Autumn in Maine

 My baby girl bought her first home this week, so I thought I'd share some of the lovely photos she has been sending me.

Here's a short video.

This one is a woodpecker. They really got a good closeup.

Honestly, they make me want to quit my job, pack my bags, and go join her.

A Healthy Meal and some Maine Foliage

 I didn't think I'd ever say this, but after 7 months of eating out of my pantry, I really don't even want to look at pasta ever again.

I'm sure that will change, but tonight I was craving something different, something healthy.

The answer was chickpeas, kale, rice and fire cider.

I had some leftover rice, and some kale that was about to expire, so I decided to toss them together with some chickpeas and use the Fire Cider as a dressing. 

It was really good and fresh-tasting.

Also, my daughters are both in Maine at the moment, so they've been sending me photos of the changing foliage. It's not quite as vibrant this year due to the drought, but pretty nonetheless.

Thanksgiving in Maine

Since the youngest started a new job this year and isn't allowed to take any time off yet, the oldest and I traveled to Maine for Thanksgiving again.

This trip is not for the faint of heart. The trip that in summer takes max 7 hours, ends up more like 9 - 10 each way on Thanksgiving weekend. That's a lot of driving for a 4 day weekend. The things we do for family.

But, we had a lovely family time. I figured I'd share a bit with you.

We stayed in a terrific AirBnb that gave me a view of sunrise over Back Cove.

Eldest and I spent Black Friday walking the Marginal Way in Ogunquit while youngest worked.

Fenway was a bit wary of the drawbridge.

Friday night we picked up dinner from a place that also served vegan foods for my vegan. I had the most amazing pizza! It was called Autumn White.

I was enjoying it so much that I didn't think to take a photo until much later, so it doesn't look as pretty.

I apologize for the photo. I thought I had taken a much better one.

The restaurant, Monte's, uses an American wheat, rice, and Maine spelt crust called pinsa that is cold-fermented for 72 hours. I was curious what pinsa was so I Googled. 

According to Pizza Today, Pinsa is the result of over 100 years of Roman artisan baking experience, creativity, and expertise. https://www.pizzatoday.com/products/ingredients/pinsa-its-all-about-the-dough/


Apparently the ingredients, the kneading, and the cold-fermenting process make it very easy to digest. I only know it was delicious.

Then there was the topping - a layer of ricotta with slices of Delicata squash, a spinach crema ådribbled over the squash, onions carmelized in balsamic vinegar, and topped off with pumpkin seeds and pecorino cheese.


So, it wasn't your typical Thanksgiving, and we had three scary car adventures including discovering that someone had removed 3 lug nuts from a tire, but all's well that ends well, right?

Have you ever had pinsa? I really wish I lived closer to Monte's so I could have this again.

A Week by the Sea

On Monday, Jan shared some of her beautiful mountain views. It was almost enough to convince me.
But I'm a coastal girl at heart. I can't be too many miles inland before the yearning for the ocean takes over.

My youngest daughter lives in Portland, ME, so the older daughter and I decided to go visit her for a week. We rented a cottage about a block from the beach. This is my idea of heaven.


Crossing the Piscataqua Bridge is a magical moment. Halfway across you leave New Hampshire behind and enter Maine.

A little bit down the road, you see this sign. Well, this is what you see now. For decades, the sign read Maine the Way Life Should Be. That sign was replaced with this Welcome Home sign. There was so much outrage over the loss of the original sign, that the bottom part was added last February.

The trip up on Friday was long, and as we arrived in Maine, fog shrouded everything. We were tired and hungry so we settled into our Air BnB and headed down to the waterfront in Portland for a late dinner.

Both my daughter and I chose the seafood scampi - shrimp, scallops, and lobster in a lemon garlic sauce over pasta.

The next morning, the fog had lifted, so this was my view when I took Fenway out walking.

The view off the Eastern Promenade in Portland. That's Casco Bay.

We picked up the younger daughter and took her cat to the vet for his checkup before heading down to York Beach.

Part of the reason I chose York was because we're allowed to take Fenway walking on Long Sands Beach before 8AM and after 6 PM. That was definitely my favorite part of the trip, so here are some photos.

Long Sands Beach

Sunset looking away from the beach.

We had dinner a couple of times at this delicious restaurant called Stone's Throw which was literally a stone's throw from the beach. These two photos are the view from our table.

We also stayed close by the Nubble Lighthouse so it was a lovely spot to just hang out with Fen and soak in the beauty.

Fenway likes the lighthouse.

Another restaurant. More lobster.

And finally, here are a few videos to help bring the beach to you.

We also brought two cats and Fenway. It had the potential for disaster, but everyone got along well.

Of course, by the time you're reading this, I'll be in Times Square for RWA19 - far far from the lovely beaches of Maine.

Where do you prefer to go for vacation - city, mountains, ocean, or some place else? 

A Taste of Maine

Today's post is brought to you thanks to an extended vacation and an old family recipe.


Still haven't done much cooking. That may be the best part of vacation.

Not really. For me, the best part of this vacation was the long walks with Fenway on the beach every night. For most of the summer, dogs are barred from the beach, but every night from 6 - 8 they are allowed on leash. My silly dog who hates HATES getting his feet wet, and balks at walking in the rain, LOVES the beach. All he has to hear is me say, "Fenny, want to go to the beach?" and his tail starts wagging and his face breaks into a grin. From the moment we exit the car, he is yanking me toward the water. It's funny to watch him approach the water and then dance out of the way of the incoming waves.

Do we really have to leave?

I took this video of him charging ahead of me. He loves to sniff the seaweed.

SO on to food.  Since I'm talking Maine and seafood and beaches, I thought I would share a favorite recipe from a few years ago.

One of our favorite places to eat a casual meal while we're here is the Maine Diner.  I had a wonderful lobster roll for lunch there, but my favorite dish to get is their lobster pie.

The first time I ordered it, I was anticipating something along the lines of of chicken pot pie but with lobster. It turned out not to be nothing at all like that, but it was so much better.


After my first bite, I turned to my husband and said, "This tastes like Sam's fish."

Sam was an elderly man who cooked for my husband's even more elderly mother and aunt back when we were first married. They lived on a gorgeous estate on Cape Cod - 2 sisters and Sam and his wife.

My husband LOVED Sam's fish, so with my newlywed enthusiasm, I tried everything I could think of to replicate it. I bought every type of bread crumbs I could find, but the response was always, "Good, but not like Sam's."

Finally, in desperation, I told Sam my sad tale. He laughed and took me into the pantry where he shared his secret crust - Ritz crackers and butter. Yup. That was all. He'd smash the crackers, mix with melted butter, and layer onto the fish. So simple, but SO tasty. My marriage was safe!


So when I took that first bite of lobster pie this summer, and it tasted like lobster with Sam's crust, I was highly suspicious that I knew the special family recipe. In the name of research, I went into the gift shop and bought a cookbook of diner recipes which included the lobster pie. Sure enough - Ritz crackers and butter!

My Friday night dinner!

It was very good. Yum.

I haven't made Sam's fish in many years (in the name of low cholesterol and all that jazz), but after we returned home, I decided to give it a try for old times sake (and to post here). So without further ado - the 4 step fish recipe.

1. Smash the Ritz crackers. I do it in a baggie with an ice cream scoop.
2. Melt butter in microwave and mix in the cracker crumbs.
3. Spread on the fish (I used haddock. Sam always used sole.)
4. Bake. You can broil briefly at the end if you feel the need to brown the crumbs, but be careful!

Enjoy!

I'm curious. Have any of you ever made this?


As you can probably tell from the photo above, the lobster pie uses fresh lobster rather than haddock and they cook it in a mini casserole dish. So.much.goodness.

I'll leave you with some more photos of my favorite beach,

 And these from the Marginal Way.