Cake Placid Dilemma

Imagine that you have a sweet tooth and you find yourself at work alone with half-day old cupcakes from Cake Placid.

It is not even 10 am and the cupcakes keep staring at you, whispering, "which one do you want to eat first?" You decide you can't eat them all and call a coworker from a different department to show her what you are faced with. You select the mint chocolate cupcake and set it aside for later and she picks the mystery cupcake.


One bite in and she finds herself re-thinking her entire wedding menu. You take a bite and decide it is a French Toast cupcake. Together, you are glad this is the one you started with since technically it can be considered breakfast and doesn't count as dessert. This means you can have another.

Before you know it, you are slicing up another cupcake to taste some chocolate, but only one bite. You remind each other that is a long day and you need to pace yourself. After all, you can't call in sick while already being at work with a belly ache since there is the evidence of leftover wrappers.

Robo's Craft Beer

The Sunoco station in Lake Placid otherwise known as "Robo Mart" now offers the craft beer exchange. For the last month or so, I had noticed the sign whenever I had stopped to get gas.

For years, Robo was always my go to place after work if I wanted to pick up a special beer, like my favorite Samuel Smith. Now you can go there and put together your own craft beer 6-pack or have a growler filled up with fresh, draft beer.

So, when Drew called me at work on Christmas Eve asking to bring home some beer, I knew I'd stop by Robo and treat him to a growler. I should mention that you get a free growler with one beer fill.

There were twelve different beers on tap and I had a hard time deciding what to bring home, but ended up getting Magic Hat's Winter Howl for him. Being able to have someone fill a growler at a gas station almost makes the task of getting gas something to look forward to. Fill 'er up at Sunoco now has a new meaning.

Adirondack Attic Thingamajig

As a non-tourist in the area, the first thing that got us to stop at the Adirondack Attic in Keene was the Tourists sign out front. We wanted it. It wasn't for sale.

After checking out the thrift store today, we thought we were going to leave empty handed again until my eyes darted over to the barn out back and I saw some sort of wooden accessory for a tractor or some other kind of farm machinery. The first time we looked through the barn's odds and ends, we didn't even notice it. After inquiring about the item, the friendly sales lady called the owner and we were in luck, it was for sale and so we bought it!

So dear readers, what is it and what do you think we are going to do with it? Stay tuned...

At The River's Edge Emporium

I heard a rumor that Wilmington had opened a health food store located at the Wellness Center. I had no idea where this Wellness Center was, so I went to the Health Center on Springfield Road. The woman there in her scrubs had no idea what I was talking about and then the nurse practitioner came out and we decided that it must be the new place on Haselton Road. You know, the end of Haselton that is across from the gas station.

Having finally located it from the "Open" flag that was hanging outside, I wandered in and was directed down to the basement. As I descended the stairs, I could smell the homemade soup and there it was, At the River's Edge Emporium, an actual back to basics store with natural and organic foods.

The owner, Arlie Adams, prepares daily sandwiches, soups and salads, and fresh baked goods. There are a few seats to eat at and soon you can eat outside along the Ausable. I was eyeing the blueberry scones that she had made in the morning, but walked away from the temptation and bought some local produce that was on my grocery list.

I found that having only been open for a few weeks, River's Edge had a great selection and was reasonably priced. Best of luck to Arlie and I can't wait to try some of her baked goods!

Grocery Store War

The recent excitement in Lake Placid has been the opening of Hannaford in the old Grand Union location. This has created some buzz because now Price Chopper has some competition and it's even on the same side of town.

Recently I went grocery shopping at Aldi and bragged to everyone about how I bought the bulk of our groceries for a week and it only cost 40-some dollars compared to the usual $90 at Price Chopper. However, Aldi doesn't have everything I need and I always end up going to a few different stores to complete my list.

I was interested to see how the prices compared between Hannaford and Price Chopper and so I began my investigation.

Hannaford VS. Price Chopper

I selected three random items to compare.

1. Toilet Paper - Charmin, 6 pack, Ultra Strong Mega Roll

Hannaford wins! On sale, $5.99. Regular price, $7.49

Price Chopper - Regular Price, $7.99

2. Frozen Pizza - Freschetta, Naturally Rising, Four Cheese Medley

Hannaford Wins! Regular Price, $5.69

Price Chopper - Regular Price, $7.79

3. Beer - Budweiser, 6 pack

Tie!

Hannaford and Price Chopper - Regular Price, $5.99

After this investigation, it was clear that Hannaford was the winner based on prices. Of course when you want real savings, you need to shop around for the best deal and that might mean going to both. The savings off gas from Sunoco with your Price Chopper Advantage Card is

worth gold right now, but a couple dollars off on gas could also be saved on a frozen pizza from Hannaford.

I am not a paid employee of Hannaford and their complimentary gifts of Sparkling Soda and Belgian Chocolate didn't determine the winner, but it certainly made my day.

Sugar Shack Dessert Co.

Drew's birthday gave me the perfect reason to check out the Sugar Shack on Main Street.

They make lots of sugary treats, but they are best known for their cupcakes and have an assortment of flavors and sizes to choose from. Since it was my sweetie's birthday (pun intended), I wasn't going to skimp on size and get a couple miniature cupcakes, although that would have been a nice afternoon pick me up. I restrained myself from the snack and bought two big cupcakes, one Peppermint Patty and one Peanut Butter Chocolate.

They survived the trip across the street and barely made it through the rest of my work day because they smelled so good and coworkers would come by for a look and I would have to close the bag before they drooled all over my husband's cupcake. The cupcakes did take a dent in the frosting on the car ride home and I had wished I had asked if they had a box, but I guess it doesn't really matter because the cupcakes still looked impressive hours later to the birthday boy.

Those that know me, know that I LOVE chocolate and mint and was super excited that for St. Patrick's Day (I mean, Drew's birthday), they had made a cupcake combining those flavors. I was nice though and split them in half so we could try both cupcakes, after all it was his birthday. I was surprised to find out that we both agreed hands down that the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcake was out of this world and blew the Peppermint Patty away!

I couldn't believe that my favorite flavor duo got beat. I think I'll have to go get some miniature cupcakes this week and see how they do against other flavors in round two.

My Green Goddess Oatmeal Experiment

My mother gave me a slow cooker last summer and just recently in this cold month of January have I started using it. I'm not a big fan of chunks of meat in stews and such so I have been searching for recipes that take little prep work. This past week, I checked out from the library the cookbook, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker, Recipes for Two and fell in love with the overnight oatmeal recipes. The author convinced me that once I had made the magical oatmeal, I would never want to go back to instant.

Green Goddess, the natural food store in Lake Placid was first on my list to start gathering the ingredients for the Cinnamon-Apple Oatmeal I wanted to make.

The recipe called for steel-cut oats and dried apple rings. This is the perfect place to get those items because they have a great selection of bulk foods and I find it to be way cheaper than getting them pre-packaged from any other grocery store.

After purchasing the oatmeal ingredients along with my beloved Tamari Almonds (not needed for the recipe), I was good to go.

That night, I turned the slow cooker on low and combined the oats, apple pie spice, salt, water and dried apples and went to bed. I was so excited about eating the delicious oatmeal, I could barely sleep. For real. I was like a kid on Christmas eve, tossing and turning all night long. I convinced myself that the house smelled like apple pie and that I was in for a big treat. I mean, can you imagine waking up and having a fabulous bowl of oatmeal waiting for you on a cold morning?

Finally the sun came up and I raced down the stairs, lifted the lid and saw a perfectly cooked, creamy porridge. I spooned it into my bowl, took one taste and BLECH! No taste. None what so ever. It was just a bland tasting rib-sticking bowl of oatmeal. The apple pie spices didn't come through at all and the apple rings lost all their flavor.

I don't think the oatmeal was overcooked, the consistency was fine, just no taste. I added way more brown sugar than the recipe called for at the end and it still didn't help it. Being disappointed is an understatement, not with Green Goddess, but with the morning glop.

Everyone keeps praising their slow cookers, but I have yet to be convinced of their powers. So, if anyone out there knows about any good recipes cooking on low for 8-9 hours for dinner or breakfast, please fill me in on your slow cooker successes.

Adirondack Yarns

If you were to walk into my home, you'd see signs that I might be a tad into knitting lately. The coffee and side tables have been stacked with books checked out from the library, scraps of paper with patterns and instructions are piling up, and balls of yarn have been poking out of bags and baskets. Drew noticed this recent wave of craziness and gifted me with some yarn and a book from Adirondack Yarns at Christmas.

With two skeins of beautiful yarn and a book on felting, I found a pattern that I wanted to try, but I still needed to figure out if I had the right needles. I used the handy little business card that Adirondack Yarns has with a chart on the back to organize my needles.

I checked off quite a few of the boxes, but of course I didn't have the right size for my next project. This I find to be the most frustrating thing as a novice because it seems like every time I want to make something new, I need to spend more money and buy more needles. So, I turned to Adirondack Yarns in search of the latest needed sticks.

Adirondack Yarns has a great selection of both needles and yarn. The store is also filled with the creations of the employees and inspires me every time I go in.

The owner is so helpful and more than happy to help customers with any knitting dilemmas they might have. Although my knitting group meets at the Alpaca Shoppe in Jay, it is nice to know that I can get some help in the big city of Lake Placid too.

I walked out with the right size needles and got to check off another little box on the card. Now the yarn sitting in the corner is ready to get knitted and come to life!

Adirondack Birch Worx

Have you stopped into the place with all the bay windows in Jay yet? Do you even know what I'm talking about? Yes, yes it is the one on Rt. 86 on the left before you drive the final hill down into Jay. Since opening in September, I had been meaning to go in and check it out.

As it turns out, "Adirondack Birch Worx" does not sell bay windows. They sell a variety of Adirondack style furniture and accessories. Carl, an ex-welder turned furniture designer can take any old log and create a unique piece of furniture. His slogan is "We make it look like it grew there!"

Carl is passionate about what he does and is trying to get other artisans in to sell their work here. One older artisan, Don Whalley, only 84 years of age has for sale a variety of items showcasing his burl work.

His work at this stage in his life, seems very refined and delicate, something that I could imagine would take years to achieve. Nothing like the bulky lamp I discovered in the corner that had a whole lot going on with it.

I asked for the full effect and had them turn the lamp on for me. It was then, with the extra light, that I could see it wasn't just the fawn at the base and the pine marten on the elbow. There were two squirrels poking out of the lamp too! Apparently, they were all found within two miles from one another as road kill. Can you not see it? I'll provide you with a larger image.

I asked who made it and Carl said it was one of Don's earlier, less refined pieces. He had sold it two dozen years ago to a couple and when the wife's husband died, she called him up and told him to take it back! I can't say I blame her.

Little Supermarket Pizza Tasting

The display of ready-to-go pizza slices at the Little Supermarket taunted me recently whispering, "Take me home, I dare you."

I have always been a skeptic about Convenience Store pizza. It rarely looks appetizing sitting next to the corn dogs and chicken wings that have been baking in the faux warmer all day long. We all know The Little Supermarket ranks way above the category of gross Convenience Store food and makes awesome made-to-order deli sandwiches, but what about their pizza?

Last Friday, we had plans to go to our friend's house for pizza and a movie. I suggested we phone in an order with the Little Supermarket and give it a try since they make pizza on Fridays and Saturdays from 3:30 - 7:00 pm. The phone order and pick up transaction went smoothly, but we were all anxious to know how the pizza was going to taste. We took a peek at it even before we left the store and all thought it looked good.

The six year old in the group was the first to dig in and even before we had tried a bite, she was half way through her first slice and said, "I think the cheese is the best part."

We were all very surprised at how good the pizza tasted. There were no issues with the sauce and agreed that what makes the pizza is the flavor of the crust. The 5th grader that took part in our Little Supermarket pizza tasting thought, "The cheese and crust mix well together. This pizza is my 2nd top favorite pizza place in Essex County." He also noted, "The crust is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside." His mother remarked that she couldn't believe that his sister "ate her crust because she doesn't always do that and the fact that she went through almost two pieces is really good."

Unfortunately, we all liked the pizza so much that there weren't any leftovers for their Dad when he got home late that night from a business trip. Looks like we'll just have to try it again, but next time we will have to order two.

Rosa Gets a Little Help From Ward Lumber

Something magical happened today. Rosa drove into the garage for the first time! However, she struggled moving over the cement entrance because of its unevenness. Luckily, we live just down the road from Ward Lumber and thought if we could buy some gravel and spread it over the dips it would be a smooth ride in and out for her.

Since most people aren't doing the landscaping thing at this time of year, the only option was a bag of white marble gravel. After purchasing a 50 pound bag, they called on the radio for someone to meet us with a forklift at Building Two because it had been put "up in the air" for the winter.

While waiting, Drew spotted what we needed and maneuvered the bag down himself.

Just as he was bringing the marble down, the forklift showed up. The worker just shook his head and said the same thing we were thinking, "All this for just a bag of marble. A bit overkill, huh?"

Ward Lumber always provides the best service and continues to go above and beyond. They continue to impress me, even if it is just a $4 bag of marble to help Rosa.

Largest Beer Selection?

Wilmington's North Pole Camping Resort has a new sign out front announcing that they have the "Largest Selection of Micros & Craft Beers In Town!"

Knowing that they have two major competitors in town, the gas station and the Little Supermarket, we were curious to see their beer selection.

The five shelves probably shouldn't be described as large, but then again, I guess it's all relative, especially in Wilmington. We were happy to see that they did carry a few hard to find varieties of beer. They let you mix and match and put together your own six pack which is always fun.

Drew ended up with a six pack of Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Otter Creek Copper Ale, Negra Modelo, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, Smithwick's Irish Ale, and a Hoegaarden White Ale. He quickly cooled them off after the car ride home in his "dorm room fridge" in the garage.

We also walked away with a bottle of Samuel Smith India Ale. Sammy Smith beers are my favorite and being able to buy them in Wilmington makes my life even better. Now, I think I'll go find myself a cold beer...

Mulvey's Adirondack Farm Market

I love summer. I love farmstands. I love vegetables on the side of road. I love not having to go to the grocery store for just one ingredient. Sometimes I just need lettuce, other times it's onions, today it was the tomato.

I knew I could rely on Mulvey's Adirondack Farm Market after work today to grab that one tomato. Mulvey's is so convenient, it's on the way home and all I have to do is pull over, I don't even need a quarter for a cart or fight for a basket.

Right away, I found the tomato I wanted, but then I grabbed two ears of corn. I love corn. Favorite summer food ever! It didn't stop at just the tomato and corn.

All of a sudden, I needed creamed honey. Oh, and then I was talked into a purple tomato because it was ready to use tonight in my zucchini pie. I didn't think I was stopping by for a purple tomato. A purple tomato, huh? I guess it's just a fancy heirloom tomato that Jessica said, "looks like an ugly tomato, but it's purple." Another shopper, Cal, told me it probably tasted old since it was an heirloom. "Silent Cal" is just so funny.

So, remember how I thought I was going in for just one tomato? I ended up with with two tomatoes, two ears of corn, a jar of creamed honey and a finger trap.

Yes, I said finger trap. Otherwise known as "Chinese finger cuffs". Mulvey's has more than just fresh veggies and berries. They sell locally made jewelry and other Adirondack crafts.

Mulvey's is open Thursday - Sunday from 10 - 5 pm. It is definitely worth the stop between Wilmington and Jay, but be prepared that just like in big grocery stores, you might not walk out with just one tomato.

Buttons Buttons

Facing the Jay Village Green is one of my favorite houses. If you've been to the Green, you know the house. It's the one with the awesome wrap-around porch, purple and green trim and the Cottage garden that comes up to the sidewalk. This is the home of Buttons Buttons.

Buttons Buttons is a vintage textile business. Barbara works with a huge collection of vintage fabric and antique buttons in her studio on John Fountain Road.

She takes old textiles and turns them into one of a kind pillows that almost look too pretty to lay your head on.

If you want something a little bit more rugged, you should check out her collection of Porch and Adirondack pillows.

I think Buttons Buttons hours might be a hit or miss type thing, but she also has a booth at Red Barn Antiques in Upper Jay which is open Wednesday - Sunday. It was here I first saw her work and fell in love with these two little lampshades she created.

If you are looking for a special gift for someone (hint, hint) or just need a little inspiration, check out Buttons Buttons in Ye Olde hamlet of Jay.

Red Barn Antiques Grand Re-Opening

I had gone down to Wells Memorial Library in Upper Jay today to do a little volunteer work. I usually scan old slides from the Archives room, but today the computer was "Out of Order" and my favorite librarian, Karen, was out as well.

Having already set a side a few hours to volunteer, I decided to poke my head in at Red Barn Antiques to see if Julie, the proprietor, needed any help getting ready for the Grand Re-Opening this Saturday. This will be their one year anniversary at the red barn in Upper Jay and to celebrate there will be a community pot luck and music to celebrate.

Julie put me to work right away carrying items to the new upstairs section and I was thrilled. As I windexed a case, I couldn't stop looking around. My eyes darted everywhere checking out all the amazing antiques.

I called my husband to tell him about my change of volunteer venues and told him about the danger involved with me working in an antique store/barn. I was as the expression goes, "like a kid in a candy store."

Julie, an expert on early plastics, educated me on bakelite and celluloid as we worked and I was thrilled to learn that someone as nerdy as I am when it comes to antiques lives just a few miles away. I restrained myself from buying today, but did not leave empty handed. Julie surprised me with some vintage milk glass spice jars as a thank you!

Come on down to The Red Barn Antiques & Artisan Gallery Grand Re-Opening Celebration on Saturday, May 22 at 5:30 PM. There will be a free music concert by the Pelletier Family and also, Larry Stone & Julie Robards (my new BFF). Bring some food to share at the Pot Luck and hang out with some pretty darn cool people in the community and a barn full of antiques. Does it get any better than that?

Jewelry at the Deli

Today I discovered the best deal in all of Jay. Jewelry. I found it at Devin's Deli of all places and is made by Tara, my favorite sandwich maker's wife! This month they are running a special, buy three pairs of earrings for only $8 or one for $3. You can see this unique, handmade jewelry right above the frozen novelties.

So Ladies, before you reach for that pint of Ben & Jerry's to lift your spirits after a bad day, you might want to consider buying a pair of earrings to make you look good while you eat that ice cream on the couch.

I know that many of my readers don't have the luxury of popping into Devin's Deli and Garage to check out the jewelry deal, so I will send a pair of earrings to my first comment below. Go!