Tortilla and Tomato Time!

As soon as tomatoes and corn both came into season last week, I couldn't wait to make tacos with beans, fresh salsa, and homemade tortillas. And then I liked my tacos so much that I couldn't wait to make them again for dinner last night.I am not happy that most tortillas I can find in stores around here are filled with incomprehensible ingredients, including the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. Then I saw Liz making her own tortillas and wanted...

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Maine Part V: Drinking in Bar Harbor

Here are some places in Bar Harbor (the main town on Mount Desert Island) that we enjoyed for outdoor drinks in the afternoon during our vacation:[And by the way - how awesome was it that we only had two (!) meals inside the whole week - thanks to the beautiful weather and our choice of restaurants, we were mostly able to feast and drink en plein air with our doggy by our side.] Bar Harbor Blueberry beer with lunch at Rupununi, a sustainably-minded...

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Maine Part IV: Lobster Pounds on Mount Desert Island

As much as we enjoyed cooking fresh fish and vegetables at our campsite, we also enjoyed more than a few meals and drinks out and about. In addition to our lobster dinner at Gilbert's in Portland, we had lobster three more times while on Mount Desert Island (Jesse was a bit obsessed). Maine abounds with lobster pounds, which are casual affairs that have limited menus along the lines of: lobster of varying sizes, lobster rolls served with chips, crab...

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Maine Part III: Cooking Locally at the Campsite

I was disappointed to learn that I would miss both the Portland and Bar Harbor Farmers Markets by just a few hours each due to our traveling schedule. To compensate, I packed food from the Union Square Greenmarket that I thought could stand the trip - butter, honey, maple syrup, potatoes, onions, zucchini, and eggs. I was also buoyed by the fact that restaurants in Maine make an effort to serve locally produced food - more on that later. And I figured...

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Maine Part II: Camping in Acadia National Park

Following our night in Portland, we headed three and a half hours north to Mount Desert Island, where we camped in Acadia National Park for five nights. We stayed at one of the park's campgrounds, Blackwoods Campground. There are plenty of private campgrounds on the island, but they tend to be slightly more expensive and don't all allow dogs like Blackwoods, so this one was good enough for us. Unfortunately, the sites weren't as private as we hoped...

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Maine Part I: A Night on the Town in Portland

Our weeklong camping vacation in Maine began with a stopover in Portland on the way to Acadia National Park, not wanting to drive the full nine hours from New York City in one day. So we shelled out for a hotel in Portland - amazingly just one night in a "cheap" hotel like Days Inn costs more than the fee for six nights of camping! What a rip off. Just so you can have hotel amenities we never even use, like a pool and a disgusting complimentary breakfast...

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Adventures in Freeganism

I was happy to join fellow blogger, Megan of Fix, at a freegan dinner this week. Called Grub, the dinner is hosted biweekly (or maybe monthly?) by In Our Hearts and is open to anyone who chooses to wander into this out-of-the-way space in Brooklyn. My boyfriend was a confused by my interest in freeganism, and he envisioned lots of stale donuts and bagels and rotting food that would make me sick. Moreover, he argued, the quality of this food goes...

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Asparagus Frittata with Grated Carrots and Beets

Frittatas are a great way to use up whatever vegetables you have laying around. I had some asparagus in my freezer that I originally intended to turn into soup. But then remembering that I don't actually like my homemade pureed soups, I decided to throw the asparagus in a frittata instead after letting it thaw. And in an extreme example of not wasting food, into the frittata also went garlic scapes that had been steamed with mussels but not actually...

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Maple Hazelnut Muffins

These maple hazelnut muffins were amazing. They came out of the oven browned with a crispy sweet exterior, thanks to the raw sugar topping. Inside, they had a warm hint of maple flavor and a sweet crunch of hazelnuts. I included buckwheat flour because it has been lying around in my freezer forever, and because buckwheat and maple are a traditional flavor pairing, but unlike my buckwheat apple & chocolate chip muffins, buckwheat takes the back...

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