May 1 peeked at us from just around the corner, beckoning us northward just as the eastern Connecticut shoreline began to thaw from the winter freeze. Gee, you would think we’d spent the winter here the way we moaned about the cold and running the portable electric heaters all the time.

Our last week was crammed full of activity; visits, errands, stocking up and packing up- at the last-minute.

 

Benj suggested a hike so we headed for Devil’s Hopyard after a tasty lunch at Mystic Market West. We chose a long loop trail that would take us by the Devil’s Oven, a natural cave-like formation in the huge rock slab several hundred feet off the trail and quite the steep climb. Benj cam across a small deer carcass which was mostly shredded deer hair. Yes, it smelled and you could see where the predator had dragged it over to a secluded spot.

 

I had just read in Cook’s Illustrated that heavy cream can be turned into almost-as-fluffy whipped cream by shaking it for 3-4 minutes in a small jar. An empty Talenti container worked just fine and as you can see, we had whipped cream for our chocolate ice cream treat by the fire. I had 2 ounces of heavy cream left over from baking and this was the perfectly delicious solution to use it up.