The Perfect Storm: Storm Cafe, Middlebury, VT

Middlebury, Vermont, is the epitome of a small New England town, with a village green, a gorgeous, most selective liberal arts college and a smattering of charming shops, vegetarian-friendly cafes and galleries.

One of our favorite spots is The Storm Cafe, overlooking Otter Creek. On a recent trip to Middlebury, we ate there with our dog tied up to post near the outdoor patio, Two others labs were there and the dogs all played while we ate.

The heirloom tomato salad was nearly a meal in itself, with local mozzarella and baby spinach; with this an d another appetizer of grilled flatbread and hummus, served with olives, roasted peppers, more tomatoes and pickled beans, we were pretty full.

But we also got a winter salad - in summer - with gorgonzola, caramelized onions, pears and walnuts - we didn't miss the bacon that it comes with, though we did consider getting it on the side for the dogs.

And because my husband insisted we still needed more food, we had the crab cakes, served with yet more greens and a spicy remoulade.

We had to leave too early the next day to get the fabulous rustic hearts panini- artichoke hearts, asiago, roasted red peppers, caramelized onions and sun-dried tomatoes.  I thought about getting one for the road, but this sandwich is best eaten warm.

Another reason to return!

Vegetarian in Vermont: family friendly dining

The Common Ground Café, in Brattleboro, Vermont, was a Mecca for vegetarians. On any trip to Vermont, whether for skiing or biking, we detoured slightly off I-91 for interesting soups and sandwiches. Sadly, The Common Ground closed, but vegetarians can still eat well in the Green State.

For breakfast, The Hatchery, in Ludlow, has a vegan tofu scramble with avocado and salsa, that fuels you for the day’s activities. The Hatchery is only open for breakfast and lunch; lunch vegetarian choices include a grilled vegetable sandwich with spinach, mushrooms and feta, a tofu wrap with cilantro pesto and the ‘asparagui,’ with grilled asparagus, cheddar cheese, arugula and roasted peppers. On our recent family ski trip to Okemo, we had planned to have dinner one night at Harry’s Café, about 5 miles down the road from the resort. Unfortunately, we didn’t make reservations in advance and couldn’t get a table until 8:30. So this vegetarian-friendly restaurant, with a Thai night on Thursdays (and a few Thai items on the regular menu) will have to wait for another trip. Fortunately, Ludlow, a quintessential New England ski town, has other vegetarian and family friendly choices. The Cool Moose Café bills itself as a steakhouse, but t has great veggie burgers. The Bleu Moose & shrooms burger (also available in beef or chicken) has bleu cheese and mushrooms, and the tasty jacked up Philly burger includes jack cheese and cooked peppers and onions. Both are “2 napkin’ meals. There are several fish entrees, a roasted Portobello entrée and a hearty salad with local goat cheese, good greens and cranberries. Kid meals include a smaller burger, pizza and salad. Cool Moose also has a large selection of local craft beers. Coleman Brook Tavern, in the Jackson Gore Inn, is a farm to table restaurant with a few vegetarian choices. The pappardelle was loaded with fennel, roasted peppers and white beans in a wild mushroom broth. There is a filling roasted beet salad with Vermont chevre and pumpkin seeds, a Portobello strudel that works as a light appetizer and a delicious baked cheese stuffed with maple pumpkin butter and ginger-butternut squash. There’s an extensive and quite pricey wine list, great martinis and lots of single malt scotch to sip. Best of all, when you stay at the Inn, you can simply take the elevator to your room.

Fitness Challenge: Cross Country Skiing

There are hardy souls who run year round, and fair weather outdoor enthusiasts, like me, who only want to ride a bicycle when it's between 60 and 70 degrees. But cross country skiing is a whole different animal. For one thing, you warm up really quickly, particularly in southern Vermont in January. For another, you get that runner's high, a blissful, peaceful feeling when you schuss along a mountain stream or through a forest. We enjoyed just such a scenario at the Okemo Valley Nordic Center at Okemo Mountain Resort. The cross country skiing takes place at the Golf Club, with 22 km of tracked and skate-groomed terrain. My children, dedicated down hill skiers, scoff at cross country skiing, finding amusement in the intermediate and expert terrain. But the hills are real, and the level of fitness required no joke. And like biking, you end up skiing, constantly using your legs, for hours on end. No standing around on lift lines or just engaging your core while you slalom down the mountain.

Northampton Vegetarian

My husband and I don’t have ‘favorite’ restaurants or family vacation spots – we like to try new places, and although we do go back to certain neighborhood restaurants again and again, there are so many in our immediate area that we can’t become regulars anywhere.

But through years of driving to Vermont to ski or visit our youngest daughter at camp, we’ve made a habit of stopping in Northampton, Mass. We have a college friend who lives there, the town is really cute, and it’s right off the highway. And every time we go there, we eat at the vegetarian restaurant, Haymarket Café.

This time, we were determined to try another place. There are several vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Northampton, but one was packed, another didn’t look so great and we found ourselves, once again, in front of Haymarket.

At breakfast and dinner, waitress service downstairs means you can sit and wait for excellent coffee or the basket of warm sourdough bread, served with herbed olive oil. At lunch, you order at the open kitchen and bus your own table. Small price to pay for delicious food.

Filling entrees like a warm rice salad with tofu and veggies, plus a green salad with chickpeas, olives and roasted pepper, or cold soba noodles with a peanut sauce, and the same side salad, are a filling dinner, for only $5.95. You can also get two of three: soup, salad and half a sandwich, for $6.50.

Particularly good sandwiches include a tempeh burger with roasted red pepper, a Portobello sandwich with gorgonzola and tomato and our family favorite, hummus and avocado. We got the idea from Haymarket and make it all the time at home.

I am also partial to the Greek artichoke stew, with rice and cannelloni beans, and the arroz a la Cubana, with black beans, fried egg and plantain. I’ve yet to try the wild mushroom risotto, shephard’s pie or linguini in Romesco sauce with Swiss chard, so I figure we can stop here at least four more times before I repeat a dish.

We may never eat anywhere else in Northampton.

Passover dinner - Pasta-less Lasagna

Bove's, in Burlington, VT, has had a restaurant since 1941. If you don't want to ski, mountain bike, hike, leaf peep or look at colleges in Vermont, you can eat Bove's sauce on your pasta at home. The sauce is sold online, or at specialty grocery stores.

But this week is Passover, so no pasta in our home. Or bread. Or anything with regular flour. Bove's developed a gluten-free lasagna with no pasta, but with bacon. I've adapted it for Passover use, but it can be served year-round even to those who don't have a gluten allergy. And you can use any sauce; just make sure it is a thick tomato sauce.

6 whole Portobello mushrooms

1 large Vidalia onion

3 roasted and peeled red peppers

1 large eggplant

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

1 bunch chopped chives

Bove’s Vodka Sauce

12 oz. ricotta cheese

3 eggs

½ cup grated parmesan

Chopped Italian parsley

20 oz. shredded mozzarella

4 oz. grated parmesan

Take the stems off of the mushrooms, clean and reserve. Cut onion in ¼” slices and reserve. Peel eggplant, slice lengthwise in ½” thick slices.

Toss mushrooms in olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper and 1/3 of chives. Grill on both sides until somewhat tender. Place in a perforated pan and reserve. Do the same with the onions and eggplant.

Mix eggs, parmesan, ricotta and Italian parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat convection oven to 325 degrees.

Spray two standard loaf pans with non stick coating and line with foil.

Pour 2 oz. of sauce on the bottom of each pan and then layer ½ the eggplant. Over this spread 2 oz. of ricotta mixture, 2 oz. of mozzarella and 2 oz of sauce. Layer half the mushrooms. Repeat sauce and cheese layer, layer ½ of the onions and repeat the sauce and cheese layer. Top with roasted peppers, then 4 oz. mozzarella and 2 oz. parmesan.

Tent top with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Turn 180 degrees and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove cover and continue to bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Let set in refrigerator overnight. Reheat in oven and serve with additional sauce.