Weekends with Yankee

>> 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, and uncover the hidden New England that only locals know.

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

This week, we explore how New England's past continues to shape its present.

First, we take a tasty trip back in time at Scott Farm Orchard in Dummerston, Vermont, which grows more than 100 apple varieties, some dating back to the 1600s.

>> TRAVERSO: There's a lot of honey for me in this.

>> I get a little guava.

>> TRAVERSO: Mmm!

>> NARRATOR: Next, we swing through New Hampshire and find that old-school farming techniques are very much alive at Coppal House Farm, where much of the equipment is still powered by draft horses.

>> Don't you love a back-seat driver?

You know, here I am, front-seat driver.

>> WIESE: No, I'm appreciating it.

>> NARRATOR: For the finale, we hop aboard the windjammer J&E Riggin, a majestic, two-masted schooner built in 1927 that still sails along the Maine coast.

>> This is our 19th year owning the vessel.

The boat's going to turn 90 next year.

>> WIESE: 90!

>> NARRATOR: And back in the test kitchen, Amy takes inspiration from our orchard visit to make some delectable apple cider doughnut muffins.

>> TRAVERSO: All the flavor of the cider doughnut, but it's a muffin.

>> NARRATOR: It's all coming up on Weekends with Yankee.

>> Funding provided by: >> The Vermont Country Store, the purveyors of the practical and hard-to-find since 1946.

>> NARRATOR: We start today's adventure in Dummerston, Vermont, nestled in the spectacular Connecticut River Valley, where we explore historic Scott Farm Orchard.

It was here that author Rudyard Kipling wrote The Jungle Book.

But the reason Amy and Richard are visiting is to learn about and taste some of the farm's 100-plus varieties of heirloom apples, many of which date back at least a century.

>> TRAVERSO: This is really an extraordinary apple farm.

We're going to taste some incredible varieties.

Hi, Zeke.

>> Hello.

>> TRAVERSO: I'm Amy Traverso.

We've met once at CiderDays.

>> Yes, oh, okay.

>> TRAVERSO: So happy to be with you.

>> WIESE: I'm Richard Wiese.

>> Yes, nice to meet you.

>> TRAVERSO: I just so admire what you do with apples, and I can't wait to get out into the orchards and see some of these varieties that you grow.

>> Well, I'm ready to go-- do you want to go?

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, good, let's go-- yes.

>> Yeah.

>> WIESE: Yeah.

I call shotgun.

>> One of the reasons I love apples is the relationship that I can have with the trees that produce the fruit.

I go back year after year to prune and shape them, every fall to harvest their fruit, and then to sell it to all the people that come through our door here.

All right.

>> TRAVERSO: These are Black Oxfords?

>> These are Black Oxfords.

They're an apple that grew originally in Oxford County in Maine.

I took just a piece of wood, a branch like this, from a Black Oxford tree that I'd collected when I was in Maine, and spliced it into that split that I made in the trunk.

>> TRAVERSO: Right.

>> So the top of this tree came from a twig like that.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, my gosh.

>> WIESE: I'd love to try it.

>> When I come out in the morning, I have to taste about a dozen varieties to see how they're coming along.

And I'm tasting for the starches... >> TRAVERSO: Thank you.

>> ..if it tastes like a piece of wadded-up paper in my mouth after a couple of minutes, I know I've got to wait a while.

It's a fine-grained flesh, it's a little juicy.

It's lacking in acidity, and so it has-- it's a mildly sweet apple.

This is all hand labor-- from grafting the trees to pruning the trees in the winter, harvesting them, and then grading and packing them out, it's all done by hand, so... Let's go meet the crew and see how they empty their picking buckets.

>> WIESE: Hi, guys.

And they don't get bruised by dumping them?

>> No, no, they are very careful in how they let them out of the bucket.

>> WIESE: Gently.

>> See, the canvas has an opening in the bottom, and so they can open that and let the apples out very gently.

I think of myself as a curator of apples.

This is a part of our cultural history that we can taste.

It can delight our senses.

And so I think it's important to preserve those.

This is a Baldwin.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you.

>> Now, this was the most popular apple in New England.

It originated in the early 1700s, and it stores very well, makes great pie.

>> WIESE: So why has the Baldwin sort of fallen out of favor?

I've never seen it in a store.

>> Well, in the mid-1930s, there was a wicked freeze that killed most of the Baldwin trees, and farmers were reluctant to replant with Baldwin.

That's when they started planting McIntosh, which was a cold, hardy Canadian apple.

>> TRAVERSO: Zeke, I've tasted your ciders-- they're some of the best I've ever had.

Can we go see how you do it?

>> Sure, we're, we're pressing this morning, so let's, let's go.

>> TRAVERSO: Great.

>> Okay.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, thanks.

>> WIESE: Terrific.

>> So here's our farm market.

We're going to go see the cider-making.

>> TRAVERSO: All right.

>> Right through here.

Erin, this is Amy and Richard.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughs) >> WIESE: Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: I'll let-- nice to meet you.

>> Pleasure to meet you.

>> WIESE: Hi, I'm Richard.

>> Richard, pleasure to meet you.

>> WIESE: I was expecting to see the big wooden press with her going... >> Ah, well this is a new era.

We've gone to stainless steel.

Yeah, and we're using some Cox's Orange Pippin here, the last bushel that's going to go into this mix.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look at-- they're little!

>> Yeah, yeah, smaller this year, yeah, but they give a nice sweet floral flavor to the cider, so we used a couple of bushels of this, and we used something that's more tart, like the Reinettes or Ashmead's Kernel, and then we used something like Blue Pearmain or Sheep's Nose for... >> TRAVERSO: Uh-huh.

>> It has a lot of pectins, so it gives it a rich mouthfeel.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, right.

>> WIESE: You sound like a winemaker.

>> This-- it's all in the blend.

>> TRAVERSO: Are these apples the final apples for this point?

>> Yes.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> I have already put in eight bushels, and this is the last one to go in.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, wow, okay.

I can't wait to try it.

>> Well, let's go.

>> All right.

(apple grinder humming) >> TRAVERSO: Last one!

>> All right.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look at that.

And the seeds are okay?

That doesn't... >> Yep.

>> Yep, that's all strained out.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, that's great.

>> So... >> TRAVERSO: Then we just fold the bag over?

>> Yep.

And then we'll put the top on.

And we'll be ready to press.

>> First... >> I'm going to turn the water on and that's going to start filling the bladder in the center.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> WIESE: I know the feeling.

>> Okay?

Here we go.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look at the cider start to flow.

>> WIESE: I think this is easier than milking a cow-- it doesn't kick or anything.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughs) >> WIESE: This is going to be the freshest cider I've ever had.

>> And the best you'll ever have, too.

>> WIESE: Oh, the best, okay.

Well, that remains to be seen.

I'm a tough critic here.

>> Okay.

>> WIESE: Not a pushover like Amy.

>> TRAVERSO: I love it all.

>> Okay.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow.

>> There you go.

>> TRAVERSO: Fresh.

>> There you go.

>> WIESE: Okay, so you want honest opinion?

>> Yes.

>> WIESE: Okay, 'cause I do like apple cider.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, that is really, really good.

I mean, that-- that nectar-like kind of thickness that you were talking about, I totally... >> WIESE: It's way too good.

>> WIESE: This is way too good.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> Want a refill?

>> WIESE: Absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: (laughs) >> Okay.

>> WIESE: Thank you so much, I mean... >> You're very welcome, and thanks for coming.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you so much, this was such a pleasure.

>> NARRATOR: From Vermont, we head to Lee, New Hampshire, where Richard discovers a family farm that takes him back a few centuries.

Instead of modern farming equipment and computers, owners Carol and John prefer to rely on genuine horsepower to drive their business.

>> We started over in Stratham, New Hampshire, where my husband's family farm was.

We moved here 14 years ago, and we established a working family farm where we raise lamb, pork, chicken, eggs, and grain crops.

I met John, probably... Well, 31 years ago.

One of the things that attracted me to John was that he was involved with horses, and draft horses.

I had a, a very storied background with saddle horses, and the whole draft thing always interested me.

>> You must be Richard.

>> WIESE: I am.

Good to meet you.

>> Good meeting you.

I hope you're ready to, uh, play with some real horsepower.

You're going to take that collar and you're going to stand right in front of... >> WIESE: So this is a, a leather collar?

>> That is a leather collar, and you're going to put it right up over her head.

And you're going to have to shove it, and she's going to push back a little bit.

>> WIESE: There we go.

>> There you go.

And that's all there is to it.

>> WIESE: Okay.

What are we doing with these horses?

>> We are going to put three horses together, and we're going to go out and hitch to a 1957 grain drill that will plant just about anything known to God.

But it's not high-tech.

It doesn't have any computer chips, no electronics-- it's all chain.

>> WIESE: John, not to be sort of a, a wise guy, but did anybody tell you this is the 21st century, and they have machines that kind of do this?

>> Yeah, they do, but for us here with the small acreage in New England, I don't need that big of equipment, and that equipment is $50,000, $60,000 to buy, and then you need a tractor big enough to pull it.

So if the horses make more sense, I throw harness.

Tractor makes more sense, I turn a key.

There you go, put that up on the top.

Push hard, there you go.

Here, Rich, jump right up on that seat.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> I think we're safe.

I tell you to jump, don't ask questions.

You're about to get dirty.

>> WIESE: These are Belgian draft horses.

>> These, these are Belgian draft horses.

>> WIESE: And just to give you, like... A racehorse weighs about how much?

>> 800 to 900 pounds.

>> WIESE: And these are?

>> Almost a ton apiece.

>> WIESE: Wow.

>> So we've got 6,000 pounds of horsepower.

>> WIESE: Wow.

>> There-- whoa.

>> WIESE: There, there, there, there.

Hey!

>> Stand up a step.

Whoa.

>> WIESE: And so this is just going to clip on, right?

There you go-- drop it?

>> You got her.

>> WIESE: Yep.

(metal slams) So what are we planting today?

>> We're planting winter rye today, Richard.

>> WIESE: Hey, man, this is the good stuff.

>> We can make into a rye whiskey if you want to.

(plow creaks) >> WIESE: You know, is this what a farm would've looked like 100 years ago?

>> You know.

The youngsters harvesting the crop, the old man doing the easy work of tilling the field while the kids do the hard grunt labor.

Yeah, this is somewhat reminiscent of that.

(talking indistinctly) >> All right, now here's where we got to pick up our overlap.

Now pull back and say, "Whoa."

>> WIESE: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

>> Pull back.

So these are your lines of communication.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> But you're standing here, nice and easy with your hands, and they know they're supposed to stand nice and easy.

So, just say, "Go easy."

>> WIESE: Go easy.

>> Give them a little slack.

There you go.

Now take your slack back a little bit so you can feel them out.

And you want to pull back even more, because they're going to try to...

They're going to try to go fast on you.

You see, Ice is-- Ice is into the field mode already.

What we're going to do is, you're going to come up and you're going to put Wyatt midstream and you're just going to ease them around, nice and easy.

>> WIESE: A little too much?

>> A little too much, but you're doing all right.

First corner.

And make them walk.

They're, they're kind of jogging a little bit on you, they're getting a little quick.

>> WIESE: Pull back.

>> Now you want to get Ice over on the right.

Don't you love a back-seat driver?

You know, here I am, front-seat driver!

>> WIESE: No, I'm appreciating it.

>> WIESE: Whoa!

>> Here at Coppal House Farm, we do have a six-and-a-half acre professionally designed corn maze.

I'm a former educator, so I never really wanted anyone to get totally lost in our corn maze, so I developed a mailbox system to navigate through our corn maze.

There are questions at very specific intersections.

Answer the question correctly, it's going to tell you the fastest way to the next mailbox.

Answer it incorrectly, it's going to tell you the wrong way or just the longer way to the next mailbox.

>> WIESE: Okay.

I think I'm actually lost.

>> NARRATOR: Next, we're off to Rockland, Maine, a small seaside town in Maine's breathtaking mid-coast region.

This is the home port of the J&E Riggin, a two-masted schooner built as an oystering ship in 1927 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.

Today, its captain, Jon Finger, and his chef, wife, and co-captain, Annie Mahle, offer sailing vacations with incredible food, making this a cozy B&B on the sea.

>> TRAVERSO: Hey, hi, I'm Amy.

>> WIESE: Hi.

>> Welcome, I'm Annie.

>> TRAVERSO: Nice to meet you!

>> WIESE: Anne, I'm Richard Wiese-- nice to meet you.

>> Nice to meet you, too.

>> Hi, there-- Captain Jon.

>> WIESE: This is beautiful-- it looks like floating art.

>> Thank you, thank you.

>> Yeah, let's go sailing!

>> TRAVERSO: Okay, great!

>> WIESE: All right, terrific.

>> After you.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you!

>> WIESE: Oh, thank you very much.

>> My name is Captain Jon Finger.

I've been sailing the Riggin for 19 years now.

I've been sailing professionally for 36 years.

I'm Annie Mahle, and my husband and I own the schooner J&E Riggin, and we are on her deck right now in Rockland Harbor.

>> Security call, security call, schooner J&E Riggin departing her dock, Windjammer Wharf, outbound, outbound Rockland Harbor.

All right, let's take a number three.

Take in your bow and stern.

>> One's off!

(man exclaims) >> Let's ease her out a little bit.

Just a little.

Okay, so we're going to get out of the channel here, and we're going to head on over to the South End.

>> WIESE: How many years have you had this vessel?

>> This is our 19th year owning the vessel, and the boat's going to turn 90 next year.

>> WIESE: 90!

Do you ever stand here looking out at the sea and say, "Man, I'm one lucky guy?"

>> Every day.

>> WIESE: Every day, huh?

>> Every day, yeah, yeah.

Stand by your main halyards.

All right, get your lines ready to pull.

Are we ready on the peak?

>> Ready on the peak!

>> Are we ready on the throat?

>> Ready on the throat!

>> Together, heave away.

>> Heave away.

>> Heave away!

>> What I love about the sea most is the freedom that it provides.

(laughing) >> Heave, heave.

>> The choices, the directions you can go.

Every day is different.

>> Two, six.

>> That's well, hold that, tie your stopper and belay.

The wind, the weather's constantly changing.

>> Good job, gang!

>> Wait, high five!

>> There's an artist in me that loves the different lighting and I think, traditionally, Maine has drawn artists for generations for that reason.

(man talking softly) >> All right, babe.

We're going to go cook, unless you are going to set sails, or what are you doing?

What's going on?

>> I'm going to go anchor.

>> You're going to go anchor?

All right, then... >> You're going to go cook?

>> We're going to go cook.

>> Okay, have fun.

>> TRAVERSO: Off to the galley.

>> I am so attuned to this boat that even at night, when I'm sleeping, if I hear something that doesn't sound right, I'll get up and go check it out.

And even when we're sailing during the day, oftentimes, in my mind, I might be trying to get to a certain destination, and the boat says, "Uh-uh, I'm not going that way.

I want to go this way."

So I listen to the boat.

So if the boat wants to go over here, then I guess we're going over there.

So she tells me.

>> So welcome to my galley.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, this is really beautiful.

>> I'm so glad to have you here.

>> TRAVERSO: So tell me about this stove.

This is really impressive.

>> So this is Lucy, and we got her two years ago, even though she's much older than that.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

And I smell wood, is this wood-burning?

>> Yeah, it's a wood-burning stove.

The wood goes in up here.

My wood is down here.

And so we take advantage of all the flavors that wood gives to food.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> What I love about what it is that we do is that not only are we nourishing bodies, but we're also nourishing souls.

So to me, nourishing souls means that they can go back to their lives and greet whatever is there with grace and equanimity and laughter.

>> TRAVERSO: How unusual is it to have a wood stove on a boat?

I mean, a lot of people would think you would never have a wood stove on a boat, because it's fire on a wooden boat.

>> It's evocative.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> The smell and the-- it just kind of-- and, and also the warmth, there's warmth from this, so on the ends of the season when there's a nip in the air, to come down here and just be cozy... >> TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm, yes.

>> Is delightful.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

>> My family does help on the boat.

Okay, so what one do you want to sing?

>> I don't care.

>> One morning, one morning... We have two daughters, they're both teenagers now.

So Chloe just recently went away to college and Ella still does work on the boat, and they grew up on the boat.

And they are a part of our crew and they're a part of the experience for me.

>> Go and dress me up, pretty Katie And come along with me >> What brought me to Maine was mostly this wonderful fleet of authentic tall ships.

>> Katie >> What's different about Maine is that there are so many that you can actually still sail.

Let her go!

(anchor chain rubbing against metal) Would you like to help?

>> WIESE: Yeah.

>> Stand on that hatch opposite of Ella.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> And we're going to just fold the sail back and forth as we lower it.

>> ...Tavern, we'll drink when you're done... >> TRAVERSO: So let's see, we've got a... Pork, we've got to plate the pork.

>> Yep.

>> TRAVERSO: The salsa.

We've got that-- three vegetables, right?

>> Right.

>> TRAVERSO: Bread.

Oh, my God-- so I'm in heaven.

>> WIESE: Wow, look at this.

>> Whoa.. >> WIESE: This looks delicious.

>> TRAVERSO: So when you're out at sea... >> Mm-hmm.

>> TRAVERSO: And you've served this meal, you're just right onto the next one, right?

>> Oh, yeah.

>> WIESE: You know, there's many places in the world in which you could do this-- why Maine?

Why here?

>> We, um... Now, on the cutting edge of local, organic, the food scene in Maine and Portland and Rockland is just like, bursting.

But then also from a sailing perspective... >> From a sailing perspective, this is still one of the greatest places to go sailing.

It's one of the best cruising grounds in the world, actually.

Here, there are so many inlets, there are so many peninsulas, there are so many islands.

You could spend a lifetime here and not see it all.

>> WIESE: I'd really like to thank you on behalf of us for taking us here, because it's not just a cruise or a sail or a meal, it's really a trip to another part of the world or even a different time that... You feel a transformation, and this was wonderful.

I don't think I'll ever forget seeing your sails go up or seeing this wonderful meal come out, so thank you very much for having us.

>> Well, thank you for being here.

>> You're most welcome.

Come back and see us any time.

>> TRAVERSO (laughing): I'm counting the days now.

>> NARRATOR: Back in the test kitchen, Amy takes inspiration from her visit to Scott Farm Orchard to bake up some tasty apple cider doughnut muffins.

>> TRAVERSO: So going to Scott Farm was such a thrill for me.

I'm a confirmed apple nerd, and to be among that many varieties and with someone who knows so much about apples was so exciting.

Now, I love making apple cider doughnuts.

They're delicious, but you do have to fry them, and that's kind of messy and it can be a little bit of a pain.

So I came up with this recipe as an easier alternative.

It has all the flavor of the cider doughnut, but it's a muffin.

So you want to start out with two cups of apple cider, and we're reducing this because I want these muffins to have a real punch of apple flavor.

So we're going to start with two cups, we're going to bring it down to one cup.

It takes about 15 minutes or so, so while that's happening, I'm going to start making my batter.

So I've got a stick of unsalted butter, and then I've got three-quarters of a cup of sugar, so this is the base.

(mixer whirs) All right, so you can see now the butter is very fluffy.

Looks good to me, and now we're going to add the eggs.

(shell cracking) And we're going to mix this one in first.

We're going to do them one at a time.

Okay, that looks good.

And here's the second one.

(mixer whirs) Okay, that's great.

And now we're just going to add a little vanilla for flavor.

This is about a teaspoon and a half.

We're going to mix that in.

(mixer whirs) Perfect.

And now we're going to mix our dry ingredients.

Okay, so I've got in my bowl here two-and-a-quarter cups of all-purpose flour, and I'm going to add some baking soda and baking powder.

So the baking powder goes in first.

That's a teaspoon, and then we're going to have a half-teaspoon of baking soda.

We have a teaspoon and a quarter of nutmeg.

Now, nutmeg is the flavoring that is usually on the inside of a cider doughnut.

And then I've got a teaspoon of salt, because you need salt to perceive all those wonderful flavors.

So I'm just going to whisk this together, super-easy.

I'm going to add a third of this dry mix to the butter-sugar mixture, and I'm going to mix that.

(mixer whirs) So now I'm going to add half of my reduced apple cider.

Okay, and while that's mixing, I'm going to add another third of the dry ingredients.

And now the rest of the cider.

And finally, the last of the dry ingredients.

And now, I like to use an ice cream scoop when I'm putting muffins in the pan.

It gives a nice even portion.

Okay, so my muffin tins are full.

Just going to pop them right in my 375-degree oven and bake them until they're nice and brown, and if you stick a little toothpick in the center, it comes out clean, which takes usually about 15 to 17 minutes.

All right, there they are, looking pretty.

But that's not all, folks.

Now I'm going to make the cinnamon sugar coating that goes on the outside.

So this is three tablespoons of ground cinnamon in three-quarters of a cup of sugar.

Oh, it smells so good, it smells like cider doughnut muffins.

That's what it smells like.

There you go, that's it-- very simple.

So I'm going to take my muffins, I'm going to dip a little pastry brush in some melted salted butter, going to lightly brush it just enough to make it sticky, because I'm going to roll this in the cinnamon sugar.

See that?

And it sticks, and it's so good.

Look at that, how beautiful.

And that is how you turn a muffin into a doughnut.

See the nutmeg on the inside there?

Little flecks of brown?

Mmm.

It is so good.

I love this recipe.

And for this or any of the other delicious recipes on our show, you can visit weekendswithyankee.com.

>> 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.

>> Major funding provided by... >> The Vermont Country Store, the purveyors of the practical and hard-to-find since 1946.