Hello Everyone!

The holidays are here and everyone is full of smiles and laughter.  I love watching people as I go about my day in Manchester.  Shoppers on the sidewalks with rosy cheeks…children with big eyes in Mother Myrick’s waiting for a chocolate…hugs outside of Northshire book store before they go in to shop.  I literally hear carols in my head as I watch all of this lovely good cheer.

Santa has his list and….so do I.  First on my list is to add a cup of warm honey & spice white wine to our specials.  It has a touch of Ancho Reyes in it that can warm your littlest toe.  Second…talk to Mark to add his delicious creamy clam chowder that he serves with a little stack of fried clams.  I swear you will want to dip the clam into the warm delicious soup.  Everybody does!   Third…go out and do a bit of shopping…shhhh. Don’t tell Mark….it’s for him.

Also….for Mark….If anyone would like to vote for a nomination for a James Beard award, I’ve include the link.   https://jamesbeard.secure-platform.com/a/

That would be a nice gift and the voting expires the end of December.

I hope your holidays are filled with love, hugs and tons of smiles.

Melody

I love the slow moving changes of Autumn.  I watch the trees as the brilliant leaves gently drift to the ground.  I see the grass change from emerald to a soft shade of yellow and I can taste the clean, crisp Vermont air.  We are ever so slowly making our way toward winter………but not just yet.  Pull out your favorite sweater and most comfortable boots.  This is a wonderful time to just get out and take a walk, go for a hike or just stroll down main street.  You will find a bounce in your step and a smile on  your face.  Manchester is waiting for you!

And….so are we.  Mark is finding the best things.  He has added an aged blue cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm, called 802 Blue.  This is such a delicious cheese with and he serves it with Armenian cherries and baked, crisp filo topped with pistachios.  Don’t ask me how he knows exactly the right combinations…he just does.  He has his gifts….and so do I!     MONTE ZOVO, VALPOLICELLA RIPASSO!   Just sayin!!!

I hope you enjoy November with it’s time for family and friends as much as I do.  Just remember to take a deep breath of the Autumn air when you go outside.

Hope to see you soon,

Melody

Just one more reason to love Autum!!!

Pumpkin Flan with maple, caramel sauce, lemon mascapone & roasted pumpkin seeds.

I need to sit down.

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday and the day before were perfect days.  So….today is a bit cloudy…maybe rainy…a tad cool….that just makes me appreciate the perfects days when they are here.

In the meantime….I have Three Cheese Onion Soup and all sorts of warm delicious food to warm your soul.   We also have a cocktail called ….wait for it….a….Perfect Day.  It is made with tequila, amaretto, lime juice and simple syrup.  If I can’t be living a perfect day….I can sip on one.

As part of the Summer Festival,  Taconic Music holds Saturday-night chamber music concerts at the Riley Center for the Arts at BBA.  June 23, June 30, July 7, and July 14.  If you dine here on a Saturday night and keep your Credit card receipt…you can use it as a $5.00 discount on your ticket for the same night or for the following Saturday.  This is a lovely way to enjoy Vermont’s finest musicians in the lush Green Mountains.

Hope to see you soon,

Melody

Hello Everyone!

So…I feel a bit like spring today.  I know there is still a lot of skiing going on but the sun is shining and it’s an entirely agreeable  41 degrees.  It’s one of those beautiful, delightful days that makes me think of sun dresses and of how I should have started a diet sooner.  But that day is not today….it’s a sangria day!  We make red and white sangria with rum…yum!  I usually wait until there is at least no snow on the ground but I’m making an exception this year.

I am also excited that coming soon we will have a rose’ flight.  Three different rose wines from three different countries.  I feel like doing a Snoopy dance…the one where his nose is in the air and he is just dancing around.

Mark of course has made a delicious special.  Salmon en Croute….Salmon baked in puff pastry served with a dill cream sauce and spinach salad.  Words…fail.  This is one you just have to see to believe.  I would just like to add one more thing….Sancerre!  Piercing acidity like dipping your toe in an ice cold mountain stream….in the spring! I keep going back to that theme.

I want you to enjoy today.  Try to enjoy the crisp, sunny air and take a walk.  I’m on my way out the door to do so now.  Or…..just try a sangria while there is still snow on the ground.  Let happiness reign!!

Hope to see you soon,

Melody…the happy