Williams Farm Sugarhouse, Deerfield, MA

I love this time of year in New England. The snow begins to melt away and you can feel springtime in the air. The tulips are beginning to pop up, and the sugar shacks are busy making maple syrup!

Williams Farm Sugarhouse is just up the road from me, and they do a booming business this time of year. It's always fun to stop in and have some pancakes. The sugar house is open from mid-February to early April, so it's probably a good idea to call ahead to make sure they're open.

Williams Farm Sugarhouse, 491 Greenfield Road, Deerfield, MA 01342 

413-773-5186

Welsh cakes

To celebrate St. David’s Day I decided to bake some Welsh cakes. They’re very traditional all over Wales and they’re extremely easy to make. My great grandmother used to bake these when I was little, but I never got her actual recipe which is a terrible shame.

Recommended baking soundtrack: Tom Jones “Gold” or Only Men Aloud

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, chopped into pieces

1/3 cup dried currants (soaked for about 15 to 20 minutes in a cup of Earl Grey tea and then drained)

5 T milk

1 egg

Preparation

• Mix the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. 
• Put this flour mixture into a food processor, and add the chopped butter. Pulse the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. I usually do this in about three or four smaller batches.
• Add the drained currants; then whisk the milk and egg together and add this to the dry flour mixture.
• Stir until the mixture begins to come together in clumps. It will be quite dry and crumbly, but you can add a little more milk if necessary. 
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured bread board until it is about  1/2 inch thick, or even a little thinner. Cut out cookie shapes using a 3 inch round cookie cutter. In Wales it’s traditional to use a fluted or scalloped cookie cutter.  Be sure to use up any leftover dough!
• Heat a heavy nonstick skillet over medium to high heat. Place enough cakes on the griddle so that it’s not crowded. You don't need to use any oil as the cakes don't stick to the skillet.
• Reduce the heat slightly, and cook until cakes firm up and brown slightly. Cook them for about four minutes or so on each side. Check them frequently to make sure they don't burn.
• Move them to a cookie cooling rack, and sprinkle lightly with some granulated sugar when they're still warm.

These are wonderful with tea or a big glass of cold milk.

Flatbread Company, Paia, Maui

The atmosphere here is very noisy, with lots of activity in the open-plan kitchen and prep area at the back of the restaurant. You can watch the cooks slide the pizzas in and out of the oven, and there's lots of theatrical dough spinning and things to look at when you wait, and we did have a long wait, so we did get to see lots of spinning. Although all the ingredients used here are organic, and locally produced, our visit to the Flatbread Company in Paia was a sore disappointment. We had an extremely long wait, and then when our pizza did arrive it was a baby pizza! Super tiny, you could say a premature pizza! Did it shrink in the oven? Where are the ingredients? A little lean on fixings, and that's an understatement. That said, we loved the creamy sharpiness of the local goat cheese combined with the sweetness of the red onions. But the question we ask ourselves is "would we go back?" and the answer is sadly no. 

89 Hana Highway
Paia, HI 96779
(808) 579-8989

Amigo's Express, Banyan Tree Park, Wailuku, Maui

We fell into Amigo's Express, wandering around Wailuku. It's nestled under the branches of a huge, sprawling banyan tree with the West Maui Mountains in the distance. What a perfect spot to eat lunch! Plus, we happened to stop by on a Tuesday when they have $1 specials. I love the taste of cilantro, lime, corn tortillas and carne asada. Heavenly!

Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, Banyan Tree Park, on the corner of Vineyard and Market streets. 

(808) 357-8001 or (808) 344-8771

Akamai Drive-Thru Coffee Stand, Kahului, Maui

Definitely visit Akamai Drive-Thru Coffee Stand when you're in Maui. Great coffee in a great location!

Check out this review from the Maui Time web site. It seems they're highly rated on the island. I quite fancy a nice cup of coffee at this very minute, and of course a healthy portion of macadamia nut cream pie to go with it would be heavenly!

100 Pakaula Street

Kahului, HI, 96732

808-495-0055