Welcome to Orono, Maine!

Though not as famous as its Idaho cousin, the Maine potato is an important economic crop...and superior, according to the seller!

Always the traveler, I am now living in Orono, Maine to start my job as Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Climate Change at the University of Maine...once again, Andrew and I must juggle living in two places, but at least we can get to each other by car this time! I am settling in to my cute little house, getting to know my colleagues, and the first week of classes is already over. It has long been a dream of mine to spend more time in Maine, and I guess this is my chance.

Orono Farmer's Market seconds tomatoes - at $1 a pound, I buy lots and make them into sauce to freeze for the winter. Together with homemade meatballs, this is a wonderfully comforting meal.

As part of my settling in, I had to investigate the food options here in Orono. Just down the street is the Thriftway, which is possibly one of the grossest stores I've ever been in - they offer cheap beer, pink hot dogs, and really frightening, shriveled veggies. This filled me with fear, but we have found a lovely grocery store nearby, as well as the fantastic Orono Farmer's Market!

A New England classic - Anadama bread is made with molasses. Mmmmmmm.

I had initially been afraid that there would be little local food available in the area because we are a tiny university town and it's so cold here much of the year, but was I wrong! The Orono Farmer's Market is year-round (though diminished in the winter) and features veggies, fruit, honey, maple syrup, poultry, pork, beef, fish and lawbstah, baked goods, cheese, cured meats, and more. It is spectacular and is within walking distance of both my office and my house. During Andrew's weekend visit, we made a trip to the farmer's market and came away with a huge bag of goodies. I have already been going twice a week and can see that my paycheck will be feeding my farmer's market habit, but it is comforting to know I can keep my pantry stocked with good, local treats. Come for a visit and sample our Maine fare!

Chef Andrew enjoying an evening on the deck - he grilled Chestnut Farm steak while I prepared Farmer's market salad and corn on the cob. A fantastic New England feast!

More thoughts on grains...

In the last few days, I have had grains on the brain. Martha Stewart Living featured an article on grain salads this month, and I read a Boston Globe article featuring Ben Lester, who runs a bakery and grain CSA in Western Massachusetts. I have wanted to join, but am just too intimidated by the enormous amount of grain in the share (over 100 lbs!)...but, it got me thinking about the jars of grains I have stored in our pantry. As I said in a previous post, we need our grains to stay healthy, whether they are locally available, or not. So, I decided to move beyond rice this week and started cooking with bulghur and wheat again. The results were wonderful! Last night while Andrew was roasting Chestnut Farm chicken on his new grill, I cooked a bowl of bulghur wheat and mixed it with cherry tomatoes from Waltham Fields Community Farm, parsley from Susan's garden, and homemade salad dressing. When the chicken, which was marinated beautifully, was done, we shredded it and added it to the salad for the lovely - and very simple! - result pictured above.

To accompany the leftovers for today's lunch, I made flatbreads from our Massachusetts wheat. I perused several of my favorite cookbooks for flatbread recipes and decided to go with a simple pita bread recipe, which you have seen Susan make before.

It took me just a few minutes to grind the 3 cups of flour necessary for the recipe, and instead of letting the pitas puff in the oven (who wants to turn on the oven in this humidity?), I cooked them on the cast iron griddle. They are done within minutes and produce these lovely, browned breads, which are wonderful as wraps for the salad.