Meanderer

In the Gettysburg area, I suggest Sidney(East Berlin) and Pomona's(Biglerville). I mentioned each of them on a topic a couple of weeks ago and I would attach a link here if I had the know-how. I'll work on that skill as soon as I master the arts of tying my shoes and taking out the trash. Anyway, the topic title was "The Lodge at Blue Ridge Summit" and the last activity in it was June 27. If you don't spend all of your time at the battlefield, a drive through orchard country--e.g., Biglerville, Bendersville, Arendtsville, Cashtown, Orrtanna--taking any backroad that looks interesting would be well worth your time. You'll likely run across some nice fruit for sale and you are sure to enjoy the scenery.

Mint and poison ivy will coexist, although the mint seems to dominate in the spring. After it dies down, the poison ivy will be more noticeable. Mint spreads primarily through its roots so the road should be an impenetrable root barrier. I can't say for certain, however, that it doesn't spread by seed as well. If you mow your side of the road, the mint shouldn't be a problem anyway.

It is great to see the weight of the glass coming down. I've often wondered why some non-sparkling wines are put in such heavy bottles. I think your calculations are off, however. I assume your 36 lbs are for the 12 bottles with the wine in it. I don't think you can take 17% off the liquid as well as the glass.

In the "you win some, you lose some" category, we had a huge crop of sour cherries this year and the blueberries and black raspberries are coming on strong. On the other hand, all of the plums dropped before ripening, the birds got all of the serviceberries, the currant and gooseberry crops are small and the blackberries are struggling. I'm glad I don't farm for a living. I wouldn't enjoy the ulcers.

In Biglerville, in the middle of orchard country, is Pomona's, an adjunct of the Gettysburg Baking Co. We've eaten there several times recently and have been impressed with the menu, which changes all the time, and the food never disappoints. The chef tries to use locally sourced food as much as possible and on my most recent visit I had an entree which consisted of local morels, asparagus, and zucchini on a bed of polenta. Simple, yet satisfying. One dining companion had porchetta on creamed spinach with raisins and another had a fried tomato entree but I don't recall what else was in the dish. Service can be a bit leisurely but always friendly. I recommend reservations because the place is quite small. BYOB. To the east of Biglerville by a few miles is East Berlin and another excellent restaurant, Sidney. It is owned and operated by a local lad who succeeded at a young age as a chef in NYC(I believe he was the first executive cheff of Compass) but came home to open this place. Like Pomona's, the menu at Sidney changes frequently and is quite interesting. The chef knows how to cook and the presentations tend toward the artistic. I still salivate whenever I think about a spicy grilled calamari appetizer I had there last winter. He also tries to use locally produced foods, though, I think, probably to a lesser extent than the chef at Pomona's. Sidney is more upscale than Pomona's but it is by no means stuffy or pretentious. It has a full bar and a smallish, though decent, wine list. Reservations are not necessary, in my experience, on weekdays. I don't know about weekends because we tend not to go out when most people do. You will do well at either place.

Your best bet is probably the Shamrock, on US 15 between Emmitsburg and Thurmont. If you are willing to go further, I can recommend a couple of outstanding places north of Gettysburg.

Well, I'll bet from here on out you'll check the forecast before you decide to eat outside. This time of year in Philadelphia as well as in much of the rest of the country, the skies can go from blue to black pretty quickly but, ordinarily, the NWS can provide a pretty good idea about when eating out may not be such a good idea. We learned that lesson years ago when we were driven indoors one evening only to find the restaurant to be crammed to the gills. Fortunately, we only had to skip dessert but I don't know what the other fresh air diners did.

We've been indecisive about what route to take and where to spend a night on the way up to Maine and this has given us good reason to travel via Lake George. Thanks.

Are Ms. Feeney and Mr. London still operating this restaurant? We will be in the area in September so I checked the website, but it does not appear to have been updated since late last year.

I wish I had looked in on this topic a couple of years ago. Yes, that appears to be purslane and, if you let it go to seed in 2007, you can probably now feed everyone who ever posted on this site with your crop because it produces a horrendous amount of seeds per plant. I have been fighting purslane in my garden for nearly two decades now but I do enjoy nibbling on it raw once in a while. I've never cooked it but I have been tempted to rent a flamethrower and barbecue it right there in the garden. I don't know how the seed might be harvested but I understand it can be used as a sort of flour.

During my formative years in Illinois, it was always a main course in my family and that is the case here as well(south central Pennsylvania), typically served with a side of stewed tomatoes.

One can also save money for eating well by being economical on the other aspects of the trip. When we travel to Europe, we opt to go during the off-season when airfare and lodging are relatively inexpensive and we typically rent an apartment at a fraction of the cost of an average hotel. For example, next March, we will be renting an apartment for a week in a village an hour from Granada for just over $500. We will eat dinners in the apartment some of the time, particularly when we can take advantage of a nearby village's market day, and that leaves additional room in the budget for eating out at more expensive places if we choose to do so.

If the berries hadn't been moldy like the roquefort, if the roquefort hadn't been sweet like the cake, if the cake hadn't fallen like my arches, it would have been a fine dessert. Betty Crocker?

If you want more than barbecue during your second week, you might want to spend a few days up in Wisconsin and enjoy the various sausages and wursts made up there. Milwaukee, the home of Usinger's, is quite close to Chicago and there are other sausage makers in the SE part of the state. Of course, if you go north, you would have to eliminate one or more of your potential barbecue destinations. Whichever direction you go, you can't lose.

The website of the farmer I had mentioned says that she raises bourbon reds and standard bronze turkeys, both of which are heritage breeds. Those turkeys are pasture raised(I've seen them out there), which I assume is considered a humane practice. I don't know anything else that she might do that is either consistent of inconsistent with what the humane certification would require but since certification evidently triples the price of the birds, I tend to think something is askew with the certification system.

I see that Ayrshire Farms is offering 10-12 lb. turkeys for $135. Does this reflect the true cost of humane treatment of organically raised turkeys? If so, I don't see Ayrshire Farms serving as a model for many farms located away from a very wealthy customer base. The farmer from whom I have been purchasing my organic, free-range turkeys has been following humane practices(though I am not sure how they are butchered)and, although I don't know how her breed compares with that raised by Ayrshire Farms, I know it is a darn tasty bird and it cost me something like $35-40 for a 13-pounder. What accounts for the cost differential, I wonder?

I second this, but I always read the label to make sure they were packed in Italy, too - not just an Italian bottle with Albanian anchovies in it. Not sure what I have against Albanian anchovies, but there it is. I guess if I'm going to pay a premium for an Italian brand, I want to know that they're actually Italian. My gochujang has to be the Korean brand in the red box. I'm open to trying olive oil from a variety of countries, though. ← Chances are the anchovies, regardless of where they were processed, probably considered themselves neither Italian nor Albanian but, rather, Adriatic, assuming the little fellers had any sense of national identity.

Other than a gin and tonic on a warm August afternoon, I can think of nothing more comforting in the summer than a BLT, but only if the tomatoes are good.

They've also made it difficult to get Old Forester. My undergraduate degree was in Forest Resources and I am no longer young, so I take it personally. It is also a very good bourbon for the price.

The best bet in Lewisburg is Elizabeth's, on the main business street downtown.

I hadn't thought of it in terms of Arbor Day, but I am expecting 11 apple trees of two mystery varieties from the nursery shortly before then. I guess its about time to give the old spade an oil change and tune-up.

It goes down the tap root and not in the tree...think about taping a tree for Maple syrup... ← I understand about maple sugaring, but I don't think resin in an oak tree is the same thing and I can't believe that in the 30 day cycle of the moon, all of the resin in a mature oak first drains into the tap root and then returns to the trunk. Trees just don't work that way. The other thing I wonder about is how the barrel maker could be confident of making barrels from staves taken from a single tree or trees cut during the same phase of the moon. Most loggers harvest from multiple sites on multiple days and haul the trees to a landing when convenient. The trees at the landing then get loaded but they are liable to be trees cut on a variety of days. Some loggers haul the logs directly to the sawmill but others haul them to a sorting yard where they are stored until they go to a sawmill. The sawmill then cuts the wood from multiple sources and ships it to the end users. The cooper receives staves, whether from France or Indiana or elsewhere, which are liable to be cut from trees harvested days, weeks, or even months apart. I suppose it is conceivable that a winemaker or a cooper could insist upon single-source staves for particular barrels, but I would think the cost would be prohibitive.

What would the stages of the moon have to do with the resin in the tree? If, in fact, the amount of resin changes during the moon's cycle, where does it go when it is at its ebb and how does it move? Resin is incredibly viscous stuff.

I would be interested in Lancaster recommendations, though I would have to drive out of the way for that. Anyone familiar with the Harrisburg area? ← In Harrisburg, I think the best option is Mangia Qui, on North St. around the corner from 3rd(sort of across from the Capitol Building), or its upstairs sister, Suba, which serves small plates. A regional restaurant reviewer whose reviews are, I think, pretty reliable had very good things to say about Cafe Fresco on 2nd St., downtown. I can vouch for Blue Bistro in the 1300 block of 2nd, which has, among other things going for it, a good selection of wines by the glass.

Over the years, we have served quite a lot of knuckle skin with our grated cheese.