Labor Day weekend was a series of glorious Maine days, with sun, wind, and kick-ass food, culminating in Sunday night's 'Deathmatch Forage.' As usual, the food and the company were both spectacular. Sadly, I don't have an official menu (they weren't printed the night of), so I can't provide a rundown of the ingredients. But, given that the theme of the evening was food and drink that were personally grown, foraged, or killed by the chefs, or someone they each knew personally, it was an amazing example of the bounty of our local ecosphere (and beyond-- there was salt from Hawaii!).

My favorite dishes were the opening course, which was a pork-o-licios concoction of pulled pork, pork belly, head cheese, and kale, and the deceptively smooth corn chowder with smoked duck. Everything was fabulous, though, and each course provided a new and surprising flavor profile. Thanks to Johnny D for the take-home pile-o-seaweed, and of course to Jon and Joe for their hosting excellence.

The media attention, including professional photography, was fun too-- Maine Home + Design sent a journalist who seemed equally interested in the food and the many characters in attendance. Plus, there was a puppy. What a night!

On a personal note, I am still hoping to find the time for a blog redesign, although it's receding into the distance somewhat, as school has started and the rigor of cite checking has reared its time-consuming head.

I'm afraid this semester has come swinging at me like a ton of bricks, affecting my ability to feed myself, let alone write amusing and pithy blog entries. Regardless, I do feel like I am finally catching up, as I sloooowly develop a thesis for my Comment (think legal research, but hopefully more perky than usual) and getting used to 7-day weeks. No complaints, though, really-- when possible we've been having a blast, spending time with our friends Seth and Jenner who just moved up to our lovely home from the wilds of Connecticut, and hanging with my mom who similarly found a (retirement, in her case) haven away from Boston.

Last Saturday was my first totally free day since Labor Day, and Otis and I drove up to the Common Ground Fair with his parents, who came up from the Cape from the occasion. I've heard some complaints about the food, but we dined quite well, with crisp cider from Androscoggin Apple Company (full disclosure-- Allen and his family are clients of Otis's, but that does not create any bias, honest-- it's damn good cider), and burgers cooked to order by Caldwell Farms.

We also got to see a woman spinning angora yarn directly from the bunny, who didn't seem to mind, and some very talented dogs herding both sheep and ducks.

Other fun meals have involved a visit to the new location for Beale Street BBQ, which was yummy and quite generous (2.5 meals from my portion), and a tasty working lunch at Chef et. al. with my friend Stacy from USM. (Although the darned font used in the logotype still irritates me, the flatbread with chicken Caesar did win me over.)

This upcoming weekend Otis's brother and his girlfriend are coming up for the weekend, and I have high hopes for a lovely time, including lots of tasty fare...although I will probably have to abandon them on Saturday to spend some time in the library.