8.16.09 (day five) - shucks, final day

It's always good when they save your favorite food for last, even if they do it unknowingly.

Today was essentially seafood day....

We got to the farm around noon and the place was in pre shuck mode. Dennis lead a class on shucking oysters, about the ONLY thing I knew how to do the entire week. But he had some good pointers and everybody was way into shucking themselves.....

After oyster-hour, they steamed up some steamers (my favorite food) and dropped them for the ravenous and now entirely comfortable with one another, students. the steamers were prepared, before being cooked, in a cornmeal bath, which the oysters eat up and it cleans them out so you dont get such a sandy or yucky steamer. you could tell the difference. gonna try that trick at home myself....

Having filled up on oysters and steamers, I opened up my second stomach for the lobster bake!! We walked down to the picnic tables (which doubles as a makeshift campground), and the crew cooked us up some local lobsters.....corn, cornbread, and pasta salad......

I learned the difference of soft shell and hard shell lobsters...

We played some badminton at Anne Marie's aunt and uncle's house which was on the farm(I'm offically 0-1 and will hopefully event that out sometime soon) ...Their house was spectacular...the backyard was a multi terraced landscaped beauty, with clear shots of the ocean, backyard (badminton court), and great nooks to hang out in.....

We played and drank some "garden inspired cocktails" - - which kind of just turned into rum and coke for me. :-)

The walk back to the farm for dinner featured a finale of a darkening sky.

The tables turned on the final night of dinner. The students were allowed full access to the fridge and all leftovers...it was organized chaos....i created a bimbia, named after nothing, which was fresh mozzerella with chopped roasted red peppers, sausage casoulet, little balsamic, and then baked for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. it was tasty. some of the folks made some pasta which was very good.....everybody was in full dionysian party mode, and we kept it going until Kathryn kicked us out......it was time.

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8.17.09 (day five 1/2) - goodbyes

last day adendum:

the morning after

the final morning we showed up and the chefs prepared us some final b'fast....potatos, salsa verde, sausage, biscuits, and blueberries. We all said our goodbyes, exchanged information, graciously thanked our rock star chefs, and master of ceremonies, Anne Marie, and headed out on the road......

the maine event - season 1 (dvd available oct 1st) was cramming everything I like to do while on vacation into 5 days - - basically eat, meet people, have nice views of things, drink, and play wiffleball. mission completely accomplished, almost daily......

Anne Marie and Kathryn and the entire family were not only great hosts, but kept such a relaxed atmosphere throughout the entire week.....Without being bloated about it, the chefs, the food, the cabins, the nice rides, the opportunities to swim, moose(y) and moxy(fruvous), lance and liz, made up games, and salt water farm made for a great time with new friends and most importantly.....new recipes!

8.15.09 (day four) - pizza delivery

I willingly left the camera behind for the first half of Day 4 began with a trip to Swan Island Blankets. Some of us were out of our element being that we couldn't actually EAT anything there, but I think we managed to socially adjust. We got to watch the looming process. Unfortunately, the average blanket cost more than a flight to California, so we had to pass, but they were super nice people.

We headed into Camden, ME to go to the farmers' market. Camden reminded me of Provincetown, MA. Very pristine town with some good places to eat and right on the water. In addition, nice architecture and well landscaped properties.

We were in town to head out on the Appledore, a schooner built with century old traditions....It was a perfect day to go sailing. While overly hot on land, the wind after the ship took off kicked up to keep us cool. Here's a shot of the boat from their website....

For lunch we had some dill, mayo, and chicken sandwiches (from the killed chickens) all on soft loaf style bread. Some people felt there was too much mayo in the sandwiches. I was LOVING it. I am a huge fan of dill, so I was in my element.

The crew of the boat made up some spicy bloody marys for us, and we drank some beers, chatted, and relaxed. The 2 hour trip went by in what seemed 20 minutes.

Having some free time, we decided to make the most of it by arranging an impromptu wiffleball game down at the soccer field on our cabin grounds. We played for over 2 hours, listening to a loop of Talking Heads' Fear of Music.

Around 7:15pm, we showed up back at Salt Water Farm to begin our pizza making night.

Before pizza could be made and eaten, we HAD to polish off those chicken feet......

The chefs prepared some small pizzas in the wood burning oven for us.....i'm not sure why more pizzas can't taste like this. Possibly a matter of being hungry, the chefs could open up a restaurant and serve these and it would be a hit.....

For the next few hours we got some instruction on how to put together our own pie....Fayetteville, WV's own Dave Bailey was there to guide us through the pizza making process from dough to mow (as in, mow it down....got me?)

Here's how mine came out......I loaded it with garlic, chanterelles, asiago cheese, onions and sauce...

Later in the evening we just hung out, ate and drank some more, and watched a documentary film outside on the patio about 2 Maine buddies that live in the woods....I could only take in about 2/3 of the doc, and went inside to hang in the relaxing kitchen.....(all kitchens should have couches)

We got home around midnight that night, and once again, I caught the final inning of the Yankees.......Mo gets the save. Yanks get the win. Tomorrow is the last day of the trip.....lobster bake.

8.14.09 (day three) - the chickens

Day three started with a beautiful morning and a drive down to Salt Water Farm. Breakfast was a combo smoked and poached haddock with accompanying purple and golden potatoes, with pickled eggs......

Right after the meal, at about 10:45am or so, the air was getting a bit tense. Today was "chicken killing" day. Before I came to The Maine Event, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this event. I knew I would participate. I knew I couldn't miss it. But I wasn't looking forward to it either. Charlotte's Web put me to tears when the spider died. If that could get me balling, how would I handle my first exposure to an actual killing of an animal?

What I didn't expect, and actually made me feel more at ease, was that the chefs themselves were uncomfortable about it. There was such a feeling of respect for the chicken (I know that sounds ridiciulous, but...), and respect for the task to be done, that it's something that has to be done, b/c that's how we live. I had said coming up to the trip that I would love to be the kind of guy that could just "do it without thinking twice." Having gone through it, I don't want to be that guy, but rather one that simply understands and appreciates what I'm doing. Ok, no more diary entry.

Anyway, like I was saying, around 10:45 am, Dennis, head chef from Roebling Tea Room helped us get through our early morning jitters with some shots of smooth potato vodka chased by some pickle and beet juice (BIG fan of the pickle juice chaser!). Can you ask for that at a bar?

Anyway, we all toasted to the lives of the chickens. I thought it was a nice moment.

I'm gonna kind of skip over the next part. The killing of the chickens is just not really something I want to write about. I will say that I was slightly more uncomfortable than I thought I would be at first, but ended up more comfortable than I thought I would be at the end......

I got to the point where I plucked the feathers and eviscerated a chicken myself.

For some of the chefs, it was their first times killing. For Brent and Caroline, I thought they handled it so professionally. Completely unpretentious, Brent looked at me like I was crazy when I asked him if he was nervous, and he responded with a, "Hell yeah."

I have to say that the whole scene was a bonding atmosphere.... From the passing of the vodka

to take swigs, to the group volunteering for preparation of the food we will eat tomorrow, it was a lot of rookies being put in a position they don't often play. So, I've actually censored many of the photos I've taken for the ones I feel are most appropriate......

Caroline, of Salty, carries her bird to the gallows.....

Some of us defeathered the chickens. The feathers pull off with ease. Keeping in line with "White Trash Friday," a Busch beer makes the foreground.

Rikka gets into the action.

Done.....

The chefs exhale and relax.

Switching gears, we left Salt Water Farm to head out about a half hour to go blueberry picking. Liv, who has been joining us on some events, opened up her home and her blueberry field to us...

Her home was pretty amazing. The view was out of a better homes & gardens magazine....

Blueberry picking:

Kicking back and relaxing in the shade.

Liv's husband Ken shows me how the blueberries get sorted....They use an antique belt operated machine....

After taking a brief swim in their pond on their property, we head out back to the farm to get some lunch....Plated is butter, anchovy, and radish sandwiches / chicken liver pate (from the chickens we killed in the morning) on toast / pork rillons on bread / and actually my FAVORITE part of the whole lunch is the sandwich to the top left, and I cannot remember what it was.....It was a pork pate or something close to that, but I can't recall how it was made. I'll have to find out. The chicken liver was my 2nd favorite on the plate. I was appreciating every bite....

Our new friends, Dave and Tasha at lunch...

After lunch, we have a pie making class. I have to admit, this interested me the least. I'm not a big pie fan, I mean yeah, pumpkin's great, but I'll take the stuff right out of the can. Fine with me......But we learned how to make crust although I was not 100% paying attention...

After pie making, we moved on to pickling. My roommate Julie and I, CONSTANTLY have vegetables at home we don't eat, so I was seriously intersted in pickling as a means to put to use these pounds of veggies we throw away weekly. Learned some good tips, and even pickled some cucumbers and beats myself (they're sitting in my fridge in my cabin now).

Exhausted from our chicken killing, blueberry picking, swimming, lunch, pie class, and pickling, we head back to our cabins for a nap before dinner.

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Dinner is slated as a pork bluegrass dinner and it does not disappoint. Erica and I show up and the folky bluegrass guy is already strumming his guitar and mandolin, Tom Mylan is in full distilling form for his "moonshine," and the pork is all but plated for us to dive into.....

Listening to the fokly sing his low country version of gin and juice, I realized there's just something special about a mandolin accompanying these lyrics:

Later on that day

My homey dr. dre came through with a gang of tanqueray
And a fat ass j, of some bubonic chronic that made me choke
Shit, this aint no joke

The pork sandwiches and pork casoulet is a pretty heavy pork dinner, but it's delicious. I eat all of mine, and nab the remnants of what's left on Erica's plate....Dessert is a blueberry pie, from, yes, you're catching on, the blueberries we picked......

After a few beers and some moonshine, and the folky rendition of gin and juice, we head back to our cabins. I dialed up the last inning and a half of the Yankees game which was on late b/c they're playing out in Seattle. I start watching in the bottom of the 8th. Teixera smacks a go ahead homer in top of the 9th. 15 minutes in, the game's over. Yankees win.....thuhhhhhh, yankees win. So basically, a great night. And now's bedtime.

8.13.09 (day two) - the pig

so i was really looking forward to today, pig butchering day....i honestly had no idea what part of an animal the skirt steak came from (actually i thought it was only in a cow), didn't know how to make head cheese (note: you can use feet), and honestly, i knew bacon was from a pig, but i never saw it in its non sliced form on the pig itself!! I would learn ALL of these things and so much more. The pig, I learned is probably the least wasteful of the animals we eat due to the fact that there is so few parts that frankly, we don't eat. Basically, the tail, some glands, and the snout I think....although I saw them put the snout aside, so maybe we're gonna eat that too?

but before the pig could make its way, we started with breakfast at 10am....i'm trying to think of another term other than "perfectly prepared" but it's what comes to mind with most of these dishes so far....we had a perfectly prepared egg and ham biscuit with side of blueberries.

and some fresh OJ.

we walked around the farm

then, out came the pig....

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

WARNING!!

Do not read on if you don't want to see a dead pig....Close this window now.

I will NOT be testing you. You can just TELL me you read this if you're worried I'll ask you questions about it......

AGAIN! Dead pig shots below......

OK, here we go.

it was mesmerizing to watch these guys dismember this guy (it was a guy). The ease at which each edible part was separated from the next was shocking to me. Sometimes, merely a few well placed but thin muscle tissue was the dividing factor between parts....this guide i found online is a reatively good idea of how they broke down the pig.....

http://www.theamericanmag.com/uploaded_images/article_1566_VgHs8elk0I.jpg

Sometimes they sawed through bones, other times, it was a smooth and gentle swoop with a knife....At the end, there was a tiny bit of waste, maybe 2 cups worth!! only....the rest, was divided into boston butt, picnic shoulder, loin, spare ribs, bacon, ham, hock, foot, jowl, and the head....

I tried to put the least gruesome, most family friendly, ones up here as possible, but I've got others. (just ask)....

After the pig class, we hung around the farm, tossed the ball to the dogs, drank some beer and wine, ate some mussels and toasted garlic bread (with some like spicy mayo sauce on it) for about an hour and a half.......

they also served us some lunch.....i learned about farro for the first time. it looks like quinoa or bulgar but unlike both of those, I REALLY enjoy farro. It's like quinoa without the somewhat tough consistency.....We had a farro salad with some farm vegetables along with some cheese and pepper spread, fried green tomatoes (best i've had.....savannah has nothing on this version), and some pickled beets.....

Charcuterie class followed. Essentially, charcuterie is a way to preserve meats without refrigeration. We used part of our pig (the belly i think?) as the example.

Brent and Tom, together about as varied and entertaining as you could hope for, kept us entertained with not only how to charcoot (made that up), but also showed us some sausage making.......

Having a chunk of the day free (5-9pm), a bunch of us decided to hike a trail by our cabins and go swimming in a lake. The hike was great, the lake (big pond) was a little nasty (slimy ground) but we endured.

After a brief nap, we were on our way to our evening meal in Camden, ME. The place was right out of a "Restaurants You Would Bring a Date To" magazine..I didn't take any photos here, but here's a screen shot from their site:

The highlight for me was the sweet corn soup, bbq lamb riblets, and my first time tasting muscat wine.......Having recently tried Sauternes for the first time just recently, this wine was VERY similar to Sauternes, and went PERFECTLY with the flourless chocolate cake and ice cream.......The restaurant was pretty much ALL maine event people (actually i think we dominated the whole restaurant minus some stragglers outside........At about 11:30pm, we called it a night, and here i sit now typing up what we did today......

8.12.09 (day one)...welcome dinner

Sparing the details of my miraculous 6:30am wake up (didn't even know "time" was still going that early), Erica and I hauled our hungry asses the 7.5 hours up to Lincolnville, ME.

I managed to spend the 7+ hours without any music and I drove the entire way without backup.... Any self respecting foodie, on his or her way to a foodie trip, MUST begin with a double cheeseburger from Burger King.

We arrived at our cabin which is outfitted with wifi (like all cabins should be) and has 2 bedrooms with their own bathrooms and a nice kitchen and living room area....the beds are comfy. The whole cabin is an A+ in cleanliness and coolness.....love it....




Aat 6:30pm, we drove down to Salt Water Farm, a beautiful little farm right by the bay. We spent the next 2 hours snacking on snacks and drinking Andrew Brewery Golden Ale and some organic white wines on this quaint stone patio atop a sloping hill overlooking Penobscot Bay. Our host and organizer, Anne Marie, is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, and the chefs briefly introduce themselves informerly. The place has such a laid back but elegant feel to it. It's nicer than I hoped it would be, and everybody comes trickling in and introduces themselves to each other.....


Penobscot Bay in the background.


Radishes to snack on. Mussels heating up in the background.

Some of the wines.

Kegerator.


the highlight of the hors d'oeuvres was the sweet maine shrimp and corn fritters (pic below) with homemade mayo.....i shouldve taken some to heat up for breakfast....the chantarelles and leak toast was also incredible. We also had some lamb loin tartar (carpaccio) which essentially is raw lamb, like raw raw, completely uncooked....just with a little olive oil on it.....who knew you could do that?

While everybody continues to munch and booze, the decorative and cozy dinner table is prepared....

the chefs work their magic in a conveniently outfitted kitchen. With a half dozen or so chefs, it better be convenient, and it is, with some Elvis Perkins and Fleetwood Mac tunes filling the room.....

The dinner starts off with a halibut crudo with some tarragon looking sprigs on it (sea beans). "Delish," erica adds. The main dish is an oven roasted lamb with veggies. Also, very very good. The dessert comes out which was perfect. Oh, it was so good. It was a not very sweet berry and sponge cake composite....with whipped cream of course. It was refreshing and was one of those desserts where you're looking at other people's plates to see if they're not gonna eat theirs....There was one extra plate, so Erica and I split it......

the menu for the evening:

day one is a success.....completely spent from the day, we crash back in our beds....