This weekend, Alex and I went home, and not as in going from the Lower East Side to our Brooklyn apartment. We went HOME to Massachusetts. I still feel like MA is home because I miss it very much, and I also feel like I’m still so new here in NYC. I’m still working on becoming a part of my work and neighborhood communities. I think I need to feel connections with the people around me before it feels like home.

Anyway, we arrived on the North Shore late on Friday night and went to bed (after sampling Alex’s mom’s latest sweet treat recipe – OF COURSE). We woke up to a rainy autumn Saturday with the sweet smell of strata (this is not the recipe we ate, but another very good one from Bon Appetit) rising from the kitchen. It occurs to me that I’ve never really described how fantastic it is to visit Alex’s parents. In short, we are fed SO well when we’re there. And now that we’re farther away, I think the level of tastiness has doubled. After strata, we rallied what troops we could to join us at the Ipswich Ale Harvest Festival at Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton, MA. You may remember some pictures I posted from last year, but here are a few new ones:

The epitome of FRESHLY HOPPED beer. Photo Credit: Jess G.

Other photos and much much more after the jump!!

Those willing to drink beer and eat chowder and hot dogs in the rain. Photo Credit: Jess G.

We visited the turkeys again.

Last year, we never made it into the “farm stand,” which is really a beautiful little barn-like building. This time we stopped in to look around, and we found these:

These are SnackTaxis and I originally discovered them last year when one of the children at my job was bringing them in her lunch box. They’re used just like plastic sandwich bags, only they are WASHABLE and REUSABLE! Eco-friendly snack bags! I loved them, instantly, but hadn’t seen them in person til we ventured into the farm stand this weekend. I was overjoyed! I’m lucky enough to have lunch provided at work, but I’m totally going to start bringing snacks for myself just so I can use my SnackTaxi.

After the Harvest Fest We made a stop at our favorite craft beer store, Bogie’s (still with signage saying “Alexander’s). That place is STILL my favorite spot to get amazing beers. Bogie, himself, was asleep behind the counter when we visited, but check out his picture on the website. He’s an angel. We stocked up on some treats to bring back to BK:

From left to right: Shipyard Pugsley’s Signature Series XXXX IPA, Left Hand Warrior IPA, Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale, Great Divide 15th Anniversary Wood Aged Double IPA, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye. Some of these are classic favorites of ours, and some we’re excited to try. Missing from the photo because they were consumed: Green Flash Imperial IPA, Anderson Valley 20th Anniversary Double IPA, and Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Harvest Ale.

On Sunday, we went to the Todd Farm Flea Market, a true North Shore gem. Alex walked away with a 1970′s Brooks B-17 Bike Saddle, and we brought home this character from Gordon Frost, a local “Rusty Iron” artist:

We ended our lovely North Shore weekend with home videos of Alex as a child. He has been telling me for years that they were lost in the “Great Video Fire,” but apparently DVDs of these videos came rising from the ashes like a great phoenix. And oh, OH, was Alex a cutie. I could do without the gross rat-tail, but other than that it was so fun to watch the child-version of this person I know so well and love so much. Highlight: Christmas, Alex at age 5 received a bunny rabbit (to be named Pause). Brother Matt: “She’s cute.” Alex: “Yeah I know,” adds “she’s mine.”