Pancakes at Overlook Farm (Again)

We don't have too many things I can bring to mind and call a "tradition"--Fourth of July up at the lake, my mom's broccoli quiche whenever we visit, much about Christmas--but I think that Overlook Farm is now part of that small collection. I guess a big part of the definition is "things you do with your kids."

The second day of spring was barely above freezing, but bright and sunny. We drove up to Rutland, where now that the snow has melted, people are finally getting a chance to clean up from the winter's ice storms. Huge piles of cut branches wait by the roadside, and the woods are full of snapped and sagging trees, still showing raw at the breaks.

We had a 10 a.m. reservation, got there a little early and looked around the gift shop, which appears to have been redone. They're selling their own grass-fed beef and lamb now, but I didn't get a chance to look into that, as we were ushered into the crowded eating area. We picked up our pancakes, sausage, and bacon, and set to--a fairly rushed meal, since JJ was unhappy with his confinement to a high chair and made this known to all in earshot.

Afterward, we went outside and took a look around. The stars of the day were a flock of dwarf goats and their kids, none of them more than a week old, about the size of my larger cats and just about the cutest things on four feet.

D and L toured the sugar shack (though apparently the farm did no sugaring this year, opting to let their trees recover a bit after the storms), and JJ and I wandered around outside, his toddler attention gripped by pebbles, chickens, and the (fortunately fenced) duckpond. Then we went to look at the cows--unexpectedly interesting, as two of them started to get aggressive with each other, only to have the scuffle broken up by a four-horned sheep we've noticed before, which then trotted around butting everything in the pasture for good measure.


In the afternoon I made foccaccia, and later got to sit down and enjoy a slice of it with a glass of wine while JJ took his nap--something close to heaven. For dinner, I put together a dish I usually make for parties, the Spanish egg and potato tortilla, which is better than it has any right to be with only four ingredients. With it we had a simple salad of baby greens and balsamic vinaigrette, and for dessert, some mint cookie ice cream.

Life has seemed somewhat less hectic this past week than it was for a while there. A very good thing.