New Paltz! What a lovely day
Yesterday my daughter and I took a trip up to New Paltz. We needed to get the rest of her belongings from her dorm. After everything that my daughter went through, she needed a day away. We drove up to New Paltz and I dropped her at her dorm leaving her in the very able care of her friends. I went to Barnaby’s for lunch with my cousins. Barnaby’s is a steakhouse and a staple in New Paltz being there for well over 35 years. It wound up that we were there for weekend brunch. My cousin had a burger and fries. His wife and I had the pecan crusted chicken salad. It was a wonderful mix of greens, apple slices dried cranberries, candied pecans, tomatoes and blue cheese. It was served with a tasty balsamic vinaigrette. It was a wonderful salad, and the company was wonderful as well. After my cousins left I found myself with two and a half hours of time before I told my daughter that I would get her. I decided to just walk through the town of New Paltz. Since money is very tight, I just went browsing through the stores. Some of the stores, were there from when I was a student 35 years ago, and many of them were new. It is such an eclectic mix of shops to go in and out of. I did find two new and interesting shop. One is called Scarborough Fare. It is an olive oil and vinegar tap room. What that means it there are many varieties of infused flavored olive oils and vinegars. The olive oils were infused with flavors such as lemon, basil, bacon and porcini mushroom. The vinegars were flavored with vanilla, fig and apple. Those were only some of the flavors that were there and available to purchase. They are packed in stainless steel taps, that you can sample from. Pieces of sour dough bread were available in bite size pieces so that you can taste the samples of the fare. The shop had some specialty food items as well. I had seen a store similar to that in Rhode Island. Their line of olive oils and vinegar are imported from California, Italy, Greece and Spain. I must have spent a while in the store sampling the olive oil and vinegars that were available for tasting. The shop is run by a lovely young couple. As I had time to stroll, I went to Pegassus’s, the local shoe store. While outside the store I saw a sign for chocolate. The woman in the shoe store directed me to the location. Lagusta’s Luscious is a local store in which they have a kitchen and they make all the chocolate there from scratch. They offered a variety of different chocolates, with different flavorings and ingredients. I decided to purchase the imperfect chocolate truffle that was available for a dollar. As I was checking out, I noticed on the table was ramps. I had seen ramps on various cooking shows. I was curious to find out what these ramps were all about. They are a flat leaf that has the flavor of onions, garlic and lemon all rolled into one. They are only available in the spring. I decided to invest $5.00 and buy a package. With ramps and chocolate in hand, I found that I utilized my two and a half hour limit. Once back in the dorm, I drafted my daughter’s friends to help gather her belongings and help pack it into the car. I invited them to a BBQ once my backyard is complete. As we were leaving I told my daughter’s friend about the ramps. Since he is a foodie too, I gave him some to sample. As we were about to hit the road I gave my daughter some time to say goodbye to her friends. It was wonderful to see her that happy. I had not seen her smile like that since the day I dropped her off to the dorm in January of this year. As I took a look around, I reflected on the time that I was there as a student. I noticed all the changes that developed on the campus over time. I also realized that this is her time. She belongs there and it is an excellent fit for her. This trip up was a wonderful day for both of us. The weather was picture perfect, the company was great, the traffic was not bad. It was a wonderful day to keep in our memories. Stay safe my fans and Bon Appetit.