Honest Fare

Time off is so necessary. I cant believe it’d been a whole year since we’d taken a proper vacation – by that I mean the kind where you’re gone long enough to fully decompress and even get a little homesick. This year we really haven’t traveled much. Usually, and in addition to our visits to New York a couple times a year to see the fam for a few quick days, we try to take a longer trip somewhere new. But, with Makr keeping Jason busier than ever (a very good thing) and me feeling so lackluster with my previous work situation, it just hasn’t seemed like the right time to take off. But, then I decided to quit my job and all of a sudden leaving town for almost two weeks on an extended family visit instantly sounded feasible. Funny how that works.

First, we spent a couple fun, yet more hectic than we were in the mood for, days in NYC.
Marlow and Sons.
Frankies Spuntino.
Moon River Chattel.
Brook Farm General Store.
Brooklyn Flea.
Northern Spy.
Artichoke Pizza.

From there we took the train upstate for some fresh air and to visit my dear childhood friend (recently turned farm boy), Jens.

Jens and his girlfriend Sarah currently live, work and give life to the 19th century farmhouse (pictured above) on the Tweefontein Farm in New Paltz, NY. It’s the kind of place where kitties and pups come and go as they please and someone is always in the kitchen preparing freshly plucked produce. Also, there’s a shower head connected to a hose strung from a tree where you can shower alfresco. AND a miniature harp in the living room that I’m still dying to know if anyone actually plays. That kind of place.

We spent two days with Jens and Sara and the eight or so farm hands and friends that make up the Tweetfontein Farm. And let me tell you, these guys really kill it. They raise chickens and bees (and soon goats) and grow more than 15 kinds of vegetables and 30 varieties of herbs, which they use to make the all natural hand salves, soaps, pestos, teas and sorbets that they trek down to NYC to sell at the Union Park Farmer’s Market every week. Jason and I mainly did a lot of listening, learning, observing and taking it easy as they went about it all…though they did let us get our hands dirty weeding and seeding a little.

There were breathtaking sights everywhere we looked…

Squash blossom bounty.

Best scarecrow ever.

Herbs hang to dry in one of the many old barns/sheds on the property.

Now, let’s pause and talk about following image for a second. Not the one you see digitally here, but the real-life scene I actually witnessed with my actual eyes. Sometimes you find yourself in these sorts of surreal moments, right? Where like, everything is silent and you go to yourself, “Um, is this most beautiful sight of nature creeping in through the attic floorboards of a hundred year old barn actually happening? And could there really and truly be a random church pew sitting here collecting light from a windowless window? Maybe you know what I mean, maybe I’ve lost you.

If you’re even in NYC on a Wednesday or Saturday, you can check out the Tweefonteiners and their awesome product line at the Union Park Farmer’s Market. They post up on the SW corner across from the Gandhi statue on Saturdays and right in front of the Gandhi statue on Wednesdays.

From the farm we took the train out east to Sag Harbor, where we spent the rest of our time in and around this house. It’s one of our favorite places to be.

Lots of windows. Lots of fresh air.

Lots of relaxing and looking cute.

We basically just hung out, did some walking, some beaching, some boating, some antiquing and lots of family style cooking and eating outside.

There is officially nothing, NOTHING, like gathering clams from the backyard shore and throwing them directly on the grill.

P.S. Oh yeah, I of course have a couple awesome recipes from the trip that I’m really excited to share with you in the next few days!