I left with my mom and our car, packed to the brim, on Wednesday at 7am. The trip wasn’t too bad. It was pretty hot driving through Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas but otherwise pretty easy. A few stop and go points. We reached my sister and her boyfriend’s place in Raleigh. It was adorable. Super woodsy and relaxing. We went out with his parents and them to a delicious little spot in the downtown called Beasley’s. It’s run by chef Ashley Christensen. We ordered a plethora of food. My favorites included the chicken and biscuit with a pickled green tomato, the pork shoulder meatloaf with charred onion gravy and whipped Yukon golds, and the crispy cheese grit fries. Amazing southern food. The restaurant was hip and filled with people looking for a good time with good food. Thanks for the blasty blast, April and Chuck!

The next day we drove through the rest of North Carolina and the Virginias. West Virginia was the worst. Super crazy drivers, tons of rain, and huge mountains with tiny guard rails. Not my idea of a fun-filled drive. We stayed the night at my Grandma’s house in Pennsylvania. She had homemade stuffed peppers ready for us. My Grandma is the most super spifftastic person in the world. She would do anything for anyone and is a strong woman. She is part of the reason why I decided on this career path. Her cooking has majorly influenced my life. If I can be the tenth of the person that she is, I would know that I’m doing something right.

I got to see family I hadn’t seen in over five years. It’s good to reconnect with your roots and family. It reminds me of who I am.

We left Friday at 6am and had a pretty pleasant drive. No crazy traffic or weather. It was like the CIA gods knew that I was chomping at the bit to get there. The drive took about 7 hours. I was bouncing around for the last hour. I was excited, nervous and anxious all at the same time. When we pulled into Hyde Park, I was a bundle of nerves. Seeing the school’s entrance made me, and I’m not ashamed to admit this, burst into tears. I had been dreaming about this since I was 12. I had seen all of the pictures, taken the virtual tours…everything. Seeing it for the first time in person was overwhelming and relieving. I hadn’t dreamed it. Its real and I get to go there for the next 3 years.

My Mom and I walked around campus. I was basically shell shocked for the whole walk. Going through Roth Hall and Anton Plaza was incredible. The campus is just so…beautiful. Everything about it is amazing. The details, the Hudson River, all of it. We went to the bookstore, peeked in on a class, saw pastry chefs at work, and ate in the Apple Pie Bakery Cafe. We had bacon, goat cheese, and poblano pepper quiche, a grilled chicken sandwich, and fries with truffle oil and parmesan cheese flakes. Delicious. So delicious. I got to meet the professor who ran the Cafe and just absorbed it all. It exceeded my expectations. All of them.

Later, after our adventures at the school, we explored the area and went and got some more cleaning items for my dorm. We ate that night at a restaurant run by CIA grads and their externs. It was named Crew. We had house made bruschetta and chicken lettuce wraps. We sat at a bar overlooking the small open kitchen. It was like a show watching the chef expedite and watching the others cook. The best quote of the night was from my mom as we were driving to the restaurant, “I’m not feeling water right now. I think I need something a little stronger.” Right she was. A tasty craft NY brew with a great dinner equaled heaven.

Well folks, that is my update for right now. We’re going to eat lunch at the CIA’s American Bounty restaurant so I’ll update on that later. I hope everyone is having a terrific Saturday.

Happy Eatings!

The Culinary Institute of America

The Culinary Institute of America is a beautiful campus situated on the Hudson River.  It was formerly  St. Andrew-on-Hudson, a Jesuit Seminary, transformed in 1970 to accommodate the increasing number of students.

My husband and I have dined at the Institute several times and have really enjoyed each experience.  The food and service at each restaurant is made and run by the students, as part of their curriculum.

The school has 5 restaurants:  American Bounty, Apple Pie Bakery Cafe, Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici, The Bocuse and St. Andrew’s Cafe.   Reservations can be made and menu’s checked out on-line, following the link above.  We have dined at the Italian twice and the French restaurant once.  They have since renovated The Bocuse, so we will be going there again.  We were able to sneak a peek at the new renovations and it is modern and elegant.

Today we went to the Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici for lunch:  a beautiful day to accompany a beautiful lunch.

They have a wonderful promotion, which we took full advantage of:  Monday–Thursday from January–March 2013, fixed-price, three-course lunch for $21.95.  I usually don’t eat that much food but I just had to.  I had the rest of the day to digest which is exactly what I am doing:  no dinner for this girl!

we started with an Eggplant Caponata, which consisted of crostini (little toasts) topped with eggplant, green olive, capers, red pepper, basil and imported Italian Balsamic:

my husband ordered a tossed salad (not included in the special), which we shared, with focaccia and extra virgin olive oil:

my husbands first course, Bucatini all Amatriciana.  Bucatini (a fat hollow spaghetti) with guaciale ( unsmoked Italian bacon prepared with pig’s jowl or cheeks), onions and spicy tomato:

Thin Focaccia with Escarole, Ricotta, Pine Nuts & Raisins, for me:

we both dined on the Roasted Lamb with Artichokes and Fingerling Potatoes for our main course:

for dessert, my husband got the Lemon Tart with Pistachios and Whipped Cream (they drizzled a little chocolate on the bottom of the plate as well:

my choice was the Zabaione (Italian custard) Cream Puff with Gianduya (hazelnut & chocolate) Sauce:

We followed this with cappuccino…..delicious!

Our waitress was a young woman from Kansas.  This was her second semester of her second year, graduating in May with an Associates.  She was going back home to do a mission trip to Panama  and then another externship, to get more hands on restaurant experience.  In September she was returning to start her Bachelor’s.  The school encourages interaction with the students so she was very accommodating in explaining the details of our lunch and her schooling.  The service was impeccable, so you felt well taken care of .

the entrance to Ristorante Caterina de’ Medici:

Apple Pie Bakery Cafe, we went inside and looked around.  Very lovely and they had foodstuff you could buy and take out, as well as eat at the cafe.  I bought local dark amber Maple Syrup:

students in the classroom:

The Bocuse restaurant renovated:

and their wine, oh my!

The CIA also offers tours:  “The general public can schedule tours Monday–Friday (when classes are in session) at 4 p.m. and an additional time of Mondays at 10 a.m. Tours are $6 per person. Reservations are required. For more information, or to schedule a tour, call 845-451-1588, Monday–Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”

I have not done this yet but I think combining a tour with a lovely lunch would be yum!

If you live in the area or are visiting, consider exploring the CIA!

We are tucked in an incredible hotel room, in a 14-room hotel above a tavern in Washington, Missouri.

I’m not a bed-and-breakfast person, I don’t like to impose — and as our waitress at dinner tonight said, “Too much paisley.”

The Old Dutch Hotel is nothing like that. First, it really is a hotel, with a 24-hour front desk. (You never know when you’re going to need a plastic fork for leftover chocolate cake, after all.) There’s not a paisley in sight.

The rooms are luxurious in their simplicity.  There’s so much to say about this fantastic jewel of a place, but I am almost too tired to write it. The woman at the front desk worked magic to get an adjoining room for Julian– with only 14 rooms, there’s not always much wiggle room for changes. She couldn’t have been more delighted to tell us that she’d found a solution when we arrived here. (I’d called to say that I’d be bringing my teenage son– something I hadn’t known when I made the reservation.)

The rooms have tall ceilings and crisply painted walls and trim, this one in Celadon, with creamy white. The door fittings are bronze. The bath is tiled in subway tiles, the floor marble. In the hallway, the room numbers are in gold leaf. The beds are sumptuous, and mine beckons as I type. I have always loved the historic quality of tiny hotels and I am thrilled to try this one out.

This little town, tucked in the rolling hills along the Missouri River is quite a gem. Of all the thousands of hours I’ve spent in Missouri, I don’t know how I’ve missed it until now. We ate dinner at a wine bar down along the river. While it was hard to tear ourselves away from the tavern downstairs, I’d already made reservations at the American Bounty. Though our food was somehow delayed coming from the kitchen, it was delicious when it arrived, and the server– alone of her kind in the place– was wonderful. We sat and talked about dogs long after our meal was finished and the check paid.

When I have my wits about me I will write reviews for Trip Advisor about both of these places, new favorites, and about our experience in Mooresville, Indiana today at Gray Brother’s Cafeteria (It wasn’t bad, just a bit lackluster.)  and I’ll link all the reviews here.

For now, though I must sleep. More to come tomorrow.

…

Target number 55. Steps today 6097. Breakfast: egg mcmuffin. Midafternoon: pretzel crackers Lunch: two filet of catfish (they were breaded, but I shucked the breading from them) half a hush-puppy, a quarter cup spinach casserole, 4 pickled beets, 8 brussel sprouts. Dinner: two tiny slices of warm bread (2″ square) with a bit of butter, salad with tomato, cucumber and blue cheese, grilled salmon filet with roast vegetables.

Pan Seared Wild Striped Bass with Brown Rice Pilaf, Coconut Sauce, Roasted Fresno Aioli and Fried Shrimp

Fried Oyster Salad : Arugula, Papaya, Roasted Pepper, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Panko Crusted Fried Oysters

(Picture Credit: Supakorn Suwanpruiksa) 

Pan Roasted Duck Breast 
Wild Mushrooms, Vegetable Farro, Smoked Tomato Chutney

Grilled Pear, Radicchio and Fig Salad 
Prosciutto, Aged Mountain Gorgonzola, Frisee, Candied Walnuts, Walnut Vinaigrette

Grilled Smoked Pork Loin, Sweet Potato Puree, Spinach and Caramelized Apples

Chef has told me that I’m getting my flow and timing right except of minor details.  Not only does Chef gets pissed off, but I do as well because I’m just tired of being told the same thing over and over again.  On the bright side of things, I’m reducing my mistakes day by day and I can only be happy about that.

On the other side of things, I like being told that I have the potential to be better, and I can be just that.  Six more days to prove it.  

American Bounty