now THAT's a knife

LamsonSharp "Fire" 6" fillet/boning knife....oh yeah baby !  

Today's mission : a new knife. ROAD TRIP !!!

A few weeks ago, we made a boned stuffed turkey breast...which I just realized I never wrote a blog entry about ! Will do that one again sometime...it was soooo good, stuffed with breadcrumbs, apples, onions, rosemary and wine...rolled and roasted. During the preparation, I was informed that our boning knife was no more...I'm not sure how one actually breaks a Wusthof-Trident forged steel knife, but be that as it may, it is no longer in the block. Today was a gorgeous day for a road trip, so we decided to head out. A few weeks before that, we found the Lamson and Goodnow Factory Store in Shelburne Falls...definitely a foodie find, more on that in a bit.

First foodie stop, though - Smith's Country Cheese . We had read about this in our Food Lover's Guide mentioned a few posts ago and kept meaning to check it out...locally made cheese definitely sounds like a win. We actually had enough time this trip, so punched it up on Skynet Lady (our GPS) and headed over. Not quite as big as we had hoped, it's basically a gift shop with a fridge case on one side with some cheeses, as well as some local meat products. The Yankee Candle smell (which I usually love) was so overpowering that it was hard to think about cheese. They did have some out to sample, though, and we ended up buying a Smoked Gouda, a Caraway Gouda, and some blue cheese. (Luckily, we know to bring a cooler when we go on these road trips :) ).

After our little side trip, we made it to Shelburne Falls...even though we were starving, we somehow found the strength to go to Lamson and Goodnow first. Lamson and Goodnow is the oldest cutlery manufacturer in the US - how cool is that, right here in Mass ! The knives are super high quality stuff - they manufacture knives for Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma, as well as their own lines, which are 25% - 30% off at the store. The store itself is a is a food lover's dream...every kind of kitchen gadget you can think of. The new knife is beautiful - my sad picture doesn't do it justice. Perfectly weighted, and a gorgeous red handle. Can't wait to, um, bone something :)

By this point we were really ravenous - definitely in need of refreshment. We spotted a little place right near the store called the West End Pub (no website, sorry !) that looked perfect...and it pretty much was. Started off with Sparkling Apple Pie Cocktails - an absolutely delicious concoction of apple cider, Captain Morgan's, cinnamon schnapps and a splash of 7-UP :




Apple Pie...in a boozy drink form :)

For lunch, we both went with the Pulled Pork Cuban - a hot pressed sandwich on a crusty roll with pulled pork (no BBQ sauce, just the pork), Swiss, dill pickles and Dijon mustard. Perfect fries, too...super crunchy on the outside, light and fluffy inside :

not a stock Cubano - but awesome anyway !

After our lunch, we walked through the town before driving home (we needed it - those little drinks were potent !) . As this is a foodie blog, I won't blather on about the town here...check out the pics on my Facebook page though - the Bridge of Flowers and the glacial potholes are definitely well worth checking out.

Last stop on the foodie tour was Hagers Farm Market, which is right on the Mohawk Trail (Route 2). We had driven by this place a few times on our various Western Mass. road trips, and finally decided to stop. Walked out with quite a haul - local cider, sausages (including lamb sausage, which I can't wait to try), ham, and cider doughnuts....which I will enjoy tomorrow morning after a well-deserved night's rest !