A gorgeous day.

Phil and I took a lovely day off together. We’re in NY, so today we drove upstate for an afternoon of sightseeing. There is always research, and most often food research involved in our outings, and today was no different. We started our day with breakfast at Caffe Macciatto in Newburgh. It’s on the corner of Washington and Liberty streets, across from the Washington’s Headquarters National Monument. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous foods, and that’s not simply because we know the woman who makes her chocolates. It’s been a long time since I had difficulty making a decision when looking at a menu. It’s one of those … I’ll have to get back here to try XYZ kind of places. Phil had a banana and Nutella crepe, and I had a grilled vegetable sandwich, served with the lightest, barely sweet dressing over bitter greens.

We then crossed the Hudson, and headed north along Route 9. In Hyde Park, we stopped at the weekly farmer’s market … (that would be the one that is ¼ mile from the Culinary Institute of America). It was a small market, with all the right stuff, two wineries, three bakeries, three fresh vegetable growers, and organic options in all categories. It felt as though the weak had been weeded out … and only beautiful, high-quality food remained.

Since we have the bakery at the Texas Renaissance Festival, we’re always experimenting, and discussing recipes with bakers. The bakers at this market were no different. There was another interesting take on a “Breakfast Cookie”. I like the concept, but as they tend to be very healthy versions of a cookie, it could simply be that they are more along my line of food preferences, rather than being “The next big thang” in cookies.

Next we reached our stated goal of the Crafts at Rhinebeck show. Beautiful crafts. If you’ve ever been to an American Crafts Council Show, well, this is where they got their start. We ran into our favorite potter, John Fulwood. We don’t do any shows together anymore, but we did for several years, more than 10 years ago. We bought a colander and a lovely teacup … and were able to catch up with each other a bit. If you want to see his work, it’s at www.kissimmeeriverpottery.com He has a studio, and classes, if you are in the central New Jersey area. Honestly, we have lived on a crafts circuit for 17 years, and his is still our favorite pottery ANYWHERE.

Tomorrow the plan is to go into NYC for a festival in Gramercy Park. It’s another research trip, but we’ll also get to visit our friend Catherine at her shop “The Community Bookstore” in Park Slope, Brooklyn.