Month: September 2018

Your Best Weekend {Volume 5}

Posted on by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

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It’s time for another edition of “Your Best Weekend” – ideas and recommendations to help you make the most of your Saturday and Sunday.  We are all busy but we need to make time to enjoy life!

“Why wait for the weekend to have fun?”  – Loesje

Make sure to have some fun during the week as well!  

Celebrate:

September 8 is International Literacy Day. Created by the United Nations, this day, “aims to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.”  Be thankful that you are literate and make time to read today.

Celebrate Grandparent’s Day on September 9.  If the grandparents live close, spend the day together creating memories.  If they live farther away, have the kids make a card for their grandparents.  Older kids can write the reasons why they love their grandparents and/or a favorite memory they have.

Self-Care:

Journal Prompt/Reflection: Who inspires you and why?

Challenge:  Get outside and go for a walk.  Take 15 minutes during your lunch break.  Get the family together after dinner.  Take the dog out and walk solo.  Just put on your sneakers and get outside.  There are many benefits of walking.  While you may not get in 10,000 steps a day, it’s a goal you can work towards and this can help you keep track of those steps.

New Releases:

DVD:  Did anyone else grow up watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood?  The documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was released on DVD this week.

Netflix:  Netflix just added a bunch of movies including The Breakfast Club, Black Panther, Groundhog Day and Bruce Almighty.

Amazon Prime:  Lots of movie classics were added this week including Ghostbusters, Jerry Maguire, Robinhood Prince of Thieves and Sleepless in Seattle.

Time for a movie marathon?!

Family Watching:  For families with younger kids, Pete the Cat (season 1) is on Amazon Prime.  Elementary-aged kids might enjoy Hotel for Dogs, also on Amazon Prime.  Netflix has The Ant Bully, Lilo & Stitch and The Emperor’s New Groove.

Books for Kids:  Many children’s books have recently been published.  For toddlers who need board books, But Not the Armadillo by Sandra Boynton went on sale this week.  Boynton was a family favorite when my kids were younger. For elementary readers The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson offers encouragement to kids who feel different from their peers.  Did you read The Babysitter’s Club when you were younger?  Somehow, my daughter never got into the series.  But they have made the series into a graphic novel and book number six Kristy’s Big Day was recently released.

Date Night Idea:

Visit a local brewery – Craft breweries have become very popular.  There are many breweries within a short driving distance from us.  My husband and I have enjoyed visiting several of them, sampling beer flights and enjoying some adult time!

Family Fun:

Dinner Conversation Starter: What is the best thing about being your age?

Go Geocaching – Geocaching is like an outdoor scavenger hunt.  You get some physical exercise while also looking for “prizes.”  Read our  Quickstart Guide to Geocaching Using the app and then read what we keep in our geocaching bag. 

Weekly Recommendations:

Recipe:  I just made these Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas for dinner last night.  This is a quick, easy and tasty recipe.  I used Penzeys Fajita Seasoning, not the taco seasoning the recipe requested.  This is a perfect dinner now that school has started and weeknights are busy!

Song:  I was watching Bachelor in Paradise and heard this song during the Samsung Galaxy 9 commercial.  I then had to find out who sings it since I loved it so much!  It’s LSD’s Thunderclouds featuring Sia, Diplo and Labrinth and I’ve been playing it nonstop.

Meal Plan:  School has started which means busy schedules are back.  If you do not meal plan, I highly recommend that you start!  It helps answer the question of what’s for dinner every night and it keeps your grocery bill on budget.  You can read about how I create our weekly meal plan and you can also find over 85 weeks of meal plans on the blog!

 

 

Dennings Point Distillery

Posted on by nyfoodiefamily@gmail.com

(Thank you to Dutchess Tourism and Dennings Point Distillery for hosting NY Foodie Family.  As always, all opinions are our own.)

Dennings Point Distillery is located on North Chestnut Street, in Beacon.  The Distillery has been open since September of 2014 and is housed in a former mechanic shop.

When we visited during a summer weekend, founder Karl was relaxing in the Distillery. Because, doesn’t his shirt say it all?! He took us on a tour and gave us a bit of the Distillery’s history.  Similar to many of the people that we have met in the craft beverage trade, distilling started as a hobby for Karl.  He previously had a career in healthcare management and in 1990 bought his first moonshine  still.  Once craft distilling was legalized, many years later, he decided to give it a go professionally.

Denning’s Point makes several different products, though their best seller (and Karl’s favorite) is their bourbon.  The Distillery tries to source as many local ingredients as possible.  The bourbon is made from grains sourced in New Paltz and rye from the Finger Lakes region.  Another great example of their “the closer, the better” philosophy is the apple brandy made with apples from Wappingers Falls.

They make a vodka and their gin is an American-style gin that is more citrusy than the traditional.  Maid of the Meadow is a wheat-based spirit infused with wild herbs and honey. All three are distilled from NY State wheat.

Distilling takes place during the week with weekends dedicated to tours and tastings. Much of the equipment and machinery has been cleverly repurposed by Karl to suit his needs for each particular task.  However, their 250-gallon hybrid still was hand hammered in Louisville, Kentucky for its specific use.  They propagate their own yeast, which takes extra time, but makes a big difference in the flavor of their spirits.

To age their spirits, they use a variety of barrels including 10, 30 and 53 gallons.  Once the spirits are ready to be bottled, it’s an all-hands-on-deck operation. All of their spirits are bottled and labeled in a small room in the back.

After our tour, my husband enjoyed a tasting.  Their tasting room is  small and only seats about six guests.  He tried the 100 proof Beacon Bourbon, Maid of the Meadow and their Blueberry Gin.  The Blueberry Gin is a seasonal product, made with wild blueberries.  As I mentioned, the Beacon Bourbon is one of Denning’s Point Distillery’s most popular spirits.  Of the three that he tried, my husband’s favorite was Maid of the Meadow. He’s always been drawn to honey, whether a spirit infusion or cocktail ingredient.

Denning’s Point Distillery was voted Hudson Valley Magazine’s  “Best Hudson Valley Distillery” in 2015, 2016 and 2017.  Karl would like to continue growing a local presence but increase widening distribution of their spirits.  Most visitors come up from the city, as Beacon is easily accessible by train.  We recommend Hudson Valley residents, too,  make a visit to the Distillery. If you can’t make it, their products are distributed through Manhattan Beer at locations throughout the Hudson Valley.

The Details:

Denning’s Point Distillery
10 North Chestnut Street
Beacon, NY 12508
(845) 476-8413

Website: http://www.denningspointdistillery.com

Tastings & Tours:  Friday 2 PM -8 PM (Tastings only), Saturday 2 PM – 8 PM (Tours at approximately 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30 PM, except for the second Saturday of each month when tours are at 2:30 and 3:30 only), Sunday 2 PM – 6 PM (Tastings only)

Price:  Tastings & Tour $5