I know that cold weather is upon us, but I think I need to see a man in Blue Hill about some frozen treats. I drink a lot of tea, so Jim Picariello's idea of taking his leftover tea with honey and freezing it instead of wasting it, is indeed an "awesome" one. He creates the Frosteas and Frostbites, which are not-Popsicles — he is quick to remind you on his Web site that the term is a trademarked one, in a new manufacturing facility he opened this year along the coast. And despite minimal advertising, he has managed to develop a distribution network from New England to Florida and the Midwest, peddling the gluten-free, low-calorie, no-fat products, which are made in Maine with native honey and maple syrup.
But it isn't the pops themselves, with their clever names like Cool Your Jets and Honey Love, that excite me. It's his promise that they taste good mixed with gin and vodka. In Picariello's words, "What better way to forget about the economic crisis than to
calm your nerves with a Maine Maple Lemon Frostbite tossed in a glass
of vodka?"
I'll drink to that.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
Last year, Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy came close to a clean sweep. The No. 1 alcoholic drink of choice among Mainers for the last 20 years became the first ever brand to sell more than 1 million bottles in a year. It was also ranked No. 3, No. 6 and No. 9, due to the state’s arcane categorization of sales by size vs. brand.
Continue reading “The champagne of Maine” »
I didn’t know what a ployes were until I saw them on Facebook. Maybe it makes me a bad Mainer to have to learn about buckwheat flour pancakes brought to the state by French Acadian exiles via a social networking application, but now I want to make them for breakfast.
And that’s the point of Maine Stuff, an application on the social networking Web site (100 million active users and growing) that you can use to send virtual Maine "gifts" — many of which are edible. Need to bring drinks to the party? How about the champagne of Maine, Allen’s Coffee Brandy. Craving something sweet? There’s Gifford’s ice cream, fluff, whoopie pies and Maine maple syrup. Want a snack? Mike’s of Maine pickles, Humpty Dumpty chips, poutine and B&M Brown Bread are also options. Beyond making me hungry, the application also offers "Maine Work Ethic" and several L.L. Bean items, making me proud, homesick and happy for mail order.
So, if you’re on Facebook, consider adding Maine Stuff. And feel free to "friend" me. I’m always in the market for some online fiddleheads and blueberries.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
My best dining (and drinking) experiences in the last year have all taken place when I pulled my butt up to a bar. Most dining spots have them. Usually you can eat the same menu as in the main dining area. And you nearly always 1) meet a new person 2) sample different foods and drinks (oftentimes that you didn’t order) and 3)get even more personal service than you would sitting in a high-backed chair with a napkin that is refolded every time you stand.
Continue reading “Wherever you are, sit at the bar” »
Of the many happy stops I made during my trip home to Maine, a Wednesday morning hot dog binge at Simones in Lewiston was one of the tastiest. The Chestnut Street institution celebrated its 100-year anniversary this summer and I happened to stop by on Hot Dog Day — steamed, red franks were $1.25. I ended up springing for (3!) grilled ones at 44 cents more a piece, as well as the only unsweetened iced-tea WITHOUT lemon that I could find in the ENTIRE STATE OF MAINE after asking at Shaws, Hannafords, Cumberland Farms, Sams and many other drink-purchasing locations. (Have I lived in the South too long? It’s not like I was asking for sweet tea and pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, I just wanted a simple, cold tea – without artificial lemon crap or sugar! But, back to the dogs.) My total, by the way, was less than $8 and the refill was free.
Continue reading “Shouldn’t every day be Hot Dog Day?” »
I haven’t been to the Common Ground Fair since I was a little girl. Mom reports that I made my own paper (a precursor to future endeavors?) back then. This time around, I learned a few new things:
Traffic of “Woodstock” proportions will greet you if you arrive mid-afternoon during the best fair weather in “years,” so plan accordingly for those last critical 3 miles. Better yet, ride a bike.
Dreadlock mullets have made a comeback/appeared. We counted at least two among what my brother called “the largest collection of hippies I have ever seen.” This coming from a man who has lived in Maine for nearly 27 years and goes to school in Orono.
Continue reading “What I learned at the Common Ground Fair” »
At the risk of becoming the food obit blogger, I think it’s important to note the passing of writer David Foster Wallace, who was found dead in his California home on Friday, allegedly by his own hand. His famed 2004 "Gourmet" essay "Consider the Lobster" chronicled the life and times of the crustacean and the lobgasmic spectacle that is the Maine Lobster Festival. But it also sparked massive controversy in the food world over how Wallace portrayed consumers, marine biologists, animal rights activists and lobstermen & women – by delving into the ethics of cooking and eating the lifeblood of the state. It really hit a nerve with the magazine’s readers, many of whom felt that "Gourmet" shouldn’t have run a story that derided how a widely beloved gourmet food item was prepared. The editors stood by the reporting – and supported DFW’s style – though I have yet to see another "Gourmet" piece spark the same outcry, even when touching on gavage, animal slaughter and biotech crops. As a writer, reader reaction is one of the things that can make us the most proud. And, oftentimes, the most tortured.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
It has finally come to pass: pound for pound, lobster is cheaper than steak, and out-of-towners know it. Everyone is aware that food prices have gone up across the board — from asparagus to chicken breasts. But with a strong catch this summer (or, so reports my Harpswell-based father) and lower demand, prices have dropped and dropped.
Nowhere is this more obvious than right-off-the-boat spots in Maine. I used to revel in seeing pricing signs at pounds all over Brunswick, Cundy’s and Bailey and Orr’s Islands. But knowing how much the lobstermen and women must be hurting — with gas prices so high and everyone’s budgets tightening — the more I wish that either restaurants outside of New England would drop their prices to drive UP demand, or that the Maine Turnpike would be overrun with people headed for the coast to attend lobster college and load up live wells in their SUVs’ trunks with 2-pounders. Of course, I only want this to happen when I’m not in town, so if we can have a mini-break in mid-September, that would be best.
In the meantime, I will spread the word: buy lobster while you can get it for less than sirloin. Maine, it’s worth the trip — just don’t forget your cooler and bring some dry ice.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
It’s blueberry season, and Nancy Harmon Jenkins had a great piece (and several yummy recipes) in the New York Times this weekend about New England’s most delicate, delicious beads of pleasure. But the ones being snapped up by hungry 20-somethings that prowl the aisles of my neighborhood Harris Teeter cannot compare with the same bounty that blankets my mother’s backyard at her house next to Mount Apatite in Auburn, nor the bushes that dot my father’s manicured oceanside home in Harpswell.
This is the first August in several years that I am not able to come home to pick them, spending hours in the precious sun, filling a cereal bowl and staining my fingers. So save some for me and put them in the freezer. I promise to make you a pie when I come up in September, and top it with fresh whipped cream and love.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
Tonight, as I came home from my Washington, D.C., corporate bubble, I spied a bull moose in the subway.
There he was, standing just on the edge of the woods in a swamp, chewing thoughtfully and looking right at me.
Before you call for a drug test, I should mention he was a part of the latest in what turns out is a series of tourism posters in our mass transit system, touting the Great State of Maine.
"Moose take up a lot of space, but not as much as that guy with the backpack" — the poster quips. Having stood next to *that guy* (normally, a tourist headed to the National Mall with his family to see the Air & Space Museum), I can confirm that this particular animal is, in fact, a pain to stand near, especially when the train unexpectedly lurches forward. And though moose are not as big as one of my college classmates posited "a swingset", Joe Backpack has nothing on a 5-to-7 foot tall, 600-to-1,200 pound bundle of muscle and antlers.
I can push back against the man (or woman) intruding on my personal space with the backpack. I have no issue using my elbows, either. But Mr. and Ms. Moose are better viewed from a distance on the trail, or even better, the car.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
The Maine Potato Blossom Festival closes today with live music, a bean supper, an evening social (BYO lawn chair) and fireworks over the Aroostook River. The hay-bale toss, beard-growing, skillet throw and barrel rolling contests have already been held, and the beautiful Potato Blossom Queens have been crowned. And yesterday, a beloved tradition returned to the nation’s top spud producing town of Fort Fairfield, Maine: mashed potato wrestling.
Continue reading “What kind of insurance policy covers mashed potato wrestling?” »
Beware of stressed-out motorists flooding the roadways this summer from major metropolitan areas across the East. The Maine Office of Tourism is luring them with a mass transit ad campaign. The sign in the Metro station closest to my house reads: "If commuting’s got you ready to crack, take it out on a lobster… Come to Maine for a bake, and much more." The picture features a smiling, young girl holding up a giant, bright red lobster, with the ocean gleaming behind her. I’ve actually run into a few people when I slowed down and stopped paying attention to foot traffic as I walked by the display. I think this means it’s working.
Continue reading “They’re coming for your seafood, blueberries and moose” »
I’ve had mixed results with developing “favorites” lists during my career. My first paid magazine gig at age 19 was to create a list of the best ways and locations to celebrate Valentine’s Day in western Pennsylvania, a state that boasts towns named intercourse, Ogle and Climax. Minimal complaints, but I had to avoid the obvious libidinous choices.
Continue reading “Maine Classics” »
Al Gagnon, who has owned Red’s Eats in Wiscasset since 1977, passed away on June 13 at age 71. Today, I sent my sympathies to his daughter Debbie Cronk, who spoke with me about Red’s — and her dad — for the story I am working on about Maine Classic eateries just a few weeks ago. The man who turned lobster rolls on Rt. 1 into a national sensation last week was remembered by many for his generous spirit and loving nature.
Both Debbie and her sister Cindy
Collamore, who have been running things this year, have spoken with the media, assuring Mainers — and those from away — that despite the loss of their father, things will go on at Red’s as they always have.
So, this summer, when you lift a perfectly packed, completely unadorned and overflowing lobster roll to your lips — think about the man who helped make the world aware of a tiny, summer shack next to the Davey Memorial Bridge and drew thousands of people to Maine each year to try one. Smile. And take a bite.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
I am a snob when it comes to lobster. As a Mainer in exile, I get excited on the inside, but pout on the outside when I see it on the menu near my home or on the road (outside of New England)– especially after seeing or asking what ridiculous price it is going for. It’s actually still pretty special in my family’s home to have lobster for dinner — even though we know plenty of folks and places where we can get it for cheap and my father is licensed to have his own traps. But it isn’t regarded as a luxury food item. So, when I see a 3-pounder on a menu for $75, as I did 3 weeks ago here in Washington, D.C., I make the face that says it’s an offense that should be punishable by law and how dare they rip people off like that and who are these people who are paying exorbitant prices for something so … common?
Continue reading “Lobster snob” »
A food writer gets to eat a lot. And when faced with so many amazing options, why limit yourself to what you are officially researching? A few gustatory highlights that are not related to the piece I am working on … but could be in the future:
- Down a few miles off Rt. 1 in N. Waldoboro, garlicky pickle lovers rejoice. This now includes me. Morse’s reubens — piled with fresh corned beef and their signature kraut — are worth every drippy slurp. Just be sure you have enough napkins. And that you can fight your father for a bite.
- Giant U-10 scallops over grilled pattypans at Fuel in Lewiston. This is enhanced by a giant, crisp martini from their very sexy bar. Sit there, especially if you have a hard time eating in the dark.
- If you like jerky, smoke and fish — and have superhuman jaw strength — try a bag of smoked teriyaki cod jerky from Smokin Annie’s. Easy-to-access one-hand-on-the-wheel snacking.
- Maine crab and avocado salad, fried clams and a pint of Allagash White at the Portland Lobster Co. on Commercial Street in Portland. I think we were lucky to come before the crowds. The space on their deck overlooking the pier provided a great Mother’s Day backdrop, and there was enough room for the dog to get a drink too before we continued our walk on one of the many waterside trails around town.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
I’ve logged more than 500 miles in 2 days on assignment checking out Maine eateries that have stood the test of time. While I work on this story (which should be in the magazine later this summer), here are a few rules for a Maine food road trip:
- Pace yourself. Do not start out with a breakfast sandwich at the airport in Baltimore. You may think you are hungry, but it will likely be overwhelmingly disappointing and take up unnecessary space in your stomach. Especially when the next meal you are faced with involves the option for amazing corn muffins.
- Take a map. Even if you lived in Maine for 18 years and your family has lived in the state your entire life — living in another state for eight years where driving 5 miles takes 45 minutes twists your sense of time-distance to an unrecognizable state.
- Bring your own soundtrack, because where you’re going, the radio becomes very limited. Mine so far has been: Miles Davis, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Indigo Girls, Springsteen & Wilco.
- Watch your fuel. If gas is offered to you by the car rental agency at $3.55 per gallon — buy as much as you can — especially when "on the street" you will not see it below $3.68 per gallon for 2 days. Also, ask if you can buy extra to sell on the side of the road when you are running low on funds due to overconsumption of blueberry pie. Note: This is not recommended, as it is: 1) dangerous, and 2) who wants to drive around in a car that smells like gas?
- Pay attention. Don’t check your BlackBerry while driving down a road with moose warning signs. This is guaranteed to bring moose out of the woods.
- Get out of the car and move around. Walking 100 yards down Route 1 looking for a diner does not constitute exercise when you are eating 4 (large) meals a day.
- Remember, it’s May in Maine. It may be 80 degrees today, but tomorrow it will be 40 and raining. Eat outside if you can an enjoy it while it lasts.
- If it looks good, try it. The next place may not have Hermits (nutmeg! cinnamon! raisins!). What is wrong with me!?)
- Talk with everyone. From owners to bussers, everyone has a story and it’s always much more interesting than yours.
- Eat at the counter. Ask what other people are eating. Eat that. And bring some home for family.
Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.
