6th Annual Tivoli Pie Contest

The judges of Saturday's 6th Annual Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. Pie Contest had quite a challenge this year, as usual.


With nearly a dozen pies contending and scores of people patiently milling around with forks, the connoisseurs chose five winning pies.


Tivoli resident Jacquie Goss took top honors with her lattice-topped peach pie. Her prize, a $100 gift certificate for dinner at Mercato in Red Hook (next year, better break out the rolling pin and give it a shot!).


As he has for the past five years, ten-year-old Alex Gonnella judged pies along side his uncle Mikee Gonnella (baker extraordinaire), Gerard Hurley ( filmmaker and pub owner), and past contest winners Mary Crinnin and Mariah. Alex's known predilection for peach may have tipped the panel toward Goss, but there were plenty of prizes to go around.


As has become the habit of the good people of Tivoli, the minute the final winner was announced, the polite circle of pie aficionados closed in on the table and cleaned those pie plates! Sweet end to a sweet day.

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The Annual Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. pie contest is held each year on Tivoli Yard Sale Day. A sign up sheet hangs in the bakery in the days leading up to the event. No entry fee. And, it's a local fresh fruit sorta contest. In season is always best. The bakery is at 75 Broadway. 845.757.2253.

Pie Contest!

Biggest event of the summer in the Village of Tivoli. Celebrity judges. Prizes. And an orgy of pie eating when it's all said and done. Bring a fork.


Sign up now at Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. Judging at noon on Saturday, July 25, Yard Sale Day!

Edible Gems

Fresh from Ray Tousey's bushes in Clermont, these little jewels are available now at Otto's in Germantown.

Tempted as you might be to string them into a blushing pink necklace, these white currants should be eaten. No need to do a pie or jam. White currants are sweet enough to eat fresh. Or try this little summer dessert. (Leave it to the English to work double cream into just about everything.)

White currants are $3.99 per pint. Otto's Market is at 215 Main Street, Germantown. Open Mon-Sat 7-7, Sun 7-3. Phone 518.537.7200.

Blueberries

I grew up in Maine where blueberry picking is one of the great joys of summer. The blueberries of my youth were teeny-tiny and intensely sweet. We usually picked them along the camp road. In places where they were thick, we were ever mindful of bears (who were likely to be meandering along picking them too).

If you find yourself in Maine this summer, you'll spot wild blueberry pickers selling quarts off their tailgates. Buy as many as you can carry. It's tough work picking those low bush berries, and they are delicate. You'll want to eat them before you cross the New Hampshire line, as they will perish in the heat of the lesser New England states. I mean lower.


But, wait! This blog is about Tivoli. Lucky for us, nearby Greig Farm has rows and rows of beautiful high bush blueberries laden with ripening fruit. No bears. And no bending, squatting or crawling around to fill you pail (unless you just can't resist the urge to pick like a pro).

While I was grazing along picking at eye level, a lovely Jamaican guy was whistling his way down the next row picking for the farm. I hope you get the same relaxing serenade while you tip the darkest berries into your pail... kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk.

Blueberries are $2.50 per pound, and $2 for the plastic pail. You want the plastic pail. Red and yellow raspberries are $5 per pound, and seniors get a 10% discount on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Greig Farm is located at 223 Pitcher Lane in Red Hook. Pick Your Own daily from 8am to 8pm, rain or shine. 845-758-1234.

Wear your sun hat! And watch for blackberries, apples, and pumpkins as the growing season continues.

Big Weekend in the Little Village

The weekend surprised us with a bit more sun than we've grown accustomed to, and a couple of nice little events were that much more pleasant as a result.


On Saturday night, the Tivoli Artists' Co-op held an opening reception for their annual 3-D show. Ten member artists' work in various media, a decent glass of wine and a room full of artists and friends to chat with. It was a full house and a sweet evening.


On Sunday morning, the second meeting of the Tivoli Bread & Baking Co. Wiffle Ball League (kids vs. adults) got off the ground, and we even needed sun block! Balls were whacked, bases were loaded, points were scored, but not in that particular order, of course.


Pitcher Mikee Gonnella was on the mound lobbing big plastic balls into the sweet spot. No one keeping score. Everyone was a winner. (Note fathers relaxing with coffee in the outfield.)



And, to top off the weekend, Chuck Mead's cherries are in at Mead Orchards; and Mikee knows just what to do with them. Piping hot bakery action, and a lovely finish to the weekend. Cherry tarts with Sunday night supper.

'Cue to Go

Driving up Route 9G just north of the Village, you may have noticed a small wooden sign at Route 6. It's 'Cue to Go, a take-out barbecue biz that started last fall.

Husband and wife duo Lisa and Brad Renner started 'Cue to Go as an off-shoot of their catering business. Actually bottled chutneys and salsas were the first off-shoot. We're all doing what we can.

I pulled in the drive of their farm house (with a million-dollar view) recently to check it out. Frankly astonished by the size of their commercial kitchen and trying to hide my gas range envy, I ordered a handful of things, then decided to take the BBQ to the view.


As the summer gets too hot for cooking, grab a picnic table at Clermont and give the smoked barbecue a try. The sides are a little heavy for my taste, but pack a salad for balance, and you'll be quite satisfied.

Better yet, order now for the 4th. Ribs and fireworks would be ever so nice.

'Cue to Go is at 230 County Route 6, just off Route 9G. Open Wednesday and Thursday 11 to 7, Friday and Saturday 11 to 8. Call ahead for large orders. 518-537-7246.

Bubby's Back!

The little Burrito Stand is open again. You don't need me to tell you, unless you haven't traveled 9G on your way to Tivoli in the past couple of weeks.


It's a sure sign that Bard graduation will soon be upon us, when Bubby comes back home from Mexico and sets up the Burrito stand. All winter she and her husband run a cafe in San Miguel. Not a bad gig. But, in summer, she's all ours.


You can get your black bean burrito with guacamole or without, and there's a cheese quesadilla on the menu too. The most you could possibly spend for lunch is $7.50, so add this to your cheap date list.


If you hang around the stand to eat (which is the best part), just watch out for the chicken. She's a burrito-eatin' chicken, and if you are part of the under 3-foot crowd, she just might steal your lunch.


Bubby's Burritos is located at the Montgomery Place Orchards Fruit Stand on Route 9G just north of the light at Route 199. She's open Tuesday to Saturday from 12 to 5. And, she'll be with us until early fall.

Baked Goods Mania

In the category, "weirdest employee benefit," this little entry.



Mikee apparently now sponsors company logo manicures for his employees. Any, yes, that is a flying baguette.

Foraging Ramps

Last week, my friend Mark came by with an armful of ramps. He foraged them from the banks of the Roe Jan Creek in Germantown. I grew up among foragers, so this bundle of beautiful wild leeks was an utter joy.

My Maine relations are out this season of the year gathering dandelion greens and fiddle heads, and we've spent hours together digging clams, chopping muscles off rocks, picking wild raspberries and crawling around for blueberries. So hunting for ramps seemed like a good activity for the week. With the two-year-old asleep in the back seat, I figured a quick drive around the Village would yield a patch or two.



Mark and our friend Arno have found big patches of ramps along streams this spring. Ramps like dampness, but don't like to have their feet in standing water. My friends found theirs about 10 feet above the water line growing just a little higher than the skunk cabbage. My foraging needed to happen a little closer to the road (with sleeping toddler in tow). About five minutes into my adventure, I struck it lucky.

Ramps are wicked easy to spot, it turns out. This time of year, the spring sunshine pours right down through the open canopy of trees onto their bright green leaves. They are lit up like a beacon. Slightly deterred by a No Trespassing sign, I bypassed the first patch, but a short drive on, I hit the brakes at patch number two. Looked like ramps. Picked one. Smelled a little oniony, but could have been some woodland wildflower. Only way to know for sure, a big ol' mouthful. BINGO. Ramps.



Raw ramps are sharp and oniony, but sauteed they become sweet and mellow. I ate the first batch from Mark lightly sauteed in olive oil and sprinkled with a little Celtic sea salt. Twirled them on the end of a fork and loved them. A little stringy, but not enough to deter me.



I julienned my second bunch of ramps and sauteed them gently then stirred them into hot pasta with minced anchovies (not being a girl afraid of a little flavor). A big grind of black pepper and some sea salt made a mighty fine spring dinner.

If you're intrigued, you can buy ramps this week at Adam's for $12.99 per pound. Makes my little patch an even sweeter find. And, thank goodness we're not living in Quebec, because ramps are a protected plant there and selling them is a punishable offense. Poachers abound, because Quebecois love their ail des bois.


Oh, and the first spring shiitake are in too! They don't exactly qualify as foraged food, but when you have a pal who is a former shiitake grower, every now and then a little brown bag of them finds its way into you kitchen. If I hadn't devoured the shiitake within minutes of getting them, they'd have been lovely with my ramps. Oh well, there's always next spring.

Burger Joint

If you're a fan of a good old burger, once in awhile, you should give Uncle Chippie's a try. Located in Red Hook's cheap-date quadrangle between Holy Cow and the Lyceum 6, Chippie's does burgers, fries and Cokes. It's a mom-and-pop shop run by Chip and Cathy Slesinski of Tivoli.

Chip is a kid from Brooklyn who grew up on White Castle. Not being from Brooklyn, or anywhere near there, I never acquired the taste, but the Uncle Chippie Slyder is popular with those who did. It's a funny looking little thing. Kind of squarish and flat, as you might have guessed. The little guy loved it. I'm thinking its the "special seasoning powder" which Chip dusts on the thing that keeps kids coming back for seconds.


Bigger people might be better off with a real burger. Chip gets his beef from the local slaughterhouse in Pine Plains, as he says, one beast at a time. If you're eating meat, you may as well know where it's coming from. And certified organic grass-fed beef from a farm in Ancramdale is available, if you ask for it.

The menu started simply enough, but within the year, Chip has added lots of stuff to his burgers. You can get yours with chili, jalapeno, blue cheese, tzatsiki, peanut butter, stroganoff, or chow mein. Yes, peanut butter, stroganoff, or chow mein.

Crazy me. I got a cheeseburger. And it was good. This is not your lettuce-tomato-onion-mayo burger. This is the old ketchup-pickle-onion burger. No messy vegetables to slide out of the bun. Warning, the fresh cut fries are HUGE. A large basket would feed a family of five. And they would devour every last one, quite happily.


Feed your soul. Order a Coke. Or an egg cream. And Chip will have shakes by summer. Just add another day at the gym.

Chip's regulars are a mix of families with kids, high school kids who park themselves in a booth to nibble and giggle, and Bard students who roll in a bit later. The proximity to Holy Cow cannot be overlooked. Make that two more days at the gym.

Chat with Chip a little bit, and you can see this guy really likes food. He is a deli man and was hunting around for a deli location about a year ago. Get him talking about a deli, and you'll get hungry. He imagines great food smells coming out of the kitchen and a big deli case full of beautiful mounds of this and that. He almost went to Tivoli - too bad for us. But, he found this location on Route 9, looked north and south, saw delis all around and settled on burgers (chicken, turkey and vegan burgers also available). Give one a try.

Uncle Chippie's Old Fashioned Burger Shop is located on Route 9 at Old Farm Road. Open Tues. - Wed. 10:30 to 8:00, Thurs. - Sat. 10:30 to 9:00, Sun. 11:30 to 8:00. Summer hours later Thurs. - Sat. 845-758-3070. Free delivery.

Aroi Means 'Delicious'

What's the best meal you ate this week?

Mine was this lovely assemblage from Aroi, the Thai restaurant in Rhinebeck. Squid salad with fresh mint, cilantro, lime and chilis. The sweet-salty-fishy-spicy thing is something Thai people have mastered. It's an acquired taste to some American palates, but acquire it. No American salad will tickle your taste buds like this one.


Since I lived in Thailand for three years, people are always asking me what I think of the food at Aroi. I have to say that I am biased. 1. because the Thai food I ate every day at open air markets and from street carts can never be made here, and 2. because I love Apichart and Suphat, who own Aroi.

What I love about Aroi is that every time I walk in, the ladies from the kitchen come out to take my son into their arms. He is, as my Thai friends say, "luk khern" or a "half-child." He calls himself a Thai boy, and at Aroi he is embraced as all children in Thailand are. When I lived there, pushing my stroller from mango stand to noodle cart, I was regularly stopped on the sidewalk by teenage boys cooing at my baby. Hasn't happened here, I can tell you.

I also love chatting with Suphat and Apichart. They are from Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand. The kitchen is full of their family, and it makes me homesick just to hear their soft voices and sweet sense of humor. As in Thailand, everyone who works in the restaurant lives upstairs. Their son plays with his Legos in the back room. Family life, work, and friends are one big soup.

But, it's the food you really want to know about. Thai people often make a tactical error when preparing food for farang, as they call us. They hold back the strong flavors. In Thailand, you are invariably asked, "Can you eat Thai food?" Literally, can you take the heat? You say, yes. They still take it easy on you. Aroi suffered a bit from this problem when it first opened. Customers complained about fishy-ness, and as a result dried shrimp rarely appear in dishes. Unfortunate, because a lot of flavor is lost. With time, Aroi has begun to trust our ability to "eat Thai food." The flavors are now much closer to "Thai for Thai" as they call it, as opposed to "Thai for farang."


So, what to order? You don't have to be a talented cook to make a decent Thai curry at home, since high quality curry pastes are available everywhere. And, Thai people just don't eat spring rolls and satay. Sure, they can be found, but they are hardly culinary staples. If you want a real taste of Thai food, order salad. The larb at Aroi is divine. Cold chicken, beef or tofu (I vote beef) sliced very thin and tossed with lime, chili, herbs and roasted rice powder. In Thailand, this is so strongly flavored that you'd be inclined to accept the Thai whiskey offered with it. (Thank goodness we're in Rhinebeck.) For soups try Tom Kha Gai, or chicken soup with Thai ginger. It's spot on. Thai people extol the virtues of the herbs in this soup as a cure for all ills.

The desserts at Aroi are fabulous. Thais don't eat chocolate and have only recently developed a taste for coffee, so there won't be anything on the menu to plop a birthday candle into. Thai desserts are SWEET. As we like to say in our house, SA-WEET. Pumpkin custard with sticky rice and mango with sticky rice balance sweetness with coconut milk and a hint of salt. You must. You really must.

And, don't forget to eat your rice. It is polite in Thai culture to taste a spoonful of rice before eating any other dish. The steamed jasmine rice at Aroi is perfect. Don't even think of ordering brown. Eat your rice. Eat lots of it, and you will be happy.

Aroi Thai Restaurant is at 55 E. Market St. in Rhinebeck. Phone 845-876-1114. Hours are Thursday to Monday 11:30 to 3 and 5 to 9; Tuesday and Wednesday 5 to 9. Take-out is very popular.

Boiling Off

If your sap buckets have been running over, this was the perfect weekend for a boil off. The days were warm and sunny. The wood smoke smelled fabulous. And the kids were happy just to roll around in the leaves (and get tangled in the tubing dripping sap into the collecting barrels).


Our friend Craig has been doing this for about a decade, and his system is simple perfection. His evaporation pans are old catering trays. He welded the fire box himself, and the grills inside are from Roger Hoffman's in Red Hook (more on Roger's one day soon). This winter's ice storm provided plenty of downed wood, and Craig's wife Jane cleverly warmed crepes by the fire. Pretty nice way to spend an afternoon.


The boiling requires constant tending. The fresh sap is filtered through a little cheesecloth and runs in a thin stream into the boiling pan. Craig's clever old pot adaptation keeps the cold sap from killing the rolling boil in the evaporator. Still, with four pans, a hot spot on the fire and some skimming of foam once in awhile, it takes a watchful eye to get an even boil and keep the syrup level high in the pans.



The end result is this sweet, slightly smokey elixir of spring. Hope you had some too!

Tapping Tivoli

On a walk around the Village these days, you'll find taps on a few of your neighbors' maples. With the cold earlier this week, there was just a smidgen of sap in the bottom of the buckets, but the 10-day forecast has daytime temps above freezing all next week. With a little boiling, this means maple syrup in our near future. Life is worth living again.


And, this being Tivoli, you will find all manner of taps. With our can-do attitude (and a little plastic twine and an old water jug or two), we can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, or sap into syrup, anyway.


Do I even have to say it? I love this damn make-do bucket.

iloviT iCandy

When it's rainy outside, it's always warm in the bakery. Didn't get there today? Enjoy this little morsel for now, and get on over there tomorrow.

Thaw

The ice is melting. And, this week the maple sap began to run. If your taps are in, you know that already. It's a little early, but we'll take it. Cold weather in the next few days will slow things down, but by late month collection (and boiling) should hit high gear. My friend Jo will be out there flipping pancakes and drizzling them with fresh maple syrup in a few weeks. Go over to the farm and get some. Really. If you miss it, you'll kick yourself.


And, there's green out there if you know where to look. Believe me, I've been looking. These little beauties will surely open their snowy faces very soon. Don't worry. I won't let it pass you by.

Mikee's Back

And, all's right with the world. It was a long and well deserved winter break for the Village's own baker, but the ovens are once again turning out gems like this.


We go daily (well, Wednesday through Sunday, anyway). Kids and dogs are usually schnurfling around in the flour dust on the floor. Bard students rotate seasonally behind the counter, and we teeter on the edge of the two-fanny bench near the till in winter, but it's worth it. All the news you'd care to know passes by before noon.

And in summer, oh blessed summer, we move out to the porch. More dogs. More kids. More Bard students all lazing around. A few of us in and out for coffee while we famously pretend to work.

If you need the particulars, that's Tivoli Bread & Baking at 75 Broadway. Wed to Fri, Early to 12; Sat and Sun, Early to 3. 845.757.2253. And don't even think of special ordering a birthday cake. He'd have to owe you big (or love you a whole lot) to submit to that request.

Meet Otto

Otto is a grocer. And his little grocery has turned the lights back on on Main Street, Germantown. As you may have heard, Otto is from Whole Foods, a former VP of Operations responsible for 16 stores in the NY metro area. So why is he in Germantown, you ask?

He wanted to be a chicken farmer. He went looking for land and found a market instead. And it needed him. Desperately. It's been two long years since Central Market went dark, and Germantown has been patiently waiting.


And it is beautiful. Otto has kept the cafe tables and the bar counter facing the street, so you can sit and watch Gtown go by (pick-up after pick-up after pick-up, all with plows, I might add). Ken is back from the Central Market days making great soups daily, and he's in the deli cutting fresh meat to order and making sandwiches and panini (the pickles are surely the best north of White Plains).

New to Gtown is Starlight, the CIA-trained pastry chef (yes, that's her name, and she is delightful). She bakes muffins and desserts daily including Otto's grandmother's own butterscotch glazed cinnamon buns. She's a talented cake baker, from what I hear, and will make special occasion cakes with 3 days notice. In the category of find-of-the-week, she's also making homemade marshmallows. Remember that when you're thinking campfire s'mores this summer.


While all of this makes a breakfast or lunch meet-up in Gtown once again possible, the essence of Otto's Market is groceries. Before opening, Otto did his research (which is why he should be around for awhile). He visited every market in a 50 mile radius. He found out most little grocers don't have much food for sale (but, we knew this). "I had more food in my cupboards than they had on their shelves."


Otto's shelves are packed. A friend of mine (former Germantown organic shiitake farmer) recently checked out behind a guy with a big plastic tub of Cool Whip. Gotta love that. Which pretty much sums up Gtown, and Otto's. Peruse the aisles and you will find locally roasted J.B. Peel coffee next to Maxwell House. Chatham's own Our Daily Bread just down the aisle from Freihofer's. And Fruit Loops shoulder to shoulder with European meusli. There's something for every palate and wallet from basic grocery, to local products, national-brand natural foods, and posh imports.


Gone is the catering, but who has money for that these days, anyway? Otto will happily prepare trays for meetings and gatherings and his cheeses, fresh local produce (in season) and baked goods should get you through, just fine.

And, I must note, the staff are all adults. Adults. With food experience. And they really like Otto. This is a very good sign.

Thank you, Otto. From the jars of penny candy to the grind-your-own peanut butter, the heavenly Chemex coffee to the Financial Times, we really like what you've done. And we won't forget that you are the Village of Tivoli's nearest grocer. The chickens will just have to wait.

Otto's Market is at 215 Main St. conveniently opposite Jim Lawlor's liquor store. Otto's is open Mon-Sat 7-7, Sun 7-3. Phone 518.537.7200.