Every year as Christmas approaches, I host a sort of party at work. This has grown from the first one when I just made some goodies to share with my colleagues, to a much larger event sanctioned by the company for which I get a budget for goodies for the 80 people or so in our Lexington headquarters.

I need a lot of goodies for that many people, and I don't like to get them at the supermarket. So every December we make a special acquisition expedition to get the goods. This trip took us from Plymouth to Worcester, then up Route 13 to Amherst, NH and eventually as far as Hanover, NH and Norwich, VT.

Naturally such an arduous journey requires appropriate foodie sustenance; we were happy to find what we needed at the Black Forest Cafe on Route 101 in Amherst. They have a market, a fancy bakery, and a restaurant, all of which focus on handmade NH and New England ingredients assembled into delicious meals and baked goods. Lorna had a pair of excellent seafood crepes and I had a spinach salad with NH applewood-smoked bacon and other good stuff, washed down with a Smuttynose Finestkind IPA from Portsmouth. That gave us the energy we needed to resume the trip - here's our foodie trajectory:

1. Our first stop was Worcester, MA, to Bahnan's Market and Ed Hyder's Mediterranean Marketplace.  At the former I got the Dodonis Feta Cheese and two different thicknesses of Fillo dough for my Spanakopita, walnuts to go with the Stilton and Port, Turkish Delight, roasted unsalted, skinned hazelnuts, Jordan Almonds, and other essentials for the vegetarian Middle Eastern corner for the party. A few doors up the street at Ed Hyder's I got star anise, cinnamon sitcks, and other spices and Halvah. I always buy my spices at Hyder's.
2. On Route 101 in Amherst there are a number of antiques shops that have a lot of interesting dishes. I need a two-tier chrome-plated tray for some of my goodies, and I often find other prizes that will make a special presentation of the foods. I have a lot of great glass and "silver" dishes with a Victorian look that really help to set the scene for a Chrstmas party. Also in Amherst we had lunch and coffee.
3. Away up in Hanover, on the VT border north of Lebanon/I-89, we hit the Hanover Food Coop for a half-wheel of a baby Stilton, a wheel of Vermont Brie, a pint of Jersey Cow Cream, some Marrons Glacees, and a bottle of Farnum Hill cider.
4. Across the river in Norwich, we hit the King Arthur Flour Company Baker's Store for their Queen Guinevere cake four and a new pastry cloth.   
It was a very productive trip!