The final vacation blog but still full of goodies.

The Chocolate Barn

This restored 1842 sheep barn has been converted into a barn of chocolate and ice cream. We came across it while driving north from Bennington Vt. on route 7A. Who could resist stopping? Not us. See some of the goodies we got. The dark chocolate is awesome and not showing are the mint malted milk balls that tasted like Girl Scout cookies. You can check them out at thechocolatebarn.com.

Next there was the Apple Barn. theapplebarn.com Located south of Bennington on route 7. Here we found garlic chive cheddar cheese and more venison summer sausage.

Last but not least was Henry's Meat Market (where we found smoked cheeses and sausages of all varieties. Yes we chose a few to bring home for treats with wine and apples over the next few weeks. http://blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping/14719/waterford-version-of-bennington-marketsmokehouse-opening/.

This is how we ate our way around southwest Vermont. We are still able to enjoy this and probably will for a couple more weeks if not longer. However the trip was not over and there was still more historic sites, that I won't bore you with, and thrifting. Maybe some day you'll get a chance to visit this beautiful state and see them for yourself.
This is what I came home with. I usually don't blog about the items I find for myself, but there was a polo shirt that I found and terra cota pots for my herb plants. the rest were drapes to reclaim the fabric and two shade of green fabric. Not too much, but enough for now. Since coming home I've done some thrifting and will blog them in the next few days. Until then please stop by my etsy store butterflyplace.etsy.com and see what's new.



The Vermont Cheese House

Rick and Jody the owners of The Cheese House will make you feel so welcome when you visit them. We were just spontaneously driving through southern Vermont not looking for anything when we came across this quaint cheese house and gift shop. We just had to stop. The original owners built the cheese house to resemble a wheel of cheese which you can see when you visit thevermontcheesehouse.com to see how it looked and learn it's history. Jody explained that they lost their cheese making room during hurricane Irene last year and are starting to rebuild the business after the damage. I can tell you that they are well underway and I wish them a good season. Needless to say yes I did shop. I bought goodies to eat of course. No shirts or souvenirs just items for my tummy. You can order these items at the above website. You will need to read the ordering information carefully because the items are perishable and may not be easily shipped until the weather cools off. Rick and Jody explain clearly on their site.  Here are some of the goodies we came home with.

First and most important the maple syrup. Sold at the Cheese House but from Bob's Maple Syrup. bobsmapleshop.com. I'm always looking for fig spread or jam and sure enough they had fig spread and I didn't leave without some. We also purchased Boysenberry syrup from Maple Grove Farms of Vermont. maplegrove.com. We had home made waffles for dinner the evening we got home and used the boysenberry syrup on them. Yummy!

I can only tell you how wonderful the raspberry peach jam and apple butter were. They are from the Side Hill Farm in Brattleboro VT. No website was available, but I bet you can order them from the Cheese House. Then there were Halladay's herb blends. Sure I know I can get some of these locally, but I had never seen the Lobster bisque dip or the Dilly herb dip. I've used the Dilly herbs on Tilapia fish since we've been home and it was awesome. If you can find them you should try them. The website is halladays.com.

Then there's the cheese and sausages. Many, many to choose from but we purchased smoked apple cheddar and these two fine items. Venison summer sausage and Truck Drivers' sharp cheddar. When they say sharp this is it. As you can see there's not a picture of the apple cheddar and the Venison sausage has been opened. We couldn't wait so we sampled some with special crackers in our hotel room.
I really hope you can find time to stop by their site and check it out. Business's trying to recover from natural disaster can use all of our help no matter how little it can be. Just make sure you read the shipping information.  Have a wonderful day. I look forward to sharing more of our finds in this coming weeks blogs.

Covered Bridges

After finishing downloading my vacation pictures I realized that we had crammed so much into our short four days. We didn't plan anything and never thought we would hunt for covered bridges. Hurricane Irene that hit the east coast last year destroyed some but left many still to be enjoyed. We visited three of the five bridges found in south west Vermont and didn't realize we were close to the other two in our journey and missed them, but there's always next time.

The Green mountains of Vermont

There are miles and miles of green mountains. The rich farmlands and everyone just making use of the land and their hands and minds to be self sustaining in such a beautiful part of this country. It was hard to leave, but it's only five hours away and I know I'll be returning. While I was there I felt so at home and got that farm girl itch that's been supressed for years. The pictures posted are from the Bennington VT area. Just a small sampling. More to come. Stay tuned.