Moose Sighting in Camden

It is a rather rare occurrence, here in Camden, to see a moose. Mary Jo and I have been here over 10 years now and we have had only 4 moose sightings. Two of them were actually in the parking lot of the Hartstone Inn. This recent sighting happened on Thursday, April 24th and this picture was taken by an innkeeper up the road in the back yard of his Inn. Typically, when we see a moose in town, it usually means the black flies are so bad up in the hills and the moose come down to sea level to escape them.

The two moose incidents at our Inn each have a funny story that goes with them. The first sighting occurred in our first year at the Inn. Mary Jo and I were sitting at the kitchen counter at the Inn, just finishing dinner service and having a bite to eat, when we noticed a police cruiser (flashing blue lights on) in the parking lot of the real estate agency next door. I got up to check it out and I noticed that there was also another police cruiser on the other side of the house with lights on. We were perplexed. I went up front to see what was going on and another police car in front of the Inn. Oh my God, I thought, we're surrounded. Thoughts ran through our minds - maybe one of our guests is a drug dealer or an escaped felon, or maybe someone got injured and called for help, I just know I was cautious as I exited through the front door (should I have my hands up above my head?) I approached the police car and was informed that there was a moose in my back parking lot and they were trying to chase it back up to the mountain. A little too much excitement for my first moose sighting.

The second sighting happened while Mary Jo and I were out enjoying a nice lunch with some friends down at Camden harbor. It was a beautiful day and the schooners were parading in the harbor, so I ran up to the Inn to get the camera. As I approached the Inn I spotted a police car at the Inn and a mob of people gathered. Oh no, what now I thought! Turns out that the police escort in these moose sightings is the normal protocol as a lost and confused moose can be a deadly thing. I went back to the parking lot and there it was, a young moose (much like the one pictured above) in the parking lot and just then a car pulled into our lot. The couple got out of the car and I introduced myself. They were visitors from England, checking in to the Inn and their first impression of Camden was a moose in the parking lot. I didn't spoil it for them, I'd just let them think that this was an every day occurrence. If only I could arrange that for all of our visiting guests.

photo courtesy of Terry Hazzard

Cooking Class Bloggers

On April 25th and 26th I taught a cooking class at the Hartstone Inn and the topic was "pasta." My blog entry on the 25th of April details the course and includes a recipe for basic egg pasta dough. Two of the "star" students from the class (actually everyone was shining that day - perspiration from kneading pasta dough) have gone on to write blogs on their experience in the class.

The first student and blog author is Lani Temple who happens to own the Megunticook Market here in Camden. In addition to running the market, Lani keeps busy as a regular guest on 207 WCSH NBC Portland, ME and is a columnist for Maine Food & Lifestyle. Lani's blog is titled "Food Finds, From Camden's Country Market" and her blog post includes some of her photos from the class.

The second student and blog author is Kate Shaffer who owns and operates Black Dinah Chocolatiers on the tiny off shore island of Isle au Haut, Maine. Kate makes terrific artisan truffles and candies completely by hand and my belly will attest to it. Kate has agreed to come to the Inn to conduct some chocolate cooking classes (I am reserving a space for myself) and I will be writing about her chocolates soon in an upcoming blog post. Stay tuned. Here is the link to her blog post on the pasta cooking class.

Maine Food & Lifestyle Blog

When the first issue of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine arrived at French & Brawn (our neighborhood food market) in the Summer of 2006 I was utterly amazed by the quality writing, beautiful photography and the unique and inspiring layout of the magazine. How can a publication of this caliber focus on my little area of the world? If you have not seen the magazine, go online and order the 5 back issues (available for only $4 each) and subscribe. On your next visit to the Inn you will notice that we proudly stock each guestroom with the current issue.

So, needless to say, I was extremely excited when Merrill Williams (Editor/Publisher) contacted me about a feature in the magazine's second issue. The article "To Market and Home Again with Chef Michael Salmon" (in the Holiday 2006 issue) focused on a holiday menu for four people with recipes and outstanding photographs by Jim Bazin (Creative Director and Food Photographer, extraordinaire - I added that last part). Click here to read the article online.

With that brief history behind us, we can move on to what's new and current at the magazine. Blogs are all the rage right now and I am happy to announce that Maine Food & Lifestyle has just launched their blog this month titled "Plating Up." The list of contributors is quite impressive and they have even asked me to contribute. Quite an honor. The current articles are very interesting so I invite you to go online and become inspired. Jim Bazin blogged about "A Lamb Meal To Die For" and you might want to read about the Chef that prepared that meal.

Fun for Foodies Vacation

Are you looking for a unique culinary getaway experience? Mary Jo and I started our Camden bed and breakfast and Maine restaurant with a deep passion for everything related to food and wine. We enjoy visiting farms, farmers' markets and taking tours from food and wine producers. The midcoast Maine area is rich in these regional culinary experiences and since we know many of you share our passion as "foodies," we are proud to share these experiences with you. Visit our “Fun for Foodies” page online to learn more about each of our culinary experiences.

Every "Fun for Foodies Vacation" package includes our "Everyday Bites," which is a current listing of foodie-favorite places to add to your itinerary. The list includes chocolate shops, farmer's markets, pastry shops, wineries, orchards and cooking stores, to name a few. These offerings require no appointments.

After your Hartstone Inn "Fun for Foodies Vacation," you'll be glad to know that there are a total of six participating Select Registry inns in New England offering similar Fun for Foodies regional culinary experiences and exceptional accommodations. Each participating inn will stamp your Fun for Foodies Trail Map along the way. Guests who visit at least three inns receive a free insulated wine bag, while those who visit all six will get a Select Registry gift certificate for $150 to use at any Select Registry inn.

To learn more, please visit www.selectregistry.com/funforfoodies/

Today's Pasta Cooking Class

First a little history with an excerpt from my first cookbook "Hartstone Inn, Signature Recipes from an Elegant Maine Inn." The origin of pasta is a very controversial subject in culinary history. The Arabic countries, Italy and China have all laid claim to the creation of what has become a favorite food worldwide. Most probably, different versions of pasta were made in various parts of the world as a way to preserve grains. Early pasta makers would grind the grains, mix them with water and dry the mixture, which had the added advantage of cooking quickly. It was the Italians, however, who perfected pasta. The earliest evidence of its existence was found in Etruscan tombs that date back to 4 B.C., where a wall picture contains instruments used in making pasta, including a pastry board, a rolling pin and a pastry cutter.

In today's Pasta Cooking class, we made three differently flavored pasta doughs (plain egg pasta, spinach pasta and beet pasta) which resulted in three very different looking doughs - white, green and red. After the doughs were mixed, kneaded and rested for an hour, we rolled them out, cut them into various shapes from spaghetti to pappardelle and then we stuffed others with various fillings.

We made a Sweet Potato filling for the ravioli and served it with a Pine Nut and Sage Brown Butter Sauce and we stuffed large Tortellini with a three-cheese filling and served it with a Chicken and Pesto sauce.
For the Spaghetti, we made a creamy Prosciutto and Red Pepper Sauce and for the Pappardelle we served it with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes and Grilled Tiger Shrimp with a homemade Pesto.

All of these recipes are from my first cookbook in the Pasta, Pasta, Pasta section from pages 206-225. Following is the recipe for plain egg pasta dough.

Egg Pasta Dough (plain)
2 1/2 cups pasta flour (semolina)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup warm water

1. Place the flour on a clean working counter and make a well in the center. Add the remaining ingredients to the center of the well and gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet, forming a smooth-soft dough (adding additional water if necessary to make the dough soft).
2. Knead the dough 10 minutes, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. This recipe makes a little over 1 pound of dough.

Do Chefs Eat Junk Food?

Port City Life Magazine called me a few months ago and asked me if I ever ate junk food, and if so, what were some of my favorites. Well, this is what I and some other Maine Chefs admitted.