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!
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