All In and Done

What's a New England wedding without some beach time and a lobster? (Actually, anytime guests are in town, Chauney Creek Lobster Pound is a must do on the list of Maine attractions.)

With Bride and Groom safely off on the honeymoon yesterday and official wedding duties completed for the rest of us, we slept in, and then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Cafe Amore.

We then meandered to the beach with books (which we didn't read) and deconstructed the weekend while gazing at the Nubble (for all the kidding I do about "The Nubble, The Nubble, The Nubble", it's a beautiful view on a sunny summer afternoon--it glows in the afternoon light). It was agreed that there were no "wedding outrages", that it was all lovely and it was just as the bride and groom wanted it to be, and that it was all over too fast.

Chauncey Creek is mostly outside dining (although there's a small covered portion of the deck as well as a screened porch) on a beautiful tidal creek. You pick your own picnic table (they all have a view) and you also byob (we were well practiced at the bring your own this weekend), as well as bring your own candles, table cloth, and appetizers--anything the lobster pound doesn't sell may be brought in).

So, after the beach we packed three coolers: Appetizers (cheese plate with drunken goat, herbed chevre, brie and Amish Blue; tomato/mozzarella salad; spinach dip with sesame blue corn tortilla chips; and dill dip with crudite--I call it "veggies", but I now have a daughter-in-law, so I need to grow up, so crudite it is) and Drink (white wine, Smuttynose Pale Ale, and a lovely bottle of Moet&Chandon Brut Imperial Rose Champagne.).

We sat with our dearest friend and our wonderful daughter and her equally wonderful boyfriend and we admired the stunning Coast of Maine.

We toasted the bride and groom one more time. Then we ate steamers and lobster and baked beans and cole slaw and at least one of us offered up a small prayer of thanks for all of the blessings so generously given.

Ode To The Joy of a Scoop

When I moved to New England for the first time, the first fact that I learned about my adopted region was that New Englanders will eat ice cream at any time of the year. The region has the highest per capita consumption of ice cream of any region in the U.S. I learned this trivia on a January day, when the temperatures outside were well below freezing, but the company was providing a TGIF treat of ice cream sundaes, compliments of Hood Dairy--and the stampede to the ice cream was just about as dangerous as Rt. 128 during the morning commute.

Back then it was ice cream from Richardson's; now it's ice cream from Brown's. Picked by Ben (of Ben and Jerry's) as the fourth best place in the country to get a scoop, Ben says "this is the quintessential summer ice cream stand on the way to a lighthouse (locals know it as Nubble Lighthouse)." He goes on to say that the view is the draw (and we agree that the view is wonderful--the above was taken from the car on the way to), but we think that's because Ben didn't order the Wild Maine Blueberry in a sugar cone. It's loaded with real Maine blueberries and a kiddy scoop is almost more than we can eat. On a summer night, all eight windows are 10-12 customers deep, but the wait is always short and it's always worth it. I do all I can to make sure New England remains first in ice cream consumption.

Wicked Good

Hey y'all! Amy is hosting the first month of the Carnival of Ice Cream (I'm hosting June) and we need volunteers for July, August and September.
Amy's got all the details, good links and a graphic that will make your mouth water.

Please join us in celebrating and eating and blogging about New England's favorite food.

Bagel and a Schmear

Have you ever tried to get a bagel, not toasted, outside of the New York Metropolitan area? It
....it's close to impossible, even if you ask politely. You tell them you want a bagel, with cream cheese, not toasted. They toast it. It's like ordering a pizza, with no pepperoni. All they hear is "pepperoni" or "toasted".

The challenge is that 99% of all bagel joints outside of NY (and NY knows from bagels), think all bagels should be toasted, regardless of what's going on top of it. So even if you ask them not to toast it, it's like a reflex--they toast it.

New Yorkers know that if a bagel is to be buttered, it gets toasted. If a bagel is getting cream cheese, it's not to be toasted. It's to be sliced, slathered and handed to the customer. Its bagel goodness has already been cooked (boiled to be precise) to perfection and it needs no further heat applied to it. Besides the heat interferes with the lox, right?.

This morning, I'm breaking a 4.89 month diet for a bagel and a schmear, which I've been craving for almost a week. For a week, I resisted. Each morning, I put it out of my mind and had my half a cup of yummy oatmeal, yogurt and half a grapefruit for breakfast.

But this morning, despite dinner out at a fabulous new restaurant, the scales showed me 20lbs lighter than when I started this little venture. The bagel and schmear got the celebratory green light. Down to the Bagel Basket, where I ordered two plain bagels with cream cheese, easy on the cream cheese and please don't toast them. Then I started talking to a neighbor.

I was handed the bag with the bagels. Flew home. Set the NYTimes on the counter, opened it to the Week in Review. Poured myself a steaming cup of coffee. Got out the smoked salmon and the capers, the pepper and a sliced red onion.

Handed Retired Guy his bagel, which was suspiciously warm, and unwrapped mine. TOASTED.

It's now sitting on the counter getting the hairy eyeball from me. The NYTimes is yet to be read. The coffee waits for the first sip. I'm in a conundrum. If I'm going off an almost 6 month diet with a calorie splurge, it ain't gonna be for a gnarly Toasted Bagel. Anybody want it? It's yours.

But do I go back out in the rain and attempt to get another untoasted bagel, or do I decide that this is not meant to be and start making oatmeal?

Taste the Truthy Goodness

Coming to a store near you, Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream Ice Cream from Ben and Jerry's:

The flavor, Stephen Colbert’s AmeriCone Dream is a decadent melting pot of vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl. It’s the sweet taste of liberty in your mouth.

And via reader,Starfish: April 17th is free cone day at Ben and Jerry's. No limit, she tells me.
Thanks Starfish.

I Haven't Been Doing Much Cooking Lately....

..... and I'm missing it, but I surely haven't been missing many meals.

While out of town last week, I did manage to eat one Chipotle chicken burrito (with extra-hot salsa--yum); one order of Pad Thai from my favorite Thai restaurant (all Pad Thai is not made equally); and one very delicious meal of Sesame Encrusted Ahi on a bed of gingered cabbage and jasmine rice.

On Saturday, we wandered up to the neighbor's for dinner and had a wonderful white lasagna with turkey. I managed to get the recipe and thought I'd share:

White Lasagna with Turkey

2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
8 ounces lasagna noodles
2 ½ cups milk
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon black ground pepper
1 (8-ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey
3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Cook frozen chopped spinach and lasagna noodles according to the package directions; drain.
3. In a saucepan blend together milk and flour. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Mix half the sauce with the spinach and set aside.
4. Pour a small amount of the remaining sauce into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish. Alternate layers of noodles, spinach mixture, ricotta cheese, turkey and ending with the white sauce.
5. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, dry bread crumbs, and Italian seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly.

Makes 9 servings.