We took friends to 3Tides last night for dinner. Including Greg, there were three seafood eaters in the party, so we had a veritable smorgasbord of shellfish on the table including a dozen Pemaquid oysters, Northport rope grown mussels cooked in garlic and wine, fresh crabmeat quesadillas in addition to our usuals. I also added the pear and fresh greens salad. The bonanza of seafood arrived with great fanfare and was promptly gobbled up with lots of lip smacking and laughs and smiles. Our friends were amazed at how tasty the oysters and mussels were and kept saying how they had to spread the word. One of our guests is hosting a rehearsal dinner for her son's wedding on Friday, a clam bake down in Camden, and she lamented the whole night that she hadn't known about 3Tides before. My pear, feta cheese, toasted pine nuts with greens was delightful as was my usual chicken quesadilla. The decadent chocolate cake from "Let Them Eat Cake" in Belfast was the perfect complement to a perfect meal.
It was so refreshing to sit out underneath the huge Moss awning on the deck listening to the rain beating overhead while we gazed at the water.

Excellent evening.

Enjoy,
Seth

I was taken out to dinner on Tuesday night to Francine's in Camden. Its probably been about a year since we ate there last time. I am still very impressed by this small jewelbox of a restaurant. I was amazed at how crowded the restaurant was on a Tuesday night before season. Even the outside tables were taken up. We asked the bartender to make us Mohitos, a dark rum drink made with simple syrup, mint, lime juice and club soda. When I was a kid, these were called Southsides and it was a great way to break intodrinking hard alcohol. Anyway, the mohitos took forever to get from the bar, so we switched after the first one.
For dinner, two of us had the steak frites and our dining companion had crab cakes. Francine's chef changes the menu daily which keeps the place fresh and keeps the clientel coming back for more on a regular basis...something I think more restaurants need to do to keep things interesting. The steak frites was incredible. The steak was tender and very well seasoned and the frites, though not your standard julienned potatoes that you find in France, were wonderfully crispy and tasty with the perfect amount of salt and other spices. Apparently the crab cakes were excellent, though yours truly did not sample them. Dessert for my dining companions was a shared dish of vanilla ice cream with a rhubarb/ cherry coulis that smelled divine and must have been perfect since one of the ladies practically licked the bowl! All in all a very nice dinner and good atmosphere. Make sure to call ahead, as there are very few tables.

Enjoy,
Seth

I've been blogging around recently and came alight to one great blog name called Granny gets a Vibrator www.grannyvibe.blogspot.com Its pretty funny.

Anyway, it was Sunday and we had leftovers last night. I thinly sliced the rest of a London broil that we had over the weekend (marinated in a mix of balsamic vinegar, soy, worcestershire sauce, and garlic), took a cast iron skillet and sauteed some onions, asparagus, and garlic together and then added the beef and the rest of the marinade that I made into gravy using a rou and some red wine. I also made some Mexican style rice with black beans. (London Broil and Mexican Rice---how international can you get???) and made ersatz fajitas with everything rolled up in some flour tortillas with grated pepperjack cheese. MMMMMMM.

Hey, happy Sun! I planted my vegetable garden in the pouring rain last Tuesday and I swear its all grown a foot since then. I planted a strange garden, three types of tomatos, cantelope, butternut and acorn squash, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and strawberries. I mean, we already have mystery zucchinis and squash appear at our back door in bags, so why grow them? Beans too. Once the darn thing gets going, I'll post pics of my postage stamp garden.

Enjoy,
Seth