Gnocchi encore

Sweet potato gnocchi bathed in butter.

I have been lucky to have so many visitors up here in Maine this fall - including newlyweds Anne and Roger. These two came up on a frigid weekend in November to stay with me, and we enjoyed a UMaine-UMass football game, cocktails at Woodman's, and a visit to Pat's Pizza in downtown Orono where Anne's dad ate as a student at UMaine.

One of the highlights of our weekend was making gnocchi...this time, we made them out of sweet potatoes purchased from the Orono farmer's market. We were amazed at the bounty at the market in November, and partook of the veggies, goat cheese, and vegan Whoopie pies. (As an aside, I should write a whole entry about the famous Whoopie pie, which is a dessert thought to have originated in Maine.)

Chef Anne and sous-chef Roger yucking it up!

Using the recipe posted here, we substituted mashed sweet potato for regular potato, and the result was colorful and delicious! Roger acted as sous chef to Anne, who rolled out many, many gnocchi, which I cooked in boiling water until they bobbed to the surface. As they finished cooking, I tossed them in to a pan of melted Kate's butter and sage leaves...when we served this masterpiece, we topped it with a bit of grated parmesan cheese. As Anne would say, they were delightful!

Tip: The dough was very sticky and required more flour, so a possible compromise would be to use half sweet and half regular potato.

Wyman's Blueberries

Andrew seeks the majestic moose!

Every time I tell someone Andrew and I went moose hunting this fall, they look at me with shock and awe...and then I have to explain we used binoculars, not guns. Andrew is a moose enthusiast, and when we saw that several roads on our Maine state map were labelled "Moose Viewing Route," we decided to get in the car and head out into the unknown. And, let me tell you, what we saw made Orono look like a metropolis.

Unfortunately, we didn't see any moose, but we did stumble upon a Wyman's blueberry farm! I keep these Maine blueberries in the freezer for breakfast shakes, but had no idea they came from so nearby. These are the tiny, wild blueberries we New Englanders are used to - not the large, high-bush blueberries found elsewhere. Because it was fall, the blueberry bushes had turned a firey red, which were a beautiful contrast to the steely gray skies that day. When we arrived on the farm, I noticed the cute blue buildings that must house summer workers (who probably don't think they are cute)...as I got out to take a picture, a man in a truck with a shotgun appeared, so I hopped back in and we went on our way. Eeek!

...that wasn't our only gun encounter that day: as we took a stroll on the coast, looking at seals through the binocs, we heard the "pop pop" of a shot gun, and found a pair of duck hunters mere yards from where we sat. Don't underestimate rural Maine.

Seasonal workers' houses - painted blue as a blueberry!

Wyman's blueberry fields in their autumn colors.

Thanksgiving!

My little house in Orono, Maine - come for a visit!

Yes, I realize I am writing about Thanksgiving 2011 in January 2012, but I didn't want to overlook it...for the first time, both Susan and I went to our in-laws' homes for Thanksgiving. Because we were missing each other, Susan, Tim, and Andrew drove up here to the ends-of-the-earth Maine for an early November visit, and we cooked up an autumnal storm using ingredients from Massachusetts and Maine.

Chef Susan bastes The Bird.

Our menu featured a lovely Chestnut Farms turkey, which was butchered in Massachusetts mere days before we roasted it. Because the turkey was so fresh, the farmer instructed Tim to wash the turkey and its giblets each day - no mean feat with a 20 pound, lifeless bird in the kitchen sink, let me tell you. It was worth it: the turkey was succulent and we were all pleased to partake in the Chestnut Farms Thanksgiving harvest.

Our Thanksgiving table - yes, those are turnips with candles in them! Local decorating?

To round out the menu:

Mashed Maine potatoes, with Kate's butter and Maine milk
Susan's homemade stuffing with sage from the garden
Roasted farmer's market squash with Maine maple syrup
Maine apple pie with Geri's California quince, King Arthur flour,
and Kate's butter - lots of it!
Homemade Maine cranberry sauce
...and two items that are nearly impossible to make "local":
Bassett family salad (contains marshmallows!)
Green bean casserole

The last two items are standard on our Thanksgiving table and will never be lost, no matter how exotic or mass-produced the ingredients. We had a delightful weekend cooking, running, chatting, and drinking wine, and found compiling these local ingredients to be surprisingly easy. Happy holidays!

The most important ingredient!