Hillary Davis Travels's Blog

Old Fashioned New England Candy Store Does It Right

        Memories of being a child in New England and looking forward to summers when my parents would buy us freshly made salt water taffey linger. I don't see them often anymore. And then, one day, I stopped at this store---one I drive by all the time. 

    Nelson's Candies has been in the tiny mill town of Wilton, New Hampshire forever. Forever is confirmed by this picture, which is hung on the wall as you walk in.

     Old school candy-making was learned and passed down from the present owner's grandfather (who he looks uncannily like). They've been a family business for over 100 years, an unusual accomplishment for small-town American stores that have to compete with big chains. 

    Here are my favorites, based on the last few months of testing: pumpkin fudge to die for; fresh maple fudge made with maple syrup from a farm down the road; brandy soaked cherry cordials; dark chocolate pecan turtles; dark chocolate salted caramels; and their old-fashioned mints.

    I went in last week and they were in full swing production towards Easter. 

    Everything is still made in heirloom copper pots.........

    .....and the inside of the store has a friendly feel to it, with samples!

    So the memories no longer need to linger. I have found my candy home. From now on, in New Hampshire, I know I will stop by this little store every holiday---and every time I drive through town as well.

 Nelson's Candy

65 Main Street

Wilton, NH  03086

(603) 654-5030

facebook.com/Nelsons-Candies

 

Please Don't Squeeze The Cotton Candy

    I lived in France for many years, starting when I was a newlywed in Paris. It was hard then to find American foods in France like peanut butter, oreos (my husband's favorite), bagels, and maple syrup---so I had them shipped over to supplement my pantry. When I later moved to the South of France and had loads of American friends flying over to visit, I would recruit them to pack (hide) some things for me in their suitcases. 

    My biggest treasure was receiving maple syrup.

    One weekend in the South of France, I had guests from Paris and wanted to serve them something fun for Saturday breakfast. But when they put a mouthful of pancakes and maple syrup into their mouth they very politely froze. Then they shook their head. Then they swallowed and blushed. Pushed for an answer of how they liked it, they responded that they did not have a taste for sweet things for their breakfast. 

    I tried maple syrup on some other French friends down from Bordeaux and they loved it. So I decided maple syrup in another country is a hit or miss proposition.

    But here in New Hampshire we get really excited about it. It is a rite of spring to wait for the sap to run and find new maple syrup.

    Just minutes from my village, a young couple has a maple business in a chalet-style barn on a pond with ducks and geese scurrying about---so perfect a setting that the thought occured to me their building would make a great house, with sunsets on the pond and high ceilings and a vast great room.

    I found them by accident as I was hurtling down the highway one day. A sign out front caught my attention.

    Never a lover of cotton candy, the sign stayed in my thoughts for days. Should I go back? What did it taste like?

    So I went back today and was swept away by how good their maple cotton candy tastes. I pulled off a fluffy bit, placed it delicately on my tongue and closed my mouth. It was gone. All that was left was the taste of not-too-sweet maple syrup. Divine!!!!!! Magical!

    I was hooked. I bought some of their maple cotton candy and some of their homemade maple pecan fudge. It was the best fudge I have ever eaten. Seriously. Not too sweet. Just perfect. 

    So I wanted to share with you my journey to Morning Star Maple Sugar House in Dublin, NH. This is what it looks like when you enter through their front door.

    They really have their act together. A gift store with every imaginable product made with maple syrup. Below are the packages of their homemade maple sugar candies shaped into bears, turtles, chicks, owls, and maple leaves...........

......and they make maple caramel popcorn.......

 ...........great looking lollipops............ 

..............and of course, their own golden maple syrup............

    If you are in New England this summer traveling about, visit Morning Star Maple. Your kids will love it. You will be able to tour their maple making facility............which is huge and ultra modern and clean.....

.....taste samples, sit by the pond,  savor some of their maple cotton candy......
.....and take some home. Just remember, don't squeeze the cotton candy!

Morning Star Maple Sugar House, Route 101, Dublin, NH 

603.563.9218   Order online at:  www.morningstarmaple.com

 

TRAVEL: Snow

Would you follow this road? Or would you stand and just enjoy the now? Just enjoy being there? It was so silent. And yet filled with life. Snowflakes still fell cold then melted on my cheeks and eyelashes. I could hear the wind in the trees. It was murkey light, yet beams of sun pierced through to create a cathedral in the pines.

Other days and other times of the year, my road looks like this. Warm and dappled. Yet the snow, when it comes, christens the road with a purity and beauty so pristine as to be almost virgin---as if no person (or dog) had ever walked there before.

I became lost in the splendor of seeing a red breasted robin sitting on this branch just seconds before. It was our personal haven. He or she looked squarely at me, and I at the bird that tilted its head to the left and then right as it gazed at me. For that brief encounter, we were eye to eye and shared the snow.

They call them snow birds. People who flee the colder climates for warmer climates in the winter. But my red breasted bird took the opposite route, flying north to sit on a branch covered in beautiful white snow. I turned and walked back down my road. Would the red breasted one follow in flight beside me?

New Hampshire Christmas

There are so many wonderful house tours on now to raise money for worthy charities so I thought I'd go on at least one and share it with you. Hope it puts you in the mood!!

It was amazing to see how many "villages" and "doll houses" were set up. This one covered the whole kitchen counter.

This was the greatest little doll house. I am tempted to begin one myself, just one room, a kitchen!!!

I was really taken by this bedroom treatment so when I got home I sawed off limbs of pine tree boughs and attempted the same thing. It smells divine!

This house had live music of Christmas carols and opera arias that made it a delightful interlude in the house tour.

Upstairs, the master bed was wrapped like a present waiting to be unwrapped.............

......and the sweet smell of honey wax candles filled the air.

.............still more beautiful live music at the next house on the tour..........

............this house did not have a Christmas tree, but it was filled with sunlight and art......exquisite.


...............and this house did have a tree and smelled of cinnamon and apples. It had apple cider with whole cinnamon sticks simmering on the stove.

............and the owner had a huge collection of bird houses decorated for the holidays.......

..............the bird theme continued with a "bird tree" decorated with bird food..........

Wishing you all a peaceful holiday season. One filled with special light. With calm. And with beauty. 

 

Art Nature Walk

 

The Andres Insititute of Art Sculpture Park, Brookline, NH

Two things I love to do in my spare time. Hike, get out in nature, and enjoy art. So when my friend asked me to go hiking with her on an art nature walk, I enthusiastically agreed. I packed my camera and some trail mix and met her at the head of the trail.

She told me that this mountain we were on was owned by an engineer named Paul Andres. He had started to purchase sculptures and place them in the woods around his house when he met master sculptor John M. Weidman, who lived nearby. Their plan was hatched. They co-founded a non-profit organization and proceeded to pepper the beautiful property with outdoor sculptures from artists around the world. Every year they hold a sculpture symposium where the artists arrive and create the sculptures according to a theme. 

So we, the art and nature loving public, can benefit from the lovely walks throughout the property. So come join us. I hope these pictures bring you the peace, serenity and inspiration that we both felt.

 

 

 

 

 

And we took a peak into John Weidman's art studio on the property......

.....and took a lot of pictures along the way..........

............and sometimes suddenly thought we saw something moving in the woods!

.........or thought we heard a horn blow!

.............came across messages posted to trees............

..........and as we left we wondered at the thought of how wonderful it would be to be able to do the same thing. To place pieces of art out in nature around a house. Until that is possible, we agreed we would be happy to come back again and keep hiking to see all the other sculptures we missed on this day on other trails. 

New Hampshire Fall 2011

 

 

I wanted to share with you what I've been seeing out on my drives around New Hampshire during foliage season. A lot of orange. And loads and loads of pumpkins. Even the sheep down the road have been feasting on the broken up pumpkins the farmer laid out for them. Today they seemed to be looking for more!

The farmers' market had a stand of pumpkins. And gourds. Which propelled me to load the car with them since they keep well for months in a cold spot. 

Then another farmers' market, and another exquisite tableau. 

I found a bench outside of the village library to sit on and take a few stolen moments for reading some poetry. 

.....before heading down the lane to scuff through wet fallen leaves.....the rain had just begun to fall. The light was faltering. The air chilling. I dug my hands into the pockets of my coat and smiled. No matter where I am, a walk is one of my favorite things to do in the fall. 

 

 

My New Hampshire Summer

There's no better way to share with you the beauty of a New Hampshire summer than with photographs. I love taking them, I hope you enjoy!!!

 

And now, at the end of August, we have heavy tropical winds from the approaching "hurricane", winds are whipping up the outdoor chimes into a frenzy, and dark clouds are piling up high into the sky. Moody. Tropical. Always beautiful.

 

Culinary Wine Cruise Set For September 2011

Give me a car a train a ship or a plane and I'm off. Just the sound of a plane engine revving gets my blood running! I, of course, am a travel addict. Love it. And I've always been an independent traveller, never joining tours or even hopping a tour bus. 

But yesterday I changed my mind. Yesterday I attended an event at one of my favorite country inns in New Hampshire, Colby Hill Inn in Henniker. The well-travelled owners are putting together a special Culinary Wine Cruise for September 2011 and they invited a group of us to come listen and learn and see if we would be interested in joining them. I arrived interested and I left convinced. 

What made me change my mind? Well, although I speak fluent French, there are people that don't that really want to visit France and Italy but are hesitant that they will get enough out of their trip without understanding what anyone is saying to them. A cruise on an American ship (Royal Caribbean Cruise Line), and a personal tour with American hosts, Cyndi and Mason Cobb, owners of the Colby Hill Inn, would make all the difference.

Also traveling in a small group that dines together and explores together would make it a fun and friendly way to travel. Even more, this cruise tour is being co-hosted by Ken Scupp of Kobrand, a company that owns vineyards around the world, which means that the tour gets you into places you can't get into on your own. For instance, a private sit down lunch with one of the vineyard's owners.

So, my friends, I decided to share this information with you because it sounds like a wonderful way to travel the Mediterranean.

They are flying over to Barcelona to stay overnight before boarding the ship for a cruise that visits Toulon and Nice in France, then visits Livorno, Rome, and Naples in Italy. One day there will be a private tour with wine expert Ken Scupp to Chateau D'Aqueria in France and one day a visit to Nozzole Vineyard in Italy including a lunch with the owners. The other days are free to explore Provence and the Chianti region and Rome. If guests want to join Cyndi and Mason on special trips around the countryside they can do so for sightseeing, shopping, or whatever the group decides they'd like to do.

While I was at the event learning about the cruise, I realized yet again why I like this inn so much. It's more than being a comfortable cozy home serving great food in an intimate dining room with a view.

As with all inns, it really comes down to the personalities that run it. Cyndie and Mason are great hosts. They also know their food and wines! Here is a picture of my favorite of the appetizers they served yesterday. It's Country Pate with Lavender Mustard (thank you for the recipe, Chef Gage!)

Yes, I got the recipe. It was that good. His secret was to crush lavender (you can buy it online) in a mortar and pestle before combining it with stone ground mustard and Dijon mustard. So delicious!

I took a walk around the inn before leaving. The fire was crackling and comfortable chairs were placed nearby. Guests wandered in and out for coffee or to play a game of cards or to snuggle into a sofa with a book before dinner.

I only live an hour away but I know I'll be coming back soon for a meal, perhaps their Sunday brunch. Then a sit in one of their living rooms with a cup of tea and a notebook to sketch in, and I'll be happy.

For more information on the Culinary Wine Cruise in September 2011 give Cyndi or Mason a call: 1-800-531-0330.  (and tell them I sent you!)

or:  HAPPY TRAVELS Travel Agency handling the cruise

Tel: (603) 995-4019 

Tel: (877) 378-4097 (Toll Free)

Fax: (877) 310-1692 

website: www.HappyTravelsAgency.com

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HappyTravels

A Hidden Gem: Peterborough, New Hampshire

I have favorite villages and cities, places that offer me totally different experiences and memories. Besides my other favorite village where I lived many years, Bar sur Loup, in France---there is a village in New Hampshire called Peterborough that I consider my favorite village in the States.

Like Bar sur Loup, it is visually attractive. Although small, Peterborough offers a visual pleasantness with every corner you turn. Not the drama of my French village, but rather a peaceful blend of soft colors and typical New England architecture. 

Layered on top of this is a splash of the arts that decorates and surprises at every turn. Artists from the famed MacDowell Colony, which is a mile or so away from the town center, have for years nourished the village and many chose to stay on and make it home---turning Peterborough into an intellectual and artistic haven. The village has a museum that celebrates art from around the world. It also has a well known art school and gallery in the Sharon Arts Center. 

The picture above was formerly a plain stone wall that faced the back of a parking lot in Peterborough. It is now this beautiful mural for all to enjoy, painted by MacDowell Colony artists in residence one year. This is what makes Peterborough so special. So intriguing to me. It is as if it is organically constantly growing into something more interesting and beautiful every year.

There is a dream like quality to the way of life here that harks back to the 50's and 60's in a way. We have a classic diner from that era. There's time to dawdle over lunch beside a rushing stream. Everyone knows your name. It's pretty safe for kids. They go swimming in ponds and skate on them in the winter and race rubber duckies on the river when it thaws in the Spring.

I love when Rosaly's Farmstand opens. This mostly organic farm market draws painters and photographers every summer to its fields of flowers and its herb gardens to capture the amazing colors and the view. Pick your own strawberries. You can kayak on surrounding lakes and pick your own blueberries as you paddle close to shore. I usually eat them all before getting back to land.

We sit close to Mount Monadnock, which is in the distance of the picture above taken from Monadnock Golf Club. This is one of the most climbed mountains in the world, including a 110 mile trail and a 50 mile trail. It was so loved by Ralph Waldo Emerson that he wrote a poem to it called Monadnoc. I have yet to hike Mount Monadnock but it is on my bucket list mostly because of the interesting sub-alpine species you can see there. I really want to see the Mountain Cranberry that they say is everywhere on the mountain.

I put together the following video to show you more of what I love about this hidden gem of a village in New Hampshire. I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

For a Peterborough Walking Tour Map, click here!