Saturday Foodie Field Trip: Wickford

Despite the gloomy forecast of showers for the day; my Mom and I along with the girls went off to the Hope St. Market this morning.
At the market we picked out some bright orange & pale yellow carrots from Bettencourt Farm (Hi Al!). Bought (bribed the girls really, "We won't be long at the market! Mommy won't run into anyone she knows today; I promise. Oh look, here are a couple of yummy cookies!": a Mom has do to what a Mom has to do!) 2 Ginger Star cookies from Seven Stars Bakery stand, some awesome Pepper Jack Cheese from Narragansett Creamery and my favorite Diva Cukes form Arcadian Fields and something special to top the pizza with tonight: Pistou Basil (really tiny bunches of leaves a local chef asked them to grow.). I have never had it before and am looking forward to experimenting! Oh, I did run into my friend Anisa, she has a terrifc blog you really should check out: www.kidoinfo.com!
Since Jim wanted the majority of the day to himself to finish up some home projects, we took off down south and stopped in the charming historic town of Wickford, RI. Seeing as it was lunch time when we arrived and knowing that I did not want to shop with a cranky preschooler: we started our visit with lunch.
I have not been to Wickford in a while so I really had no clue where to eat (hard to believe I know!). Since it wasn't raining, we picked one of the places on the water. What great decision! We chose: the Beach Rose Cafe. We all had clam chowder and clam cakes. SCRUMPTIOUS! Actually the clam chowder was awfully hot, so we did not get to finish it all. My Mom was most impressed by the addition of Dill in the chowder, not too much mind you, just enough to add a great flavorful dimension. Nice array of clams and potatoes and a not too thick, creamy broth. The restaurant recycles and uses compostable take-out containers and sources local ingredients whenever possible. After making some new friends (Hi Brook!) we were ready to shop. Wickford is filled with charming shops all along the boat-filled harbor. I was looking of for a wedding present for some friends who were recently married in Tuscany. I looked in a few charming shops and finally found the perfect gift at Kitchen and Table of Wickford (401-295-1105).
Ann E. Cobb is the lovely new proprieter. She is so friendly and helpful and the shop is stock ful of everything you might need for the kitchen and dining room: pots, pans, gadgets, glasware, dishes and more. Including some fab locally made pottery and pottery from Ann's home country of Ireland.
I hope you get a chance sometime this Summer or Fall to venture south to Wickford and check out these places and more. Be sure to tell the proprieters that Jen's dish sent you!
*****(sorry there are no pics: I was spacey today due to the antihistamine I had to take this morning. Taking pictures required way too much energy since all I wanted to do was sleep!).