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!

David's Folly Farm

This week at the inn, we're offering White Bean Escarole Soup with Four Season Farm tomatoes, Carding Brook Farm patty pan squash and rosemary crostini; Summer Salad, with Carding Brook Farm greens, toasted pecans, Great Blue Hill cheese, David’s Folly Farm roasted beets, and lemon vinaigrette; Peeky Toe Crab Cakes, with Carding Brook Farms greens and lemon parsley aioli; Butter-Poached Lobster Ravioli, house-made pasta, Stonington lobster, lemon gremolata, and citrus salad; Seared Frenchman’s Bay Halibut, with summer succotash, organic spinach, lemon beurre blanc drizzle, and David’s Folly Farm roasted potatoes; Long Island Duck Breast, organic strawberry and port compote, David’s Folly Farm carrots, and turnip puree; and a Grilled New York Center Cut Steak, with a garden chimichurri, Four Season Farm carrots, Carding Brook Farm snow peas, and garlic mashed potato.

Lobsterman Luke came to dinner last week, said he had to try the lobster ravioli. He is now raving about the ravioli, and said the mussels were the best he'd ever had!

This week, Chef Devin is offering potatoes and carrots from David's Folly Farm. I had dinner at the farm itself Saturday night! The photo above is one of the spectacular views. Megan and Greg, the farmers, create a farm supper each Saturday night for a small group of very lucky diners.
This area has an amazing array of farmers markets, farm stands, and farmers innovating as to what they can offer those of us hungry for farm fresh and local. The photo to the right is the farmer/cooks and their friend/cooks receiving accolades from the stuffed and happy diners. If this idea delights you, you must call them now to get a spot. These supper clubs are very popular--in the winter, El El Frijoles offers them during the quiet season and they sell out mighty quick.

Did you see Chef Devin's picture in the Ellsworth American last week? The local press, both Penobscot Bay Press and the Ellsworth American, have been great support of our new venture. Have you heard our ad on WBACH? Recorded by yours truly... We've had so many dinner guests who have never set foot in the Blue Hill Inn, although they've been in the area for decades, and we've been here since 1830!

Look what Rackliffe Pottery is making now! We have loved their mugs, and the sweet cream pitchers, but these serving trays are wonderful. This line is so new, it's not pictured on their website yet. We're using them all the time--I'll try to get a better picture to show you. What a perfect housewarming, wedding, or hostess gift. Rackliffe Pottery is open 6 days a week but you can also call them up and say you saw it at the Blue Hill Inn and Margaret or David will take care of you. (If it's the lobster spring roll you're admiring, you'll have to come see Chef Devin.)

From a review on TripAdvisor: "the inn was charming..." If you haven't let the world know how you feel about Blue Hill Inn, Chef Devin's cooking, and the Blue Hill area, maybe now's the time!

Here's to a sun filled August!

...one of the highlights of our trip...

What a heavenly summer we're having!

New on the dinner menu this week are lamb tacos in chive tortillas with a mint sauce from our garden. We have lobster cakes with Stonington lobster and a baked haddock with a crabmeat crown and the most delicious lemon beurre blanc. The chilled borscht with Four Season Farm beets has been a perfect option for these warm summer nights but I'm still hooked on the Bagaduce River oysters.

Josh Dunbar, our oysterer, took me out to show me the farm. I was amazed how much like farming it felt like--I do claim to be a farm girl from Wisconsin after all. As it turns out, our oysters come from the river at the foot of Sunset Acres Farm, where we get the delicious chevre we adore. The Working Waterfront, a newspaper about the water published each month by the Island Institute, explored their farming relationship in a 2009 article that makes great reading. (For more fun reading on the seafood in this area, try this NYT article which also talks about Bagaduce River oysters.)

Guests and neighbors alike have raved about dinners here. From a TripAdvisor review: We highly recommend dining at the inn if you can. The meal was one of the highlights of our trip over two weeks... Breakfast is terrific too. This [area] is a great alternative to the more commercial Bar Harbor area, yet close enough to access Acadia National Park and other attractions of the area.

Although the New York Times just spent "36 Hours in Bar Harbor", we find that most of our guests prefer to stay a bit further out and take day trips to Acadia National Park, into the fray of Bar Harbor, and out to explore the beauty of Stonington and Castine. Although this area has something for everyone, a guest summed it up perfectly for me when he said he loved it here because there were no people but great food.

If you head to dinner on Deer Isle, as we did the other night, to the Whale's Rib, you have to leave plenty of time for sightseeing on the way. Stopping at Caterpillar Hill is a must and a stroll along the main street of Deer Isle at sunset yielded this view. Tony, the owner of Pilgrim's Inn, recently installed a boules court. You'll have to try really hard to not fill up on the bread basket--delicious! Guests have enjoyed scallops at the Surry Inn, vegetarian sandwiches at 66, burritos from El El Frijoles, lobster at the Boat Yard Grill... No one is going hungry! And at breakfast this morning--cinnamon pecan scones, amaretto french toast, Four Season Farm eggs with dill from our garden... If you aren't eating this well, come see us!