Mainely Drizzle

Photo courtesy of Maine-ly Drizzle

I have yet to turn on the heat in the house, and it is not officially autumn yet, so I am still going to write about the summer.  Well, not the summer exactly, but things I did this summer.  Or more precisely, places I went this summer.  Well, place.  Oh you get the point.

While we were in Kennebunkport, Maine, we stumbled across the most amazing store - Mainely Drizzle.  Not only is it a shop for specialty olive oils and balsamic vinegars, it is a tasting room as well.  Have you ever heard of such a thing?  It is even better than it sounds.  The rooms is filled with olive oils and vinegars flavored with fruits and herbs.  There are little cups next to each urn and you are free to sip as many as you want.

Photo courtesy of Maine-ly Drizzle

Of course, if you are like me, you choke on the first sample and spend the rest of the visit coughing while the rest of the family enjoys taste after taste of these delicious treats.

Nick, the owner, cannot wait to show off his prizes.  He is from Somerville, Massachusetts, and clearly loves food, so he and Matt bonded immediately.  Nick asked my husband what kinds of flavors he liked and what his favorite foods are and then started bringing him all different mixtures of the vinegars and oils.  We did not need lunch after that stop.

We could not possibly bring home all the items we wanted, but not to worry!  We can order off the website.  (Seriously, check it out here.)  I'm waiting for my order of lime olive oil.  What am I going to use it for?  I don't know - everything!  Except sipping.  I learned my lesson about the sipping thing.

Rooty-Tooty, Don't Want No Fruity

At this time of year, I am usually swimming in fruit.  I don't mean like a human sangria (though that has some appeal).  Here in the Northeast, we wait all year for July so we can enjoy berries and melons and stone fruit that actually have some flavor.  In my refrigerator right now, I have blueberries, strawberries, watermelon and cherries.  And I have no interest in eating any of it.

In summers past, I would want to start my day with yogurt topped with peaches and granola.  I would love to have a big slice of watermelon as dessert for lunch.  A perfect afternoon snack would be a bowl of strawberries with a bit of extra-fine sugar.  This year, the fruit just sits there, staring at me, pleading with me just to try one bite.

All I want lately is savory and salty.  I crave chips, not cookies, which for me is absolute heresy.  I want a veggie omelet for breakfast and cheese for lunch.  My favorite snack right now is toast with butter.  Sure I want carbs, that is nothing new, but not anything sweet.  I have not touched the containers of ice cream in my freezer for days.  I am beginning to worry that I have been kidnapped by the pod people.

I don't know if the change in cravings has to do with not eating meat.  Maybe it has to do with getting older.  I am still craving hot dogs (salty and fatty!) and the amount of food I am eating is hardly ebbing. At least my family is not on a fruit strike so that whole watermelon I bought will not go to waste.  I want to want a peach!

Is It a Salad If It Isn't Green?

I really like summer foods - grilling, fruit, cold soup and lots of "uncooked" foods.  I was never a fan of mayonnaise-based salads, things like potato salad and macaroni salad.  First, I have problem with something calling itself a salad with nothing green in it.  Second, I am not a big fan of mayonnaise.  Too thick, too goopy and not enough flavor.  Others in the house do enjoy a little picnic side dish.  I have bought pre-made versions from various delis and grocery stores over the years.  Matt and Sarah have been happy, but I never could develop taste for it.

Since I have been trying to eat better and be more aware of what our food is made with, I decided to make my own potato salad.  I consulted a trusty go-to cookbook that I count on for all standard, old-fashioned recipes.  (It will remain unidentified.)  The recipe called for 2 pounds of potatoes, a little onion, a little mustard, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 6 hard-boiled eggs and 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise.  Now I had never made potato salad before, but 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise?  Was a going to eat this or cover my entire body with it?  6 eggs?  Was this an omelet for an army?  Sugar?  I thought this was a side dish, not dessert.

In the end, I used no sugar, 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of mayonnaise.  And, you know what?  I liked this version, a lot.  I could taste the potato, not the gelatinous goop of most versions.  My family liked it too and asked me to make it again.

It wasn't that I didn't like potato salad.  I didn't like sweet mayonnaise and egg salad.

Grill Update

So the grill is repaired.  Seemed there was a hole in the tube connecting the propane tank to the burners.  We probably came close to dying in a fiery propane explosion but, moving on, we can grill again.

The first thing I grilled this season?  Drum roll - bread!  Don't look so disappointed.  I have to start somewhere in replacing all the meat-based grilled dishes.  I brushed sour-dough bread with olive oil and grilled it for a few minutes on high heat.  I topped the bread with roasted vegetables.  It was like a giant bruschetta.  If bruschetta is good, giant bruschetta is better!

It has been raining most of the week, so I have not had a chance to try anything else.  Maybe I will try portobello mushrooms next, on grilled bread.

Have Grill, Can't Cook

We are finally seeing what could be described as nice weather here in New England so on Saturday, Matt decided to get the grill ready for the season.  He had new cleaner, special brushes, and an entire roll of heavy-duty paper towels ready for action.  He scrubbed, he hosed, he brushed.  He was out there for hours but when he was finished, the grill looked great.  All shiny and clean and ready for all my grilling experiments.

At least we thought so.

This a gas grill.  After he put everything back together, he tried to light it.  Nothing.  He waited until everything was dried out - still nothing.  He tried it the next day, and got worse than nothing.  He smelled gas leaking.

We have a beautiful, clean grill and nothing to do with it.  At least I won't be embarrassed in front of the repairman.