This morning the waves were small, but good and I almost stood up again. Lot of laughing and falling one way or the other. After not having been in the water for a week I realized how much I missed it. A couple weeks ago as the sun was rising over the hills of Camden, Maine my friend Jessica swam six miles across a lake with a few friends. “Swimming: it’s almost like sleeping,” she suggested on the ride over. I felt a little like that this morning until the first of a set of bigger waves drenched me and I was wide awake. It was on from there!
Walking back to the car board under arm (I’ll admit to liking how that sounds) my stomach began making those gurgling noises that mean lady the next meal better not be far off or we are going to get feisty. Let me tell those of you who do not spend time in wetsuits, they are peeled off one limb at a time. By the time that was done and my board tied to the top of the car (I’m getting quicker with it all) I was hungry and dreaming of a pb & j. All the nutrients and energy I needed in two pieces of sprouted grain bread, almond butter and jam.
I just finished a jar of my Blueberry Lime Jam so I opened Anarchy in a Jar’s Strawberry Balsamic Jam. I’d picked it up during my last visit to NYC and been meaning to try it. YUM! Anarchy makes delicious jam and rocks a sustainable attitude sourcing fresh fruit from Rooftop Farms, a CSA or farmers’ market and delivering to local shops via bicycle in Brooklyn. You will be sweet on it from the first mouthful.
Back from a couple days in the Midcoast visiting a friend. Saw this movie (read the book it is better, but then aren’t they always), had drinks and fresh locally sourced oysters at the Black Pearl on the Public Landing in Rockland, and checked out the Maine Boats Homes & Harbors Show after hours. The trip and the gorgeous weather we have now (shorts and tank tops during the day, jeans and if you are by the water a cardigan at night) have me wanting to wrap myself up in the rural world of Maine.
“One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken.”
Leo Tolstoy
My recent Darkroom entry for The Maine has a fun story I feel photographer Kris Larson (my “subject”) would not fault me for sharing. I first saw Larson’s deep B&W images of blueberry pickers in East Machias, Maine on the wall of CMCA Curator Emeritus Bruce Brown’s temporary office when we met a few months back. I should note everyone in the art world who has a lick of taste is hoping that “temporary” becomes permanent as Brown is the leading authority on photography in Maine - if not New England. He is also one of the nicest and most articulate persons I have ever met.
Bruce kindly gave me Larson’s phone number and allowed me to use his name as an introduction. Good thing, because when I phoned Larson as soon as I mentioned Bruce’s name he was all ears and happy to help website (the maine is a paperless space housed on the Internet) unseen. Larson, you see, does not have a computer or Internet access. He does not have email, a Facebook account, or iPhone. He does have Netflix thanks to a friendly neighbor and great taste in movies (I know because after we spoke I added some of his recommendations to my Netflix queue and thus far have yet to be disappointed). When I sent him my interview questions it was by traditional post. His typed out (on a typewriter) responses arrived in my mailbox delivered by a US Postal Service employee. My thank you note was handwritten, as is my custom, and mailed back to him via …U.S. Post. It was a delightful and nostalgic exchange. As helpful as modern technology is to communicating, it is also impersonal.
Larson will likely not see the post I did on him, which makes his trust in Bruce and me that much more appreciated. I hope to visit him in the blueberry fields of Machiasport and see the traditions he captures so beautifully on film.
John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was an American legend who traveled the countryside on foot planting apple orchards during the first part of the 19th century. I think this folk hero would be pleased with the popularity of the apple today. Specifically as consumed in a glass as apple juice, artisanal cider or brandy.
Sweetgrass Farm Winery & Distillery in Union Maine makes an excellent apple brandy enjoyed solo or in apple pie (I personally believe most pies are better with brandy, whiskey or wine). According to the website each bottle contains the essence of 40 local apples. Divine.
Martinelli makes a good commercial apple juice, but if you can get it fresh or make your own by all means go that route. I pick up a jug of apple juice and/or cider when I pick apples or stop by one of the farmers’ markets near where I live. As the weather cools, the only thing I love more to drink in the morning than chai tea is mulled cider. I like mine even more with apple doughnuts (always purchased from a farm stand).
This weekend I am signing up for my share in the second annual Out on a Limb: Apple CSA via Rabelais Books. Each shareholder will receive 20 or more varieties of rare, interesting and highly flavored apples over the course of the season with a wide range of uses, appearances, histories and tastes. Each delivery will be a mix of dessert apples (apples meant to be eaten fresh) and culinary apples. Some of the varieties will be organically grown, others conventionally.
Each delivery of at least 1/4 bushel (approximately 10 lbs.) will be accompanied by a newsletter with descriptions, history, tidbits and lore about each variety, as well as recipes and ideas for how to best use them.
The CSA will cost $120 for the season. By my thinking that is a deal that would make Johnny Appleseed smile.
**If you sign up for the CSA at Rabelais and are at all interested in making/enjoying cider or hard cider, pick up a copy of Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider by Annie Proux & Lew Nichols.
A few months ago I began working on The Maine, a paperless space focused on the life and culture of Maine. It is my great pleasure to share this project with you and my even greater hope you will appreciate and be entertained by the fresh material produced weekly. The ABOUT section sums up well why my very talented friends and I are doing this and the content speaks for itself. Enjoy!
A few recent entries:
My interview with bookseller and photographer Timothy Whelan. Photograph by Jon Edwards.
Brian Willson’s foray into birding in Rockport and on Monhegan Island.
Moxie, the official Maine State Beverage article by Stewart Engesser with photograph by Jon Levitt.
Goat farming article and photographs by Karl Schatz.
Margaret Hathaway’s personal account of her battle with “Big Mama” groundhog.
I have read Frank Bruni, the former New York Times restaurant reviewer, refer to his job of eating for work as a tough one. While dining at Eric Ripert’s restaurant is a dream of mine, he not only had the opportunity to dine there on numerous occasions, and was paid to do it. Granted he had to take on an intense exercise routine to balance out his daily caloric intake.
Well, I felt a tiny bit like him yesterday when I just “had” to attend one of Michael Salmon’s cooking classes at the Hartstone Inn. Just “had” to eat his cookies, drink a fancy cocktail, hang out with his lovely wife/my friend Mary Jo plus a few other friends I never get to see enough of, learn a few really cool cooking/baking techniques, dine on a lobster roll handmade by Michael (with lettuce from his garden and locally caught Maine lobster), watch a professional photographer at work, and eat a lot more of Michael’s goodies. Um, yes I even got to lick a spatula. This was all done for a feature article to run in a fall issue of one of the nation’s top shelter publications. Seriously though after all that food I felt like I needed to walk several miles, nap, and attend a Zumba class. Instead I “had” to eat more with the editor, photographer, and Mary Jo at Shepherd’s Pie (new restaurant Brian Hill of Francine’s opened month or two ago in Rockport, ME.) Hey it is a tough job at time, but someone has to do it - really they do!
One of eight short films about Maine farmers, created by Maine Farmland Trust and Pull-Start Pictures. I was lucky enough to score tickets to the premiere event at The Strand Theatre, but you can watch them online. Really well done, insightful and beautiful. If you are ever in the Midcoast Region of Maine hike it over to Chase’s Daily in Belfast for a delicious meal. Get there early and you will be astounded by their indoor farmers’ market (incredible variety of tomatoes) and be sure to get a bag of their chocolate chip cherrie cookies to go. So good!!
If you are headed to Bar Harbor this weekend from Portland or the Midcoast please stop in the Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth and see Jessica Stammen’s beautiful work in the group show “Painting Mount Desert Island.” Like Jessica, her work is bright and cheery.
The next time you visit Camden I highly recommend you stop in Jo Ellen Designs, the beautiful shop she runs with her (former children’s book illustrator) mother Jo Ellen. Perfect for home decorating, gifts…
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Jessica’s painting - From Outside, Looking In, Looking Over - 3 oil on panel 24×30
Today is the first official day of summer. Yay!!! Summers are short in Maine so I plan to make the most of every warm dry day. What fun things will you be doing this summer?
What I am most looking forward to doing this summer.
Evening walks and staring up at the stars (I love this year round).
Wearing bright summery dresses and my denim shorts.
Sipping margaritas and eating chips and salsa outside.
Reading in my backyard. At the top of my pile are Irene Nemirovsky’s Dimanche and Lost Trails, Lost Cities by Colonel P.H. Fawcett.
Standing up on a surfboard. (I will actually be content catching waves and not getting hit by the board again and again :)).
A weekend on Isle au Haut with friends. This pretty much involves eating, hiking, eating, biking, eating, star gazing. I feel it is my obligation as a guest to eat as many shrimp puffs and chocolate truffles as humanly possible. Wouldn’t you!?
Making pesto with the basil from my garden (I throw in parsley and walnuts). With any luck I can throw some of my backyard tomatoes in with the (homemade) pasta later this summer.
Digging my toes into the dirt.
A week in Midcoast Maine swimming in the lake and attending faculty slideshows at the Maine Media Workshops.
An overnight trip aboard the Schooner J. & E. Riggin where I will be surrounded by four of the people I love most in this world - as much for their genuine compassion as their zest for life - Annie, Jon and their absolutely magical daughters Chloe and Ella whose curiosity thankfully knows no bounds .
