Last weekend, Zak and I and our friends, Nick and Avalon, spent the weekend upstate at Audrey’s Farmhouse in NY’s Hudson Valley. I didn’t really know much about it beforehand, but I love going upstate and I know that Avalon would never lead us astray.
It turned out to be the best mix possible between a Bed and Breakfast and a cabin rental. We had our own space, and a kitchen with all the essentials (two-burner induction stove, cast iron pans, silverware, fridge, etc.), but was still part of the larger bed & breakfast where you could hang with other guests (everyone we met was also from the city… all got the same idea). Audrey’s also has a giant greenhouse and farmhouse where they host weddings and do pop-up dinners with guest chefs. What a dream.
Onto the meal plan for the weekend:
Friday, April 5th
Dinner
We were driving up after work on Friday, so knew that we didn’t want to do anything time intensive. So, went with a picnic idea – simple, high-quality ingredients that go extremely well with a cocktail:
- Cheese Plate: Parmesan, Gorgonzola Dolce, Melsat
- Protein: Canned Tuna, 9-min Eggs
- Starch: Sourdough Bread, Boiled Small Potatoes
- Veggie: Cucumber salad
Saturday, April 6th
Breakfast
We knew that Audrey’s provided a breakfast start kit, but honestly when they came over after we checked in, I knew this was my type of place. There was Orange Juice, Milk, Potatoes, Mushrooms, Eggs, Fruit, Yogurt, and probably more that I’m forgetting. We had the fruit & yogurt first as a first breakfast while Zak made us potato & mushroom hash and fried eggs for second breakfast. We also found out the yogurt is made from scratch by Dave, one of the owners, who gave us more to take home because we liked it so much.
Lunch
We packed regular old Turkey & Swiss sandwiches with a bag of chips for what we thought would be a 2-hour hike at Mohonk and planned on wrapping the day drinking wine at a local vineyard, but we missed a few turnoffs, ended up on the Coxing Stream trail (literally walking through a stream) and ended up back at the car 4 hours later. It was a tad long, but the Hudson Valley is beautiful and we got a nice big dose of nature to last us through the week.
Even better is when we got back to Audrey’s, someone came by to let us know they made a big batch of chili that we were welcome to partake in. And partake, we did.
Dinner
You guessed it! A Dining In recipe. Short ribs with Quick Kimchi. You sear the short ribs and then slice ’em off the bone to eat in lettuce wraps with rice, cilantro, kimchi, and cucumbers. Fun group dinner to share, even if you’re still a little full from mid-afternoon chili.
