Long Island, NY...The North Fork

Last week I took my mom, brother and his bride-to-be to a cooking class at the Farmhouse Kitchen in Southold. My mom and I have attended Paula's classes before and I thought that this particular class "Entertaining North Fork Style" would be a great fit for them. They are planning a North Fork wedding at the beautiful Macari Vineyard. Our first stop was at the vineyard and I was able to look at some photo books of previous weddings held there. They were gorgeous. There is a great red barn on the property and it will make for some beautiful wedding pics. I can't wait! We sat on the deck with a bottle of wine and brainstormed about some centerpiece ideas. I'm so excited for them! They are still looking for a caterer, so if you know of any out in that area, please let me know.

After Macari, we had a few minutes before our class was to begin so I had to stop in at the Whiteflower Farmhouse. I have been dying to see this shop after finding their website and blog. Such a beautiful store, I bought one of their teacup candles for each of us and it smells amazing! This store inspired my sister-in-law to think about using gray and robin's egg blue as the colors for her wedding.

So we finally made it to the cooking class which was held by the pool. It's so relaxing at Paula's. For us it's like being on another planet. You sit, relax, listen and watch Paula cook up some amazing foods and the best part of course it tasting it all. During this class she demonstrated and we tasted: Grilled Fruit Salsa on Grilled Brochetta, Summer Sippers, Grilled Corn, North Fork Baked Stuffed Clams, Grilled Clams, Mini Pesto Burgers with Red Pepper Mayo, Watermelon Salad, Grilled Romaine Salad with Blueberries and Feta(who would've thought? This was amazing), and dessert was Grilled Pound Cake with Nutella, Grilled Peaches and Toasted Coconut. I wish I took pics of all of this great food but we ate it too fast!

After the class ended, we drove down to the end of Paula's street. There is a little private beach there and I took a couple of pics of the views (that's my brother's fiancee in one of them). Right across the water is the South Fork of Long Island where you will find the Hamptons. Also very beautiful, but the North is my favorite! I just had to pull over to take a pic of that gorgeous field of sunflowers we spotted on our way home from a perfect day....

If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend this experience. Paula and her husband also own a vineyard - Croteaux Vineyard - which is also on the property of their home complete with an adorable tasting barn shown in the photos below.

Clicking on the highlighted text above will take you to the mentioned sites.

Click HERE for previous post about the Farmhouse Kitchen experience.