a visit to a New England cider house

A couple years ago Matt and I went to Mystic for a long weekend and visited an old-fashioned cider mill and I just realized I never shared the pictures here. It's called B.F. Clyde's and you can watch the whole process, from the avalanche of apples tumbling off the truck to the clear brown liquid being poured off the press, all inside the little cider house for free.

The press is powered by a small steam engine, the oldest in the country. I love having so much history right in our backyard. It's one of the best things about living in New England, in my opinion. 

You can stand (elbow to elbow with everyone else) inside the cider house while the press is run by the sixth generation of the Clyde family.

Be sure to stop in shop afterwards to get yourself a steaming cup!

reasons why I love the farmers market

One of my favorite things to do in September is visit the farmers markets near our house. There's a really good one about ten minutes away from us in East Greenwich that I try to go to each week. (We went yesterday, but these photos are all from last week.) I took a few shots of everything we went home with, all from Barden Family Orchard in North Scituate.

candy colored cherry tomatoes - perfect sliced in half, sprinkled with sea salt, and on top of cottage cheese

white raspberries - a novelty! We ate them all before we even left the market.

yellow peaches - delicious in a smoothie or just as they are

A few more things that make me love this market in particular:

1. There's a playground on the other side of a big grassy hill from the market, so after we shop Ezra can play for a while.

2. Tallulah's Tacos, a food truck selling, you guessed it, tacos! Made with ingredients sourced from Rhode Island farms, of course. Might I recommend ordering the carnitas taco. 

3. Seven Stars is there selling all manner of delicious baked goods. I picked up a baguette last night for a special lunch I plan on making this week.

Do you have a favorite farmers market I should visit?

fresh from the farm

(image via Dr. Green's Blog)

Usually my favorite part about summer is that there's no school which, in the past for me, meant no work.  Now that Ezra is here I'm not working outside of our home anymore so the allure of summertime has changed.  This year I'm looking forward to receiving our weekly CSA share from Ledge Ends in East Greenwich.  We're trying to be more mindful of what we put into our bodies, so joining a CSA seemed like a good fit for us.  We'll have a box of produce dropped off for twenty weeks starting in June and lasting through late October.  My plan is to blog about the delivery and meals I make with it each week.  I'm especially excited about the option to sign up for additional items, like meats, cheese, and even flowers.  Have you ever joined a CSA or do you shop at farmer's markets?  What are some of your favorite seasonal fruits and veggies?  

smooth move

(images by Grant Cornett for Real Simple)

Now that spring is here I can't wait to begin making lots of smoothies with fresh fruit again.  I love these smoothie ideas from last month's issue of Real Simple.  First on my list to try are the mango, kale-apple, and raspberry and nut smoothies.  Whole Living also has some tasty looking smoothie recipes, like avocado pear.  What are your favorite combinations?