Saturday’s Great Gastronomic Adventure

After reading the recent issue of Edible Finger Lakes, I decided to plan an outing with my family that included several stops at places I had read about.

The journey began at 8:30AM. We piled into the car and headed to Bruegger’s (not mentioned in the magazine BTW) for bagels, coffee and chocolate milk for Jack. And then on to King Ferry and our first stop.

At 10AM we arrived at the McGarr Farm and Dairy for a visit with Keeley McGarr, cheese maker extraordinaire! http://www.keeleyscheeseco.com/ We sampled her two semi-soft creations both made from raw milk and one washed with Chardonnay from the King Ferry Winery. One of them reminded me of one of my Italian favorites, Taleggio. We bought a chunk of each and made our way to the next stop.

At 10:30AM we pulled into the King Ferry Winery, http://www.treleavenwines.com/, the first unplanned but necessary stop. Someone had too much coffee! Feeling obliged we bellied up to the counter for a tasting. Admittedly, New York State wines are not a favorite but two which we sampled were palatable enough to buy. We left with a bottle of the estate Pinot Noir and the barrel fermented Reserve Chardonnay. An expensive pit stop!

After the tasting we dashed back to route 34B and south along the sunny shores of Cayuga Lake, through Ithaca, and north, now on the Lakes east side, on route 89. Next stop lunch!

At Noon we arrived at The Copper Oven at Cayuga Ridge Estate Winery in Ovid. http://www.slowfoodonthego.com/ Our repast, two mouth-watering wood fired pizzas made with local ingredients. Delightful and sated now a stroll through the vines and short repose on the winery’s rolling hills before the last leg of our trip.

On our way north we made the second unplanned stop. The Normal Bread Company in Geneva. http://www.normalbread.com/ A round of Sourdough, 7 Grain, Cheddar and of course cookies for Jack and we were back on the road to our last stop in Lima.

At 3PM we arrived at the Seven Bridges Farm to pick-up some hormone free, pasture raised beef. http://www.sevenbridgesfarm.com/ Along with the beef we bought a couple of chickens and a few heads of site grown garlic for the pantry. On the way home we busted out a bag of their beef jerky. Succulent, smoky and sweet.

Finally back home we prepare our dinner. Pondhopper cheese from Keeley McGarr and 7 Grain bread. Pinot from the King Ferry Winery. Porterhouse steak on the BBQ. Next time join us for a caravan excursion!