Happy February to you

Guests often wonder what innkeepers do during the quiet season. You know I read a lot. I pretend to watch a lot of movies but somehow that doesn't happen often enough. Innkeepers generally travel, update the inn, and socialize, or at least that's what I've been up to.

I got away for a weekend recently to Claybrook Mountain Lodge in North New Portland, Maine. Imagine crosscountry skiing or snowshoeing over deer tracks every day. Imagine getting to see a herd of nine, ten, eleven white tailed deer coming to feed right outside the lodge's window. Imagine finding a pile of moose poop! Our host, Greg Drummond, is an amazing outdoorsman with a perspective I found poignant and wise. Between the wildlife, the scenery, the delicious meals, the fresh air and exercise, and the good company--to say nothing of no computer or cell phone access!--I returned to Blue Hill well rested.

For Valentine's Day, I joined Noel Paul Stookey, of Peter, Paul, and Mary, in giving a valentine to the ocean. He gave a concert to benefit the Marine Environmental Research Institute (located right here in Blue Hill). He sang one love song in particular to his wife of many years, Betty, which had us all swooning.

This month also saw me celebrating International Eat Pie for Breakfast Day (the second Saturday in February). In spite of visions of pecan pie, my favorite, a lack of planning left me honoring the day with a slice of pizza pie, pepperoni, from the Eggemoggin Country Store. And then, still in the mood, I had two slices at Finelli's later in the week. They have a bianca, with spinach and ricotta, that is my favorite slice of all time. Now if only I can get that pecan pie...

February also brought new technology to this innkeeper. I'm now often answering your calls and emails on my new iPhone. And, confession time, I am right this minute flying to Baton Rouge to visit my sister and her family. With an on-plane internet connection, I can update my blog and fly.

If you are thinking of coming to this area and don't have your reservations yet, please call soon. I am very sad to report that the Oakland House, a wonderful inn and resort, family run for generations, won't be open this year. In the last few years, this area has lost many guestrooms, leaving a shortage, especially during holiday weekends or when large events are being held.

I'll be updating our calendar of events for 2009 soon but there's always something going on (Wings, Waves, and Woods festival is May 15-17, World Ocean Day is June 8, and the Lupine Festival is June 19-21).

Happy February!

Mid-Winter Reading

In the last few weeks, I've been in Western Massachusetts, New York, and Blue Hill. I can authoritatively say, it's coldest here and those of us in Maine can talk about the weather lots longer than those other folks! We've had amazingly cold nights but days filled with sunshine. I finally got out on my snowshoes and will not be annoying about it as I try to get everyone else out on theirs. This lovely scene is just over a mile from the inn.

If it's that cold outside, you know it's time to be reading inside. I adored Ellen Booraem's The Unnameables.She is just such a delightful writer, as you will see in her piece about her messy desk. Kirkus Reviews says, "Booraem's debut is an ever-surprising, genre-defying page-turner." I just sent it home with Matthew, 11, Lorna, 13, and Paige, the mom, and I suspect they will all love it.

As always, Blue Hill Books will have autographed copies of it for you. While I was in there checking out the latest in the Maine section, I came across Days in the Life of a Fisherman's Wife, by Rusty Warren, and More than Petticoats: Remarkable Maine Women, by Kate Kennedy. Remarkable Women has great photographs and description of hard Maine living that leaves me very happy to be getting through the winter with all the various heat sources we have, including heated seats in our cars. Also on my docket is Notes from an Innkeeper's Journal. Has the book everyone keeps telling me to write already been done? I'll let you know.

Although the book pile is plenty deep enough to keep me busy, I do like to keep up with the Sunday papers. In the Globe recently was a column that answered an old, old question for me. "Make a Joyful Noise," written my Sam Allis, suggests "classical audience should loosen up and applaud at will." I came to classical music late in life, having grown up on an unhealthy diet of 70s and 80s rock and roll, Barry Manilow and Ricky Nelson, and, during those most formative years, mariachi music and folk songs played on the accordion. Allis suggests going with our instinct to clap at the end of a movement, rather than staidly waiting until the very end (which neophytes never recognize anyway, and have to wait until others applaud to finally, at long last, get to show their awe).

Although it sometimes feel as though we will never again be able to throw open the windows to the ocean breezes, we have to get out and enjoy the snow now. It really will melt, it always always does.

Happy New Year!

How has it been so long since I last posted?! Those pesky holidays.

I had to write tonight to tell you about my dinner. My sister lives in Baton Rouge, LA. When she was up for Thanksgiving, she brought me a packet of BBQ shrimp sauce mix from the Louisiana Fish Fry Company. It's shrimp season here in Maine so I was in luck. This year's season is a bit longer than it was last year. PERC, the Penobscot East Resource Center, is working with local fishermen to offer a community supported fishery, where folks can buy a half share or share and receive pounds of shrimp each week. After my scrumptious dinner tonight, I might just have to sign myself up.

We were full up for New Year's Eve and with good reason. Blue Hill's last night celebration is funfunfun. Free live music starts early, around seven, in almost a dozen venues around town, all within easy walking distance of the inn. I started at the Fire House to catch the Brooklin Band, a community band playing holiday favorites (I had to watch them. I had been at the doctor's earlier in the day and the technician who drew my blood said she was in the band. I love a small town!) I danced a bit to the steel drum band and then headed to the Congregational Church to hear Rob and Becky McCall. They are an amazing couple. Rob is the pastor at the church, has a show on our local radio station, WERU, and writes a column for the Weekly Packet, Awanadjo Almanack. His wife Rebecca is an amazing artist (this is one of the books she has illustrated) and clever lyricist.

While I'm reminding you how absolutely lovely Blue Hill is, let me tell you about Stephanie at the post office. I met Stephanie at a rug braiding class I took in the fall of 2007. I have yet to finish a piece the size of a chair mat. Stephanie has made two room sized rugs! Although that was the last time I spoke with her. By now... She also knits which is how I happened to be up to my elbows in a bag full of pairs of socks the other day. I came to the post office for my mail and had to go to the window to collect some glow-in-the-dark items I had ordered for New Year's Eve. Stephanie asked if I liked socks (not too many people can say no to that). She said I could pick a pair from the myriad she had in the bag. In the end I couldn't decide on just one pair so I offered her some glow trinkets and a trade was made.

A friend sent a link to this Maine humor. You know you're from Maine when... That lead me to a very silly song, the Desert of Maine (which is a real place). A friend actually took me to the desert of Maine, in Freeport, off-season, but I can say I was there.

And speaking of friends sending things, so many guests sent cards and photos. Thank you! I love getting to read the newsletters and seeing the family pictures. As you've heard me say, no doubt, my least favorite part of innkeeping is saying goodbye to you after you've spent a lovely time at the inn being interesting and delightful. Come back soon.

I hope your winter is going well. If you want some snow and some solitude, come on up!

Wintery Weather

December has been pure magic--perfect snowfalls. I had various plans get canceled but I ventured out to the Bay School Winter Faire and bought a fabulous maple cribbage board for the inn. I also got a gallon of their famous apple cider--so delicious. I bought a handful of Stephanie Eletheriou's cards, wonderful collages including a birthday card with a Scrabble board and letters spelling out Happy and Day glued on the front.

Although the musical line up was stupendous, I couldn't tarry as the Holiday House Tour, sponsored by the Brooklin Garden Club, only ran until 4 p.m. I started at Bill Petrie's home. Bill is an antique dealer, with Sedgwick Antiques, and a big help to a girl trying to decorate an inn. This Victorian side chair is now in room 6. I toured other homes with Jill Knowlton, whose husband Paul Sullivan is preparing for Paul Winter's Winter Solstice Concert at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The Bagaduce Chorale's winter concert was standing room only. I attended Saturday afternoon and then went directly to the Holt House for a wine tasting fundraiser. One advantage of wine tastings where Maxx from the Blue Hill Wine Shop is holding court--he remembers what he serves so you can just pop into his shop and be reminded the name, in particular, of the lovely muscat he poured last. I highly recommend this event. The setting is gorgeous, the food scrumptious, and the wines tasty. I couldn't linger, though, as I wanted to wish the folks at MERI a merry one so I walked down the street to the MERI office for a lovely holiday party. As you know, Blue Hill is a small town and in the winter months the population is about as small as it gets. It felt a bit as though we were all there, enjoying delightful nibbles, lovely jazz with John Gallagher, and holding starfish on our hands (OK, so I was one of the few people at the touch tank).

Last minute gift idea? Lobsters! You can have Capt. Brendan, a lobsterman out of Cape Elizabeth, provide you with some delicious lobster. Catch a Piece of Maine has all sorts of options, including becoming a partner with a lobsterman and owning the trap! Although I favor a simple steamed lobster--in ocean water--here are some recipes for other tasty preparations. And lobsters--being red--are perfect for Christmas or Valentine's Day...

And with the winter solstice upon us, the days will get longer. It may still be winter but it will be brighter. I promise.

Sunsets and spelt...

We have had the most beautiful sunsets lately, even if they are coming at the absurd hour of 4:30 p.m.! The view from Caterpillar Hill, here caught by Julie Jo Fehrle, is always spectacular, always. And now there's a sweet trail just below the scenic pull-off and a great gallery at the very top, and even mini golf just down the road. And El El Frijoles is a short drive away.

I love the New York Times on Sundays. When I'm in the city, I love sneaking a peek on Saturday or early Sunday morning. In Blue Hill, I have to wait patiently until the papers arrive around 10:30 a.m. This week's magazine brought a mention of a local bakery, the Tinder Hearth. Tim Semlar and Lydia Moffet and their delicious artisanal spelt-flour breads were mentioned. I suppose the band wasn't mentioned because it was in the food column, The Way We Eat, but that was a tremendous oversight on the part of Heidi Julavits, the Maine-born author. (Read her famous essay, in which she suggests reviewers shouldn't be so mean, here.)

The music of the Living Daylight, a collection of local--and some bread-baking--musicians who play myriad instruments and all to a very danceable beat, is as delicious as any spelt product (Shine on Your Darkness is my fav).

I also have to wonder if Heidi has had the Barncastle's spelt-crusted pizza? Delish as well.
At the inn we have our festive wreathes up, this year made by us in the big kitchen. The Cape House, next door to the inn, now has two spaces for rent year round so we've been able to say yes to more guests. The newest space, the Cape House Studio, has a kitchenette and sitting area, a bedroom with a four-poster king-sized bed and arm chairs, and a full private bath. It's a more modern accommodation than rooms in the inn but is a comfortable combination of antiques and modern conveniences. In the kitchen area, photographs by Terrell Lester adorn the walls, whereas in the bedroom, it's artwork by my aunt, Ky Wilson (daughter of the man who painted the sunflowers and kitchen scene in the breakfast room of the inn).

I hope you're enjoying your sunsets and sunrises, too. It's the perfect time of year to catch them both.

Those incredible candy cookies

When I took over the inn in July 2007, it came all set up as an inn. In fact, the guests were the previous owners' responsibility in the morning and mine in the afternoon. The inn was "turn key" which means that it came ready to go, equipped with everything needed--beds and towels and cookbooks, like the Silver Palate. One of the author/illustrators, Sheila Lukins, had signed it for the inn in 1995. It is a well worn cookbook. At the inn, we often make the coffeecake on page 321 (it's so decadent! don't be put off by the recipe on the facing page: sauteed chicken livers with blueberry vinegar) peach cake (p. 300), and lemon black-walnut bread (p. 252).

This fall, head o' kitchen Matt had been using the chocolate chip cookie recipe on page 262 as a starting point. The results were amazing. In addition to the pecan mini muffins (recipe included in the October 4, 2008, blog entry), I offered these to visitors to the Foliage Food and Wine Festival. I was very popular!

Here's the basic recipe. Matt likes to add all sorts of extras like white chocolate chips, toffee chips, butterscotch chips...

1/2 pound sweet butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F for giant cookies; for regular cookies heat to 350. Grease a cookie sheet.
2. Cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
3. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in, mixing thoroughly. Add chocolate chips to batter [and any extra delicious bits]. Form cookies [they suggest making giant cookies. I always tell Matt, "Smaller, smaller" so that you can try a small one to see if you like it and so you can always have a guilt-free mid-afternoon treat. We bake lots--there are always more]. If you're making giant cookies, use an ice cream scoop and, with a wet hand, splat the dough into a 5-inch round.
4. Bake on the prepared cookie sheet, on the middle rack, for 15-17 minutes for giant cookies; 8-10 minutes for regular cookies. Remove from oven while centers are slightly soft. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to rack to cool completely.

Bake these and you will be o so popular, too.

The Foliage Food and Wine Festival was a fabulous weekend of deliciousness. From events at the Arborvine, the Wescott Forge, the Barncastle, the Co-op to our collaborative dinner with El El Frijoles and Maxx, from the Blue Hill Wine Shop, to the food and wine extravaganza on the final day, we nibbled and sipped our way through the weekend. Fairwinds Florist even featured a foliage-inspired treasure hunt. If you want to join us next year, plan now. We are sure to book all our rooms and our Friday night dinner event.

I hope your fall is as gorgeous as ours here in Blue Hill. If it isn't, call us up--we have our two Cape House units available all fall.

Guest Column from Matt Jurick, Head of the Kitchen

As I drove home from work recently, taking the particularly scenic albeit longer route, the realization hit me that autumn is, indeed, here. I've anticipated it, spoke of it, and even planned new menu items in the spirit of it, but the acknowledgement of its arrival came unexpectedly. It's been several years since I last played witness to a New England autumn. Falls in the Midwest, where I've been living, are, to say the least, considerably less sensual.

Autumn, for me, has always come in the form of the calming taste of hot mulled apple cider, the scratchy comfort of a freshly-raked leaf pile, the smoky fragrance of an old wood-burning stove, the melodious wind-chime-like sound of the chilled wind through the trees, and the spectral glow of an arbor-covered country dirt road. True to form, all my senses are tingling once again which tells me it's here.

Fall indoors is just about as pleasurable as fall outdoors. Long-sought opportunities for cozy fireside chats with friends over warm, comfort food are here once again. Refuge from the growingly colder nights under soft down blankets and the familiar dry-heat scent of the furnace, just awakened after a half-year hibernation, is welcomed like an old friend come to call.

The year, no doubt, is coming to a close. With just a few more weeks left, we start looking ahead to next season. One of the blessings and woes of our work here at the Blue Hill Inn is the dear relationship we have with so many of our guests; they come and visit, but soon after depart once again. One compares it to those childhood years of summer camp, where for just one small span of time out of the year old friends come together at a special place, leaving behind the schedules and constraints they find themselves governed by the other 51 weeks of the year, to share in something special and memorable—a much-needed recharging to save ourselves from the inevitable burn-out from monotony.

When you feel you’re in need of a break, when you need that brief recharging, we’ll be waiting with a warm bed, a hot meal, and a glowing smile on our faces at the sight of old friends.

We look forward to seeing you again next summer.