Our slow, cool spring produced a bumper crop of rhubarb for many folks. Although usually eaten as a “fruit,” rhubarb is a vegetable, botanically speaking. An invaluable homestead plant in Maine, this tart- tasting member of the buckwheat family can reach up to 2 feet tall. I’m a collector of rhubarb recipes, and we’ve …
Who doesn’t love a fresh chocolate chip cookie hot from the oven? America’s favorite hand-held confection is credited to Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass. In 1938, Ruth made cookies with chunks of a Hershey candy bar, featuring them in her restaurant as the “Toll House Cookie.” The …
Ron Fortier of Ellsworth recently wrote to me, “With the present stay-at-home situation, I have been delegated as chief cook. I’m rapidly running out of comfort food ideas,” he said. “Please, if you have any fresh ideas, please share, lest I am forced to eat them lobstah. Don’t want to take them away from the …
The long stretch of keeping to home has given me the opportunity to catch up on some necessary spring-cleaning projects. Clothes have been sorted, books dusted and windows washed. One fruitful endeavor was tackling the kitchen refrigerator and freezer. I practice the frugal, homestead cooking technique of saving containers of food scraps in the freezer. …
I keep a close eye on my pantry inventory these days; sorting root-cellared apples for sauce, peeling and freezing garlic and roasting the butternut squash with soft spots. The urge for this annual routine of spring sorting and cleaning reminds me of squirrels, checking their food supplies, cleaning out their nest and getting ready for …
My friend Susan Wells brought a bowl of bright red, chunky sauce surrounded with crackers and toast points to the garden club potluck. Smothering a cracker with the mixture, I popped it in my mouth. A taste explosion! Bright, tomato and sweet pepper flavors with rich undertones, a pop of acidity, hints of charred roasting …
What is your go-to dish for a special supper or festive potluck meal? A recent student query had me pause to reflect for several moments. My family enjoys eating a wide variety of foods, fruits, grains and vegetables. Our proximity to the coast and local farms allows us the luxury of plentiful seafood, fresh vegetables …
The cabbage, which derives from the French word “caboche” (a colloquial term for head), was introduced to the Americas in 1541-42 by Jacques Cartier on his third voyage to Canada. Although the vegetable became an important New England crop that sustained many homesteading families, the first writing of its cultivation wasn’t recorded until over 100 …
Last week was Arts Week at Deer Isle-Stonington High School, and the theme was a celebration of Maine’s bicentennial. Once part of Massachusetts, Maine became independent — very independent — in March of 1820. For the entire week, over 120 teenagers were engrossed in studying the history of Maine and Deer Isle and creating works …
On a recent foodie trip to Portland we enjoyed three delicious and innovatively different meals. No peeling vegetables, no chopping garlic, no mixing, baking, cooking, and no washing dishes. It was pure luxury. We dined on soul-bending bar food paired with locally brewed beer, Portland Harbor Hotel stylish Eggs Benedicts and champagne cocktails and a …
Every year in January we have an artistic project here on Deer Isle known as Fun-A-Day. The premise is simple: participants pick a project like take a photograph, paint a series of pictures, create a quilt, or bake a cake and work on it every day. Then in February, we share our work with the …
The year 2020 is big for Maine, as we’ll be celebrating our 200th birthday year as an independent state (no longer part of Massachusetts!). Even though we know the indigenous peoples of Maine have been here for thousands of years, this opportunity to explore more “recent” Maine history and learn about how Maine became a …
