There was a time when I considered driving tours little more than field trips for grownups—who, presumably, should have worthier, more-grownup things to do. That outlook was bred from my growing up in the heart of Kentucky’s bluegrass country: Blessed with both legendary horse farms and notorious bourbon distilleries, its back roads play host to an ant-line of tourists who keep slowing down to either ogle a few million dollars on the hoof or simply let the boozy vapors of the car’s occupants dissipate a bit, or both. It’s hard to grasp the allure of such pilgrimages when you’ve been jaded by grade-school outings to Wild Turkey and Maker’s Mark. (Possibly the racetrack, too.)

As an adult, though, and especially as an adult living in New England, I find I’m as big a sucker as anyone for these things. Pub crawls, wine loops, diner treks, even (gah!) foliage tours—I’ve done them all. And now along comes The Vermont Cheese Book by Ellen Ecker Ogden (The Countryman Press, $19.95), and I discover a whole new reason to get out the map and gas up the car. (more…)

Last week, at a Chef’s Collaboriative lunch meeting, I sampled two fantastic new cheeses from Massachusetts. The first, from Fiore di Nonno in Lexington, is a cow’s milk burrata, a fresh mozzarella “purse” filled with fresh cream.

How to best convey the pleasure of eating burrata…of biting through that tender exterior and releasing a pool of creamy goodness? Go to the 0:55 mark of this video for a good illustration. Or at least, that’s how I felt. (more…)