Maine, the way life should be.

In case anyone didn't know this already, Maine's slogan is "The way life should be." Actually, Maine has more slogans than anybody knows what to do with. We've got some other good ones, but I think "The way life should be" is the most well known/legit. I even found sugar packets at a local breakfast place called Chester Pike's with that slogan printed on them. It was weird.

Anywho, I though I'd share the glorious bits of my summer so that all of you can see how great Maine really is. The older I get, the more convinced I am that Maine really is the way life should be.  

One afternoon we went on a boat ride to Calf Island, which is just a little ways off the shore of Sorrento. There is only one house on the privately owned island, but there is a little church there. Apparently, the woman who lived there would go out for the summer with her own priest. 

Speaking of boats, we spend a fair amount of time riding in boats here. Sometimes in the Wilson's sailboat (an alerion named the Williwaw), but more often in the motorboat (a whaler named Gusty). We go out to islands to look for seaglass or have picnics and go across the bay to walk around Bar Harbor.

Of course, one of the best things about living on the coast of Maine all summer is the natural beauty of the ocean. The sunsets here are magnificent.

And there are all sorts of treasures to be stumbled into all over this glorious state. Hidden gem thrift stores, island chocolatiers, a 22 foot lobsterman, sea urchins, and adorable corgi puppies, just to name a few.

In my opinion, all of these things are great reasons to spend a visit or a lifetime here. Because Maine truly is the way life should be.

Feeding the Wilsons.

 As a babysitter for the Wilsons, I have found that many of my days are spent almost exclusively in the kitchen. I think it's safe to say that the majority of my time every day is spent cooking. Here's a look into what I've been making (and eating) lately.

Salads here consist of lettuce, tomato, and avocado. If you think this sounds simple and dangerously close to boring when repeated a few times a week all summer....you're correct. However, slicing up these avocados every day has made me realize that I LOVE avocado. Truly. Also, this salad bowl and tossers are pretty legit.

One of our dinner favorites around here is the Wiliams Sonoma recipe for rosemary balsamic pork marinated tenderloin. I usually don't like pork tenderloin all that much, but the flavors in this recipe compliment each other beautifully.



As always, stir fry is a staple. To make a delicious, light Ginger Sauce for stir fry, combine 4 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 Tbsp chicken broth, 1 Tbsp dry sherry, 1/4 c minced ginger, and 1/2 tsp of granulated sugar. Pour on after all the veggies have been cooked up and the meat added back in. I usually simmer it all in the sauce for a little bit.

While I was in Minnesota, I visited Izzy's Ice Cream. One of the flavors available that day was called "Cereal milk." It was a new flavor that they were just trying out, but I was too weirded out to try it. In concept, it is ice cream made out of the milk at the end of a bowl of cereal, but basically it's just ice cream made out of milk that has had Kashi sitting in it for a while.
Even though I didn't want to try it, the concept had me intrigued and I made a batch myself here. The Kashi that sat in the milk all night was disgusting pulp, but after straining it all out and making the ice cream in the cuisinart, I added a bit more fresh Kashi back in for crunch factor. It was really tasty.

 After seeing this post about iced coffee, we decided to whip up a batch of our own. Being a big cinnamon fan, I opted for the all cinnamon version. The benefit of the sweetened condensed milk is that it adds the sweetness without contributing a disgusting grit of sugar. It really does change the entire consistency though, so some people probably won't like it.

In Maine, blueberry muffins are practically a requirement.
The recipe I used here was okay, though doesn't make the soft, doughy muffins that I like. What I really did like about it though, was the BEAUTIFUL batter the recipe produced. It looked like a glorious sunset!
Last week, we tried this recipe from Pioneer Woman and they were fantastic! Not to mention the finished product was much more attractive, even if the batter wasn't quite as lovely.







I saw this recipe for Anadama bread a million years ago in the back of my mother's Family Fun magazine and ripped it out but never ended up trying it out. Luckily I have the ever useful world wide web at my fingertips and was able to find the recipe that I lost years ago with a simple google search. Phwew!
And it's a good thing I tried it, as this bread is SO simple to make and even more delicious!
Of course, I then had to follow the fantastic bread with some honey butter to smear on it. Simply leave one stick of butter out until very soft, then beat with an electric mixer and beat in 1/4 c of honey. Yum.


Another simple homemade option is croutons! Just cube a loaf of bread (I used a whole grain baguette) and toss in a bowl with melted butter (I used a stick of salted butter with a minced clove of garlic cooked in while it was melting). Bake in a 350°F oven for 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until very crunchy. I also sprinkled a bit of parmesan over them while they were cooking.



This is Pinch, the ninety-two year old grandfather of the kids I babysit. We have dinner at his house right down the road a few nights a week during the summer. He doesn't care for much by way of variety, but he does love my mashed potatoes and signature double chocolate brownies (I use a cup of chocolate chips instead of the walnuts).



And, as always, the meal I prepare most frequently is PB&J. Everyone but Gardner (who eats fluffernutters on white) likes raspberry jelly, but Leverett prefers creamy peanut butter, white bread, and no crusts. Tookie likes creamy on wheat and Harrison likes crunchy on white. Gardner gets made if his sandwich is cut at all, Leverett likes little triangles, Harrison inexplicably likes his sandwich cut once vertically and once diagonally, and Tookie will eat whatever.
The three who like cut sandwiches LOVE having special designs though. I've made sunshines, hot air balloons, and sailboats. My least favorite sandwich is what we've dubbed "confetti," which basically consists of me cutting the sandwiches into pieces as small as I can get them. It takes forever and it's not even easy to eat the sandwich afterwards because all the little squares come apart. After I made Leverett this sailboat, he asked me, "How did you get so good at cutting, Aleena? Did you go to special cutting school?" Nope, Leverett. I was born with it.

Number Seventeen

Earlier this year, I saw this list on Alana Winder's blog of 25 things she wants to do before turning 25. I was inspired. It took some time to come up with all twenty-five things (and even then some weren't good, so I've edited and will probably replace some of the less cool/exciting/achievable goals), but I've still got my list!

I'm not going to publish the list in its entirety because some of my goals are a little embarrassing. But I will post updates on some of the cooler accomplishments as I get them done.

So with no further ado, I would like to present number seventeen:

Go on a Road Trip With Friends.

My friend Liam needed a ride from our school in Massachusetts to his home in Minnesota. While at first I thought it was a ridiculous idea to drive him all the way out there, I suddenly realized that it would be heaps of fun, that I am twenty-one and can decide to take a road trip if I want to, and that I had absolutely nothing better to do. So we went.

On the shores of Lake Superior.

Though the trip was full of lovely things, I have chosen five things that were particularly enjoyable and/or amusing to share with you.

This is Niagara Falls. These are the leggings.

1. During the drive out we decided not to stop for the night and instead drove straight through (it took us 24 hours, including gas and food breaks and two hours or so at Niagara Falls). Just after we crossed back into Michigan from Canada I was pouring water from one bottle to another and sloshed a ton all over my lap. It was fine at first, but then my leggings started drying and got to the awkward damp stage where they were icky it was driving me crazy and I had to take them off. Mind you, it was well after midnight at this point and we were just driving along through Michigan, minding our own business. I was wearing a flannel shirt that was almost long enough to be a dress...but still. I officially rode partway across the country without pants on. I even went through a toll like that, though I'm pretty sure the tollbooth worker had no idea I was pantsless.

Duluth aerial lift bridge.

2. I went to Duluth! This is noteworthy because in middle school (and high school.....and maybe even a little bit now still...) I was obsessed with Veggietales. Especially "Silly Songs with Larry," which I have been known to sing in their entirety. Duluth is featured in Larry's song "I Love my Lips" and I can now say that my lips have been to Duluth! Also, in the three weeks since I was there, much of Duluth has been destroyed due to flooding.

3. The Midwestern sky is different from the sky in New England. First of all, you can see more of it because there aren't any hills. But the air feels different and the clouds are different. In a very beautiful way. However, in Maine we don't have tornadoes. I have never seen a tornado, nor do I ever particularly want to experience one. One day, while we were driving through rural Minnesota on our way to Loontropolis (the lake house), I saw a straight, line-like cloud coming down from the sky and into the trees far away but directly in front of us, and I was pretty sure it was a tornado. And I pointed it out with mild alarm, which made Liam react with surprise and amusement because to him it was clear that the cloud was nothing like a tornado at all. Unfortunately, he didn't articulate his amusement well enough and I thought he was starting to freak out. Which obviously made me go into panic mode. So I turned on the radio and tried to find the weather alert station (with no success) and was on the brink of tears and hyperventilation before he was finally able to make it clear to me that the tornado was just a cloud.

4. As mentioned in the previous post, I trespassed and explored an abandoned train depot. It might just be one of the coolest things I've ever done. I'm usually not much of a rule breaker, and I don't typically trespass. But it was totally worth it.






5. Every Saturday night, in the Brainerd/Bemidji area (ish) of Minnesota, there is a call in radio trivia show called "Green Cheese" that is broadcast for two hours. The trivia master asks several questions all at once, and people just call in when they know the answers. It's kind of like trying to win a contest sponsored by a regular radio program, but there are no prizes, and it is a lot less pressure. Also, the people hosting and calling in all talk funny because they are from Absolutely  Nowhere, Minnesota. It was really fun. There may have been a meltdown or two from the stress, but overall it was a good time. At one point, Liam mentioned something about a state that is only bordered by one other state and I said, "Um, I think that's MAINE?!?!" But I hadn't heard that question and he didn't know to repeat it to me, so by the time we started calling someone else had already answered it. I missed the question about my own state- shameful!

So there you have it; one of my twenty-five goals has been accomplished.