People's Palace. And while it might sound like a bad Asian packaging description of tea, it actually meant 'tea' in the afternoon-meal sense, and an afternoon meal that included fish. With chips, of course.
I ordered a caramel shortbread along with the 'Tea' and boy, was I rewarded. The little annoyances here were that 1) the greenhouse felt like it had heat piped in from somewhere, and was uncomfortably warm, such that my shortbread got all melty (which was fine, but so did I), and 2) that they lost my ticket for the fish and chips part, and I had to go back up and reinstate my order. They felt bad for losing it and so gave me a free bottle of water (and I was already carrying one, so my backpack got pretty heavy, but I'm not looking any gift horses in the mouth). The caramel shortbread was dee-lish. And very worthy of being reproduced in the States- Go To!

The second experience catalogued here was undilutedly fantastic. I went to a restaurant called Stravaigin (the original, in the Kelvinbridge neighborhood, I think; there are two). If you visit their site, right now at least, they have a picture up of the very same entree- the hake fillet salad! But mine shows the architecture a bit better, I think...

 The restaurant, servers, lighting, other eaters... all was lovely and relaxing and amiable. I liked the iron stairs up with lights, the fun second story that overlooked the first, and the fun architectural finishes that made the place seem magical and whimsical, not modern or sleek or posed. It was a great place, and has a fitting name for one like me: 'Stravaig’ means ‘to wander’ and that is exactly what I enjoyed doing while in Scotland.

The final experience was part of an homage to Charles Rennie Macintosh, an architect famous in his hometown of Glasgow, and an artist well-known internationally for those interested in art history. I liked the part of his work that was all about an organic whole, form serving function (Arts & Crafts), natural forms being used (Art Nouveau), nothing thrown in for no reason (Modernism but not the Jetsons kind). It's like smart growth for buildings and furniture!
Anyway, he's famous for designing the Glasgow School of Art and the Willow Tea Rooms, which of course I had plunked on my list as a Must-See. Tea? Scones? Art Nouveau? Yes, please.

 

This is the dining room, accessible weirdly through a jewelry store on the ground floor...

 

And look! As I was leaving, this is the line that lined the whole stairwell! (Pays to be an early bird...)

I had the choice of the open-center room or the Room De Luxe, so guess what I chose? Why not, after all. It didn't cost any more. It had the windows out onto the street, which I thought would be nice, but... I was plagued my whole luncheon by a very bad saxophone player busking across the street. Grr. He had no rhythm, which made his rendition of Moon River very jarring. Ah well. After I exited, I got to hear a very talented bagpiper... and the tea was lovely: finger sandwiches (crustless!), a meringue tart, jam and double cream for a scone. Yum.

Why can't we get cream like that here??

Scottish dumpling, not your dim sum variety

Scottish Food, Installment 2 of 3
The last post was mostly food in Edinburgh, so here we'll progress on to other places and experiences.

First up (and making a grand impression) was the breakfast set-up at my B&B in Inverness. (highly recommended!)
Keep in mind, this was just the COLD breakfast. Gorgeous cereals, fruits, yogurt,etc. Add to that your choice of eggs, meats, and my favorite, tattie scones. They might be a bit of work for one who is not accustomed to having mashed, or in fact any, potatoes on hand, but they were tasty enough to give it a try nonetheless.

Next is the food at the cafeteria of the Culloden Battlefield Memorial site. Now I've heard that there is a fancy guest house and gourmet restaurant nearby, but you're off your rocker if you think I could afford to go there. As it was, I had to check at the bus station for where to pick up the city bus to visit the memorial site, as it was not obvious from their website. After an inside talk, a self-tour of the museum, and an outdoor guided tour, I scoured the gift shop and settled into the cafeteria to stave off a food-headache. I saw these crisps, which amused but did not entice!

I also tried Clootie Dumpling, a traditional fruitcake-type dessert, which turned out to be fabulous, 'smoored' as it was in custard. SO good, especially on the misty, rainy, chilly day that we had that day. But once again, there's a challenge to make it-- where on earth does one get suet in the States?
Third, we have the famous visit to Leakey's Bookshop & Cafe. I loved this bookshop, not least because it had a cafe upstairs where one could procure delectable baked treats and a warm beverage to best accompany the reading material at hand.
On my first visit, I had a pot of tea. And I didn't look closely at the menu because I was busy observing and then speaking with a young Swiss mother traveling with her young son (but not too young- he was old enough to talk excitedly about where they'd been and what they'd seen, about 11 or 12 years old). Did I mention we spoke in French? It was AWESOME!

 The second time I returned however, I tried a baked good (a caramel shortbread, I believe) with my tea. And perused the menu details, which included a historic bit.  I'll wait while you read.

Good bit of cheeky humor there, eh? And another connection back up to that Diana Gabaldon and her fictionalized version of the Culloden Battle- really fascinating!

Fourth and finally, we leave Inverness to include the day trip to Stirling Castle, in a metaphorical middle of Scotland: between the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow (E-W), and between the cultures of the lowlands and the highlands (S-N).
At Stirling, I had a very informative tour which encompassed different ages of the castle, famous architectural elements, rituals of life, changes for military needs, etc. But the one place the guide didn't take us to but strongly recommended was seeing the exhibit on the Renaissance kitchens.
There were very lifelike mannequins/models pictured at work, and everything looked so busy! There was sound piped in to mimic the hubbub of a feast in the making. It was really well done.

This shows a servant slowing down in the course of serving all the courses (hehe) at a typical 16th century banquet, which included:

• pottage (soup)
• roasts
• small pies and pastries
• tarts or fritters
• fresh or preserved fruit and sweetmeats

I guess they didn't go in for salads, hmm...

Here was my favorite- all raise a cheer for the bakers! Rough men's work at the time, because it took a lot of bread to feed the people, who didn't have much of a varied diet unless they were high-fallutin'.
Don't they look real? Better than a wax museum, though; those are just creepy.

The last photo from Stirling kitchens was an oven that was used before the expansion for the palace's guests, when it was more of a fort stronghold. These kids were around and I felt a strong urge to be the witch pushing them into the oven for getting in my shot...

Next up will be the final installment of Scotland food (Glasgow) and some preamble about the New England road trip, where Produce, and not Preparation, turned out to be King (a-ha-ha, we were just talking about the Castle, get it?)