>> 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 hike into New Hampshire's White Mountains and up to the stunningly scenic Zealand Hut, part of the oldest high-mountain hut system in the country.

>> WIESE: The huts and food are nice, but ultimately it's the people that you meet along the way.

>> NARRATOR: Next, it's over to Grafton, Vermont, a quintessential New England village known for its hand-crafted aged cheddar cheese.

>> WIESE: Grafton, Vermont, is how I always picture a quintessential Vermont village to be.

>> NARRATOR: Then we jog over to Elmore Mountain Bread in Wolcott, Vermont, which turns local wheat into some of the most sought-after bread in New England.

>> TRAVERSO: It just feels so moist and tender and yet crusty here and amazing.

>> NARRATOR: Back in the test kitchen, Amy whips up some Vermont cheese gougeres, an inspired starter for any meal.

>> TRAVERSO: These are so good that you'll want to pop the whole thing in your mouth.

But try to restrain yourself and enjoy every bite.

>> 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: Today's adventure starts with a drive into the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Richard is embarking on a nearly three-mile hike to Zealand Hut, one of eight rustic shelters spaced along the Appalachian Trail in the Whites.

He's here to see the sights and meet the hut crews-- the young people who help maintain this historic hut system, which got its start in 1888 by carrying supplies up the mountain, tending the trails, and cooking for the hikers.

>> WIESE: So we're going to what?

The Zealand Hut, right?

Zealand Falls Hut?

>> Yep.

>> WIESE: All right, this is your territory-- you lead the way.

>> All right, will do.

My name is Leigh Harrington, and I'm the AMC's back country education assistant.

The AMC's Appalachian Mountain Club's high huts, it's a system of eight huts along the Appalachian Trail spanning about 53 miles.

>> WIESE: So all of these huts that are throughout these mountains, how are they maintained?

>> So they are maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club, and they are run on a full-service basis.

>> WIESE: So these are hut crews?

>> Yes, that's what a hut crew is.

>> WIESE: All right, so I have to imagine, just based on my experience, that these are just filled with very colorful people.

>> They are.

They have a lot of talents.

they come from different places around the United States.

Lots of unique people.

>> WIESE: One of the ultimate goals of hiking is to enjoy yourself.

And maybe the most basic of tips is how I dress for hiking.

For example, it's a warm day, but this is still a thin wool.

I'll never wear a cotton shirt.

When cotton gets wet, it stays wet.

Also, my pants are nylon, and even my undergarments-- I'm wearing light wool.

Some other people wear silk or lycras or other artificial clothing materials.

>> Hey, look, I think that's my friend Justine.

>> Hey.

>> Hey, Justine.

>> WIESE: Hi Justine, I'm Richard.

>> Hi, nice to meet you-- Justine.

>> WIESE: Justine, you look like you're hauling a load.

>> I'm about to head on my days off, so it's mostly personal stuff and a little bit of trash.

>> WIESE: Can I see that pack?

>> Yeah, of course.

>> WIESE: I want to try that pack, actually.

>> You want to try it?

>> WIESE: Well, let me just...

I want to feel the weight on it.

>> This one's not too bad.

>> WIESE: Oh, my God.

>> Yeah, they can be a little awkward to put on as well.

>> WIESE: But it's not such a bad walk out.

It's, what, three miles?

>> Three miles, yep.

>> WIESE: Okay, easy for me to say, since I'm the one who's got the light pack and not carrying this.

I'm going to let you do your job.

>> Usually, we'll just have food stacked up to about here, and it can be up to 70 pounds.

>> WIESE: 70 pounds?

70 pounds is...

I've had 70 pounds, and I can tell you, it's not easy carrying 70 pounds.

>> It's not.

No, the pack board itself weighs ten to 12 pounds, as well.

>> WIESE: Thank you, Justine, for showing me.

I feel like I'm back in the days of old school backpacking.

>> Yeah, thank you, guys.

Enjoy the rest of your hike up to Zealand.

>> WIESE: All right, thank you.

>> Have a good day, Justine.

>> Bye.

>> WIESE: All right, here's a mileage sign.

>> Yep.

>> WIESE: What do we got?

>> Oh, half mile.

Great, let's keep going.

>> WIESE: Okay.

One of the most useful items I carry in my backpack is duct tape.

And there's been books written on duct tape.

You can use it for blisters, sprains, or you can fix ripped clothing, shoes, all sorts of things.

But because I don't always remember to bring a roll, I'll wrap it around my hiking poles or even a water bottle, and then I know I always have it.

♪ ♪ I always feel a sense of triumph when you've come to your destination or goal.

>> Yes.

>> NARRATOR: Once Richard arrives at the high mountain hut, he sits down for a hearty lunch of turkey and vegetable soup and cheesy homemade garlic bread.

>> WIESE: Ah, this looks good.

>> We're doing some soup and bread for you.

>> WIESE: Homemade bread?

>> Absolutely, every day.

>> WIESE: I have to imagine homemade bread and soup is the most beautiful sight to a hiker who's had a long day.

>> Oh, yeah, we get a lot of hungry hikers in here, and they love having a hot meal at the end of their hike, for sure.

>> WIESE: This is clearly a lifestyle choice.

So do you work here in the winter?

>> This job is a seasonal job for me.

I only work for a few months at a time here in the huts or with the AMC, and my years are always changing, and it's kind of a great lifestyle to be able to do that.

>> WIESE: When you meet other people who have worked in huts or as crew, you know, what is it that you all sort of know in common?

What's that common thread?

>> We all have a shared experience.

And given our just people skills, I guess you can say, usually bonds happen really quickly, and we become fast friends.

Usually, it's pretty easy to exchange numbers.

And, you know, if nothing else, we know that this person is always interested in an adventure, and that person can potentially become a good adventure buddy for the rest of your life, so.

>> WIESE: So what is your name?

>> My real name's Cullin Snell, but my trail name is Cowboy.

>> WIESE: What are you doing here?

>> Hiking the Appalachian Trail.

>> WIESE: From where?

>> Georgia-- Springer Mountain in Georgia.

>> WIESE: So you're almost done?

>> Almost done.

350 miles to go.

>> WIESE: So, I guess the biggest question is, why?

>> I kept hearing people talk about how, "Oh, I wish I could've done this, I..." woulda, coulda, shoulda type of stuff.

And I was sitting there thinking, like, how am I going to do something?

I don't want to be wishing I've done something.

I want to do something I'll remember for the rest of my life.

And my uncle hiked the trail ten years ago, actually, and he said it was, like, an incredible thing, and I said, "You know what?

I'm going to do it."

So he helped me buy all my stuff, and get all my gear, and here I am, 1,800 miles later.

>> WIESE: Listen, I'd really like to shake your hand, because I haven't met that many people who have actually done this, and I do envy you.

>> (laughs) Thank you, thank you.

>> WIESE: Good luck.

The huts and food are nice, but ultimately it's the people that you meet along the way.

And that's what makes this place very special.

>> NARRATOR: From New Hampshire, Richard travels with Amy to southeastern Vermont to explore the historic village of Grafton.

With fewer than 700 residents, this scenic little town, founded in 1754, is home to one of the oldest operating inns in America, as well as the Grafton Village Cheese Company, which handcrafts some of the best cheddar of its kind in New England.

>> TRAVERSO: Welcome to fall in Vermont!

>> WIESE: Grafton, Vermont, is how I always pictured a quintessential Vermont village to be.

>> TRAVERSO: I kind of feel like it isn't really fall until I'm in a place like this, you know?

The great thing about it, though, is that this was once really a mill town, you know, producing textiles like many of the New England towns in the Industrial Revolution, and then the mills went away, and it's like, what do you do?

And this town got together, some philanthropists got together, formed a foundation called the Windham Foundation, and they came up with a plan.

And they run the incredible Grafton Village Cheese Company, they run a beautiful inn-- I mean, a classic New England inn.

These villages are so precious, and they're just so much about the New England experience to me, and I really want to kind of go see more of it-- do you want to go?

>> WIESE: Yeah, yeah, let's take the stroll.

>> I'm Angela Comstock.

I'm the innkeeper here at the Grafton Inn.

The inn was started in 1801, and it's the longest-running inn in the country.

Lots of our guests love to sit on the porch here and enjoy a cup of tea, or iced tea in the summer, read a book, relax.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh.

>> WIESE: Hello.

>> Hello.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you.

>> You're welcome.

>> WIESE: What a great spot to just sort of sit and have tea.

>> TRAVERSO: I cannot wait to go and see the cheesemaking operation.

♪ ♪ >> WIESE: Vince, what a great place to live.

>> TRAVERSO: It's almost like a movie set of, like, a Vermont village of your imagination.

>> Absolutely.

Yeah, so we're here in Grafton, Vermont, and this is Grafton Village Cheese Company, where we make really outstanding cheddar.

>> TRAVERSO: So what will we be seeing inside?

>> We're going to try to show you the whole process, from milk pumping into the vats and then actually cheese aging in the caves, and maybe we'll get to taste some cheese, too.

>> TRAVERSO: Are we going to have to wear one of those goofy hairnets?

(they laugh) >> Okay, so this is where the magic happens.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look this.

>> Yep.

So cheesemaking is a fantastic process.

There's a bunch of steps to go from liquid milk into cheese, and we'll see some cheese a little bit later on.

So we're about to cut the curd.

And that's the first time this curd will be cut.

And it eventually will turn into cheddar.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, look at that.

>> WIESE: What an amazing process.

And this is still done by hand?

>> It is.

Everything we do is by hand.

That's really one thing that separates us from other cheddar manufacturers.

>> TRAVERSO: So what's in here?

It's milk plus culture?

>> Cultures and a coagulant.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> Yeah, you'll hear different terms of coagulant or rennet.

>> TRAVERSO: So why do you cut this?

>> So that's starting to release moisture.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> So the whole process of cheesemaking essentially is taking a liquid and turning it into a solid.

So we're coagulating it into the curd form, and then you're cutting it and heating it and handling it in various ways that helps release moisture so that you end up with the final product of the cheese.

So the next step after you drain the whey off is that you actually stack the curds into what's called cheddaring, right?

So you're stacking them into these slabs, flipping them over, and turning them four or five times, depending on how the batch is ripening, and then they're ready to start aging.

>> TRAVERSO: Well, I would love to go see the cheese caves if we could.

>> We can do that, absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah?

Oh, good, okay.

>> So come on into our caves.

>> WIESE: Okay.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look at this.

>> WIESE: So, this is the cave.

>> TRAVERSO: I see cloth, I see clothbound cheddar.

>> WIESE: So, you know, we always hear about aging of cheese.

Why is it... you know, from our standpoint, aging isn't necessarily good, but for cheese, different?

>> And for every cheese it's different, right?

So different styles of cheese need age to really maximize their flavor and texture potential.

Some cheeses are meant to be eaten as soon as possible.

Cheddar is generally a cheese that you're going to be aging it for anywhere from a few months to a few years.

So this is actually one of my favorite young batches of our clothbound right now.

So this was made on April 5, 2017.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, so months rather than years, okay.

>> Yeah, and actually, we're going to be holding this batch for a reserve, right?

So we're going to hold this back for our customers as a special kind of one-off, couple times a year product.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, look at that, that's so beautiful.

>> So this is still a little bit young.

I mean, it's about six months old.

Really enjoyed it-- think it's on a really good trajectory.

So, you know, the reality, as we talked about, every batch is changing all the time because of the microbial activity, because of the chemical activity inside the cheese, so it's a moving target, so you're always kind of guessing where a batch will be going down the road.

>> TRAVERSO: That's great cheese.

>> Glad you like it.

I think it's going in a very good direction.

>> TRAVERSO: Yeah.

So you just plug that right back up?

>> Yeah.

Good as new.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you so much for bringing us in to where all this wonderful cheese is really perfected.

>> Whenever you want to come taste cheese.

>> TRAVERSO: Thank you.

>> WIESE: It's wonderful, thank you very much.

>> Thank you.

>> WIESE: So I have a feeling I'm going to be eating grilled cheese sandwiches for the next few months.

>> TRAVERSO: It's pretty much only whet my appetite for cheddar at this point.

>> WIESE: I'm really impressed that... you know, Grafton, Vermont, it's obviously a place where you can have a vibrant business, seems like a really great place to live.

And I know from visiting here, it's absolutely beautiful.

>> TRAVERSO: You know, I think the term "Yankee ingenuity" is a little bit of a cliché, but it does take a lot of ingenuity to make a town like this have a future and sort of find what the next era is, and I think they've done a great job.

>> NARRATOR: From Grafton, Amy heads north to Wolcott, Vermont.

Many may not realize that Vermont was once part of America's original breadbasket, before the country's wheat production shifted to the Midwest in the 19th century.

But now the young owners of Elmore Mountain Bread, just outside Wolcott, are bringing back some of that heritage by seeking out local wheat, milling it, and turning it into some of the finest bread anywhere.

>> My name is Blair Marvin, and I'm the owner and head baker here at Elmore Mountain Bread.

>> We bought the bakery 13 years ago, and have been married for 12 years, but have been together for about 17.

>> Our local grain economy is thriving and coming back, and we're seeing more and more people growing local grains.

And so all of these amazing organic special varieties of grains are popping up, and we're starting to see them more accessible to bring to our customers through the bread.

>> TRAVERSO: So I am super excited to get a lesson on how you make this bread.

So, now we're going to shape?

>> Yep.

>> TRAVERSO: All right.

>> Yeah.

>> TRAVERSO: Can I get a little...

I'd love to help out in any way.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: So, Andrew, what kind of grain goes into a bread like this?

>> This is a mostly wheat-based bread.

We use a little bit of local rye in it as well.

>> TRAVERSO: It looks brown because it's got whole grain as opposed to the white loaf?

>> Yep, this is about 85% whole grain.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow, this is gorgeous.

>> Are you ready to give it a try?

>> TRAVERSO: You know, I'm watching you.

You're just so... your muscle memory is so incredible to watch, and I don't know if I even want to try after watching this.

It's really impressive.

So you're taking... yeah, I will try, I'll be brave.

>> Yeah, you absolutely should.

>> TRAVERSO: All right, so...

I'm just gonna... >> So you kind of take it on the wings down here and make a little envelope.

>> TRAVERSO: Uh-huh.

>> Then fold it up.

Yep.

And then... and then roll.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> TRAVERSO: You pull it toward you.

>> Yep.

>> TRAVERSO: Just to tighten the skin?

>> Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪ >> TRAVERSO: And what is the purpose of that?

>> So whenever bread goes into... cold dough goes into a hot oven, it springs, is the term.

And so what you're doing is you're putting the score in it to allow it to open, and if there's enough steam in there for it to open up, you're going to get that beautiful crust and the nice big ear and beautiful coloration.

>> TRAVERSO: So do you do the same mark on each loaf, or does each have its own...?

>> No.

Yep, every bread has its own score to set it apart from the other varieties.

>> TRAVERSO: So when did you... how long ago did you start baking with your own milled wheat?

>> We first started experimenting with fresh-milled wheat probably five years ago.

A fellow baker of ours down in Asheville... Asheville, North Carolina, who bakes out of the same style of wood-fired oven as us, came up for a visit, and he knew we were a little curious about what he used, milling his own flour, we were a little curious.

And so what he did was he got home to Asheville, milled up three different varieties of grain, and overnighted it to us.

And we'd been used to opening up these bags of flour for all these years, and we opened up this box, and this, like, blast of aroma came out from all of these grains.

We're like, "What is going on here?

This is incredible!"

And from that moment on, we were hooked.

>> TRAVERSO: So when was this flour... when would this flour have been milled?

>> This flour was all milled last night.

>> TRAVERSO: Wow.

>> Yeah.

>> The next bread, the Vermont Redeemer, which is our 100% Vermont wheat bread, and it's my favorite bread, and I have the strongest connection with that bread.

>> TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

>> So I've spent a long time figuring out how to score that bread to make it stand out from all the others.

>> TRAVERSO: That is a beautiful score.

>> Thank you.

>> This design was something that Blair came up with when we developed the Vermont Redeemer bread.

When we got this special grain from Vermont, we wanted to really feature it, so instead of putting 10% or 20% in all of our breads, we decided to do one bread that was completely Vermont wheat.

And so that people would take notice of it, Blair would practice with a bunch of these different kind of scroll cut patterns, and it's really kind of distinct from everything else we do.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, that looks so good.

>> Okay.

>> TRAVERSO: So this is the country loaf that we were shaping earlier?

>> Yeah, this is our country.

It's still a little warm, but for the sake of the moment, let's go for it.

>> TRAVERSO: All right, so this is what you're talking about with an open crumb-- so nice big holes.

>> Nice even distribution of those gas bubbles that we have been working for the last 16 hours to develop.

Kind of...

I listen to it for the sound of the crust that comes from the amount of steam, the high heat it's baked at.

>> TRAVERSO: And the evenness... because I've had bread where there's, like, a big hole pocket here, and you know, none here.

>> A lot of times, that's just from hand-shaped bread.

>> TRAVERSO: Okay.

>> You know, whenever you're making something by hand, that's just the nature of things.

>> TRAVERSO: There's variation, yeah.

>> Yeah, and that's the beauty of working with this and eating this kind of food that has connection with the people who are making it-- it's not just a machine.

>> TRAVERSO: Right, right.

>> Which is very special.

>> TRAVERSO: Should we eat it... taste it plain without butter first?

>> Absolutely, absolutely.

>> TRAVERSO: Oh, my God, it feels so moist and tender and yet crusty here and amazing.

Mmm.

>> This is my favorite.

>> TRAVERSO: That is so good.

So, thank you so much for having me here.

>> Yeah, absolutely, my pleasure.

>> TRAVERSO: So, do you have more bread to get out?

>> Yeah... >> TRAVERSO: Okay, all right, I'll get this out of the way.

>> Yeah, thank you.

What do I love about bread?

I love the challenge of making bread.

I love eating bread.

I love whenever you take the bread out of the oven, it crackles, and it kind of talks to you a little bit for... in the beginning of the cooling process.

I love that part, I love cutting the cross-section to see if I did my job well that day.

And then to taste the bread and see how well we harnessed those beautiful inherent flavors of the grains that we're so lucky to work with.

>> NARRATOR: Back in the test kitchen, Amy bakes up a batch of easy-to-make Vermont cheese gougeres, starring extra sharp Grafton cheddar.

>> TRAVERSO: So being up in Grafton, Vermont got me thinking about cooking with cheddar, which I love-- I love Vermont cheddar.

And one dish that I like to make with cheddar, which is a little bit of a variation, is gougeres.

Now, that sounds kind of French and fancy, and maybe intimidating, but it is the easiest dish to make, and I feel like every host... if you ever have people over your house, you should have this dish in your repertoire, because you can crank out several dozen of these with very little effort, and people go crazy for them.

They're like, basically, cheese puffs.

So I've got a cup of water boiling right now, and I've added a stick of butter.

This is the base.

Okay, so this is melted and nice and simmering, so at this point, I'm going to take it off the heat.

We don't need to be working over a hot burner at this point.

Now that we're melted and warm, we're good.

Okay, so this is a cup of all-purpose flour, really simple.

And I'm just going to start stirring this until the dough starts to form a batter.

At first, it's a little messy, but it'll come together.

And I'm just going to kind of work it until it's got that nice, smooth... look at that, look how pretty that is.

Okay, so now I'm going to add my eggs.

Now, I've got five eggs, and this is what gives that nice puff to the gougeres.

I'm going to add them one at a time, and I'm going to mix really well after each, mix it in.

So this is really the hardest part, is just the patience of adding these eggs.

You can see it gets kind of loose, and then it starts to integrate the eggs into the batter, and it gets nice and smooth again.

So you can use gruyere, which is a traditional French cheese.

You can use cheddar.

I really like, though, the New England flavor of the cheddar.

All right, so we're almost done here.

Okay, you can see we've got this beautiful batter, it's nice and smooth, and at this point, I want to add some flavoring.

So I've got an eighth of a teaspoon of nutmeg, a teaspoon of pepper.

And I've got a cup and a half of grated cheddar.

Now, I really recommend grating the cheddar fresh.

Okay, so now we've got this batter.

Even though I took it off the heat, it's still warm enough to melt the cheese.

Now, one really easy way to do piping, if you're not going for anything super fancy, like scrollwork on a cake, is you just take a plastic bag, and I'm going to show you-- I've cut a tiny hole in the corner of this bag, and that's basically what I'll be piping with.

Okay.

That's good.

And now, I'm ready to pipe.

So I'm just going to...

I like to do little domes here, like that.

And if you don't want this little cap on the top, you can always wet your finger and smooth it out.

I actually kind of think it looks cute, so I'm going to leave it.

And it doesn't have to be perfect.

The other way to do it is simply to take a teaspoon and just plop it right on there.

So these will just be more generically round puffs.

The piped ones will have a little bit of a ridged appearance.

And now I've got my over preheated at 425.

You want that high heat so that when the dough hits the oven, the heat of the oven, it will cause the eggs to really puff up these little beauties.

I'm going to put this in the oven right now, and they'll bake for about 25 minutes.

Okay, so it's been about 30 minutes.

They weren't quite brown enough at 25, so I gave them a little more time, and now they are perfect.

They smell so good-- I wish you could smell this.

And you can see... these are the piped ones.

See how they have the cute little shape to them?

These are the plopped ones.

There's not a huge difference, so do whatever you feel like doing.

All right, I'm to try one.

Mmm, so good.

That cheese is perfect.

And look, see how they're nice... and inside there's like a little hole?

That's where the eggs kind of created some steam as they cooked.

You're going to want to pop the whole thing in your mouth, but try to enjoy every bite, really savor it.

For this and other delicious recipes from the show, you can visit weekendswithyankee.com.

Mmm.

>> 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.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪