Staying warm at camp

After much research, we bought a Vermont Castings Alpine C3 Wood Stove. It was the perfect stove for our situation (on paper, at least), but in real life, not so much. You see, most of the time, the smoke emptied out into the camp via the door, bottom of the stove, or stove pipe.

Not good.

The installers came out to look at it a couple of times. The first time, they noted that the heat blanket in the stove had melted, so they replaced that. The next time they noted that the stove was cracked. They replaced it, and it did work for a short time after that. Keep reading

Trying a new (Italian) restaurant

We were looking for new places to try for Italian food.

After doing a search of nearby restaurants, I came up with Calzolaio Pasta Company in Wilton, Maine

Eggplant Fries

Wait. What? Eggplant fries?

In the spirit of adventure, my husband agreed to try them. I love eggplant but he does not.

These things were amazing! They were a little crispy but light and the gravy that came with them for dipping was almost as good as my own. I would have bought some if they sold jars of it.

Everything else was excellent as well. The bread. The Angry Meat Pizza. The Chicken Parmigiana. To me, the mark of a great restaurant is that there are so many things that sound so great that you want to try them all. Keep reading

The best appliance in my kitchen is:

The Air Fryer!

I have a small kitchen with not much counter space, so the last thing that I am ever thinking is, “Hey, maybe I need more small appliances!”

And then one day I was chatting with my friend Annette who told me how much she loved hers.

Also, my daughter wanted one. It was right before Christmas (as I recall; there is always the chance that she might dispute this) so we decided to get her one. We got a small version, because if history predicts the future, this small appliance would be relegated to the shelves in my basement where old small appliances that are never used go to die, Keep reading