Colby’s Restaurant is one of those super cute, very small but very delicious restaurants in Portsmouth, NH. Colby’s is located at 105 Daniel Street. If you have not had the opportunity to eat there, put it on your list as a must visit! We have been trying to get in there for awhile and the first couple times we tried the line outside was just too long to wait for our hungry bellies! Colby’s only has about 15 seats inside and during the summer months they have a few tables and chairs set up outside. Colby’s has a revolving seasonal menu with some fantastic specials for both breakfast and lunch. My friend Rosalie and I went for breakfast and we both ended up getting their specials of the day. I had the pancake special that had blueberries, white chocolate chips and walnuts in it and was served with real maple syrup. Can I say this was one VERY large pancake, it was the size of my head.  I am not kidding, it is crazy! The combination of flavors sounds a little strange I know, but it was delicious!  It was sweet with blueberries and white chocolate chips and with the crunch of the walnuts, topped with real maple syrup…a little strange but soooo tasty!!

Rosalie had the Benedict special that was made with English muffins, ham, asparagus, poached eggs, tomato and topped with Hollandaise sauce with a side of hash browns. Rosalie loved her breakfast! The eggs were poached perfectly, asparagus fresh and crispy.  Everything cooked just right.  The hash browns absolutely delicious, brown , crispy, well seasoned and served toasty warm!!
The service we had was great! We were seated quickly with a menu in one hand and coffee in the other! They have a chalkboard on the wall with the daily specials. Colby’s is a constant flurry of activity. With such a small space there are servers and guests throughout the restaurant rotating people in and out.   I can see why the food was great, along with the service. Although we went for breakfast, I did take a peak at the lunch menu and that looked just as tasty as the breakfast.
They serve up soups, chowders, turkey melts and grilled chicken wraps to just name a few things. The lunch menu and specials also change seasonally and daily. To keep up with their special, checkout their Facebook page!
Colby’s is open daily from 7 am to 2 pm. Be sure to check them out!

Enjoy!

A couple weekends ago I had the amazing opportunity to be one of the judges for the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce  Apple Harvest Day apple pie contest! I was so excited to be given the chance to taste so many pies and be with some amazing judges! There were four judges including myself.   The other judges were Don Briand, a local radio personality and Citizen of the year for 2015,  Mrs. New Hampshire Carrie Alex, who is both beautiful inside and out and Commander Christopher Polk of the USS Norfolk.  Commander Polk and crew were “adopted” by the City of Dover for its year-long decommissioning process at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. What an amazing group of people, not to mention the other radio personalities from our local station WOKQ, who broadcast live throughout the competition!

I have never been a judge so I had no idea what to expect or how many pies I would be tasting.  So, I turned to my trusty friends from Taste of Home Magazine and I got lots of great tips from them. So many tips my head was swimming in thoughts of pie crusts for about two days!!

Let me share some of the tips I received from some of the experts! They all started with the crust.  They told me to try the crust by itself and decide if it was flaky, crumbly, salty, and were there any other flavors in the crust or was the crust soggy on the bottom? Wow, right?! Who knew there was so much to think about when it comes to pie crust, and that’s not all…is the crust cooked evenly.  Is it decorative and how much space is there between the pie crust and the apples if it is a double crust?  I know, crazy! So much info!

Onto the filling tips.  Lots to think about here too! Are the apples sliced evenly, are they all cooked evenly, is the sauce runny or too thick? This too is just the beginning of the tips! Next up was the flavor of the pie filling.  What kind of spices are used? Did it compliment or take away from the pie? Is there too much or too little spice?
Next up was the presentation.  This really was more of a personal preference. Is the pie decorated? Was anything done different or unique?

I think you can understand why I was dreaming of apple pies for a couple days! So much to think about. Some other tips that were geared to being a judge. Things like…be sure to bring a water bottle to clean your palate, eat protein for breakfast, and my favorite tip was don’t eat the entire piece of pie because you love it and can’t stop eating it! This field editor told me this was from her experience!! Needless to say I took all of the tips and used them all when judging all 21 apple pies!!

We had three pies entered in the kids division, all were done very well!  Then, we had 18 pies in the adult section and what a wide range of pies!  We had an apple meringue pie! Wow! I would have never thought of that! We also had a pie that was just beautiful, the crust had an apple tree on it, absolutely outstanding!  The pie that did win was a pecan, caramel apple pie.

This pie was also very pretty but all of the flavor so really came together and the crust was perfectly flaky! I did not taste one bad pie! Everyone did an outstanding job and certainly made it difficult to pick just one winner!!
So if you plan on entering a pie in a contest or get lucky enough to be a judge, I hope these tips help you as much as they helped me!

Enjoy!

Have all of my local readers been to the new restaurant.  2 Home Cooks at 40 Chestnut street in Dover? Jim and I went this past Sunday with our friends Tim and Maureen. This restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch only and if you are looking for a home cooked meal this is the place! We went for breakfast and were so pleasantly surprised just walking up to the restaurant as they have a beautiful outdoor patio area to enjoy your breakfast or lunch outside! The outside area was very well kept, everything was clean and fresh.

Because it was a little chilly the morning we went, we sat inside and that was just as clean and fresh.  What we all loved the most was that it is an open kitchen.  You really can watch your food being made. Everything is fresh and made to order. They also make their own biscuits every morning as well as making their own sausage patties! So for me knowing they make both of those things my breakfast choice was simple! I had the Sausage Benedict with the biscuits instead of english muffin! Oh ya..I am a sucker for a good Benedict but when a place makes their own biscuits and sausage, I am all in and my mouth was watering from the beginning! Let me tell you the biscuits do not disappoint…absolutely delicious! The sausage also excellent, the eggs cooked beautifully.  Now, as for the hollandaise sauce, for me the sauce was good, but I am a sucker for a rich, creamy sauce.  This was a bit on the thin side for my preference, but all in all a great dish!
Jim and Maureen both got a special they were having that day. The Greek omelette with hash browns and toast. Let me tell you, the portions are huge! Their omelettes took up almost half the plate, and the taste of the omelette was just right according to both Jim and Maureen. This omelette had spinach, feta cheese and bacon…what is not to love about that?! The omelette was cooked perfectly, the hash browns were also done to perfection, crispy yet tender, and well seasoned.
I may have possibly saved the best for last! Tim had the bacon pancakes! Need I say more?!  Bacon inside the pancakes. Outside the pancakes drizzled with real maple syrup! Absolutely delicious! I don’t typically order pancakes when we go out for breakfast but this will be bringing me back for sure!

Although we went for breakfast we did take a peek at the lunch menu. They have everything you would expect on the menu, but with a twist, and everything here is also home made and cooked to order. There was one sandwich that caught my husbands attention and it was the Thanksgiving everyday sandwich made with Texas toast, pan seared turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayo! We will most certainly be coming back for that!

I also want to mention the service we had here. From the moment we walked in, to the time we left, the service was friendly, helpful, prompt and they kept the coffee cups filled! Fantastic service from start to end!  2 Home Cooks is a great addition to Dover so don’t wait, go check them out! You can find them on Facebook as well as on the Internet!

Enjoy!

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 Jim and I have been to Christopher’s many, many times. They even catered a welcome home party we had a few years ago when Jim returned from Iraq.  I have never done a review on them.  I am not sure how I have missed it for so long but here it is! Christopher’s is located in Dover NH and can be found at 16 Third Street. We went on a Thursday night about 6:00 pm and it was already filling up, lots of people in the dining room and the bar area was also getting full.  We chose a high table in the bar area next to the window. We were greeted very quickly and had menu’s in our hand along with a cutting board with fresh warm bread just out of the oven… with a strawberry butter, what a great way to start!

Jim and I were both hungry, so we started with one of my favorite appetizers the crispy calamari ($8.00) served with both tartar sauce and marinara sauce! I love this dish, as the coating is light and crisp. They make their own seasoned flour for this dish!
On this particular night we did not have their crab cakes. Those too are incredible and another one of my favorite things on the menu! You will not be disappointed with either of these appetizers!!  For the main course I had one of the specials.  It was a beautiful garden salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and avocado with lightly fried chicken with blue cheese dressing.

This was very, very good. The chicken was crisp and tender and the salad greens were just fabulous and tasted like they were just picked fresh from the garden! This salad was also large.  I ended up taking half of it home.  I am not complaining…who would not love that salad a second time!
Jim had a burger! I know none of you are surprised by this as Jim is a burger guy through and through! I sometimes feel that is how he rates a restaurant.  If they can cook a good burger everything must be good!! Tonight was no exception, Jim ordered the garbage burger ($10.00).   This burger has great flavor with sautéed mushrooms, bacon and cheese. This is a BIG burger and Jim loved every bite of it! I might also mention the burger came with fries…lightly crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and well seasoned, I love that!!

Not only was every bite of our dinner just as we would want or expect out of Christopher’s, but we also had great attentive service! We really enjoy Christopher’s and look forward to another visit very soon! Take some time to check out Christopher’s if you are in the downtown area.  They also have a great website where you can check out all of the fabulous lunch and dinner items they have available!

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!