>> NARRATOR: Come along for a once-in-a-lifetime journey through New England as you've never experienced it before.

A true insider's guide from the editors of Yankee magazine.

Join explorer, adventurer, and traveler Richard Wiese and his co-host, Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso, for behind-the-scenes access to the unique attractions that define this region, as they uncover the hidden New England that only locals know.

It's the ultimate travel guide from the people who know it best.

This week on Weekends with Yankee: It's all about farms and foraging.

Our first stop is Vermont's Woodstock Inn and Resort, where co-host Amy Traverso visits the spectacular Kelly Way Gardens.

And cooks up some heirloom squash.

>> TRAVERSO: Every flavor receptor on my tongue is lit up and happy.

>> NARRATOR: Then it's on to Vermont's Little Grand Canyon, the famed Quechee Gorge.

It ranks as the deepest gorge in the state, with a vertical drop of 165 feet.

Next, co-host Richard Wiese searches for glass orbs on the beaches of Block Island, located right off the coast of Rhode Island.

>> WIESE: I think everyone likes the idea of finding buried treasure of some sort.

>> NARRATOR: And, finally, Amy goes foraging for mushrooms with Portsmouth's celebrity chef, Evan Mallett, and then learns a delicious and unexpected way to beef up her cooking with mushrooms.

>> We roast them and put them into a burger.

>> NARRATOR: That's all coming up next, on Weekends With Yankee.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Nestled in Vermont's Green Mountains, the original Woodstock Inn opened its doors in 1892, with the 400 foot veranda and 100 guest rooms.

Later purchased by Laurance and Mary Rockefeller in 1967, the original inn was demolished in 1969 and the brand new Woodstock Inn and Resort emerged in its place, an ambassador of Vermont hospitality and style.

For the past five years, this bucolic three-acre flower and vegetable garden has provided produce for the Woodstock Inn and Resort's four distinct restaurants.

Year round, its master gardener cultivates over 200 unique and heirloom varieties of vegetables.

There is also a colorful supply of cut flowers and a fresh supply of honey from their own bee hives.

>> My name is Benjamin Pauley.

I am the master gardener at the Woodstock Inn & Resort and we are at Kelly Way Gardens.

>> TRAVERSO: I love being in Vermont in the fall.

And what's really interesting to me about New England is you can be driving around from, you know, New Hampshire, where it's sort of peak foliage and come here to central Vermont where its kind of a little bit past peak but still really beautiful.

And even more beautiful than maybe that view is this view, which is this gorgeous farm that you've built.

So can you tell me a little bit about the history of how this came to be?

>> Yeah, so the property dates back to the late 1800s, and it originally was a dairy farm.

The garden we started about five years ago.

>> TRAVERSO: So tell me how many things you're growing here and what you're growing.

>> We have about 850 varieties, and that includes about 55 varieties of tomatoes.

We have eight varieties of peppers.

We try to have as much diversity as possible, because our only outlet is the Woodstock Inn.

So we work with the chefs pretty closely to find out exactly how much they need of every single product and we try to focus on things that they can't get elsewhere.

>> TRAVERSO: Well I think I saw something that looks like squash growing over there.

So can we go check that out.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

So I see one gorgeous squash here.

>> So these are red kuri squashes.

They are a type of Blue Hubbard.

Dry flesh, it's very dense, kind of a nutty flavor.

>> TRAVERSO: Let's get a few of these.

Is that what we need?

>> Yup, absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: Is that enough or you think one more?

>> Might as well get another one.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

So do you have any other cool-looking squash growing nearby?

>> Yeah, well, we actually have a bunch of ornamental gourds just right inside here.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, cool okay.

>> So I can show you that if you like.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, all right.

Oh my God, this is amazing.

>> Yeah, isn't it kind of fun?

>> TRAVERSO: I feel like I'm in like a Dr. Seuss disco or something.

(laughing) >> Usually when people visit the garden, they just start laughing.

So if we're out here working and you hear somebody laughing, we know they went into the gourd tunnel.

>> TRAVERSO: I want...

I seriously want to turn these all into light fixtures and just put them everywhere in the house.

>> That is probably the what the plan will be, yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: That is so neat!

>> Yeah, so there's a bunch of different kinds.

They're all hard-skinned gourds.

These long ones are called Kikinda competition strain.

It's actually a gourd from Serbia.

But these are ones that are edible, so when they're about four feet long, they're about an inch in diameter, and you can cook them like summer squash.

>> TRAVERSO: This is, I'm just so...

I love this.

All right, well, I don't know if anything is going to be quite as, like, wild-looking as those squash but I bet the herbs are going to be really fragrant.

>> Yeah, and it's a great time of year for all the perennial herbs, so we still have a lot kind of coming through.

You can see all of the cilantro here, tarragon.

>> TRAVERSO: Some thyme?

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> This section right here let me get... >> TRAVERSO: This smells amazing.

It smells like good food.

(sighs) Okay, so do we need anything else?

>> I think we also need some rosemary.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay let's go get that.

>> So we grow all our rosemary in the tunnels just so we can kind of extend the season as long as possible.

It likes the heat.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, I see...

I can recognize the rosemary.

>> Yeah, we'll smell it in a second.

So it's kind of the end of the season but it's one of the kitchen's favorite herbs, so we try to grow quite a bit of it for them.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, good.

Okay, well, do you thing we've got enough here?

>> I think we're good.

>> TRAVERSO: All right.

Well, I don't know what we're making, but I know it's going to be good because we've got squash, thyme, and rosemary, which all go really well together, so let's go check it out.

♪ ♪ >> My name is Rhys Lewis.

I'm the executive chef of the Woodstock Inn in Woodstock, Vermont.

>> TRAVERSO: So, chef, this is not what you find in your average New England barn, this is beautiful.

>> Well, thank you, Amy, a pleasure to have you here, to the Red Barn at Kelly Way.

So are you wearing orange just to celebrate the squash?

>> TRAVERSO: I am, I did, I was thinking...

I have squash on the brain.

(laughing) >> Wow, I'm glad you got the memo.

I making actually a red kuri squash tart with roasted and caramelized onions, Billings Farm cheddar, and a little salad on top.

What I'm going to do is just, the red kuri-- is this bright, bright color.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look at that!

I love that ring of green around the edge there, that... Yeah, these, these are not always easy to work with.

I think sometimes are intimidated to work with squash because you have to kind of peel them and cut them open.

Wow, look at that.

>> Mm-hmm.

So you could scrape the seeds out and roast it whole, and then scrape it.

What I'm going to do with this, actually, is just cut a little bit of the outside skin off.

>> TRAVERSO: And you've got a sharp knife there and that's... yeah... >> Yeah.

This is, this is a little bit of work.

And eventually, you know, I'm going to end up taking a portion of this off.

I'll do this.

Cut the squash down.

>> TRAVERSO: Uh-huh.

>> And I get proportions that I would use...

Okay, Amy, what we're going to do now, we're going to put this on a pan to roast with onions, herbs, and stuff.

Put that in there.

>> TRAVERSO: Great.

>> And there's going to be some herbs.

The rosemary, got some chopped thyme.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, it smells incredible.

>> Yeah and this garlic actually is grown in the garden, too... >> TRAVERSO: It's just so warming and cozy and delicious.

Do you want me to toss this together?

>> Extra virgin olive oil.

>> TRAVERSO: Of course.

>> Go ahead.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> You can pour that on.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, great.

>> Oh, that's great.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> A little salt, a little pepper.

>> TRAVERSO: All right.

>> You can be even more liberal with the salt... >> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> It'll be okay, there you go.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, there we go.

>> And, and at this point I'm just going to kind of, if the pan is full you just want it to be... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, we don't want the garlic to burn, do we?

>> And we're going to pick that up and that's going to right into the oven.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

400?

>> Oh yeah, it could be 350, 400.

>> TRAVERSO: So how long is that squash going to take to cook?

>> I'd say about 20 minutes.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> What I'm going to do, I made a pie dough just to, just before you arrived.

And it's been in the cooler resting, you can see... >> TRAVERSO: That is a gorgeous-looking dough.

>> The butter, the butter is still in there.

>> TRAVERSO: Chunks of butter.

>> So this is a touch game.

I've got to be able to roll this out... >> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And look like it's supposed to be, right?

I won't get any on you.

>> TRAVERSO: I see your technique there, you kind of throw it sideways so that the flour spreads out.

>> A little bit-- yup.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And this is... >> TRAVERSO: So how do you roll?

What's your way of doing it?

>> I want the dough to slide on the table and if it begins to adhere, what I'll do is I'll rotate, I'll rotate the dough.

>> TRAVERSO: You don't have to use too much flour that way.

>> Nope.

>> TRAVERSO: You don't make it dry.

>> You can see the butter still in there.

>> TRAVERSO: Beautiful, just that mar... you want it like marbled, right?

>> Absolutely.

Here's the deal now, okay.

I'm going to take the pin, get a little bit of flour on it.

I got some on you... >> TRAVERSO: It's okay!

That's part of the... >> I got some on you, oh my God.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughing) Don't worry about it, it wipes off!

>> I'm going to roll this up, roll this up.

And we're going to roll that on.

>> TRAVERSO: Beautiful.

>> Okay, and then you can take this off.

>> TRAVERSO: That looks great.

>> What we're going to do today is take some of the Billings Farm butter cheese.

Put some on the bottom of the thing, and people think, you know, that's a little counterintuitive, why would you do that?

What that does is create a moisture barrier between the filling... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, that's very clever!

>> And you can do that with pizza, too.

>> TRAVERSO: So you won't get a soggy crust.

>> Try not to.

There is a little moisture in there, and the reason I bake this, roasted it, is to dry it out and concentrate the flavors.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> There's really a lot of moisture in there.

>> TRAVERSO: Just kind of has to kind of get leached out a little bit.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> TRAVERSO: That is gorgeous.

>> What we're going to do is make is a quick custard and if you would, just crack two eggs into this bowl.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, okay.

>> I'm going to cut some basil to kind of go in there.

>> So we'll chop this up just a little bit.

The reason I'm adding the basil to the custard, I want it in there but I don't want it to get dark.

If you put it on the roasted veg it may make it dark.

I'm going to add a cup of cream.

Take a little salt and put it in.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, so you just basically don't want any egg chunks, right?

You want to kind of break it down.

>> That's correct.

Now what I'm going to do then is put a little more cheese on top, just a bit.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, that looks loose and good.

>> That looks really good, really good.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, great.

So we're going to go counter-clockwise around the tart.

Get the center.

>> Excellent.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, and that'll settle in a little more.

>> Nicely done.

What I'm going to do at this point is we're going to go the oven and we'll just put it in to bake.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

So how long does the tart need to bake?

>> About 20 more minutes, I would say.

20 to 25, depending.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

So from the looks of these ingredients I think we are making a salad.

>> That is correct.

>> TRAVERSO: Is that right?

>> What we'll do, I'm going to take... a little bit of the green on this.

What I'm going to do then is put the apples in.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> A little bit of extra virgin olive oil... >> TRAVERSO: Mm, mm-hmm.

>> If you want to just you know drizzle that over.

>> TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm, okay.

>> Use your thumb or finger.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, too easy to over do it.

>> Just a little more in.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And then we're going to toss this a bit.

And that will be a nice topping for that salad, and make sure... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, so it will go on top, I like that.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, look at that.

That is a beauty.

>> That is... That is nice.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh my God.

>> You can see that it's baked all the way through.

It's not overcooked, you know, it's a nice golden brown.

>> TRAVERSO: Beautiful.

>> It's ready to go.

>> TRAVERSO: This is like fall wrapped up in a pastry shell.

>> It looks like leaves.

>> TRAVERSO: It does.

>> I want to go... go an eight cut on this.

You can see that flakiness of the crust.

>> TRAVERSO: So gorgeous.

♪ ♪ >> Beautiful.

That's nice.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> The last step, I've got the apple cider reduction.

And we go down and a little bit over.

I think what we need to do is taste this.

>> TRAVERSO: Yes.

>> And see what happens... >> TRAVERSO: I think we do need to do that.

>> You know, see what we've got.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, you don't have to ask me twice.

♪ ♪ This looks amazing.

Mm.

>> Oh, the salad's good.

>> TRAVERSO: That is so good!

>> None of the herbs are dominant.

I do detect the basil though.

>> TRAVERSO: It's like every flavor, every flavor receptor on my tongue is lit up and happy!

(laughing) Thank you for this.

>> My pleasure.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you for giving me a tour of this kitchen and making this incredible meal.

>> Thank you.

>> TRAVERSO: I'm going to cheers you on that.

>> Prost!

(laughter) ♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Moving east from Woodstock to Quechee, Vermont, there's a quick stop, must-see side trip before making our way to Block Island.

It's Vermont Quechee Gorge, located right along U.S. Route 4.

The gorge has been described by The Boston Globe as, "almost ridiculously pretty."

It's also frequently nicknamed Vermont's Little Grand Canyon.

The gorge was carved approximately 13,000 years ago during the Ice Age, when the Laurentide Ice Sheet retreated across the region.

Today it's considered one of Vermont's most spectacular wonders with its memorable vistas, especially when experiencing it from a prime location like this one, perched 165 feet above the Ottauquechee River.

It's also a family-friendly place with tons to do, both for great adventurers or those who just like to breathe in the sights and sounds of the outdoors.

♪ ♪ After taking in the views, we move south to another hidden treasure-- Block Island, located just off the coast of Rhode Island.

♪ ♪ If you're walking along the beautiful beaches of Block Island, off the southern coast of New England and you see something shiny peeking out from behind a rock, you may be one of the lucky few to find a glass orb hidden by artist Eben Horton.

Since 2012, Eben and his partner Jennifer Nauck have been hiding hundreds of these handblown treasures all over the island.

>> The glass float project is a public interactive art piece, where the public is encouraged to interact with this island, hunting out the glass floats that I make.

And if they find one, they can keep it.

>> NARRATOR: Curious about how these orbs were made, Richard caught up with the artists at their studio in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

>> WIESE: Hi, guys... Richard.

>> Eben Horton.

>> WIESE: Nice to meet you, I know it's kind of tough to stop you in the middle of work.

Hi-- Richard.

>> Hi, I'm Jen.

>> WIESE: Hi, Jen.

I could stare at this all day.

I mean, this is amazing.

It's one of those ancient crafts that you look at, and you say, "Wow, how do they do that?"

How did you get the idea for this whole project?

>> 2009 and 2010, the economy wasn't doing so good.

Especially if you were a glassblower.

So, I needed to have some sort of project that would keep me busy.

It was going to be a temporary thing.

And then, it just caught on.

>> WIESE: Can you take me through the process?

>> Sure.

>> Sure, yeah, we'll make one.

So, what Jen does is she takes what's called the gather out of the furnace for me.

Which is like scooping honey out of a honeypot.

>> WIESE: Oh my gosh.

>> WIESE: How hot does that get?

>> When I'm actually melting all the raw material that I use, it's at 2,300 degrees.

>> WIESE: I can even feel the heat from here.

You have to turn the pipe the whole time.

If you don't turn it, it wants to drip.

So, I use this wooden tool called a block to shape the glass.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> That centers it.

I just blew really hard and I capped the end of the pipe with my thumb.

>> WIESE: Oh yeah... And that captures the air, which expands as it heats up, and then pushes the bubble out for me.

And then when you squeeze down, you're starting to create the sphere shape.

And I'll blow it up some more.

And then I'll squeeze it down some more.

Now, this part of it's done.

And now, it's already hard.

(glass clinking) >> WIESE: I'm impressed.

>> So, now, I'll give it to Jen.

It'll break off.

And now, we're going to put a cap on the top of it to seal the hole.

So, 2,000-degree glass will then go on the top.

So, she cuts it... >> WIESE: I love the way they just cut it.

>> ...and then pushes down really hard with a stamp.

>> WIESE: For people who love scavenger hunts, how many do you think are left out there?

>> I don't know.

No one knows.

>> WIESE: No one knows.

>> And that's the mystery.

And that's the beauty of it.

>> WIESE: I think everyone likes the idea of finding buried treasure of some sort.

I'm actually excited to see this now, out on the beach.

So, I know we have a ferry to catch.

>> We do-- we've got to get out of here, You don't want to miss the ferry.

>> WIESE: No.

♪ ♪ When you're on Block Island, you can see four different states.

You can see New York to the west, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts to the north.

>> WIESE: Okay... oh, this is gorgeous.

Look at that beach.

When did it sort of take off to where people started making this a mission to find them?

>> I think we started hearing about it maybe in the last two to three years.

You start to realize that it's reaching so many people, not just in Rhode Island, but out of state as well.

>> WIESE: What would be the sort of process here now, to think of a good spot?

Nook, you're looking for nook.

>> I'm looking for nooks.

>> WIESE: Nooks, opposed to crannies.

>> Crannies, somewhere that's not out in the open.

Maybe a piece of something that shouldn't be there, like a rubber fisherman's glove or a lobster trap.

And I'll hide it in one of those.

My rules are to hide above the high tide line, and below the bluffs, because I don't want anybody climbing around on the cliffs.

>> WIESE: Okay.

Ooh, that looks a little tough.

>> Yeah.

>> You'd have to be looking for it.

>> So now that I've shown you how I hide them, you want to try to find one?

Just look for something that's not supposed to be here.

>> WIESE: Oh, you know, I totally know where it's going to be.

I totally can tell because one of the hints that you gave me is that you like to use manmade objects and I see a ball of cord, could be from a sailboat, but that's where I would look.

And, in all fairness, I really don't know.

But this is what I'm guessing.

Ah!

I am part of the golden orb club!

Scavenger hunts are so much fun.

>> When people come out here to Block Island, looking for the glass floats, I want them to not focus so much on the floats.

I would rather them enjoy just being here.

And if they find one, then that's an added bonus.

And they can have that forever.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: From Rhode Island we travel north to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where Amy meets up with Evan Mallett, co-owner of the Black Trumpet Bistro and a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Northeast.

Evan, who named his restaurant after a favorite wild mushroom, is an expert forager and he leads Amy on a trek into the woods to see what mushrooms and other edibles they can discover right outside his house.

>> TRAVERSO: Now I'm such a novice at foraging that I could just as easily have a great meal as I could kill myself and my family.

So I defer to your expertise on all matters of mushrooms.

>> That is very smart, I always encourage people to err on the side of thinking that they're stupid.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, no, that's a pretty good description of where I stand with mushrooms.

>> So we had a pretty dry end of the summer, and now a few days of high moisture, and humidity, and rain, which are really great.

It's really great timing to find wild mushrooms.

So we use porous bags when we forage because when we have an edible mushroom and we store it, it needs to breathe.

So that's going to allow them to continue breathing but it has the secondary mission of shedding spores through the holes in the bag so that we spread... >> TRAVERSO: Distributes the mushrooms.

>> We distribute the wealth, exactly, for next year.

So we have almost just walked on a lobster mushroom... >> TRAVERSO: Oh my gosh.

>> As we were walking up the path.

>> TRAVERSO: Look at that.

>> As you can see it's pushing up all that soil and humus.

It's like this kind of intense piney, fruity smell that's in the air.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> And so that comes from a genus of mushrooms called Armillaria, so this is a... >> TRAVERSO: So I'm cutting them so there is more mushroom to come up later, right?

>> You want to leave more mushroom there, you never want to rip them out by their, their roots so to speak.

Because we want their mycelium to stay intact so we can come back and it will bear fruit year after year.

>> So here's the cauliflower mushroom... >> TRAVERSO: Wow, cauliflower-- I see, I see it.

>> You see why it's called that, right.

>> TRAVERSO: Yup.

So, a little, little past its prime on this side but beautiful over here.

>> And for the most part that's considered a choice edible and it has a wonderful flavor and texture to it.

>> TRAVERSO: Should I harvest it?

>> Let's take it, yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

Leave something behind.

>> Yeah, that's perfect.

You need to leave something behind and then check here for any major infestation.

All right, so after this we're going to go grab a couple of hedgehog mushrooms and head back to the kitchen.

>> TRAVERSO: Ah, I can't wait.

>> All right.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> Yeah, this is one that wasn't here last time I looked and it's spectacularly huge.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, it's so beautiful.

>> When you find hedgehogs in this stage they're also called sweet tooth.

>> TRAVERSO: I see why they're called hedgehogs.

>> Yeah, exactly.

They look like bread buns I think when they're sitting on the ground and really easily identifiable because of the spikes on the bottom.

So we did have some great finds out there today and some of... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, I remember that one.

>> Colorful diversity comes from those lobster mushrooms.

>> TRAVERSO: I cannot get over how gorgeous the hedgehog mushroom is.

>> And then we have this, precious, fragile... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, the cauliflower.

>> Yes.

All right, so the plan now is to take these beautiful mushrooms and chop them up into little pieces.

>> TRAVERSO: Aww.

>> So I'm glad that we got to appreciate what they look like whole.

>> TRAVERSO: Yes.

They're so beautiful.

>> And we roast them and put them into a burger.

>> TRAVERSO: All right, we're cleaning, I see a couple spots here that you're just going to need to cut away.

And this is the one that's sort of similar to a porcini, right?

>> Yes, exactly.

One of my favorites, that Armillaria is spectacular, isn't it?

Put a little bit of salt on there, and some olive oil, and then we go right in the oven.

And now we're going to take some ground beef right there, and we're going to mix that with the chioggia beet... >> TRAVERSO: Oh right.

>> ...which is also known as a candy stripe beet.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> So these are those mushrooms that we just popped in the oven.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> Also ground up.

So I press it gently.

(stove ignitor clicks) So carefully place it in there.

So you want to get a nice hard sear on that.

And then the nice function that cheese serves in a burger like this is it's going to make the surface a little more cohesive so it will come out cleanly.

Now we're going to go right in the oven, and what I like to eat them medium rare but we might go a little beyond that.

>> TRAVERSO: Toasted buns.

>> Toasted bun here.

>> TRAVERSO: Good.

>> And then carefully... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, that is a gorgeous patty.

>> Because they do have a fragile burger there.

So I like to put the ketchup underneath the burger but I forgot to do that.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> But it also makes a nice glue for the greens.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, a little lettuce on there.

>> You need that crunch on there.

There we go, that's our final step.

>> TRAVERSO: All right, here we go.

Mmm.

I almost want all my burgers to be blended now.

And thank you for the lesson in foraging.

This is something I've always wanted to do.

I've never had seen so many different types of mushrooms in one place.

That was great grounds.

>> We got lucky today, it was really great.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> Thank you, I think you were the good luck charm.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughing) >> Come back foraging with me any time.

>> TRAVERSO: I will.

(both laugh)