Bringing Maine Home

Happy Long Weekend!!

Where to begin, I feel like I have a huge backlog of things I want to write about and they would never fit in one post.  Times like these I wish I posted more frequently…maybe something to work on this week.

So, I’m back tracking to last weekend.  Brian’s Birthday was last Sunday and we had just gotten back from Maine the day before.  Because we were away those days, his actual birthday day had to be a big yard work day, but it was really nice out and well it just needed to be done.

I did tell him he didn’t have to go grocery shopping which I think he was happy about.  Actually my mom came up and her and I set out for food. 

After a trip to:

• Cake – Lexington, MA
• Wilson’s Farm – Lexington, MA
• Trader Joe’s – Burlington, MA
• Market Basket – Burlington, MA

I had tons of fresh produce, stocked up on TJ’s treats (including a dinner I was inspired to make while at the store…yeah that’s another post), a super delicious Birthday dinner, and a sweet Birthday treat!

The Birthday dinner I had planned was very “Maine”-centric. 

One of my purchases in Portland was these guys…

I picked them up at a favorite store of mine: Le Roux Kitchen. 

Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar and Blood Orange Olive Oil

I always visit this store when I’m on Martha’s Vineyard and I was very happy when I saw it in Portland!  They have numerous stainless steel dispensers of many flavored olive oils and vinegars that you can sample. 

I knew these would turn any salad into something special, and I was right.

With all my fresh produce I created a big garden salad with:

• Green Leaf Lettuce
• Arugula
• cucumber
• tomato
• grilled green peppers
• grilled red onion
• fresh local goat cheese
• salt & pepper
• drizzle of my new oil and vinegar

The best bites were the ones with the blueberry balsamic + goat cheese :)  Almost dessert-like.

P.S.  I love serving salads on platters.  They just look so much more pretty and you can see all the ingredients.

Grilled Corn…so sweet, no need for butter.

More grilled veggies

The Maine course (haha) was…

obviously I hadn’t had enough.

Actually they were so cheap at the grocery store I bought a few extra to have for lunch the next day :) 

Yes I’m that girl who brings a container of lobster meat to work.

The sweet ending was a sampling of cupcakes from Cake.

       

• White Out (top left) – white cake, some sort of white filling, white icing, and coconut
• this was our least favorite…the cake was a little dry
• Lemon (top right) – yellow cake, lemon filling, lemon butter cream, and a little lemon gummy bear on top!
• MMmmmmmm I love lemon.  The flavor in the frosting was subtle so not too overpowering, but delicious.
• Red Carpet (bottom right) – red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, a mini Oreo + cookie crumbs on top
• delicious!  The cake was moist and what could be bad about cream cheese frosting!
• Sprinkles (yeah can’t remember the real name) – simple golden cake with chocolate buttercream and sprinkles
• this was my favorite because that chocolate buttercream was just soooo good!  Simple combination but you know it works every time. 

I think it turned out to be a great birthday for Brian :)

Things to come:

• the TJ’s inspired dinner I mentioned
• OUR YARD!!! 
• Beer Tasting
• Other randomness

I’m going to continue my Sunday morning productively and write some more posts :)