Archive for the 'Middlebury VT' Category

Fruitcake is the butt of many seasonal jokes, but my favorite fruitcake is no laughing matter – until you’ve enjoyed too much of it, that is. I offer my recipe here as a holiday treat to my past and future clients.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and have all ingredients at room temperature.

Sift 4 cups all-purpose flour into a bowl. Take out ½ cup and in another bowl, toss it with:
1 and 1/3 cups of your favorite nuts. (Macadamia)
1 and 1/3 cups of dried apricots (or mangoes or papayas or pears or pineapple)
1 and 1/3 cups white raisins
1 and 1/3 cup sweetened coconut (optional, but great if you are going tropical with your other ingredients)

Re-sift the remainder of the flour with the dry ingredients:
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Cream until light ¾ cup of butter
Then add in cream 2 cups sugar
Then beat in, one at a time, 5 eggs
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract or rum
Beat it all until light
Stir the flour mixture into the creamed ingredients until mixed well.
Fold in the nuts and fruit
Bake in 4½ by 8½ inch tins for about an hour or less if your oven is very hot.

The very best part of making this cake is the alcohol that goes on it after it has cooled. I cover the cakes in cheesecloth or pieces of old dish towels and then several layers of tin foil so that the cake will soak up the alcohol. You can use rum or bourbon or brandy. Poke holes in the cake and every day for a week or so, trickle a little alcohol over the cake and re-wrap. After the cake has soaked up enough alcohol to your liking, you can bury the cake in a tin of powdered sugar if you like. Although this cake does not last until New Year’s in my house, it could last for several if you make enough.

While the cake is soaking, enjoy Christmas in Vermont recorded by the VSO at Middlebury’s Mead Chapel and stop by for a bowl of soup at The Storm Cafe (downtown Middlebury) the cafe is open for lunch on Christmas eve. And I recommend the following Vermont Christmas and New Year’s events:

December 17
Vermont Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet and Counterpoint – Jay, VT

December 18
The Boston Children’s Chorus – St. Johnsbury, VT

December 26- January 2
Billings Farm & Museum Christmas at the Farm – Woodstock, VT
Horse-drawn sleigh rides. and special holiday programs and activities during the season including Wassail Weekend.

December 29
Torchlight Parade and Fireworks – Mount Snow, West Dover

December 31
First Night – Burlington, Montpelier

A few weekends ago, Middlebury held it’s 2nd annual Winter Carnival and Chili Contest. The chili contest is held on the sidewalks of Main Street and Merchants Row and the public choose winners for various categories. This is a great event to attend, (voted one of the Top Ten Winter Events by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce), but, in case you weren’t able to attend,  I’m going to share the most important results of this event – the winners of the chili contest. With over 40 professional and amateur contestants, you can be sure the winning chili recipes are outstanding.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Real estate research site Trulia.com says 24.6 percent of current homes on the market in the United States as of July 1, have had at least one price cut, totaling $27.1 billion in reductions. The average price-reduced home has had a 10.4 percent reduction, down slightly from 10.6 percent as of June 1. Some areas appear to be stabilizing quickly with the overall number and percentage of price reductions declining, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. “All real estate is local and we’re seeing glimmers of hope as price stabilization occurs in major cities across the nation, including some of the earliest hit cities that have experienced huge declines in the past few years,” says Trulia CEO Pete Flint.

The top-10 cities with the most price reductions as of July 1 are:
1. Jacksonville, Fla., 39 percent
2. Boston, 35 percent
3. Minneapolis, 33 percent
4. Milwaukee, 33 percent
5. Honolulu, 33 percent
6. Tucson, Ariz., 31 percent
7. Chicago, 31 percent
8. New York, 31 percent
9. Austin, Texas, 31 percent
10. Raleigh, N.C., 31 percent
Source: Trulia.com (07/10/2009)

According to Trulia.com, the average price for listings in Middlebury, VT has dropped by an average of 3.2%!
Contact us to find out if a recent drop in price makes the home or business you are looking for more affordable!

One doesn’t normally associate vineyards and grape growing with Vermont, but Chris Granstrom, owner of Lincoln Peak Vineyard in Middlebury, Vermont is changing that. Starting out as an apple and then strawberry grower, Granstrom turned to grape growing about five years ago, inspired by an Internet chat group. He learned that no one in Vermont had tried growing wine grapes yet, so with few grape plants sent by a generous Minnesotan, Granstrom started what is now 12 acres of grapes. Originally, Granstrom and his wife Michaela were only in the nursery business, selling about 21,000 vines last year to customers all over the country. When they were just breaking even selling and growing grapes, they decided to start making wine, since they had the vineyard anyway. They now produce several varities of red, white and ice wines, all of which have received praise from members of the “local pour” movement.

To read more about Lincoln Peak Vineyard and growing wine grapes in Vermont, read the full, cover story in the Spring 2009 issue of the Middlebury College Magazine.

You can also visit the Vineyard’s website to learn more about buying wine and grapes, or to get information about tours and tastings.

Image by pictoscribe via Flickr

This spring, Middlebury, Vermont will join a growing list of towns with a community garden. With plans to start in mid-May, the garden will be located on a plot of donated land behind Otter Creek Brewery. Plots will be available for $20-$30 with subsidies available to those who qualify. Gardeners will then be able to harvest all of the produce from their plot.

Erin Buckwalter – Bristol farmer, activist and former Master Gardener for the Winooski Community Garden – and Jay Leshinsky – advisor for the Middlebury College Organic Garden (MCOG)- came up with the idea for the garden when they met at garden workshop during the Middlebury Harvest Festival. Others who will be involved in running the garden include the MCOG, Middlebury Natural Foods Co-Op and UVM.

The purpose of the garden is to help build community (through educational programs for children and adults as well as a possible mentoring program), to provide garden space for students and renters living in Middlebury during the summer, and primarily to provide an opportunity for people to take charge of their food security and health.

For the full article, click here. Contact information will be posted when it becomes available.

To learn more about community gardens throughout Vermont, as well as gain access to gardening resources, check out the Friends of Burlington Gardens & Vermont Community Garden Network site.