Weekends with Yankee

>> NARRATOR: Coming up on Weekends with Yankee.

>> RICHARD WIESE: Will you look at this?

>> NARRATOR: Richard and Amy are on a road and rail trip through New Hampshire's White Mountains to soak up the beauty of the season.

>> AMY TRAVERSO: Looks like a backdrop!

>> NARRATOR: Next we head to the Boston Public Garden... >> These are the only Swan Boats like this in the entire world.

>> NARRATOR: ...For launch day of the legendary Swan Boats, and Amy explores coffee in Rhode Island.

>> They're still warm.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh wow.

>> NARRATOR: So 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 and adventurer 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.

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

Weekends with Yankee.

>> Major funding provided by: >> ANNOUNCER: The Vermont Country Store, purveyors of the practical and hard-to-find, a family-owned tradition since 1946.

Merchandise and products from around the block and around the world.

>> ANNOUNCER: Family Tree Magazine-- articles, podcasts, online courses, and webinar resources for discovering, preserving, and celebrating family history.

>> ANNOUNCER: Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts-- the first public park in America; the first fried clams; the first university in America; the first basketball game.

What's first for you?

>> WIESE: I have to admit, I am very excited about today and I almost feel like a bit of a kid because autumn in New England is something that I've enjoyed my entire life.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, well, I'm really excited to be here with you because we are in the middle of the White Mountains, just one of the most beautiful places to see foliage.

We have hit, basically, what looks like peak foliage.

>> WIESE: All the maple trees scattered among... >> TRAVERSO: Mm-hm.

>> WIESE: ...some of the conifers, it just gives it that beautiful contrast.

>> TRAVERSO: The range of colors you get in New England is really special.

It's what draws people from all over the world to come here at exactly this time of year.

And this area where we are is so special because it's basically, you know, a string of little classic New England villages... >> WIESE: Sure.

>> TRAVERSO: ...surrounded by beautiful mountains, and overlooks, and waterfalls and just all kinds of beauty.

And, boy, we're going to be all in the middle of it today.

>> WIESE: Will you look at this?

>> TRAVERSO: It's so beautiful.

>> WIESE: I feel like I'm touching a movie screen.

You know, at Yankee Magazine, they must always be asking you, "Amy, Amy, when should I come and see the leaves?"

>> TRAVERSO: They call me personally!

No, we do get that question a lot, and, "When is the peak, when is the peak?

I want to plan around the peak."

The fact is there's not one peak moment where everything is bright and then it all drops.

It's a wave, and the wave actually starts early in the season in the northwestern part of Vermont, and then it kind of moves south and east, and so the coastal areas are the last to turn.

It's a window of a couple weeks where it's going to be gorgeous.

>> WIESE: So I think we should continue our journey.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah, we've got another fun stop for you, but I'm glad we got to take in the wide view of the foliage.

>> WIESE: You know, you can't spell fun without A-M-Y.

(laughter) >> TRAVERSO: Let's go.

Well, Richard, I am so excited to be here with you.

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time.

We're in North Conway, and here's the Conway Scenic Railroad, which is a beautiful set of trains, like, antique, kind of hearkening back to the late Victorian era when the trains first came here and started bringing all the tourists.

So excited, and I brought treats.

>> WIESE: Oh, boy, you don't just bring treats, you bring treats.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughs) >> All aboard!

>> So we'll start here in North Conway and we'll be going down to Conway.

It's about a five-mile trip, and then we come back the same way.

We have the mountains as we're going down on our right, so we have part of the village on the left.

(train bell chiming, horn blaring) >> TRAVERSO: And you were saying earlier, the red color from the maple indicates how much sugar there is?

>> WIESE: Yeah, so not to take the magic out of it, when production of chlorophyll, the green stuff that they use as food, ends and the colors that are there already are now... become apparent.

>> TRAVERSO: So when I was a kid, we always went for a fall foliage drive... >> WIESE: Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: ...and we went apple picking.

And when you go apple picking, you get apple cider, and apple cider donuts!

>> WIESE: Whoa!

>> TRAVERSO: And I brought some.

>> WIESE: There's a question to where they were actually developed.

Is this a distinctly New England donut?

>> TRAVERSO: It's an apple country tradition.

>> WIESE: Right.

>> TRAVERSO: But we can't say New England owns it, but we can say we certainly perfected it.

>> WIESE: Cheers, Amy, good to see you again.

>> TRAVERSO: Cheers, you too.

Well, it's really hopping today in North Conway!

>> WIESE: It really is, and I know I've been here in the winter and in the summer, but during fall foliage time, it's sort of the peak time... >> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> WIESE: ...to come here.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, we couldn't come to North Conway on a foliage road trip and not stop at Zeb's, which is kind of the ultimate New England general store.

It's actually only about 30 years old, but it's very much modeled after the classic mercantile of, like, the 1800s.

>> WIESE: Yeah, and this is back when you didn't have mail order products coming within a day, you needed a store that had nails and candy, >> TRAVERSO: Yes!

>> WIESE: ...and flour, and sugar, and all sorts of things.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, one thing I love about Zeb's modern mission is it really serves as a launching pad for great local businesses.

Oh, it's so cute in here.

>> WIESE: So this is Zeb's, huh?

>> TRAVERSO: Hi!

>> WIESE: How are you?

This is my first time in Zeb's.

The one thing that I've always heard, that this is the pulse of the town.

>> It's a gathering place.

People say, "When you go to North Conway, let's meet at Zeb's."

>> TRAVERSO: So what products are you guys known for?

>> Our maple syrup, right now, is really big, our hot sauce, we have some gourmet food items that we kind of specialize in.

>> TRAVERSO: And a lot of them are locally made, right?

>> Yes, yes.

We do try to get a lot of our stock from New Hampshire, Maine, New England.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> Obviously, we do have some that are outside of that area, but most of our stock does come from New England.

It is called Zeb's after a seaman.

He was a hardworking seaman off of Martha's Vineyard.

They liked his work ethic, and they thought it was a good name for the store.

>> SW012.

S'mores kits.

>> WIESE: Thank you very much.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you.

>> WIESE: It was a pleasure coming here.

>> You're welcome, have a great day.

>> WIESE: Thank you.

>> Bye-bye.

>> TRAVERSO: So I wanted to take you here to Cathedral Ledge, because it's a spectacular view.

It's a great view that you can access either by driving up, so you don't actually have to do a full hike, or you can rock climb, which is a very popular destination for rock climbers.

>> WIESE: And what I've always enjoyed is the knowledge of some of the geology.

The classic sort of U-shaped valleys were all scoured by glaciers that just came and went over the last few hundred thousand years.

You know, people consider this the granite state.

It really was born out of volcanic activity.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, welcome to nature's cathedral.

>> WIESE: I mean, this is spectacular, and just all the different spots of color.

>> TRAVERSO: You know, New England really is the global destination for fall foliage, and the reasons for that, I call them the four Ts.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughs) Which is a little goofy, but you've got timing, which means you have a good stretch of, like, six weeks, yeah, of foliage.

>> WIESE: A month.

>> TRAVERSO: And then you have the terrain, which is these rolling hills, and these valleys and these curving roads, and then the last two are tree types.

So you've got the sugar maples, which are red, and the beech trees, which are orange, and the aspens, which are yellow, so you've got the full range of color.

>> WIESE: You know, it's images you've seen in postcards, calendars.

This is our last hurrah of color for the year.

Amy, there's so much to do here.

It's more than just beautiful natural scenery.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, yeah, Jackson has long been a tourism destination.

It's one of the most charming villages in all of New England, and it's attracted tourists since the train started coming up in the late 1800s.

So they're always innovating how can we bring more people to town?

And so one way they've done it is the pumpkin people.

>> WIESE: And who does not like pumpkin people?

>> TRAVERSO: So the pumpkins are the heads or gourds or different types of squash.

>> WIESE: Right.

>> TRAVERSO: And then they kind of use them to create a scene of little, like, people, groupings, animals, it's really adorable.

And everybody competes in the village to create the best pumpkin people display.

So the winner is here at the Snowflake Inn.

>> WIESE: And, you know, already, I can tell it's very classic.

It's the Winnie the Pooh pumpkin display.

>> TRAVERSO: All the happy childhood memories.

>> WIESE: Yeah, you know, this is very creative.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, hi!

>> WIESE: Oh, hi.

>> TRAVERSO: How are you?

>> Good.

>> TRAVERSO: Did you make this whole display?

>> I cannot take responsibility for this whole thing.

It was definitely a joint effort.

>> WIESE: At first, you wouldn't notice everything to be a gourd, but then you start looking at the nose and the... >> Mm-hm.

>> WIESE: Every object.

>> Tigger is a butternut squash.

We have Blue Hubbard for Eeyore.

>> TRAVERSO: Eeyore, yeah.

>> WIESE: I love the fact that the rabbit making s'mores, that on the end, which looks like a marshmallow from a distance, is that a tiny gourd?

>> TRAVERSO: Tiny, tiny pumpkin.

>> They are pumpkins.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, Richard, those little marshmallow pumpkins are making me think of the s'mores kits that I bought at Zeb's.

So why don't we go toast some marshmallows?

>> WIESE: Absolutely.

Amy, we did a lot today.

>> TRAVERSO: I wanted us to have this perfect fall foliage sort of road trip day.

>> WIESE: Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: And I feel like it exceeded my biggest hopes.

>> WIESE: When I think of New Hampshire in autumn, especially in October, I just think that the possibilities go beyond just leaves.

>> TRAVERSO: They really do.

>> WIESE: And how perfect is it to finish with this?

>> TRAVERSO: I know.

>> WIESE: S'mores, fire, foliage.

>> TRAVERSO: It's so beautiful.

Same time next year?

>> WIESE: You betcha.

(Amy chuckles) >> NARRATOR: Every year, as winter turns to spring, Boston marks the changing of the seasons with a treasured tradition.

>> Good morning, everyone.

It is a pleasure to be here to open up the first boat ride of the season.

>> We're here celebrating the 144th season of the Swan Boats here.

So it started in 1877, and the same family has continuously run the Swan Boats for the past 144 seasons, so I'd like to give it up for the Paget family.

(cheers and applause) >> First memory is very similar to a lot of kids in Boston.

I came here on a field trip when I was in kindergarten.

I remember the difference being was my dad was here, that I broke away from my group and I ran down to give my dad a hug.

>> NARRATOR: Lyn's great-grandfather, Robert Paget, introduced the first Swan Boats to the Boston Public Garden in 1877.

He died a year later and his wife, Julia, took over at a time when few women ran businesses.

>> So I look at Julia, and I think, really, she is the reason why we're here today.

She had to have been remarkably resourceful, because year in and year out, the argument would be made that she wasn't suitable to run a business, because women don't do that, and they wouldn't know how to do that.

She persisted and she was able to do it for many, many years.

These are the only Swan Boats like this in the entire world, these are historic boats.

They sit on two pontoons, with six benches that are about the size of a typical park bench, and a swan mounted on the back and a driver on the back that is pedaling the boat, just like any paddle boat.

>> NARRATOR: Before opening day, Lyn and her cousin, Phil, and a team of helpers haul and assemble the boats that have been stored at a house in Boston over the fall and winter months.

>> Watch, you're clear.

>> We have 12 pontoons that weigh anywhere from 800 to 900 pounds apiece, so it's a big crew to lift them.

>> One, two, three.

>> You could call us like an oral history business.

Phil would have learned as I did from my dad and he from his.

>> You can put on any bench but the sixth one.

Do not put on the sixth bench.

>> Building a Swan Boat is actually a fairly complicated process and that's all in his head.

When people come in to help, he has to teach year in and year out.

>> That fits like a glove.

(indistinct) Perfect, it was designed that way.

>> Well, you know, my hopes are simply that the traditions stay the same and Boston is a city that really prides itself on tradition and history.

>> TRAVERSO: I'm at the beautiful Ocean House in Westerly, Rhode Island, and we are having a proper Nor'easter storm.

Now these storms are dramatic, but they're also really beautiful, and this is just very cozy coffee weather for me.

Now coffee is the subject of today because I'm going to be visiting one of my favorite roasters, Dave's Coffee.

And there I'm going to learn how they roast their beans and make one of their iconic ingredients, which is coffee syrup.

Hello.

>> Hello.

>> TRAVERSO: Are you Dave?

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Hi, I'm Amy.

>> Hi, Amy.

>> TRAVERSO: So nice to meet you.

>> Nice to meet you.

>> TRAVERSO: So we wanted to come visit you because I love...

I love your coffee and I love your coffee syrup.

>> Thank you.

>> TRAVERSO: Also, you know, Rhode Island has this unique culture around coffee.

>> Yes.

>> TRAVERSO: I'm thinking of like coffee milk, coffee ice cream, the coffee cabinet.

Why is that?

Why does Rhode Island have such a relationship with coffee?

>> I don't know.

Being a Rhode Islander myself, I know like from the time you go to school, you're always offered like white milk, chocolate milk, and coffee milk.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> So I think from an early age people are just like used to coffee.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> And it just grows on them as they get older and becomes part of their life.

>> TRAVERSO: I wonder if it was sort of like, (laughing): "We got to get these kids hyped up to go work in the factory."

>> (laughing): Yeah, right?

>> TRAVERSO: "Let's give them coffee milk."

>> You know that and the coffee syrup goes back to the '30s.

I don't know if you know the story of coffee syrup.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, no.

I'd love to hear it.

>> They traced it back to a soda fountain in a pharmacy.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh... >> And they used the old coffee and sweetened it with sugar and mixed it with milk because they were looking for something for like the kids that would come in.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> And that was the first like iteration of coffee syrup.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, that's great.

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Do you have anything you make with your coffee and your coffee syrup?

>> Yeah, we do a really popular coffee milk latte.

>> TRAVERSO: Ooh, that sounds perfect.

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

I'd love one of those.

Thank you.

>> All right, great.

There you go.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you.

>> You're welcome.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, what a pretty... that's gorgeous.

Okay, let's take a little sip.

Mm!

Oh my God.

>> It's so good, right?

>> TRAVERSO: It's like a childhood treat of my dreams, but grown up, and I love it!

I love it!

This is so great.

>> Good.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, well I've tasted the magic, can we go take a look at how you make the magic?

>> Of course.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, great.

I'll follow you.

>> This is our receiving area where we get in our green beans.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> Some Brazilian coffee here that's ready to roast.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And this is our production room where we actually do the roasting.

>> TRAVERSO: It smells really good and that's a very pretty roaster.

>> So right now, the beans are inside the machine.

They're roasting and it's about a minute and a half or so before Mike like releases the beans into the cooling tray.

So once the beans are let out, the fan goes on, and it cools them.

It's kind of like blanching vegetables.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, right.

>> You want to stop the roasting.

>> TRAVERSO: So you want to put them in the ice water.

Okay.

>> Exactly.

You don't them to keep on-- >> TRAVERSO: But you don't want to put them in water.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(both laughing) >> TRAVERSO: Then you're making coffee.

>> Right.

>> TRAVERSO: It smells so nice.

>> Yeah.

Like if you grab some, they're still hot, but it's really once you grind them.

>> TRAVERSO: Is it okay?

>> Yeah.

Yeah, go ahead.

They're still warm.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, wow.

But then when you dry them... >> When you grind them... >> TRAVERSO: Oh, grind them.

>> ...that really releases the fragrance and the flavor.

>> TRAVERSO: So this is just one of the varieties you grind here?

>> Yes.

>> TRAVERSO: Could I taste some of them?

>> Yes, absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

Great.

>> This is our cupping table.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

Can you walk me through the whole process of cupping?

>> Sure.

So after we grind each sample of the coffee, we pour boiling water into each cup and it steeps for four minutes.

And after that steeping process is done, we take a spoon, and with the back of the spoon, it's called breaking the crust because the coffee rises to the top.

It creates like this crust on there, so at that point, you break the crust and smell again.

So you'll break the crust, smell, and you get another really good opportunity to appreciate the aroma.

And then after that, you scrape the coffee off, and put it in a dish.

And then with a spoon, you take a little spoon, and that's where you hear like a slurping, almost like a wine tasting where you're like... (slurps) You know?

>> TRAVERSO: Yup.

(slurps) Mm... >> So you do that because you want to aerate your palate and also it kind of like sprays the coffee into your mouth as opposed to if you were just to drink it from the cup.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> So it, it hits all of your taste buds in your mouth and then you can get a much more accurate like taste of the coffee.

>> TRAVERSO: This has been so much fun and I love just seeing the whole process.

>> Yes.

>> TRAVERSO: So I'm going to be meeting with a pastry chef now to make some amazing things with your coffee.

Could I get some coffee syrup to go?

>> Yes.

Sounds great.

>> TRAVERSO: So, Chef Maya, what are we making today?

>> So today we're making an opera cake.

This is a sort of low layered French torte created originally for the Paris Opera, which is why it's called opera cake.

And it has almond, coffee, and chocolate together-- a wonderful combination.

>> TRAVERSO: Nice.

Okay, so we went earlier today to Dave's Coffee.

I thought it would be fun to go from, yeah, from, from the sort of simple cup of coffee to this beautiful elaborate dessert from France.

Let's talk through this cake.

>> So first we're going to create a Joconde cake, which is a almond flour sponge cake.

We're going to layer it into three different layers, very, very, very thin.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> And then create a buttercream with the coffee extract from Dave's Coffee.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, okay.

>> Coffee simple syrup, ganache, and then we're going to layer them into a cake.

Honestly, one of my favorites of all time.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, I'm so glad.

I can't wait to make it.

Okay, so this is something I actually am eager to ask you about because, as I understand it, a lot of baking recipes will talk about sifted flour, and in some cases that's really necessary.

But if it's an older recipe, it often had to do more with the fact that flour was less fine back then?

>> Okay, so here's the thing, is that there are certain things you always have to sift and almond flour and powdered sugar are two of them.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

Yes.

>> Cocoa powder is the other one.

Absolutely baking soda, always soda, always clumps, always have to sift it.

>> TRAVERSO: That makes sense.

>> But a lot of flours, it really depends upon the recipe, you know, and what's going to happen to it later.

Actually, speaking of flour, we could use that A.P.

flour that's right there too.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

So that we're going to build it in the ring mold.

>> TRAVERSO: So this, it's funny, because you hear ring mold and you think circle, but this is a bigger type of ring mold for, I'm sure, a professional kitchen.

>> Cutting around the edges.

Obviously, nobody at home is probably going to have one of these, but you can always just layer it without one.

Just this keeps the-- >> TRAVERSO: Edges super clean.

>> Edges super clean, yeah, exactly.

So we're going to take our chocolate glaze or pte glacer.

We're going to spread a very thin layer.

>> TRAVERSO: And so this is made with chocolate and...?

>> And oil, and it just basically makes it so that you don't have to temper the chocolate.

>> TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm, but it stays glossy.

>> And it stays glossy.

It still has a nice snap to it.

So this case it's just acting as a base for our cake.

We're actually going to take what we have here and turn it upside down.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, wow.

>> Next step is the simple syrup.

>> TRAVERSO: So simple syrup is just water and sugar.

>> That's right.

>> TRAVERSO: In equal proportions.

>> Equal parts water, sugar, and that's what makes it simple.

We're going to add... (laughing) a little bit of the-- and by a little, I mean a lot.

>> TRAVERSO: Making it a more complex syrup.

(laughing) >> With three components now.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> Of the coffee simple syrup.

Last layer.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>>> The top of... the opera.

>> TRAVERSO: I was going to make a Phantom of the Opera joke, but it doesn't work at all.

(laughing) So this is a cake that you've already chilled.

>> Yes.

>> TRAVERSO: And it's really beautiful and nicely...

It's just all settled into itself.

Okay, so let's see the couverture.

>> All right.

So we're going for it.

(Amy laughs) >> TRAVERSO: And you're put-- oh, that's beautiful.

>> So our-our last kind of step here is to decorate it.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

And usually when you do that, the classical opera way to decorate is you either put gold leaf on it or you literally write "opera" on top of it in chocolate.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, I've seen it that way.

>> Yes.

>> TRAVERSO: Yes.

So I've tasted so many great coffee things today and now I get to taste the masterpiece.

Mm... >> Mm-hmm.

It's still one of my favorites.

>> TRAVERSO: Mm.

(Maya laughing) The chocolate, coffee, almond, just simple and amazing and everything enhances everything else.

>> Mm-hmm.

It's a really delicious dessert.

I don't know what to tell you.

(both laughing) >> TRAVERSO: Those French know something, huh?

>> I think they do.

>> NARRATOR: For exclusive video, recipes, travel ideas, tips from the editors, and access to the Weekends With Yankee digital magazine, go to weekendswithyankee.com and follow us on social media, @yankeemagazine.

Yankee magazine, the inspiration for the television series, provides recipes, feature articles, and the best of New England from the people who know it best.

Six issues for $10.

Call 1-800-221-8154. Credit cards accepted.

>> ANNOUNCER: Major funding provided by: >> ANNOUNCER: The Vermont Country Store, purveyors of the practical and hard-to-find, a family-owned tradition since 1946.

Merchandise and products from around the block and around the world.

>> ANNOUNCER: Family Tree Magazine-- articles, podcasts, online courses, and webinar resources for discovering, preserving, and celebrating family history.

>> ANNOUNCER: Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts-- the first public park in America; the first fried clams; the first university in America; the first basketball game.

What's first for you?

>> ANNOUNCER: Closed captioning provided by Plymouth, Massachusetts, home to Plymouth Rock, the ship Mayflower, and so much more.

>> ANNOUNCER: Closed captioning for Weekends with Yankee provided by the Woodstock Inn and Resort, an American legacy resort in Woodstock, Vermont.

>> All aboard!

(train horn blaring) >> TRAVERSO: Smells so nice.

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, wow.

>> WIESE: S'mores, fire, foliage.

>> TRAVERSO: It's so beautiful.

Same time next year?

>> WIESE: You betcha.

(Amy chuckles)