A Picnic at Corey Hill Outlook Park

Bet you didn't know Brookline has a mountain! Ok, I'm exaggerating just a bit...but Summit Avenue is called that for a reason. If you ascend to the top, you'll pass several blocks of beautiful houses, including a castle - seriously, this thing has a turret! - and you'll find yourself in a small oasis, Corey Hill Outlook Park. On one side of the street, there's a gentle slope and a rumored amazing view of Boston's skyline, but at this time of year, the leaves on the trees block most of the view. On the other side of the street, there's a playground.

What a hike. Such hills should not be walked in 90 degree weather when dehydrated and carrying heavy bags. I broke out my funny shoes for the workout.

We set up our blanket at the top of the slope. If you look closely between the two leftmost trees, you can see a hint of skyline:

I had picked up a random assortment of goodies at the Copley farmers' market for the picnic: strawberries (Old Friends Farm, I think), tomatoes and bok choy (Atlas Farm), dinner rolls (Iggy's), ginger goat cheese (Crystal Brook Farm), shelling peas (Siena Farm), herbal nuts (The Herb Lyceum), and M+M cookies (New Breadsong Bakery).

I've recently become obsessed with raw bok choy. It's also great sauteed or in a stir fry, but raw, it's so refreshing. The stem is like celery but with more flavor and no stringy stuff getting stuck in your teeth. The leaf tastes like a mild cabbage. Seems like an odd thing to take on a picnic, but we really enjoyed it!

The Crystal Brook Farm stand had a wide variety of goat cheeses available. I decided to go for the strangest - ginger. I love ginger, but ginger-flavored cheese seemed pretty weird.

We spread it on the dinner rolls from Iggy's, and it remarkably worked really well. The ginger added a good deal of sweetness without actually tasting gingery.

My other recent raw veggie obsession is shelling peas. They're so much fun to open up, and they taste really sweet.

And finally, dessert!

It was starting to get buggy, so we packed up, resisted the urge to roll down the hill, and walked back down Summit, into the sunset!

Corey Outlook Park is great because it's not overcrowded, and the slope discourages sports, so you can picnic without dodging frisbees. I'd love to check out the view in the winter when the trees are bare. So, romantic picnic-planners, this is a great spot for you, as long as you and your date are prepared for a bit of a hike. Or you could drive...but then you'd miss half the fun.

Lunch at the Farmers' Market

Well, lunch at my desk. From the farmers' market.

May 27, 2010 - Prudential Farmers' Market
I went over to the Prudential market today to grab a sandwich from Iggy's, and surprise! Ben and Jerry's was giving out free scoops of Cherry Garcia or Milk and Cookies. How could I say no to free ice cream? Milk and Cookies is a brand new flavor, and it's made with fair trade cocoa and vanilla extract.

Milk and Cookies!

Then, I headed over to the Iggy's stand and picked up a sandwich: fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella with mustard vinaigrette on a crusty ficelle ($6). Man, this thing is messy. I'm pretty sure I have mozzarella and/or mustard vinaigrette in my hair. But it tastes sooo good. (The sandwich...not my hair.)

Messy mozzarella sandwich from Iggy's. Yum!

The cheese is dripping all over me, but that's a price I'm willing to pay for a tasty lunch :)

Before I left the market, I had to walk by the Nella Pasta stand to look at their adorable pug. I can't help it; I'm a pug-stalker. Unfortunately I couldn't buy any pasta today since I won't have a chance to eat it in the near future, but maybe next time!

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June 1, 2010 - Copley Farmers' Market
Today I braved hurricane force winds to get to the Copley market and back to the office. (Strong winds + long hair + hands full of food = perilous walk.) I made it back in one piece, though, and without dropping anything. Today's finds:

A ginormous herbal spring roll from The Herb Lyceum ($5)! Stuffed full of rice noodles, huge chunks of cucumber, spearmint, cilantro, chives, lettuce, and Vietnamese coriander, this big spring roll came with ginger-peanut-soy-garlic dipping sauce. You'd probably guess that The Herb Lyceum would have fresh, delicious herbs, and you'd be right. My co-worker sitting nearby even commented on how good the spring roll smelled. I was worried this wouldn't be enough for lunch, but it was bursting with noodly goodness, and there was seriously almost an entire cucumber in there.

To go with it, I picked up a couple apple cider juice boxes ($0.50/each) from Carlson Orchards. Juice boxes make lunch feel picnicky! Too bad I ate inside.

It was a nice, light lunch. My only complaint is that the spring roll was packaged on a Styrofoam tray. I guess it's easy to assume that farmers' market vendors are super eco-friendly, but that's not always the case. Despite the Styrofoam, I'm a big fan of The Herb Lyceum; they're becoming one of my regular stops at the market!

Spring is Here - Time for a BBQ!

Ed. note: This post originally appeared in my 2008 food blog Fork It Over on the website of the Rochester Insider magazine, which is now Metromix Rochester. Since the old blog is no longer available online, I'm re-posting some of those posts here and backdating them to their original posting dates. Although in most cases they are specific to Rochester, hopefully you'll still find them somewhat interesting!  ~Rachel, 6/27/10

With temperatures finally climbing into the 70s, what better way to celebrate spring than with a BBQ? Sure, it may snow again in a week or so, but let's enjoy this weather while it lasts! There are plenty of great parks in Rochester with nice picnic areas and grills. Some friends and I headed out to Durand-Eastman Park last Wednesday evening, threw some steak and chicken on the grill, and had a great time. It was a little bit chilly, but it was a great time nonetheless. BBQs are great because you can make them as simple or as complicated as you want. Either way, there are some essentials that you should make sure you have before setting out.

BBQ Essentials

• Food and beverages - These are obvious, but they're worth mentioning. Don't get so caught up in picking out the perfect Frisbee that you forget the food :) Also, don't forget the condiments--ketchup, mustard, relish, etc. If you're planning on bringing beer, keep in mind that glass containers are generally prohibited.
• Charcoal and matches or a lighter - Also, make sure the park you have in mind actually has grills. You can check out the Monroe County parks website to find info on each park.
• Napkins, plates, cups, and utensils - Don't forget grilling utensils as well as eating utensils.
• Hand sanitizer - Unless you're having a vegetarian BBQ, you'll probably be handling some raw meat. Salmonella is an unwelcome guest at any meal. Wash your hands!

Not-so-essentials

• Dog (if you have one) - Most (if not all) parks require that you keep your dog on a leash and clean up after him or her. Don't leave a mess for the next group!
• Frisbee, soccer ball, etc. - Take a break from devouring all the food and get some exercise!
• Tablecloth - Sometimes park picnic tables aren't exactly the cleanest. A plastic tablecloth might be a useful addition to your BBQ.
• Dessert, side dishes, etc. - Add a little variety. Chips, salad, and cookies go nicely with with burgers, hot dogs, or whatever meat you're grilling.

Some Locations

• Durand-Eastman Park is located on the shore of Lake Ontario near Irondequoit. There are several shelters, lots of picnic tables and grills, a golf course, a playground, and some short hiking trails.
• Genesee Valley Park is located near UR and features many shelters, large grills, jogging paths, sports fields, and more. On a nice day, you can sit on the shore of the Genesee and watch the crew boats and kayaks go by. (Actually, you can see the crew team rowing in bad weather as well. I rowed on the UR team during my freshman year, and we were out there in any weather, as long as the river wasn't frozen.)
• Ontario Beach Park is in Charlotte and features several shelters, grills, a playground, and even a carousel. If you're still hungry after the BBQ, there are a few restaurants in the Port of Rochester building located next to the park, such as Cheeburger Cheeburger and California Rollin'.

My friends and I found a nice table with a grill in the piece of Durand-Eastman that's located within the golf course. Just look for this sign:

There are some parking spaces, a shelter, and a good amount of tables and grills in that part of the park.

There are lots of trees and a small swingset there, too.

We decided to grill some chicken and steak instead of burgers and hot dogs. We also had peppers, chips, and cookies.

Ben is an expert griller. The tongs came in handy--don't forget your cooking utensils!

We seasoned the steak with Montreal seasoning--you can't go wrong with that stuff. It'll make any steak extra-delicious. For the chicken, we used a tasty BBQ sauce I had picked up in Boston recently.

As we arrived at the park, Ben and I realized that we forgot hand sanitizer, but Ryan and Jacquie came prepared.

Their dog, Lindy, joined us.

Lindy is a shepherd/lab mix.

She was pretty curious about what was cooking.

Really curious.

She also likes to play Frisbee.

There was a beautiful sunset as we were finishing up dinner.

And then the moon showed up.

Since our BBQ, the temperatures have climbed even higher. Get out there and enjoy the weather!