Edible Bits: Labor Day

This weekend was my first trip to Maine and to sum it up - lobsters, steamers, open fires shuffle board and smack the bag! Every meal, from breakfast to late night snacks, was to die for. I had my first very full lobster experience and omg the meat the sweetest most succulent lobster meat I've ever had! Oh we also managed to see our very first BLUE LOBSTER, roughly 1 in every 5 million lobsters are blue and our lobsterman managed to catch his second in 2 years--the guy should seriously consider playing the lottery!

Our first night, Friday, we had some steamers and oysters. I shucked my very first oyster, and let me tell you those suckers are tough. We played poker and drank some of the best homemade beer, courtesy of our hosts Jake and Wendi! Don't know what it was but the girls sure managed to clean up shop. My favorite part of the entire game was when the bet was between The Suitor and I and the risky child in me goes to bet big, The Suitor lets know his distraught with a soft high pitch claim of "but hun you're betting against me!" Needless to say, the girls cleaned out their men and then the party moved onto a midnight dip in the beach, for the guys, girls are too smart for any of that. :-P

Saturday we started off having brunch at Hot Suppa, a marvelous aclove of a restaurant which can do no wrong in the kitchen, in Portland. Bloody mary's, best I've ever had and I've had some to die for bloody marys. After brunch we walked off the food comas around downtown Portland and had my very first Key Lime Pie, where have I been and why hasn't anyone ever talked me into trying one of these??

We spent the evening by an outdoor wood fire, warding away king kuppa mosquitos! Dinner consisted of corn on the dob, potatoes, sausages, chorizos, clams and lobster all cooking in one pot! The lobsters were AHHMAZING, corn perfectly sweet and scrumptious, clams equally as amazing as the lobster and by the time we got around to the sausages and oven baked shrimp, I was ready to throw in my flag but managed a few bites and then off to bed.

Sunday brunch consisted of leftover potatoes and corn/feta omelets followed by the most lovely hike around a small peninsula in Maine. This is one of the most amazing hiking trails along the coast and the pictures truly don't do it any justice. Just being there, tasting the salt from the water in the crisp morning air, feeling the hot sun on your skin along with the first tease of cool autumn breeze, made for great hiking weather! Once again we ended the evening with an open wood fire meal, pork for me and steak for the guys, with a side of candied sweet potato and asparagus. The pork was the perfect showcase for Jake's culinary skills, perfectly marinated in his own spicy/tangy sauce and charred to perfection on the open wood fire. This was my first wood fire meal and it certainly won't be the last. Oh I would have to say the highlight of the evening was definitely smack the bag and watching the guys hula hoop!!!

Smack the bag for those of you who didn't go to college in the 90's is where you get boxed wine, remove the wine from the box and take turns chugging the wine from the bag and right before you pass the bag on you smack the bag as hard as you can or until your fingers fall off. By the end of the game my hands had swollen to two times their size and am still recovering finger sensation. Fun but not fun. All in all, I can't think of a better way to bid the summer farewell, a big feast to keep you warm for the coming fall!