Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Some of our recent Tripadvisor reviews from the 6' House Pub



“good food”
great prices. love love love fried pickles! nice variety of food and great atmosphere
Reviewed March 10, 2012/Visited March 2012

Our go-to when in Williamstown”
We travel to Williamstown every January to visit friends. On our first trip, several years ago, we stayed at a motel down the road and had dinner with the friends at the '6 House. And then another dinner there on our own. Now, we stay at the 1896 House, adjacent to the restaurant (see my separate review), largely *because* it's right there.

This is a justifiably popular place. Great burgers, salads and "spaghetts". Good beer on tap served at just the right temperature. Friendly and efficient service. It's really the kind of place that you just want to go for well made, plentiful food and a relaxed setting.
Reviewed February 26, 2012/Visited February 2012

Referenced review from above:

“It just gets better”
Just came back from our annual trip to Williamstown to visit friends, and our annual stay at the 1896 House. Clean, comfortable, well managed. In the past year they've added flat screen TVs AND memory-foam mattress tops -- best nights' sleep I've had in a long time.

The "brookside" rooms have a small brook (!) running right underneath your rear window, and a little bigger one running across the front of the property. A very peaceful setting.

In addition to the comfort, one of the major draws continues to be the adjacent '06 House restaurant. You can tell from how busy this large place always is that it deserves its popularity. We had dinner there two of our three nights in the area (the third with friends). It's also where the lovely breakfast is set out each morning: fresh scrambled eggs, thin and tasty (but not charred!) bacon; bread, bagels and English muffins; yogurt, hard boiled eggs, coffee cake, and on and on. AND a waffle maker with batter dispenser -- my kids have discovered the joys of adding cocoa mix, or crumbled Fruit Loops cereal, or crumbled bacon, or.....

Oh, yes. Everyone who works at this place is absolutely kind and helpful. What more could you want? We don't even think of staying anywhere else when in this area.
Reviewed February 26, 2012

Friday, March 9, 2012

Cooking with Maple




Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap. The sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. For more information and background about Maple Syrup please visit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup.

What many people don't know is that the highly sought after and more expensive Grade A syrup while lovely for pouring over pancakes and waffles is not the best grade to use for cooking. Grade B which has a deeper, richer, more mapley flavor is much better.

A few of my favorite maple dressing recipes:

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 cup Grade B maple syrup
1 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
3 tea. fresh chopped garlic
2 tea. fresh chopped rosemary, approximately 6-7 stalks
Mix well and whisk in slowly
1 1/2 cups pure (not XV) olive oil.
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
-storage in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks

Miso Maple Ginger Dressing
4 Tble. Grade B maple syrup
8 tea ponzu lemon or lime
2 Tble.
4 Tble. fresh lime juice
3 Tble. fresh chopped or grated ginger
1 tea. smoked paprika
3 tea. whole grain mustard
Mix well and whisk in slowly
6 Tble. pure (not XV) olive oil.
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
-storage in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks

Raspberry Maple Dressing
4 Tbsp. Grade B maple syrup
1/2 cup raspberry vinegar
1 1/2 cup pure (not XV) olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
-storage in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks

For little zippier version of this, add 2 Tble raspberry jam and 3 tea. Sriracha hot sauce.