flying bear, picnicking bears, hulu dancing bears and the list goes on. Every time you turned the corner, another bear appeared. The bearfest continued for three years from 2000-2002 and they are currently in “hibernation” but a newer exhibit is currently on display where the artists

use bicycles and bicycle parts. The fish bike was a favorite of ours so I had to take a picture (look for my little red convertible in the background).

Next, we crossed the large bridge over the Passagassawakeag River (try saying that!) and headed a mile up the road to Young’s Lobster Pound. We had 2 pound lobster’s on their outside patio (right on Belfast harbor) and sipped Gruet (it’s BYOB) sparkling wine from New Mexico. The seagulls sang, the sun was sinking in the sky and we had our own little moment of heaven. They do lobster’s well here.

Stay tuned for Belfast part 2 where we will explore “Darby’s Restaurant” and some of our other favorite Belfast attractions.

The building itself is modeled after a classic New England barn framed in Maine hemlock.  It’s open design and tall ceilings are perfect for their year round indoor market of vegetables, fruits and other Maine products. In addition, Farmer’s Fare has a real honest to goodness, old-fashioned butcher shop stocked with local meat and poultry.  They are currently supplying all the beef for the Camden Rockland Elementary School so the students are eating local hamburgers!  Not to be missed also is the café which serves breakfast and lunch daily.  The long pine tables are great place to meet up with friends and enjoy a latte, pastry, soup and many other dishes made with local ingredients of course!  A commercial kitchen  is located downstairs that services the café and community rooms which are open to the public and used by Farmers Fare for educational classes and community events. 

Anytime something new opens that we think our guests would enjoy, we post it on the blog.  Farmer’s Fare, located on five acres of beautiful, organic pasture and farm in Rockport should not be missed!   Their website says, “We at Farmers Fare believe in bringing people together to share food, stories, knowledge and information. We believe in supporting our local farmers by buying the food they grow and selling it, thereby keeping our farmers on their farms and our community members healthy and satisfied.”  

In addition to the building, half of Farmers Fare’s five acres of land is devoted to growing food.  They plan to plant unusual crops such as heirloom and green zebra tomatoes, Italian salad greens, and long pie pumpkins. In the future, their nursery will offer new and old varieties of Maine fruits and vegetables, such as green gage plums. A wetland in the middle of the property will be used to grow plants that have been cultivated by Native Americans for medicinal aids, such as high bush cranberries and cow parsnip.

We encourage our guests to stop bury and see Farmer’s Fare for themselves.  They are known to host fun community activities like pumpkin carving or ice sculpting contests.  Local vendors are often present offering tastings or demonstrations!  Stop by hungry so you can enjoy their delicious food!  Nothing tastes like local, Maine cuisine and Farmer’s Fare does it well! Visit them online at: http://www.farmersfare.com

The dinner started with a sampling plate (pictured at the left) of three pieces of sushi paired with three different “Hitachino Nest” Japanese beers. At the top of the plate is a Nigiri-sushi (finger sushi) made with Zeph’s Sous-Vide“Japanese braised” short ribs which we paired with the darkest beer, Hitachino Nest Sweet Stout. The next pairing (clockwise) was the Flash-Fried Nori and Tuna Roll with a Ginger-Wasabi Butter Sauce which we paired with the Hitachino Nest Real Ginger Brew. The third pairing was the Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale which we served with an Uramaki roll (inside out) which was filled with spicy Maine crab meat and grilled asparagus.

After the pairing plate was cleared, guests were invited into the kitchen where we had platters of different sushi made up and Zeph (my Sous Chef) and I rolled sushi as fast as we could and barely kept up with the demand. For dessert we made some “sweet sushi,” a dish I created when we lived in Aruba for a culinary competition called “sushi dushi” (dushi is Papiamento for sweetheart). Sweet rice is cooked with coconut milk and sugar and is formed and rolled like sushi with fresh fruits. It’s a fun way to end a sushi party.

The “In the Kitchen Dinner Series” continues this winter with a great variety of tastings and pairings including: Cheese and wine with hors d’oeuvres, Dim Sum and beer, Spanish Tapas and wine, and another chance to experience our Sushi. For the complete schedule click here. Hope to see you in our kitchen!

Click here to read about our mushroom hike on her blog.

I have been foraging mushrooms in the Maine woods for many years for what a mycologist (a biologist that studies fungi) would consider “choice edible” mushrooms. Choice edible mushrooms are those that are most sought after by chefs and are somewhat easily identifiable such as: morels, chanterelles, hen of the woods, black trumpets, puff balls, chicken of the woods and oyster mushrooms.  Beyond this list of edible mushrooms, I have difficulty identifying anything else I find in the woods, which is a shame since there is a whole world of edible mushrooms out there that I should be part of. Thus, I have signed up for a mushroom identification class “Mushrooming for the Serious Enthusiast” with local mushroom expert Greg Marley. Now, into my third class, I am feeling more comfortable with my fungi friends and learning the proper techniques to positively identify mushrooms. This is the cardinal rule of edible mushrooms – “Never eat a mushroom unless it is positively identified as edible” (source: Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America) or you could get very sick and even die. So stick to the mushrooms you know, or educate yourself if you would like to dive into the unknown.

In the next few months I will be blogging about my mushroom experiences, sharing information about different species and sharing recipes, techniques and tips on preparing mushrooms. So stay tuned and happy (and safe) foraging. Also, Greg Marley publishes a great  mushroom email newsletter so Email him and request to be put on his list.