For all of my local readers…have you tried the bacon, cheeseburgers from George Calef’s Fine Food in Barrington, NH? I had them for the first time at my friend Cathy’s. She bought them for us to grill up one night and we all loved them! In fact I loved them so much I had to share them with Jim, Robby and even brought some over to my parents to try.
Everyone was in full agreement, these burgers are terrific! I am sure I will be going back next week to pick some more up! 
Not only do they have wonderful burgers they also have a small deli and cheese area along with marinated steak, chicken and ribs!
Calef’s has a great lunch section with pre-made sandwiches and wraps, you can even get their homemade meatballs and pulled pork.
For a very small store they can sure pack in some seriously good food. We have a number of grocery stores and meat markets around, but I have to say I am thoroughly impressed with everything George Calef’s has to offer.
If you find yourself in Barrington, stop by George Calef’s Fine Food at 495 Calef Highway, Rt. 125. I know you will appreciate all they have to offer as much as I do…and don’t forget to try the burgers!
Enjoy!
This is my last post about our girls weekend in northern NH. On Saturday while we were there we went to Polly’s Pancake Parlor. It is located at 672 Rt. 117 in Sugar Hill NH. I have so much to say about Polly’s, I don’t even know where to begin! First thing, the location is just gorgeous and has an incredible view of the presidential range. We were there on a hot, clear day and the view was nothing less than spectacular.
When you first walk into Polly’s it has several pictures and the story about Polly’s from the day they opened until now! Polly’s has been open for over 75 years and just had a grand re-opening in May of this year. Polly’s is only open from March until November. They do have mail order that you can get online that is available year round. The next thing you see when entering Polly’s is their small gift shop area. They sell all of their pancake mixes, hot sauces, t-shirts and various maple seasonings to just name a few things. They also have a bakery area there as well. Let me tell you, looking at the amazing bakery items will have you drooling before you even order!!
After a short wait we’re were seated in the middle of the dining room near their open kitchen area where you can get a glimpse of some of the magic happening! As soon as we were seated we had menu’s and a platter of any condiment we could possibly want!
Cathy, our “Hostess with the Mostest” as she will tell you, and if you can keep a secret and not tell her, she was an amazing hostess AND tour guide! I know Leanne and I both appreciated her hospitality!! Oops ! I just went way off track, I was going to tell you what Cathy ordered…back to food!
So Cathy, had her one of her favorite things. She had the cornmeal pancakes with walnuts. My order was plain pancakes with walnuts with a side of smoked bacon. I think we were all thinking alike that day as Leanne had the plain pancakes also with a side of the smoked bacon. I am a firm believer if the restaurants name has pancakes in it you order the pancakes!
While we were waiting for our order there was a table next to us with two adorable little boys and before we knew it one of the waiters grabbed his guitar and started singing and playing his guitar. Before long many of the patrons were singing along! What a fun way to start the day!
Our pancakes and bacon arrived and I can say the pancakes were fantastic! Light, fluffy and filled with walnuts! The bacon was also excellent, smoked and cooked perfectly. One of the great things about Polly’s is that you get six pancakes with your order but you only get three to start and when you are almost done with the first batch the second patch of freshly made was pancakes are delivered to you!! Phenomenal service!!
Polly’s has much more than just pancakes. They also have waffles, french toast, eggs benedict, omelette’s and a number of combo plates. As they are also open for lunch they have soup, salads, sandwiches, quiche and their own maple bacon baked beans to just name a few things! For dessert they have ice cream, sundae’s, cheesecake and fresh apple rhubarb crisp!! Everything was as good as it sounds!
On our way back to the lake we stopped at the Sugar Hill Sampler store (located at 22 Sunset Hill rd. Sugar Hill, N.H). What a fun store this is. It is actually a barn that was built in the 1790’s! There is a huge variety of things here, stained glass, kitchen wares, quilts, platters, vases, candles, jewelry, as well as many types of jams, jellys, and bread mixes!
In the back of the barn there is a museum area full of various items, an old wedding dress and lots of memorabilia about Bette Davis who had a home in the area.
As you can see we had some fun in this store!
We were not done yet though, Cathy had one more stop for us! Next stop was Chutter’s candy store in Lincoln NH. (165 Main Street). Have you ever heard of Chutters?? Well, Chutters has the worlds largest candy counter! It is huge, it is 112 feet long. The counter is filled with glass jars that have every variety of candy you can imagine! They have every type of gummy you can think of, along with sours, jelly beans, chocolates, licorice in every flavor and caramels.
Throughout the store they have various tables with maple products, lots of various hot sauces, tea’s and a separate counter for the homemade fudge! This was such a fun store and I can say we were really being kids in a candy store with so many choices!
Thanks for the fun adventures Cathy!!
If you find yourself in this area be sure to check out some of the fun places we enjoyed!
Enjoy!
If you read my grilled breakfast pizza post last week you know some friends and I had a girls weekend at our friend Cathy’s lake camp in Northern NH. Well I only told you part of the story about us talking about how full we were from a big breakfast and late lunch. What I did not tell you is that we all wanted something a little sweet, so what do three girls lakeside decide to do? Skip directly past dinner and go right to dessert! Yup, that’s exactly what we did and it was damn good! These campfire cones are so simple and can be made a million different ways! We all had something a little different but we all agreed they were fantastic. These can be made over a campfire or on your grill over medium heat. I wish I had thought to take a picture of all of our candies we used but go ahead and picture all of the zillion combinations!
NOTE: Make sure you fill the cone as much as possible!!! Depending on what you are adding into the cone cooking time may vary slightly. We used mini candies that I think could have cooked a little longer or slice the candies in half before putting in the cone.
INGREDIENTS
(Any combination)
Sugar cones (this is a must)
Mini marshmallows
Mini chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
Crushed walnuts
Maraschino cherries
Butterscotch chips
Nutella
Bananas
Crushed pineapple, Drained
Mini chocolate candies such as peanut butter cups, snickers or even peppermint patties.
Tin foil
DIRECTIONS
Take one sugar cone and fill it to the very top with your favorite combinations of candies. Wrap in tin foil and roast over medium heat on your grill or campfire for about 2 1/2 minutes per side. If you are using small candies they take just a little longer. Remove from heat, remove foil, serve warm.
Enjoy!
Some friends and I went for a girl’s lake weekend at our friend Cathy’s house. The “camp” was just over two hours away and we had some great food plans! One of our plans was grilled pizza for dinner. Well, that did not work as we had gone out for breakfast at a fantastic place that you will hear about next week, then we had a late lunch…then …well, after a few hours in the lake and in the sun we had all slowed down and none of us were very hungry. I think we were more water logged!
Speaking of water logged, Cathy’s dog, Putter, who is the sweetest dog ever, kept us busy! He loves the lake and loves to fetch ROCKS in the lake…yes, this dog fetches rocks at the bottom of the lake and brings them up on land and has such a good time with it! The first day we were there he brought out 12 rocks…no joke! 12! Do you see the size of that rock?
Such a silly, sweet pup! He wore us out that day!! Actually, we found out later that poor Putter got swimmers tail! Yes, it is a real thing. As Cathy said, “Putter broke his Rudder”! Poor guy was on medicine and rest for a week!! Not an easy thing for this guy! You will all be happy to know he is well and fine and back in the water!
So as we sat back and pondered about the lack of dinner we wanted, we decided on instead of grilled pizza for dinner… to have grilled pizza breakfast! What a great idea that was, especially since Leanne brought fresh eggs from the chickens that she raises! We all loved it, and when I got home and told Jim about it he was feeling a little jealous and left out. I think he will be having grilled breakfast pizza very soon! This is definitely something you can make for breakfast, lunch or dinner with any combination of meat and veggies!
Note: We cooked and crumbled the sausage in advance. If you don’t like raw onions or veggies go ahead and sauté those as well. That can also be done in advance.
We cooked the farm fresh eggs sunny side up just before finishing the top of the pizza.
INGREDIENTS
Pizza dough
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 cup of “hot” Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup of diced Canadian bacon
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 eggs fried, yolks still runny (or you can do an over easy)
Salt
Pepper
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your clean grill to medium heat. Roll out your pizza dough. I made it more of an oblong shape to go on the grill a little easier. Brush both sides of the dough with the olive oil and place the dough directly on the grill. As the bottom of the dough starts to cook the top will bubble up just a little bit. That is the sign the bottom is cooking and almost ready to turn. When the bottom side of the dough is cooked through turn the dough to cook the other side, I let this cook just a couple minutes before adding the toppings. When it is time to add the toppings go ahead and add the cheese first, covering the entire crust. Close the grill lid and let the cheese begin to melt, about a minute or two. Then add your meats, tomatoes and onion. Add your already cooked sunny side up or over easy eggs, to the top of the pizza. Close the grill and continue until the bottom of the crust is finished cooking through. You can also add a little more cheese on the top at this time if you want to, along with some salt and pepper to taste. Remove from grill. Slice so each person has an egg on their pizza and serve warm.
Enjoy!
Move over store bought hummus! Never again will I buy hummus when I can make something with so much more flavor!! Oddly enough I am not a huge hummus fan, although I wanted to be as it is very good for you! This is another slightly adapted Taste of Home Magazine recipe. The changes I made were using half of the amount of oil originally called for, more lemon juice, roasted garlic, and added cumin for extra flavor! I changed this recipe more than I thought but the base recipe was a great starting point!! I am going to give you my adaptations to the original recipe but as always change it up your way !
I made this for a girl’s weekend away at a friend’s camp. I took some for us and left some for the boys at home! Everyone really enjoyed the bold flavor and I really enjoyed the five minutes it took me to make it!
This will make a great dip for any pool side, lake side or holiday gathering you have!!
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained (I used organic)
4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon roasted garlic (can used minced)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Serve with veggies, crackers or warm Naan bread.
DIRECTIONS
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until well combined.
Enjoy!
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