Boston - January 03, 2006

The Simple Life

Fireplace Feast

Close your eyes and imagine a time long ago. Before cell phones and BlackBerrys, after dinosaurs and cavemen. Think Little House on the Prairie.

Man, did they know how to dish out dinner. Ma would roast prime rib, Pa would turn the wild cherry log in the fireplace, and everyone would look at each other and silently think, “Good love of God, can we please go out?!”

At the Salem Cross Inn, you can take advantage of what poor Ma and Pa never could: a traditional Colonial dinner that someone else cooks. It’s called Fireplace Feast — and a feast it certainly is.

Rewind your mind to the 1800s and dig in: There’s chowder simmering in a cast iron cauldron, meat rotating over a crackling fire, a homemade apple pie with freshly whipped cream. And if you so fancy, try your hand at stirring mulled apple cider. Hop on the hay or sleigh ride over the inn’s 600 acres of meadows and woods.

There’s nary a Treo in sight. Except maybe yours. Now turn that thing off already.

Available at the Salem Cross Inn, 260 West Main Street, Route 9, West Brookfield (508-867-8337 or salemcrossinn.com).