Signs of Spring: Peeps & Eats

My son and I were at Denning’s Point last week, where the spring peepers are out in force in the northern marshy section where the trail first divides. Only the week before we found the last third of the trail up Mount Beacon was an Olympic bobsled run, covered in ice. (Dad had a decidedly non-Olympic run on the way down. There was blood.) Once the ice starts melting, the frogs start a courtin’. As I told my little guy, after a long, hard winter, it’s time for some spring hook-ups. (Kidding. We reviewed how to spell Pseudacris crucifer.)

Also spotted in the wild were Chris and Jessie of the species Domus spinus. These two specimens were caught on camera while bicycling home from watching the sun set at the riverfront. Seen here in front of Dogwood on East Main and Water Street (last night’s special: stuffed mushrooms with homemade chorizo, spinach, and triple cheese drizzled with a balsamic reduction) they can most often be found in their native habitat, Homespun, at 232 Main Street, where the lovely back patio is now open for al fresco dining.

Windows and doors are opening around town, too. We saw Dalton of The Beacon Bite airing out the truck and stringing lights a while back, and stopped by yesterday to get this week’s menu:

• Caeser salad, with flat bread, anchovies, Toussaint cheese from Sprout Creek in Poughkeepsie
• Pork wrap, triple fry potatoes
• Sunchoke soup with pickled fiddlehead ferns
• Seared scallops over ceviche-style citrus, fingerling potatoes
• Masa fried chicken thigh, chili, tomatillos, cabbage, radish
• Grilled asparagus with creamy Meyer lemon dressing, soft-boiled egg

The Beacon Bite is located at the corner of Main and Schenck, next to Ella’s Bellas (where the expansive yet cozy outdoor dining room is also now open again for the season). Spring hours at the truck are Thursday, 3-9, Friday and Saturday, 12-9, and Sunday, 12-5. The Bite plans each weekly menu around as much locally available food as possible. Last week they were sold out of everything by Sunday. Happy spring.