TEN FOUR OH NINE

I am returning from three days at the gorgeous Mountain View Grand Hotel in Whitefield, NH. As I mentioned in a previous post, Seth and I went to celebrate our one year anniversary at the hotel where we were married. When we were leaving on Saturday morning I had this wave of panic thinking that we had built the weekend up so much and it wasn't going to be as fun and enjoyable as we had thought. I was so wrong. Our stay was better than I could ever have imagined.

We did absolutely nothing besides enjoy each other. We sat, without talking, for large chunks of the day. We drank champagne in the evening and coffee and hot chocolate in the morning. We watched the people come and go and visited with the farm animals in the mornings after breakfast. On the night of our anniversary we grabbed a couple blankets and snuggled up on a wicker seat on the porch. Life is grand.

Of course we consumed massive amounts of food. The only shots I got of anything was of this pan au chocolat from a little vegetarian bakery in Bethel and of my caramel apple. I sort of have a thing for pan au chocolat and it is on my list of things to tackle this winter. This was so so tasty. I was told that the woman who makes these is pregnant and loves working the dough. That made me smile.

The apple was my dessert in the tavern. The granny smith was coated in a homemade caramel, then dipped in chocolate and presented with spun sugar (cotton candy) on the stick of the caramel apple. This was so cute and fun...and delicious!

Even though I don't have the photos to show most of the food we ate I have to talk about it!! The first night we ate in the tavern. Seth had a seafood bake and I had stuffed sole with lobster sauce. This was where I first figured out that they had a new chef. The food for our wedding was great and I loved it but this was over the top. Our bartender confirmed that they had hired a new chef, one of the best in New England. A great investment for them!

The next night (our anniversary) we ate in the main dining room. This was heaven. I think, quite possibly, the best meal I have eaten in my life. I had a tomato and mozzarella salad with an aged balsamic glaze. Seth had an artichoke salad with mozzarella. I love when restaurants give you sorbet prior to your entree. I was hoping that they would and they certainly did not let me down. We were served a lemon ginger poppy seed sorbet. My palette was cleansed for my entree...yellow fin tuna served medium rare. Now, I wasn't sure about ordering tuna because every time I have it has been over cooked. This one was perfect. Very very pink and raw in the middle. It was served with an oyster sauce and herb whipped potatoes. **sigh** I wish I had some right now! Seth had scallops in a brown butter with a Parmesan tuille. His was really good too! I had been craving creme brule since I saw it on the dessert menu in the tavern. Again, they didn't disappoint me. It was excellent. To my surprise Seth even ordered dessert! He had Indian pudding with homemade cinnamon ice cream. Oh. Now that is fall in a dish!!

We were so sad to leave and it was so hard to come to work this morning. Seth reminded me that we have to work in order to go on vacations like that!

Enjoy the photos!