Week of December 21st

I hadn’t realized until we picked Maine that our map was pretty colorless in the Northeast. So what better place to start than the state to the furthest most northeastern part of the country.

When I think of Maine, I envision picturesque little cottages, snow covered of course, surrounded by forests of White Pines and quaint towns like Cabot Cove and Crabapple Cove. And then there’s the lobster. Speaking of White Pines, Maine is given the nickname of the “Pine State” because of the many pine forests throughout the state. I also picture cute little marinas filled with sailboats (with masts made from the white pine) and lobster boats and Sunday evening regattas. Bear in mind this author has never been to Maine but what an imagination, not to mention the visually appealing movies set in Maine like “Cider House Rules” and “On Golden Pond”.

We have a Christmas Eve tradition where we always end the evening with a board game, usually a rousing game of Pictionary, girls against the boys. During this year’s game we had an unusual number of references to Maine such as lobster, “Murder She Wrote” and “On Golden Pond”. Coincidence? I think not.

Once again I made the suggestion that enhancing my wardrobe with apparel from Maine (headquarters to LL Bean and Cole Haan) would be a nice way to celebrate the state but, once again, this suggestion fell on deaf ears.

OK, the truth of the matter is that with so many yummy products grown or caught in Maine, it really seems like a meal was in order.

So with the table set with the ever present snow globe and origami sailboats we sat down to enjoy the fruits of Maine. Assorted cocktails were enjoyed (no spirits from Maine) with a marvelous lobster dip. (If I couldn’t get my Cole Haans, whole lobsters weren’t in the budget either.) The main course was a fish soup whose recipe has been in my husband’s family for generations (apparently many summers were spent in Bar Harbor) and home made cornbread. I think my husband wooed me in college with this soup at an age when the butter didn’t go straight to the hips. The soup is rich with fish, cream and potatoes (the major product of Maine). We finished the Maine feast with a blueberry cobbler (Maine being the largest blueberry producer in the nation). Our celebration to the state of Maine was enhanced with music from 2 native artists, Howie Day and Patty Griffin.

Color in the “Pine Tree” state with lobsters, fish, origami sailboats and visions of snow covered cabins and travel south along the coastline to the “Garden” State – New Jersey. 10 down - 42 to go.