A couple of weeks ago we made our way to The Sedgley Place for a special dinner. Located off the beaten path in Greene, Maine, The Sedgley Place provides not just dinner, but a dining experience.
When we celebrated my husband’s birthday with his family, his parents brought along carrot cupcakes from Bel Cibo da Cherie. Previously we had tried some of the cookies from this bakery, which were very good, but the cupcakes were to die for! Or as someone recently suggested, a more positive description might be: “To live for!” though I’m quite certain that eating too many of these cupcakes WOULD contribute to an early death. Moderation is key!)
Moist carrot cake, piled high with creamy, cool, buttery cream cheese frosting, and topped with walnuts = YUM! Half of a cupcake makes for a satisfying serving size, but I’ll admit that I easily managed to have a whole one…
Last week we visited Niky’s at their Lisbon Street location for a mid-week meal. I hope that it is taken as a complement when I confess that when the main course arrived I enjoyed it fully, forgetting to take pictures until there wasn’t enough left in my dish to bother photographing… I did somehow manage to get a picture of this starter though, which was a nice mix of flavors: warm fresh bread, feta, spices…
The dinner menu seems to have expanded since our last visit, though I have to say I went in knowing I wanted moussaka. Next time I’ll have to try something new though!
So we finally tried Hot Suppa! last weekend. It is clearly a popular restaurant for Sunday lunch/brunch, full when we arrived at noon, with a 40 minute wait for our party of six. Everyone seemed happy with their orders; all of the entrees we ordered could be described as stepped-up diner food. Being a huge fan of eggs benedict, I ordered the fried green tomato benedict which was a nice variation of one of my favorite breakfasts.
My parents gave us a rice cooker for Christmas, and since then I have been cooking rice at least twice a week. I like rice, but for some reason I avoid cooking it–perhaps because I haven’t perfected the art of cooking rice on the stovetop. I often forget it, and it ends up mushy or stuck to the bottom of the pan. If not stuck to the bottom of the pan, it is often starchy or sometimes too chewy… The rice cooker has resulted in perfect rice nearly every time so far, so I have to say it’s my new favorite kitchen tool. This new toy has also inspired me to try a few different varieties of rice, including Himalayan red rice, and black rice shown below.
I liked the chewy texture of this rice, and its interesting purplish-black color, though my husband joked that it looks like mouse poop which took away a bit of the aesthetics for me. Supposedly black rice is a “super food” with more nutritional value than other types of rice.
Curious to see how a batch of rice pudding would come out if made with black rice, I used the leftover rice and the recipe that came with my rice cooker to try a small batch. The pudding had a texture that didn’t really appeal to me, but it tasted okay. Next time I think I’ll try a traditional rice pudding recipe, made on the stove top, substituting black rice for the white rice.
Two weeks ago my sister-in-law asked me if I would like a bag of starter for Friendship Bread. Having made Amish Friendship Bread once before, and really liking the outcome, I accepted.
The last time I shopped at Ikea, I was tempted to try their Swedish meatballs. I’m not sure why… Instead I stayed focused on the furniture items we were seeking out, and we left without meatballs. Has anyone actually tried the Ikea Swedish Meatballs, and if so, what did you think? I still feel somewhat obligated to try them one of these days, but after that visit I felt it necessary to make a batch at home, using a very simple recipe my mom used to make when I was a kid.
One of my colleagues gave me a box of Penzey’s Spices for Christmas, and since then I have used the Arizona Dreaming blend to season chicken, rice, and salad dressing.
I know there are a lot of restaurants in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but every time we pass through we feel the need to stop for brunch or dinner at the Friendly Toast. We can always count on having a delicious meal that is unlike anything we would have thought of making for ourselves at home. Our last visit was a brunch visit. On that weekend morning the Irish Benny was one of the specials, and I asked for a half order with a side of fruit.
One of my weaknesses is key lime pie, but not just any key lime pie… I’ve had some extremely okay key lime pies, but the slices served up at Becky’s Diner in Portland, Maine are the best I’ve had so far. In fact, the last time we had lunch in Portland I made sure to save room for a walk down to Becky’s for dessert, just to have a slice of this delicious pie…
