Hi there –

I am just back from a trip to Burlington, Vermont. I have to tell you – I love Vermont, and especially Burlington. I spent most of my time at a conference this week, but I still had a little bit of time to re-explore the city after the conference concluded each day.

The first night we were in Burlington, we went to American Flatbread for dinner. I have always enjoyed American Flatbread when I brought it home from Whole Foods. I had never been to one of their actual restaurants – what a great experience. I loved the atmosphere. We ordered a great salad and a flatbread pizza. After dinner we walked around for a little bit and then headed back to the hotel to watch election night coverage.

On Wednesday night mom and I met one of my good friends for dinner and we had a great time catching up. My friend has been living in Vermont for the last few months, and will be in Burlington for a couple of years in a postdoc program at UVM. He was instrumental in helping us enjoy what Vermont has to offer – starting by what he ordered for an appetizer on Wednesday night at The Farm House Tap & Grill. What was ordered, you might wonder…

Venison heart in a parsnip purée. I had a small taste of the venison and enjoyed the parsnip purée. We all ordered amazing dinners. Mom had chicken and biscuits:

…which was delicious. Thom ordered braised boar leg with gnocchi:

The boar tasted amazing. I went with a lower meat content (which is hard to do in Vermont, let me tell you!) and ordered the mac & cheese which had shallots, chive, Vermont bacon (I added that because I figured I should enjoy some amazing Vermont bacon while here!), herb breadcrumbs and made (of course) with Cabot cheddar cheese – WOW! The photo is nothing to write home about, I admit – but this was THE BEST mac & cheese I have ever ordered in a restaurant! I loved it – even if I could eat less than half of it.

(Thom took the rest of the mac & cheese and had it for lunch the next day!)

I had registered for the conference later than normal this year, so I was not able to get any of the conference lunches that are usually included. This actually worked out to be a great thing for me because I went out at lunch and tried a couple of cute lunch places. On Thursday I met mom and had lunch at the Burlington’s City Market which is a co-op. I had so much great food for lunch, here is my plate:

Kale, broccoli, cauliflower, vegetable & bean chili, brown rice, cilantro tofu (amazing!!) and one chicken wing for some meat. What a great lunch – it felt like a huge plate of comfort food.

We saw an amazing sunset over Lake Champlain one afternoon:

We also found a pile of orphan cameras:

Whenever I am in Vermont I never want to leave. I love this state so much. But getting home last night was nice. It was nice to be at home and not in a hotel room. It was wonderful to sit in the living room and have a fire in the fireplace. I actually like my cold, New England home so much better than a swanky hotel room (they are always just too hot for my liking – I can’t stand it!).

It was mighty cold up in Burlington, in the low 20s at night – but I have to say that I loved it! Right now winter seems still like a novelty. I’m loving the comfort food that winter always brings with it. I’m all about chili, soups, warm hearty bread, pies and amazing food. I’m sure in a few months I will be all about spring – but right now I am loving that winter is right around the corner.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you had a great week, too.