A weekend at the country house…

Last year my sister and her husband left their Manhattan apartment and bought a very old and very beautiful colonial farm house. I call it my country house. The house needs a lot of work but the charm is undeniable. I absolutely love to spend weekends up there relaxing, grilling, and enjoying the weather. This past weekend my mom was in town so I hopped on the metro north after work and headed to my country house 🙂

We had dinner at Purdy’s Farmer & the Fish on Friday evening. This place is amazing. It’s an old historic home that has been turned into a farm to table restaurant. You pass candlelit tables on the porch and enter through the front door where you are greeted by the hostess. The bar is right beyond the hostess table and the floor is littered with peanut shells which adds rather than removes charm. The restaurant was bursting with transplanted Manhattanites and locals. I loved it all. We dined a variety of oysters and crab legs to start. The oysters were wonderfully briny and fresh while the crab was cool and sweet. I had the swordfish for my entree and it was perfectly flaky and mild. The mustard from the green beans was tangy and slightly spicy. Jason ordered the Lobster Roll and my Mom ordered the Soft Shell Crab. Both were fantastic.

Now, the best part of this dining experience was the very drunk and very mean woman who was escorted out of the restaurant by the police. It was quite entertaining watching the scene unfold when she was asked to leave. The manager was very polite and patient but this woman just couldn’t comprehend what she had done wrong. She was very unruly. This obviously was not the norm and I was very impressed with the way the manager handled the situation. Overall I would return for the food and atmosphere. I want to try everything on the menu (which is constantly changing).

The next morning I surprised myself by going for a run! I hate running but I was very happy (when it was over) that I forced myself. We spent the rest of the afternoon picking wineberries and blackberries and laying in the sun. The house is surrounded by wild wineberry and blackberry bushes. They are so sweet and tangy. You can’t get much fresher than that.

We grilled our dinner. Literally everything was grilled. Beer Can Chicken with Grilled Red Peppers, Mushrooms, and Onions from the garden, and Corn on the Cob. We rounded out the evening with drinks on the patio. Life doesn’t get much sweeter than summer nights with your family.

I’ll be back later this week with some delicious recipes! Have a great week everyone!