Tag Archives: food

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The beer blahs.

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Another beautiful fall day, another scenic drive in the never ending search for good beer.

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North to Bangor.

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To the Bangor Beer Company.

Hidden behind the mall, in the back of a Chinese restaurant… it was an odd little place.

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With a line of old pinball machines and some quirky art.

The beer? Maybe we’re too picky… we try a lot of craft breweries and may set our standards too high… but we found this selection dishwater flat and not at all interesting.

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Elderflower grapefruit martini for me.

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We expected the sesame chicken appetizer to be better seeing that it came from the large Asian restaurant in front, but it was so tough and stringy we didn’t bother ordering a full meal.

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The men’s room floor made my husband smile and snap a picture, but that’s not reason enough to ever visit this brewery again.

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Passing through downtown Bangor…

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We grabbed a quick sandwich and took the back roads home.

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😊

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The grass is not always greener in Rangeley.

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Leaving Sugarloaf without having secured a late lunch, we changed direction and headed for Rangeley.

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The town is named after the lake, one of Maine’s largest, and I felt sure we could find a decent restaurant there.

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Blog title aside, we parked next to some very green grass and entered a likely looking spot.

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With a welcoming front porch and some stellar trees..

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It was a bit brisk to sit outside so we ventured in.

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There were tables with nice views…

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So my husband headed straight for the bar.

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Where the view wasn’t as nice but the autumn sangria made up for it.

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The staff wore these shirts…

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But I didn’t, so we moved on to tater kegs with chipotle aioli.

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These were great but my husband wasn’t pleased with the pub food only menu, he wanted more of a meal.

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Next stop.

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The cranberry mule was lovely.

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And though I passed on the banana bread old fashioned? I thought of you Mark.

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Sadly, even though the loon/bear totem pole was interesting … the food was not.

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My fish sandwich was so thin it was flipping itself off.

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And not finding much more in the way of full meals here than he did at the first place, my husband’s chicken tenders were flat, over breaded and clearly frozen. He sent them back and we moved on.

Giving up on a good meal, we headed for home.

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Where it started to rain and pretty much put an end to our leaf peeping.

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🥴

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Carrabassett Valley in the fall.

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Heading for the mountains in Maine is never a bad idea this time of year.

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So we took a leisurely drive and did some leaf peeping.

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These were taken near Kingfield.

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Which is an area known for logging.

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Apparently by bears.

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I do love autumn.

The cool temps, the crisp air, the apples, the pumpkins.

And yes, the color.

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Mother Nature puts on a wonderful show if you take the time to look.

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Albert Camus said…

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower”

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Surrounded by this scenery, it’s easy to see what he meant.

😊

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Miscellaneous missives.

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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was cackling loudly the other day and stalking something through the living room window.

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Closer inspection revealed a line of sparrows…

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Who were no doubt teasing him on purpose.

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I’m going out on a limb here, but this abomination is almost as awful as Spam.

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I tried very hard to talk my husband into throwing this into the truck on a recent trip to Tractor Supply, but at $230 he squawked.

Which is something this chicken clearly isn’t doing anymore.

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His Lordship, surveying his domain.

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Some things are not worth waiting for….

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I realize I haven’t posted many photos of our fall foliage this year.

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The reason being it hasn’t been a very good leaf peeping season.

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Oh, there’s color…

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But by Maine standards it’s been very muted this autumn.

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Too much rain late in the summer and an early mini cold snap that forced the trees to turn too soon could be the reason.

Anyway…

After running a few errands down south, we realized we’d skipped lunch and headed to a very popular Wells restaurant for an early dinner.

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Off season, on a Thursday… and there was a line half an hour before they opened. We weren’t going to wait, but.

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It’s a steakhouse and my husband loves a good steak.

When the doors opened and the mad rush for upstairs dining was in full force, we took the road less traveled and headed for the bar on the first floor.

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This place is impossible to get in during the summer, jam packed every night so we were expecting amazing things.

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My appetizer was not one of them.

Shrimp and crab stuffed mushrooms. Dry uninteresting balls of stuffing they must have waved a crab over and called it good.

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Two overly sweetened cocktails in, my salad was basically a bowl of iceberg lettuce drenched in bottled blue cheese.

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We both ordered the filet mignons, which were decent enough… though nothing to gush over.

Places like this always make me wonder why people are willing to stand on line for basically nothing special.

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Let’s play.

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This week’s question is in honor of a certain Spam obsessed blogger who shall remain nameless.

Oh, who am I kidding?

It’s Mark, he’s crazy for the stuff.

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As far as I’m concerned Spam is a four letter word. A more disgusting gelatinous meat wanna be you’re not apt to find.

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Blech.

🤢

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Fresh off the assembly line in 1937.

I’ve heard rumors they’ll be making a second batch any day now.

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Health food it’s not.

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My late MIL was the queen of spam. Spam loaf, spam spaghetti, spam and beans… hell, she even made spam pie.

I’ve never been able to stomach the canned abomination and don’t understand why anyone would voluntarily consume it.

So my question is… yay or nay?

Where do you stand on Spam.

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Random rambling…

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A few sunset photos for your viewing pleasure.

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No real reason for the next one, it just made me laugh.

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Fall in Maine means apples and pumpkins and above all… turning leaves.

This is our backyard, complete with deer.

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I suffered a major loss recently when I discovered my absolutely favorite cocktail bar had gone belly up. The Blind Pig… with their amazing 10 page menu of creative alcoholic delights… has morphed into an Italian restaurant. Same owners, yes.

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The decor is similar…

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But the cocktail list pales in comparison.

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The food was good…

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The atmosphere pleasant…

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But even the funky silver fish wine decanter can’t make up the loss of my beloved artisan cocktails.

😫

Speaking of food, I’m including this crab cake recipe so I don’t lose it.

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If you try it before me, let me know.

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Day 7… a farm tour and a tearful goodbye.

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Our company was leaving in the afternoon and after a big late breakfast … we had just enough time to give them a tour of the organic farm across the street.

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It’s wonderful having fresh veggies so close .

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But the flowers are a nice new addition.

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Everything was green and lush.

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And blooming profusely.

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Yes, even the kale looked healthy.

🤢

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Being a good neighbor… I didn’t pick a free berry. Though honestly, it was tempting.

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We strolled and chatted and took pictures.

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And even caught a glimpse of the man cave/ Barn Mahal in the distance.

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So much works goes into running a farm.

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Day in, day out. Something always needs to be tilled, weeded, watered or harvested.

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This is our contractor’s boat.

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He’s a friend of our neighbor and is allowed free storage.

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Not sure you can see it in this photo…

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But I thought this was a bizarre staggered bloom flower. Very tall.

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A few more pictures…

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A few more blooms…

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And we headed back across the street…

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For one more picture before we loaded up the car and took our favorite people to the airport.

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Past a lovely stone church…

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With fabulous front doors.

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And this silly sign that always makes me laugh.

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Then the airport, where I had a good cry when we had to let them leave.

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Family isn’t always defined by blood.

Sometimes you choose.

And we chose well.

💕

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Day 6… the barn, with a lobster meet and greet.

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On the last full day with our company, we honored their request. No more road trips, no more sightseeing…. just a relaxing day at home.

Or more specifically, the man cave/Barn Mahal.

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T. was like most men who cross its doorstep, instantly smitten and a wee bit jealous. I believe he mentioned wanting one, but I don’t think his wife was on board.

The day was spent playing Name That Crap..

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(Early vacuum cleaner)

Playing pool…

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With some interesting techniques…

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Shucking corn..

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And introducing our southern family to fresh Maine lobster.

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G. was a little leery at first.

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But ended up making friends.

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Never having cooked a live one before, T. was fascinated.

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And after some quality time with the bugs…

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Made his own friend.

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And then dropped him in the pot.

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Unfortunately it was at that exact moment our grill ran out of gas and things had to be moved indoors.

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Finally…

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We had a happy southerner.

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Back in the man cave, cracking instructions were given.

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And everyone enjoyed lobster.

Except me of course. I came up allergic to the succulent crustacean about 9 years ago and am unable to eat it without becoming violently ill.

Boo to that.

😫

The night ended with cocktails and a birthday cake that elicited a good bit of laughter.

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T.’s late father was a career Marine who, when done talking to his children would bark, “Dismissed!”

And since it was our company’s last night in Maine..

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It seemed an appropriate sentiment.

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