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Archive for the ‘Portland Maine’ Category
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
I did not mean to take the last couple days off from blogging, but it has been some week and tomorrow I fly to Seattle for a blogging conference (or okay to eat and hang out with a few super cool people) and then to Los Angeles. So excited to tell you about a couple of things I will be doing in Los Angeles (involve cameras and water, maybe concrete), but those will have to wait till I am back. See, I promised myself to stay away from the computer as much as possible next week and want a few gems to relive by writing upon my return. Pretty sure that will be my first almost whole week off from blogging. Almost, because I will be blogging about Seattle’s food trucks and the conference seminars Sunday. At least that is what I am supposed to do, but who knows what will happen with so many good excuses surrounding me.
Without further ado, to the topic of this post. I consider myself a researcher and seeing as how I will be touring Theo Chocolate in Seattle took it upon myself to sample some of their chocolate in advance. I mean we would not want me showing up without being knowledgeable about the product right!? We are talking about chocolate! Taking these chocolate things seriously as I do I recruited a taste tester in my friend Eli, a proud new papa who not that long ago established a fermentation center in Portland. We sat down in the Ferm (what we locals call the fermentation center) at a table made from leftover wood. Eli supplied apple juice from freshly picked apples, some of which will go into making apple cider (to be sold at the Ferm). There were large glass jugs of it in the fridge. I took a photo, but it did not do the sight justice. That apple juice might be just about the best apple juice I’ve ever had. Not normally a big apple juice person, it really has to be fresh for me to like it. This was delicious.
Eli pronounced both the 74% Organic Dark Chocolate and 70 % Dark Chocolate tasty. My preference is for the former with its “big” chocolate flavor. I look forward to sampling the Orange, Mint, and Spicy Chile in Seattle. Expect a full chocolate report in a few days.
Posted in Comfort Food, Drink, Friends, Local Flavors, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
Anyone who spends time in Portland, Maine and does not drop by Corduroy Boutique & Gallery is missing out. The unpretentious shop makes you feel like you are in someone’s house (who has a rad collection of tee shirts and surfboards), while also also representing the primary center for the area’s surfing and to a degree skateboarding culture. Sure it has a laid-back vibe, but do not think for a minute the owners are not serious about the art exhibits they sponsor in their upstairs gallery. The one-room space currently features the contemporary sculpture collection”Vessel” by Silas Finch. During September the gallery will feature the print show “Editions of Ten” and in October a sculpture exhibit by Nate Deyesso.
“Time of Arrival” by Silas Finch, photographs provided by Corduroy.
Posted in Portland Maine, Surfing | No Comments »
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Congratulations to Eli and crew at the Ferm, to the lovely and talented folks at Sonny’s, Rosemont, and Kamasouptra for making it into The New York Times article 36 Hours in Portland, Maine. Oh, and SCRATCH I love you guys, your bagels, brownies….
Posted in Baked Goods, Friends, Media, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Want to read about where I live? Check out the August issue of Outside Magazine p. 38 (sorry no online link available for the issue) Portland, Maine was voted Best: “Adventure Town” Overall in the East!
As part of its transformation during the past decade, Portland has become synonymous with talented chefs, bakers, and menus featuring local artisan ingredients. In this small town you can enjoy a sandwich with fresh caught seafood at a picnic table on a dock in Portland’s Working Waterfront for lunch, and hours later sit down to a multi-course meal at an award-winning white-tablecloth restaurant you are unlikely to soon forget. The nightlife may be practically nonexistent, but during the daytime residents can play outside. Biking, surfing, kayaking, climbing, running, now that we have. Horrendous traffic nope.
Portland continues to draw young professionals from urban settings who want to raise their family in a small (but active) town. A wave of immigrants from Sudan and Somalia have brought new life to Portland. To its 64,000 residents, Portland offers an affordable place to live and an opportunity to young people who want to hang a shingle (check out LiveWork Portland - People to Watch for a few examples).
The main streets are lined (primarily) with independently owned shops supported by Maine’s fleece-clad residents (good luck spotting a Kelly or Birkin bag). There is a strong emphasis on buying local that extends beyond food to clothes, books, and building supplies.
Like any place it has its ups and downs. There are days I cannot wait to get out, and times I cannot imagine living anywhere else.
Top photo Outside Magazine. Bottom photo Portland, Maine Daily Photo.
Posted in Media, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Friday, July 30th, 2010
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.
Photo Gourmet.
Posted in Books, Drink, Friends, Local Flavors, Midcoast Maine, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Don Lindgren, one-half the owners of Rabelais Books in Portland Maine, recommends these books for your kitchen…
Canal House Cooking No. 4 by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton. I have been cooking a lot out of this one, including ‘burnt eggplant with tahini and pomegranate’ and ‘wild salmon and English peas terrine’.
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. This is a vegetarian cookbook (UK Import) from the author of Ottolenghi (one of my favorites from last year). I’ve made the ‘poached baby vegetables with caper mayonnaise’ and the ’sweet potato wedges with lemongrass creme fraiche” and much more.
Posted in Books, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
When I hear about a former warehouse with a rubble-strewn back lot and a mess of Japanese Knotweed being turned into a container garden with bee hives, a greenhouse, vertical garden and compost I think two things - doesn’t everyone dream of this and someone is doing it! Maine based entrepreneurs Eli Cayer and David Homa call it Urban Farm Fermentory.
Did I mention this sprung up in a mere three months?
Cayer and Homa’s unique vision could help (further) reinvigorate Portland’s Bayside neighborhood where UFF is based, while helping more people make smart, sustainable choices. As advocates for eating locally grown food they are turning waste into things that are sustainable, nutritious, and educational. By positive problem-solving and sharing resources with local producers, including one that produces kombucha, Urban Farm Fermentory will help preserve a way of life our Founding Fathers practiced and which some days seems to have almost been lost to food industrialization.
For starters they are offering classes Tuesdays 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. at 200 Anderson Street in Portland Maine. $15 suggested donation. Phone 207.633.7406 for information and the class schedule.
Read all about UFF in this article.
Photo Avery Yale Kamila, Portland Press Herald.
Posted in Do Good, Gardens, Local Flavors, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Monday, July 19th, 2010
This simple, but elegant bouquet of flowers from Compositions, made me smile and put me in a romantic mood. The shop is full of color and glamour, if you love flowers and pretty things you have got to stop by - 13 Free Street in Portland.
The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
-Jalal-Uddin Rumi
Posted in Portland Maine | No Comments »
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
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.
Posted in Friends, Media, Midcoast Maine, Photography, Portland Maine | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Different people have varied opinions of what good food is. To me it is basic dishes with fresh and local ingredients. Thanks to a growing movement of people who want to minimize the distance their produce travels from field to table, fresh ingredients are often available via farmers’ markets, CSAs, and farm stands. Websites such as Local Harvest make it easy to locate them and so much more. That said, on this summer day I discovered not one! but two!! tomatoes growing in my backyard and began picking up goodies from my CSA. Okay, I may also have dropped by a local bookstore to pick up a paperback copy of this book so I can make some jam this weekend (between all that pleasure reading I hope to do). Life and food are good today.
Check out my little tomatoes!! The cucumber plants are completely out of control. In a few weeks I may well need to begin giving cucumbers away. Photos of those plants forthcoming, going to have to get out the macro lens for those babies.
Posted in Books, Gardens, Local Flavors, Portland Maine | No Comments »
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