Eating Local

This past weekend was Family Weekend, so my parents were here! Since they have a car it was nice to venture out beyond the limits of the public busing system. This is a long post, so hang in there.

Friday night we made the token Walmart run, and went to dinner at the Vermont Tap House in Williston, which makes really awesome wood-fired pizza. There are three sizes of pizza you can order, and in addition to the pizzas on the menu you can make your own. I had a cheese pizza with grilled chicken and artichoke hearts - it was surprisingly good! They also have a ton of brews on tap - not that I've tried any, of course. They also have a house root beer, if I remember correctly.

Saturday we did some of the Family Weekend activities; there was a student - alumni softball game that we went to go see. A girl on my floor is one of the pitchers. I used to keep the book for my high school team; it is really weird to watch from the sidelines and not the dugout. We also went to tour the new health center in Bergeron. It apparently used to house media classes; now it's a really classy health place. There's the usual medical and counseling services, but they also have a host of programs that they'll be starting soon. My friend Lorrie and I are excited to try their introductory yoga classes.

That night my parents and I went to check out the Eat X NE food festival, which is all about local Vermont food. Everything was SO GOOD. The festival was sponsored by The Skinny Pancake (aka my favorite place) and Higher Ground (which as near as I can tell is some sort of venue). I don't know the names of all of the vendors, but there was a wide variety of cuisine. There was a beer and cider tasting setup towards the back of the park, and live music. According to the schedule, during the day they had presentations about healthy and local eating. 

The entry sign to the festival

A crazy hay sculpture

The Farmhouse Tap and Grill had a food stand; we had their local beef burger, which is topped with cheddar, arugula, and pickled red onions. Apparently I like pickled red onions and arugula. Our burgers also came with mixed green salads with a maple vinaigrette dressing. It was only $11, although according to their online menu, the price is usually $16.95. Regardless of the price, you can definitely taste the difference between fresh and store-bought beef!

My awesome burger - that I ate on a hay bale!

Lake Champlain Chocolates had an ice cream stand, where I got Belgian chocolate ice cream with salted caramel sauce made from actual caramel and not the processed goop. If you haven't heard of Lake Champlain Chocolates - they have a store on Church Street. The prices are a little high, but everything is amazing so it's worth it. For the colder weather, I recommend their dark hot chocolate. I would live off of it if I could!

We also tried maple kettle corn, which is much better than regular kettle corn. My small excitement of the day was the fact that everything left after my burger including my fork was compostable! I did not know that compostable forks existed. Apparently they're made of corn.

Just a few more pictures:

All around the festival were signs of various shapes with cool quotes, including the infamous line from When Harry Met Sally. This was my favorite.

The music tent - complete with dance floor

My favorite fact posted at the festival

Overall, the festival was definitely the highlight of my weekend - aside from my parents, of course!

Stay tuned for more Vermont fun!

Laura