Summer in Maine and the dawn comes early and dusk comes late, especially on an island such as North Haven where time and space are so precious. Island life has its idiosyncrasies, too, such as a glitch in my internet and phone service hookup under the shaky hands of Fairpoint Communications. Keeping in touch here to share my North Haven diary has been tricky business.
It took weeks of planning and shopping to figure out what to bring to the island for food and perishables. You never know what’s going to be on the island so I don’t take chances. Yet the island has become a very rich farming community:Turner Farm for exquisite produce, pastured meats, dairy and cheese; specialty farms such as Doug Record’s Sheep Meadow Farm on Crabtree Point for exquisite honey, lamb, chicken and eggs and Doreen Cabot’s Foggy Meadows Farm is also known for pastured lamb and beef, eggs and canned good as well as ice cream and cakes made with her own duck eggs.
Still, I wasn’t taking any chances. I packed several coolers with lamb and beef; 4 pounds of terrific butter from High View Farm and their dairy products like buttermilk and heavy cream. I had about 5 pounds of English peas and ten pounds of new potatoes, which were slow to arrive this year but I scouted them out at Jordan’s Farm in Cape Elizabeth and Spear’s Farm who sells at the Brunswick market. All that and my Cuisinart and Kitchen-Aide stand mixer, I was ready for action.
You never know what will be available at the North Haven Market. Looking for some Gruyere (I brought up Cabot cheddar), the woman at the market said, “OMG, it flew out of here even at $30 per pound.”
It would be used to make a classic quiche Lorraine, a dish I haven’t made in years but it seemed like the perfect luncheon dish, with a pile of local greens that I picked up at the Saturday North Haven farmer’s market.
Instead I had bacon, tomatoes and lettuce from Turner Farm and BLT’s fit the bill served with the North Haven market’s Cole slaw (pretty good) and bread and butter pickles from Doreen Cabot’s farm.
Dinner that night was the obligatory meal at Nebo Lodge Restaurant housed in one of Maine’s most charming island inns. Nearly all of the food comes from local sources–including the Camden area and farms on North Haven and Vinalhaven.
It was a quiet Thursday night at Nebo because the main event was the first of the summer barn dinners held at Turner Farm, which we were going to the following week.
Dinner at Nebo on the several nights that we went was purely good, simply delicious.
Up next: cooking at home with some wonderful results and recipes.