Tag Archives: food

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day.

February 14, 2023 Rivergirl 25 Comments

We decided to beat the crazy ~~Damn it, I have to take the wife out because it’s February 14th again~~ Valentines Day crowds and spent yesterday having fun instead. When you’ve been married as long as we have, big romantic gestures are a thing of the past… and that’s fine. We started the day with a light lunch and cocktail at our local pub and then hit some antique stores.

Where someone made art out of discarded lobster shells. Quirky, if not slightly disturbing.

They say necessity is the mother of invention and this sled with skis seems to prove the adage.

I found one vintage beer crate but it was full of bottles I didn’t want and a rotted bottom that wouldn’t hold my vinyl for long.. so I passed.

Here’s the husband examining what was tagged as “A turban egg beater from the late 1800’s”

Not seeing any colorful head coverings we realized the disc said “turbine egg beater”…. which, when you think about it, is equally as puzzling.

Remember my post about Maine inventing chewing gum the other day? Glad the husband didn’t see this.

After an afternoon of antiquing we ended at one of our favorite restaurants for dinner which was blissfully empty when we arrived.

After a few lemon drop martinis and a fabulous cup of smoky clam chowder, dinner.

Pan seared panko haddock with garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes, almond compound butter green beans, crispy leeks and lemon dill aioli paired well with a blackberry margarita for me.

And a very rare Wagyu beef filet with red wine demi glacé, pickled peppers, pea tendrils and maple butter roasted carrots for the husband. Both meals were fabulous as usual and we shared a coffee crème brûlée that we devoured too quickly to photograph.

So today.. on the actual day, we exchanged cards and my other half gave me a fancy cupcake and a box of truffles.

Alright, there were originally six truffles in the box and I took the picture at 8:00am.

Don’t judge, they were a delicious breakfast.

❤️

Uncategorized

News you can’t use.

February 13, 2023 Rivergirl 21 Comments

Or want, but I’m posting it anyway.

And TSA is worried about my shampoo bottle? Geesh.

This next headline falls under the category ‘you know you’re a redneck when’….

Because nothing says I’ll love you forever like a Chicken McNugget.

Stop drooling Mark. I doubt your new neighbors would approve.

If their pasta recipes include footwear? I’m going to pass….

Uncategorized

Miscellaneous drivel.

February 12, 2023 Rivergirl 30 Comments

Let’s start with the required weekly photo of Lord Dudley Mountcatten.

Say what you will about cats, the creatures know how to relax.

This marketing strategy seemed a bit extreme for fresh water from the Alps. Death isn’t normally what I look for when buying natural spring water… but to each their own.

The husband had been sputtering about a hot air popper for a while now, so I broke down and bought him one. Aside from breaking the top cover on the second go around, it looks like he hasn’t quite mastered the proper kernel to bowl ratio yet either….

A tent for office naps? I fail to see how this won’t be noticed by management.

As we began, so shall we end.

Lord Dudley Mountcatten, looking less than pleased with the photographer.

Uncategorized

Things you should never say to a Mainer.

February 8, 2023 Rivergirl 42 Comments

As you know, I live in Maine. Land of lobster, rugged rocky shores and sturdy, no nonsense, salt of the earth people. We’re generally laid back and slow to anger so when I saw this article the other day about things you should never say because they piss us off? I had to share a few…

They’re not.

Trust me on this.

This goes for all of you except rawgod. His snow storms and cold temps are epic.

Sumner in Maine is tourist season and believe me, the locals don’t enjoy much about that. We may need your money, but we can do without your attitude and desire to have a Starbucks on every corner thank you very much.

Warm winters? You can have them… I need snow.

I really had to laugh at this one. Though that doesn’t look like my husband physically, they’re definitely brothers in spirit. But I have to disagree with the last sentence … there’s not much room left in our cellar.

🤣

Uncategorized

My toaster is a snob.

February 6, 2023 Rivergirl 38 Comments

As you know my husband gave me the toaster to end all toasters for Christmas. Leverless, digital and to be honest, pretty full of itself.

I say this because my husband came home from running an errand the other day with this:

A fancy stainless steel expandable dish drainer…

With a removable cutlery holder, knife slot, cutting board rack and multi position drain spout.

Did we need an expandable stainless steel dish drainer with a removable cutlery holder, knife slot, cutting board rack and multi position drain spout?

We did not.

But I’m guessing that fancy new toaster was embarrassed by the old Rubbermaid drainer and told the husband to kick it to the curb.

Uncategorized

Next time you chew, say thank you.

February 5, 2023 Rivergirl 14 Comments

If you’re a chewing gum fan?

Please nod in the direction of my beautiful state the next time you’re giving your jaws a workout.

And you know my husband would love to get his hands on those boxes!

Uncategorized

News you can’t use.

January 31, 2023 Rivergirl 32 Comments

Because the world is filled with crazy headlines.

It could be…. but it won’t.

Is $11,500 too high a price for an air dried tush? I’m going with yes.

I wondered why I couldn’t find any spinach at the grocery store this week. Mystery solved.

The very definition of unusable news.

Take two turds and call me in the morning?

Imagine the black market possibilities here. Street corner conversations between dealer and buyer will be epic.

🤣

Uncategorized

39 and counting.

January 21, 2023 Rivergirl 45 Comments

The husband and I recently celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary and to be honest, at this point it’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t married. Although looking back at the first ever picture of us together… you know, during those 6 long days of dating before we wed …

It’s even harder to remember being that young.

Our 39th started out with the delivery of a giant basket of flowers and the exchange of cards.

We planned to spend the day doing something fun and end with a nice meal. Unfortunately it was the beginning of the week and thanks to post Covid understaffing and the slow winter season in Maine, everywhere I wanted to go was closed. After wasting a few hours driving along the coast….

We opted for lunch at the Dockside Grill.

Planning on a larger meal for dinner, we chose light fare. Chicken Caesar salad for me, French onion soup for the spouse.

One cocktail for me, one beer for the spouse… with tip? $86. For soup and salad! This is getting ridiculous.

By then it was early afternoon and we were still searching for something fun to do… so we sat with our phones Googling like mad. I opted for a museum, but the ones we haven’t already visited were hours away. I did find a quirky cabinet of curiosities worth seeing, but after reading there was no heat in the building? My desire to go quickly waned.

Fun be damned, we ended up antiquing instead. At least the husband was happy.

I saw these clever mussel shell Christmas trees on sale and thought about getting one, but they were so delicate I didn’t see it traveling or storing well.

As usual, there were some unexplainable items for sale. Most notably, this…

Made entirely of glass, I can’t imagine anyone wanting that gracing their coffee table.

After a few antique stores, we were back on Google checking our favorite special occasion dinner spots. Par for the course? Every single one of them was closed. By then I was thoroughly disgusted and ready to go home and make a sandwich but the husband wanted another piece of fabulous cheesecake so we ended the day at the same restaurant where I was served crab balls instead of cakes a while back.

I won’t bore you with food photos but the mussels were good and made more interesting by being served with polenta frittes.

Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. Dipped in the white wine garlic sauce? A meal in itself.

Another giant basket of flowers photo.

And if you’re wondering how large it really was?

It was larger than Lord Dudley Mountcatten large.

Uncategorized

Cakes or balls? You be the judge.

January 12, 2023 Rivergirl 37 Comments

The husband and I went out for a ~~booze filled~~ leisurely lunch the other day at a place I’ve been wanting to try for a while. It’s the sister restaurant to one of our favorites so I had high expectations.

Right across the street from LL Beans in the busy village of Freeport…the Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro is always packed with a long wait to be seated. We thought showing up at 2:00 in the afternoon would afford us some elbow room, but no. There was a 45 minute wait for a table which made my husband take a direct route to the bar.

My husband does not wait well. Or at all to be honest.

No matter, I started with a lovely cranberry sage margarita which though tasty, was served in a disappointingly small old fashioned glass.

And if I ever wondered why I was having a hard time finding vintage beer, wine or whisky crates… one look behind this bar provided the answer.

A spiced pear margarita was round two…. and was served alongside my crab “cake” appetizer. I ask you – how can a tiny round lump of crab ever be considered a cake? These balls were delicious, but at $23 were a bit of a pricey nibble.

Lunch was a wonderful 4 mushroom funghi pizza for me and a shrimp scampi for the husband. His lunch portion contained 4 shrimp for $29. I’d hate to see the dinner.