Cooperstown: Fly Creek and Ommegang

A while ago, Seester and I ran the Boilermaker.  Yes, I've already booked our hotel for next year. The people of Utica are amazing, and you can read about that on running blogs.

Now, a member of my husband's family does not complete their first visit to Albany without a day trip to Cooperstown, and Utica is near enough that we combined these situations.

Our first stop was Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard.  Other potential names include Snack Shack and Place Of Many Dips.  We walked around and saw some chickens and ducks outside, and eventually we had some ice cream and cider.  Mostly, we walked around the market and indulged in free samples.

Cheese.  Lots of cheese.

Fudge.

Jams, spreads, dips, mustards.  And look a those pretzel sticks, ready to be dipped.

Apple fritter, chip mint ice cream, cider slushie, regular cider, and general happiness all around.
 

Next it was back to Ommegang.  Yes, we'd been before, and we liked what we drank.  Yes, we can drink it at home, buy it at local stores and bars, but we could not resist a visit with Sees.  This time, with snacks.

Delicious fries frites.  Oh my goodness.  Crispy, well-seasoned, clearly fresh-cut. There are 8 choices for sauces, and you pick two.  I remember the chipotle aoili as being our favorite. 




Crepes!  Duck confit was off the hook and tomato/basil was tasty but paling in comparison.  Can anything compare to the duck confit?  I didn't think so.

Ommegang has beautiful grounds, outdoor tasting options in the fair weather, and very tasty beers.  Beers so tasty, the only way they could be tastier is if they were embodied in an ice cream.  Wait for it...

And here is perfection.  PERFECTION.  Granted, I'm somewhat easily impressed.  Three Philosophers ice cream.

This time last year: CSA Weeks 5 & 6
2009: Fojol Brothers
2007: Restaurant 3

New Oreos: A Review

I delayed on this because it was so disappointing I didn't really want to talk about it.

When J found out there was going to be such a thing called "Triple Double Oreos" he jumped at the opportunity to try them ASAP.  He filled out an online request form for media (because, you know, he's such a regular contributor to the blog) and maybe 10 minutes later we had a FedEx with the aforementioned cookies.

We took them home to NJ for a taste test.  We were immediately disappointed.

Were these cookies gross? No.  But the fact is that they weren't what we were expecting.

The name Triple Double made it seem like they were made of Double Stuffed Oreos. So a triple-decker Double Stuffed is what we expected.  If you're having trouble with triple decker being only two instances of filling and three wafers, you are not alone--we were arguing over whether that is double decker or triple decker, and we can't really come to a conclusion.  A Google image search results in the three pieces of bread but two sets of fillings variation, and that's what we've got here.

But again, that filling?  Not double-stuffed.  Decidedly single-stuffed regular old Oreo filling.  Which to J means it's too dry--too much cookie, not enough icing.

Was anyone else under the impression that these would be double-stuffed?  I'm surprised I haven't read about misrepresentation or anything on the Wall Street Journal.  This is a pressing social issue.

Henry

Blogging is frequently interrupted by work travel, Jewish holidays, and other timesuckers (which, while often pleasant, are indeed taking up time).  Now we have a new reason to stay off the computer. 

Looking forward to sharing some good meals with you coming up: tacos in Hudson and New Paltz, dinner at a 1-week-old restaurant in Murray Hill, and a delightful evening at the Capital City Gastropub.  Also, I'll be back in DC for work, and you know I'll be revisiting some of my favorite places as well as some new. 

All Good Bakers

I love following local personalities on Twitter.  I scoped out the ALB Twitter scene before moving here and started following the appropriate blogs.  It didn't take long to start hearing (and keep hearing, repeatedly) about All Good Bakers.   The idea of a Community Supported Bakery sounded awesome to me (like the Whisked pie share?).  I started following them on Twitter and even "Liked" them on Facebook, even though I'm generally opposed to Liking anything on Facebook.  [Sidenote, I won't Like your blog on Facebook because I follow it on Google Reader and maybe follow you on Twitter, and I don't need to be told about your new post for a third time in a new way.  Really, I like you, and I like your blog, but two places is enough right now for me to express that xoxo.]

And they were always commenting about the delicious lunches and brunches that were available!  And talking about how they got some awesome cheese and Farmer Jon (our new neighbor is his farm stand) dropped off these awesome looking veggies.  And we'd get a cool peace sign of whoever was in the van, which seemed to drive down our street a lot.  Sooo we obviously had to go by.

J and I brought visitor B, a newbie to the Capital Region (but resident of our nation's capital), on a recent Friday afternoon.  That scored us 10% off on the yum to come.

 B and I both had the grilled cheese of the day. Black pepper goat cheese with garlic pepper IPA jam.

 J had the tempeh veggie burger and a similar fresh crunchy side salad.  He's Mr. Veggie Burger since he had one in the Columbia River Gorge that was truly delicious and unique.  He liked the consistency of this guy.  None of us got the crispy flatbread pizza, maybe because we've been making some flatzas at home :)

I appreciate mugs that depict a sweater putting its arm around another sweater.

We got a loaf to go--I think peasant sourdough--and it was so good for so long.  It didn't last that long, but even a few days later it was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.  So delicious, and bringing much joy to our household.

AGB says they are "baking with ethics," and they shop with them too.  They get some produce from Farmer Jon, who has sold us some of the sweetest corn we've had all summer from his farm stand, as well as the best white peaches.  +1 for Farmer Jon.

All Good Bakers
160 A. Quail Street (it's the first floor, you'll see it)
Albany, NY