Cookbooks, and why using them more should be your New Year's resolution, too

My New Year's resolution is often to cook with a new vegetable. How else does a girl from Wisconsin experiment with okra or ugly fruit? This year, however, I've decided to encourage myself to use cookbooks more, both the ones I already have and the ones I salivate over at Blue Hill Books.

At the inn, the office shares the same big room with the kitchen. When we started serving dinners at the inn last May, our shelf of cookbooks had to make room for the top shelf liquors in one spot and the fancy tools of the trade for baking bread in another. The cookbooks being far away and the computer being quite handy lead to me looking up recipes online. I love cookthink.com and allrecipes.com. Lots of sites allow you to browse by ingredient, consider variations, peruse photographs, and look at other cooks' comments. The speed with which I can consider three or four options for the crabmeat I want to use tonight or for how best to pair blueberries and sage is nothing short of miraculous.

So why the resolution to use more cookbooks of the food spattered paper variety?

Because recipes are often about anticipation, about possibilities, about looking to the future. Cookbooks have a romance allrecipes.com never will. So join me, paging slowly through an old friend or a new favorite, sipping perhaps on a kir royale or a favorite robust red...

A wonderful place to start is Kate Schaffer's Desserted. You know I love Black Dinah Chocolates... Imagine how gorgeous their first cookbook is?! This is highly recommended.

Swordfish boat captain Linda Greenlaw collaborated with her mother on two cookbooks, Recipes from a Very Small Island and the Maine Summers Cookbook. Seeing as both Kate and Linda are on Isle au Haut, you ought to visit!

A local map artist, Jane Crosen, published the Maine Mapmaker's Kitchen. It's part memoir, part sketchbook, but all creative.

Do you know Cynthia Finnemore Simonds? Me neither but check out her blog! She has written a trio of cookbooks--one on salads, one on soups, and one on desserts.

Brooke Dojny is a dear you might find just about anywhere. Still, she finds time to blog about squash, publish recipes and cookbooks, and write about the local scene. (For more on Brooke, read this Island Ad-Vantages article.) Rumor has it Brooke has a new book coming out this spring: Lobsters!

Jonathan Chase has been in the area a long, long time and diners are delighted to rediscover him, most recently at Buck's in Brooksville. He cowrote Saltwater Seasonings with his sister, Sarah.

Diane Bianco's book, Let's Party in Maine, really focuses on food that is easy to make and easily pleases a crowd.

Have you ever wondered what to cook on a windjammer cruise? Here's the cookbook for you!

The "Picasso & Pie" Buffet Cookbook: Blue Hill Buffet's Famous Recipe Collection has a wonderful back story which we'll explore another day.


I recommend browsing and buying at Blue Hill Books, New Cargoes, the Barnacle, North Light Books, Red Gap Books, and the library's monthly book sale. Afraid of commitment? It's easy to get a library card and staff can locate books at tons of other libraries and bring the books here for you.

Do you have a cookbook to recommend? Post it on our facebook page!

Need more suggestions? Just let me know. Here's to 2012 being a happy, healthy, delicious year!

Great Gift Ideas from Maine

Sometimes this season is challenging because I never know what to buy people for presents. As I started looking around, I realized we have amazing choices right here.

We have lobsters (red! perfect for Christmas). And Greenhead is great about taking care of last minute gifts.

We have so many book options! Blue Hill Books, for a bit of everything and lots signed by local authors; Red Gap Books, for the rarefied bibliophiles on your list; the Sleigh Bell Shoppe and Lobster Crate has a great selections of books but crafts and live lobsters as well!

We have wreathes (green! and made from local balsam and spruce or seashells).

Wine and good food from the Wine Shop, the Cave, and Seasons. (I think I've been good this year, Santa. Very good!)

What about some music? Paul Sullivan and Rosie Upton...,
the Bad Daddys Band..., or perhaps season tickets to Kneisel, Bagaduce, the Grand, or the Opera House?

You've heard me go on about jewelry--Handworks Gallery, the bead shop, the Turtle Gallery, Pyramid Studios...

Even furniture?!

And pottery from the Rackliffes.

A hooked rug?

And gift certificates fit everyone! We have very pretty ones for lodging or for dining. If you contact us directly, we can make every detail just what you, and the recipient, want!

With the help of those who attended the Winter Fest in Blue Hill and helped us get the town tree lit, the Blue Hill Inn was able to donate $300 to the Tree of Life Food Pantry. We had chestnuts roasting on an open fire, of course... The Food Pantry does an amazing job making food available to those in need. While they appreciate food donations, they are a bit like a teenager in their preference for cold hard cash!

If you need other ideas for festive gift-giving, just let me know!

October Fest

And fest we did! Chef Devin and I attended the 6th annual Foliage, Food, and Wine Festival's Taste of the Peninsula. Chef Devin was in charge of the menu: tastes of butternut squash soup, finished with toasted squash seeds, green apple, and parsley oil; and for lunch, braised short ribs with Four Season Farm celery root and potato mash and a braised local red cabbage slaw. We couldn't stop there, though, because each year, I've made a round or two or three of the festival grounds with a silver tray full of goodies--sometimes pecan mini muffins, apple walnut cake, homemade graham crackers, pillow chocolates... This year Assistant Innkeeper Sebastian made my favorite browned sugar cookies and Chef Devin couldn't resist making pumpkin truffles. I was so popular! The truffles were so well received she is now topping the creme brulee with them for dessert.

We are sad to be closing the restaurant for the season on October 28. Such a first summer! I am amazed at the number of people who say a certain dish or meal is the best they've ever had but I hear it again and again. Chef Devin is magic in the kitchen and the staff in the dining room take care of everything else. If you're able to come see us this week, make a reservation. We are looking very busy as everyone scrambles to get one last visit in. We have two specials to offer you: 1. come for dinner and mention that you read the inn's blog and would like apple crisp on the house. 2. Reserve a room as well as a table and your lodging will be half price (this is good for any night Oct. 24-28. Staying over is a wonderful way to really have a relaxing evening, and then to be pampered with our three-course breakfast in the morning.

The latest issue of Maine magazine just arrived, with a great selection of Maine made gifts. For me, part of Maine's appeal is the combination of gritty--like Stonington's working waterfront, and pretty--like Castine's downtown, of smart with Blue Hill's bookstores and film festival and coloquoy, and art with galleries found down every gravel road and artists sharing wares at farmer's markets and craft sales.
Autumn is an especially inspiring season for artists along the coast.

Are you on all the mailing lists for the area? El EL Frijoles has a great one--and it's the only way to find out about their special meals all winter long. Lucy's Granola is another--Lucy'll send any of her granolas to anyone on your gift list--or to you! The Whale's Rib is closed for the season, too, but will be back in the spring.

From the guestbook (my Italian, French, Chinese and German aren't really good enough to translate some of the comments!): "This is my new favorite inn," Leon from Virginia; "Thank you for such a wonderful stay. Your hospitality was beyond our expectations," from Pennsylvania; "You do a wonderful job of making everything charming and welcoming," from Colorado. If life isn't charming and welcoming where you are, come see us!

the beauty, and deliciousness, of fall

Ah, October! At last leaves are crimsoning up and drifting down.

The Blue Hill Inn is bursting with events this month.

First, Chef Devin Finigan and I invite you to a European wine dinner. Chef Devin has crafted a five-course dinner, with each course inviting diners to visit a different country in Europe.

We'll head to France for oysters and an Domaine Duseigneur Lirac 2010 rosé (The color alone of this rosé will dazzle.),
to Greece for Mediterranean flounder and Assyrtiko Santorini 2008,

to Spain for duck breast confit with peach and pepper sauce paired with Old Hands 2006 Monastrell,

and then on to Italy for peppercorn-crusted tenderloin paired with Riparosso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Illuminati 2009.

We'll end our European tour with a German apple strudel and Dr F Weins-Prum Estate Riesling, Mosel, 2008.

Information about each wine poured and the pairing will be included. For reservations or more information, call 374-2844. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 6 and 7, 6:30 p.m.
Dinner is $80 per person (dinner, wine, tax, and gratuity included).

Then, we are hosting a reception for George Stevens Academy alumni and friends after a a New Surry Theatre presentation of songs and scenes from their production of Wizard of Oz on Sun., Oct. 9.

Then we move into Foliage, Food, and Wine Festival mode! This year again, we partner with El El Frijoles for two nights of their supper club here at the inn. Maxx from the Blue Hill Wine Shop will be on hand to wax poetic on wine pairings, with Michele from El El Frijoles doing her best to challenge his wine expertise.

We've had a bumper crop of hen of the woods mushrooms
this year. As I type this Chef Devin is creating ravioli with the mushroom, caramelized onions, fresh parsley and toasted walnuts. Again, she makes being vegetarian so much fun! Her soups have been very popular. This week she's making a native fall corn soup with peeky toe crabmeat--the absolute best this area has to offer. She's grilling quail and serving it with a fig demiglaze and polenta--so delicious. Her grilled steak is finished with gorgonzola butter and has farm carrots and crispy kale.

I, always testing the waters on your behalf, had oysters at Arborvine recently. The Hikades do it all right at Arborvine--the setting, the service, the food. Dining there, right around the corner from the inn, is always pleasant.

So many inn guests, as they head out for the day to kayak, hike, shop, and explore, wonder if I get time off. I recently was invited to an island to play pétanque with Tony from the Pilgrim's Inn, among other aficionados. When you're here next, I can steer you to the various courts we have in the area, including the one at the Pilgrim's Inn.

If your fall isn't this much fun, come share with us! But call ahead, our fun events sell out and we're all booked up in the inn certain nights this month.

Ah, September

Full on sunshine, cooler days and definitely cooler nights, crisp clear air--we love September!

We've had guests write some great reviews about the inn and the restaurant. If you haven't visited us yet, come see for yourself what they're talking about.

This weekend is Maine Open Lighthouse Weekend when you have a chance to tour some of the many Maine lighthouses. (See my blog entry from Sept. 20, 2009, for details about my visit to Eagle Island Light.) Tomorrow I'll get to go to Mark Island Light in Deer Isle Thoroughfare! We're traveling with Capt. Water Reed, who will charter his lobster boat for you. The lighthouse on Mark Island has a foghorn--it's the one you can hear on most of Deer Isle and certainly from my favorite hike to Barred Island.

Dining at the inn has been end-of-summer delicious! Listen to the steak offering: Grilled 8 oz. New York Center Cut Steak with gorgonzola and shallot butter, red wine braised cabbage, crispy kale, and garlic mashed potato! The baked haddock has the best roasted potatoes, the lentil soup is served with heirloom tomatoes from right around the corner. And dessert--doesn't a warm apple crisp with house-made caramel and ginger ice cream sound scrumptious? Or perhaps you would prefer our flourless chocolate cake with toasted walnuts, organic strawberries and vanilla ice cream. Most nights we run out of tables so do call ahead for a reservation.

One of the quotes from the guestbook this week celebrates our favorite local author. "In the words of E.B. White's Charlotte: 'Terrific.' And to bend another of her weavings: 'Some inn.'" Elizabeth was quite a Charlotte's Web
fan and turned me on to The Story of Charlotte's Web by Michael Sims. I ordered it from Blue Hill Books and am now waiting
patiently for winter to delve into it. We also got a copy of another interesting looking book, Jonathan Fisher of Blue Hill, Maine
Commerce, Culture, and Community on the Eastern Frontier. Fisher was the first Congregational minister of Blue Hill but was a talented man in many directions. You can tour his 1814 homestead here in Blue Hill.

If you plan to visit us this fall, make your reservations soon! Our fall is busier than ever, right through October. Foliage in this area, along the coast, peaks between Oct. 13-21, right during our fabulous Foliage, Food, and Wine Festival. Contact the inn for more information.

The Blue Hill Fair, and braised short ribs!

I love having the Marine Environmental Research Institute here in town. In the back is a marvelous touch tank. Local fishermen pass along unusual catches, like this rare blue lobster. They offer educational programs for children all summer and lectures year round.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs... Who knew celery root mash could be so heavenly? Chef Devin sautes Tuscan kale from Four Season Farm and drizzles the perfect amount of her gravy over the dish. The result is heavenly and perfect for these evenings that are getting a little cooler. She's topping her corn soup with peekytoe crabmeat and our parsley--it's so good. (For a deeper understanding of this delicious local crabmeat, read this New York Times article.) Another nod to fall is our vegetarian option--a roasted acorn squash stuffed with wild rice, butternut squash, and cranberries then drizzled with apple cider reduction. The espresso chocolate mousse has been so popular, rivaling the blueberry crisp. We also have the sweetest crème brûlée, served in demitasse cups for the perfect ending to any meal. You must hurry in to see us, though. Our last dinner of the season will be Oct. 28. That is our last weekend of lodging on the inn proper. We'll have a glorious Halloween gathering and then host all guests in the Cape House Suite and Studio until May.

This week we're excited about the Blue Hill Fair! The rides, the animals, the award winning vegetables, the fancy chickens, the live music, the sheep dog trails, the horse racing--this country style fair is a hit with everyone.

Hurricane Irene passed us by with a wave of wind and a shower or two, making way for exquisite late summer weather. Come see for yourself. Now is the time for a long sail, an extra afternoon by the shore, a glorious cookout under the sky full of stars. I hope your summer has been this marvelous and you're looking forward to a relaxing Labor Day weekend.

Spruce Hill Farm honey citrus chevre!

I've been so frustrated with the technology behind the blog lately. I have wonderful iPhone pictures but haven't been able to upload them without crashing everything. The very talented Matt is on the case, however, and you will be drooling over food pictures in no time!

If you were dining with us last week, you were choosing among carrot and ginger soup, a summer salad with Stonington Spruce Hill Farm honey citrus chevre (shown here at the great farmer's market in Stonington),
a Stonington lobster spring roll, or Prince Edward Island mussels for appetizers. For an entree, would you have picked the risotto with foraged chanterelle mushrooms? or perhaps the red wine braised short ribs (my selection the other night--so delicious!)? Chef Devin has been making as many lobster ravioli as she can as they are so popular. New on the menu last week was the seared wild sockeye salmon, which Chef Devin served with a salsa of capers, Four Season Farm leeks and tomato, and olives over a bed of garden parsley quinoa. Just to make the decision more difficult, the duck was served with a native strawberry and port compote, such a pairing! And, speaking of good pairs, the grilled steak was graced with a gorgonzola and shallot butter. Mmmm. She tweaks things each week, which makes Monday a very fun day here at the inn.

I hope your August is abloom and asunshiny! It's not too late to swim and drink gin and tonics under sun umbrellas!