9.02.2011

Tourist Report: Travel by Bus

I needed to get from Providence, RI to Utica, NY and was too cheap to rent a car.
Bus or train? Train would have been nice, but I would have had to take a bus anyway to Springfield. And Greyhound lured me with "free WiFi" on their website.
Bus! $70.

The first leg I had to go in the wrong direction from Providence to Boston. I rode Peter Pan.
They give the buses names.
Who the heck is Rufio?
The Wifi was excellent. I got some blogging done.
Boston South Station, next leg to Albany + Utica.I got there early (caught an earlier bus, thank goodness).
snagged a sad sandwich
the line for Albany got really long
my seat was behind the driver and cramped
in Albany I was able to change seats, less cramped

barge canal
upstate NY vista
All in all, it was an OK ride. I didn't have to schlep my heavy suitcase too much, good. Disappointed by the feeble WiFi between Boston + Utica.

recipe: mar vista > little compton chutney

The tomatoes were just starting to ripen on the eve of departure.
 Because I'd be gone for 26 days, and Severo is not all that dependable for garden upkeep, I decided to harvest what I could and take them with me.
 They went on tour from NYC to CT, MA and RI, where they met up with some Little Compton apples and were transformed into chutney.
This jar then toured upstate NY and Martha's Vineyard, MA.
It shall be opened in Mar Vista upon my return to CA.

Recipe is from Joy of Cooking, pp 840-1 (1953 edition)
Patucci and I made a combination of the Indian Relish and Apple Chutney recipes and adjusted for the quantity of tomatoes that we had. Basically, we used the recipes as guidelines for ratios of ingredients.

6 grams green tomatoes
6 grams tart apples, peeled + cored
(ours were squash ball size -- don't know variety)
1 md onion
3 inches fresh ginger, peeled
3 small lemons, seeded

chop above to 1/4" dice, put in large saucepan
(we grated the ginger and it was kind of stringy - dicing would have been better)

add

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c cider vinegar
1 c sugar
some ground red chili pepper
1 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp salt
[1/2 tsp tumeric] we didn't have it -- would have been good
1/2 c raisins
a few whole cloves and allspice

simmer on stove until thick -- a couple of hours
(we let it sit overnight to meld flavors even more)
remove cloves + allspice
fill jars, process or freeze

made five 8-12 oz jars




9.01.2011

Little Compton, RI

I spent August 4 - 6 with Patucci + Mark in Dewey's rental, "Marvel House" in Little Compton.
google satellite shot of location
I forgot to take shots of the house, designed and built by an architect and not your typical Cape cottage.
I had a lovely view from my room
nautical shade pull
cool cubby room with snug bed and bookshelves off of my room
The dogs:
Belou surveys her domain in the living room
Pip naps on the beach
Coco rarely stayed still
walking the dogs to the beach
the beach