Naptime on the Road: Eating & Traveling with My Family

Earlier this month we spent almost three weeks in Cooperstown and it was pure heaven. We stayed with my parents and spent as much time as possible enjoying their garden, all the wonderful restaurants, and, of course, swimming in Lake Otsego. I love lake living in the summer. It is so simple and refreshing. This year the water was a little cool due to the all cooler nights we had, but we totally loved it. Here is a peak at some of the fun summer things we did, including an update on our favorite spots from a few years ago:

At the end of July I snuck out to Martha’s Vineyard for two nights to visit my in-laws. There are so many great things to do on the island but we didn’t have a lot of time. One of the things we made a priority this year was a visit to the Art Cliff Food Truck. The Art Cliff Diner is an institution on Martha’s Vineyard. It has been there since the beginning of time and serves the best food ever. Okay, not quite the beginning of time, but it has been there since I remember. Since it isn’t open for dinner a few years ago it started the food truck to serve up a few popular diner-like eats with a smile.

Last week we had a heatwave of epic temperatures. It was one of those weeks I had no interest in turning on the oven. I could barely handle boiling water! So, the best solution, in my mind, was the hit the food truck scene at our nearby outdoor beer garden. Thankfully, the garden is full of awesome food choices. Since my kids were with me (it was only 5pm) I decided to let them choose and we landed on The Melt Mobile, the local grilled cheese food truck.

My year as a flavor correspondent exploring the food truck trend for Sargento has been a revelation. The food truck trend is clearly gaining traction across the country and the reason it is doing so is because a lot of the food they are serving is so good. I’ve eaten quite a range of food truck cuisine in my local area – crepes, pizza, lobster rolls and, now, meatballs – and the cooks really know what they are doing with their specialty. Also, food trucks are taking on all kinds of different forms. Last month I tracked down the Skinny Pines pizza truck and found it is actually a wood-burning pizza oven towed by a large van. This month I had to pleasure of finally indulging in The Local Meatball food truck only to discover that it is a Fiat pulling a portable meatball stand!

One of my favorite things about my year as a flavor correspondent for Sargento is discovering all of the amazing food trucks springing up within ten miles of my house. Turns out Southern Connecticut is a hot bed of food truck entrepreneurs. I LOVE it! To please my daughter, last week we decided to visit a truck popular with both adults and Kindergarten set – Skinny Pines Pizza. It was a Friday night and we were in the mood for an easy dinner that everyone would love.

If you even hint to me that there is a fresh lobster roll in my immediate vicnity I am there. Seriously, a good roll is one of my all-time favorite foods. Especially in the summer. So, when my husband came home last month and told me that the new LobsterCraft food truck was in the area for the afternoon I threw the kids the car put the pedal to the metal. No matter that it was the last snowstorm of the year (I hope!), I wanted me some fresh lobsta!

One of the many things I miss about living in New York City are the food trucks. They always served the most delicious cuisines and were the perfect spot for grabbing a quick lunch or dinner. I lived there during the food truck trend explosion and nearly every week an awesome new truck would burst on the scene. By the time we moved out of the city there were hundreds of trucks serving nearly every kind of food on the planet! I was never at a loss for something new to try. Luckily, it hasn’t taken too long for the food truck trend to spread to the suburbs. Our little town in Connecticut even has one food truck, Christophe’s Crepes. Christophe is a jolly frenchman who parks his truck outside our local library. My daughter and I eat there at least once a month. We usually combine it with a trip to return her library books. Here are some shots of our recent trip over the weekend:

I am so excited to share the third installment of my trip to Thailand from last February. The purpose of this entire trip was to explore Thai seafood on behalf of Sea Cuisine. Having been to Thailand once before I was thrilled to have the chance to return. This post chronicles our last day in Bangkok before we traveled down the Phuket to experience Southern Thailand. We had the great fortune of eating the most amazing shrimp dumplings and fresh cut noodles I’ve ever tried. It has been almost ten months since our visit and I still think about them!

I am so excited to share the second installment of my Thailand Travel Series. As you may recall, I traveled to Thailand last February on behalf of Sea Cuisine and had a blast exploring the seafood offerings of this fantastic country with my friend Nicole. This week Sea Cuisine posted my articles about our second day in Bangkok and the AMAZING food we had at some out of the way restaurants after a cruise down the Chao Phraya

Last week on Martha’s Vineyard my family and I took some time to enjoy the island between book events. We strolled the streets of Edgartown, took boat rides along the coast and cooked lots of great food. Over the course of our vacation we enjoyed several delectable dinners that took very little effort. We focused on simply prepared super-fresh seafood, easy sides, and, of course, wine. Here are some of our favorite menus from vacation. I hope they each give you a little taste of a true New England summer.

We’ve been up in Cooperstown this week getting in the summer frame of mind. It’s been nice to take a break from our busy camp schedule and spend some time with my parents. Cooperstown is a lovely place all summer long but I’ve always felt that June is one of the best times of year to visit. Town has a pre-tourist calmness, each day is a perfect 75F, and the lake is just coming alive with ducks and fish jumping everywhere. On Monday we even launched our little boat. Also, by June our local Farmer’s Market is booming with terrific goodies from the farmer’s and artisans in the region. It is one of our favorite places to visit. Here are a few of things we have to look forward to seeing this summer!

I am so excited for my book signing in Georgetown tonight! While I get ready I thought I’d stop in with a favorite recipe from Thailand. As you’ll see in my posts on The Seafood Spot, my friend Nicole and I instantly fell in love with Tom Yam Goong, the national dish of Thailand, upon first sip. We adored the spicy, sweet, citrus flavors and embarked upon soup wars for the bulk of our trip. We ordered it nearly every where we went comparing recipes from restaurant to restaurant!