Tag Archives: dessert

A recommendation pour vous.

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I don’t often recommend beer to friends because everyone tends to like something different. But once in a while I come across a special one that makes me so happy…. I have to share.

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This strange Belgian concoction has a delicious whiff on chocolate upon introduction…. and then sweeps you skyward in a heady sour cherry cloud.

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Pairs well with rich and dense desserts?

Then bring on the 12 pound chocolate fudge layer cake and River is one happy blogger.

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Seriously, if you like sours? You’ve got to try this one.

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Frank A. agrees.

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Grocery store chuckles.

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It never fails to amaze me how many ridiculous products I can find in the grocery store.

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Multi colored popcorn farts? No thank you. Wait… they’re covered in white chocolate?

On second thought. How bad can a rainbow unicorn toot be?

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This abominable bag of quinoa was on the check out aisle with all the other reasonable unhealthy snacks. Don’t they know how good that radioactive orange Cheetoh dust is? Geesh, no one in their right mind craves quinoa.

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Tolerant organic. What exactly does that mean? Is that little fellow going to bludgeon me with his noodle if I don’t compliment his Birkenstocks?

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I’m sorry, but when I walk down the baking aisle… filled with cakes and brownies and numerous other drool worthy desserts? Protein balls are not high on my list.

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Finally, I need two things explained.

1. What happened to the separation of church and grocery store?

And

2. If you’re going to quote scripture about baking bread, don’t use it to sell a box of cereal. That’s just false advertising.

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CSA, grocery shopping in Maine… and pie.

 

A slightly smaller bounty this week as the neighbor we split with liked more of the offerings than we did.

 

 

But there were fairy tale eggplants, so I should probably start this blog with Once Upon a Time.

Once Upon a Time in Maine…. a local grocery store advertised their weekly ware.

 

 

Squid jigs at the grocery store.

You know you’re in Maine when….

 

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And meanwhile down at the River ranch, there was pie.

 

 

Glorious lattice crust fresh blueberry pie.

 

 

No, I couldn’t wait for it to cool completely.

 

 

And yes, I had pie for breakfast the next morning.

If that’s wrong?

I don’t want to be right.

Blue Monday.

 

We’re extremely blue at Casa River.

 

 

And loving every minute of it.

 

 

Our bushes are full of ripe fruit and we can’t pick fast enough.

 

 

The neighbors get a bowl.

The postman gets a bowl.

If y’all lived closer, you’d get a bowl as well.

 

 

After picking, it was time to dig out my favorite blueberry recipes.

 

 

The coffee cake was wonderful.

 

 

Bursting with fat juicy fruit.

 

 

Unfortunately, the cobbler didn’t cobble.

 

 

The berries were so big the batter didn’t squeeze up through, but sat at the bottom and made cake instead.

Of course, now that I think about it….

 

 

There’s nothing wrong with upside down cobbler.

It still tastes fabulous.

So if you care to share your favorite recipe…. I’m all ears.

And blue fingers.

 

For Boo, as requested.

 

 

A blue bounty.

 

We’ve been having an unusually hot dry summer so I was a little worried our blueberry harvest would be small.

 

 

But the bushes are positively laden with fruit.

 

 

And in some places, look like grapes.

 

 

We did our first picking the other day…

 

 

And I see pie in our future.

 

 

As well as coffee cake, crumble, lemon blueberry pound cake, buckle and muffins.

If we can beat these little bastards to the berries that is.

 

 

No one wants pancakes that squirm.

I fear I’ll never catch up…

 

Which is why I’m posting about Valentines Day at the end of March.

 

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It started with a nice bouquet of roses….

 

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And a kitchen selfie before we went out for a late lunch on the water.

 

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The building used to house a garage… and was previously a wonderful restaurant called, are you ready?

La Garage.

Clever… no?

But now it has new owners and a new incarnation as the Water Street Kitchen and Bar.

 

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It sits on the Sheepscot River in Wiscasset and please pardon the reflection of my hands in the window.

 

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We’ve been wanting to try it for a while, and found that’s it’s undergone a major remodel.

 

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The feel is more modern.

 

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And I have to say I was loving the metal works installations. This would be perfect for all my husband’s rusty crap treasures!

 

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But first things first.

 

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A marvelous basil limeade with a view….

 

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The menu was small, but seemed alright.

 

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And just as the waitress brought my (overly salted) charred Brussels sprouts appetizer, the husband saw a friend of his walk in and asked them to join us.

On Valentines Day.

Oh, well.

 

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This called for two Blueberry Mojitos… .because a girl can only take so much romance.

Husband had a butternut squash soup, which you couldn’t pay me to eat.

 

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And then it was on to a rather dry, garlic-less shrimp scampi for me, and an overcooked paella for the other half.

 

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The meal was redeemed by dessert.

 

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A delightful lemon marscapone cake…

Husband’s friends said their meals were good, and the cocktails were lovely so we might give them another try.  We do like the area and supporting small businesses.

 

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And I might have to take another look at the metal works.

 

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They really were quite interesting.

 

Dinner on the waterfront.

 

This is for all the people who scream about food pictures. An entire blog devoted to a meal.

 

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Though I’m not a fan of oysters….

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The York River Oyster Company in Gloucester Point, Virginia seemed like a great spot for dinner.

 

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So we strolled around the marina checking out the boats before heading inside.

 

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It was a little too cold for outdoor seating in December.

 

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So we picked a table with a view.

 

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With a pole right in the middle to ruin any pictures I might want to share.

Yay us.

 

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I started with an Orange Crush which seems to be a very popular cocktail lately.

 

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And then cringed at the thought of anyone wanting red wine in their Mule.

 

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We started with an appetizer order of simply superb steamed shrimp.

 

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They were perfectly cooked and seasoned and just melted in our mouths.

 

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Cocktail number 2?

An Afternoon Delight.

 

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And I dare you not to have that song stuck in your head all day.

 

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Dinner for me was a crab cake and fried shrimp. The most I can say about them is they were decent. The crab cake could have had more crab and the shrimp were a bit overdone. Which was a shame because the flavor was there.

 

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I don’t know what the husband was thinking with this abomination.

A burger topped with bacon and pulled pork…. for those days when your arteries just feel too clear.

He picked it apart and ate everything separately which probably defeats the purpose, but said it was good.

 

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Dessert was a nice tart Key Lime Pie. Don’t give me those sugary sweet versions. When I order Key Lime? I want my lips to pucker.

 

 

Yes, like that.

 

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Night descended while we ate.

 

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And while I’d give the restaurant a solid B minus ……

 

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I have to admit they did have a clever slogan.

 

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Bad idea…. really bad.

 

Yes.

I admit to drinking the occasional Coca Cola.

 

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And yes.

I know it’s not healthy….

 

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Alright, that’s disturbing.

But I probably only drink one or two a month, like dessert.

It’s sugary enough to satisfy my sweet tooth…. and hey.

If it can clean the corrosion off a car battery? It can do the same to my colon. Everybody wins.

I’m not going to get into the Coke vs Pepsi debate…

Because there’s really only one acceptable way to drink Pepsi.

 

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And while I do find Cherry Coke acceptable now and then?

I’ve never tasted another flavor I could tolerate and have to wonder why they keep putting new ones on the market.

It’s Coke.

It has 7,000 tablespoons of sugar per ounce and two cans will put you into diabetic coma. I get it. Now leave it alone and stop trying to invent new ways for us to drink it.

(Please note this does not stop me from trying every single one. Hope springs eternal.)

The latest roll out?

 

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Orange vanilla.

I had visions of a Creamsicle Coke!

It works for martinis… why not Coke.

How bad could it be?

Answer-

Bad.

Very, very bad.

 

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Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Pour it directly on your corroded car battery (or filthy toilet) and be done with it.

I wouldn’t have thought it possible to screw up orange vanilla anything, but they did.

Give it a wide berth on the grocery aisle. Tasting like radioactive waste might not be a coincidence…

It’s that bad.