Sunday, August 30, 2009

Wally's might very well be the best
























































I don't know if Wally's (Rte. 236, S. Berwick, ME, 603-534-2030) is really the best since I've only been there twice and have no basis for comparison but it is pretty darn good. We went there last year on the way home and again this year. It is, quite literally, an open shack by the side of the road. I went a little overboard last year so really tried to keep spending in check this year. The girl who works the place (is she the same girl as last year?) is very sweet and helpful. We make our purchases and get back in the car just as 4 other cars pull in.

Mike's Clam Shack (or what's wrong with saying you don't know)

We head down to the Wells Harbor on Saturday night while in Maine to see a free concert. Oddly, it's the same bad singer we saw last year with the big band group. She now even worse fronting for a country/pop group. For some reason she seems even more off key. After about 3 songs we go in search for dinner.

We have decided on Mike's Clam Shack (1150 Post Rd, Wells, ME) based on a recommendation from the cashier's assistant at Mardens (Maine's version of Building 19 - for those of you unfamiliar with that store, there logo is "good stuff cheap." Need I say more? It's not always good but it is always cheap. It always amazes me that I find stuff there that I never even imagined I needed or wanted.

The hostess at Mike's tells us it will be about 15 minutes and gives us one of those buzzing disks that tells you when your table is ready. We go to the bar and sit next to a couple who as decided to eat dinner in the bar because their wait was too long. Waitress comes over and I inquire as to what type of bourbon or rye they have. What kind do you want? What kind do you have? Why don't you just tell me what you want and I'll tell you if we have it. Rye? Tell me what you want. Old Overholt? No. Rittenhouse. No. OK, what kind of bourbon do you have. Jack Daniel's. And? Tell me what you want. Maker's Mark? We have that. Woodford Reserve. We have Maker's Mark. This would be funny if it weren't so annoying.

I decide, if you can call it that, on a Maker's Mark Manhattan. Surprisingly good and I don't detect any evidence that the waitress spit in the drink.

Our buzzer goes off about two seconds after we get the drinks. Waitress produces the check. Can't complain here - manhattan was $6.50 and wine was $4. We are lead through a labyrinth to a booth in the back. We each get clam chowder (not as good a Oceanaire) but good even if the clams were a little gritty. We split a lobster roll on grilled bun and the fried clams that come with french fries and coleslaw. All delicious. Service at this table is very good.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Wilds of Maine

We left early on Saturday morning; for once I am not late and arrive at my friend's house promptly at 9 AM. We stop for shopping in Portsmouth, NH, have a wonderful chicken caesar wrap for lunch at Portsmouth Gas Light Company. Then it's on to Maine.

Words will not do justice to the absolute peace and serenity here. It's Bauneg Beg Lake in Maine. There are times up when you literally cannot hear a human sound.



Remodel - Day 7


I got home from a very pleasant evening at Green Street Grill on Friday to find this. The floor is in, it's sanded and I'm confident I can go to Maine for the weekend.


Yes, I know, Green Street Grill post is out of order but I was so sick of this remodel and just wanted to write about drinks.


Remodel - Day 6


I get home Thursday to find that some work has been done. All the sheetrock is up; all the filler is in so it's starting to look like a real wall.





Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Green Street Grille, Cambridge


I've only been to Green Street Grill, Cambridge once before. I had a very good time but apparently my date didn't as I never heard from him again. You know that things are going to be good when you see all the cocktail glasses lined up and chilling. Bartenders here have a good reputation and one in particular is quite fetching. Sadly, when I asked the bartender who was serving us about some drinks, he informed us that he just started working here but could tell me about the drinks based on the ingredients. They have several drinks with rye, both Old Overholt and Rittenhouse. I don't remember the ingredients of the Creole and it's not on the menu online so apologies for the lapse. The Creole was a rather mild tasting drink (rye will do that); nothing remarkable or horrible about the concoction. My friend seemed pleased with her Mojito.

We ordered the chicken lobster croquettes which came with a salsa dressing and the bacon cheeseburger which we asked to split.. The croquettes were fried to a perfect color and texture. Unfortunately, there was not much lobster or flavor to them.


The cheeseburger, on the other hand, was very good. The cute bartender explained to us when it was served that he asked them to put it on two buns. So we got individual buns with decent sized burgers, a good amount of cheese, lettuce and tomato and two very long, perfectly cooked slices of bacon on each. The coleslaw was decent, the home made chips were flavorless. Overall the experience was a good one and we will most likely return.



New for me from Trader Joe's (yes, Virginia, there is life beyond the remodel)


I think I bought these because I liked the name; tried one and remembered how much I like fig newtons. These were pretty good and I would buy again. They have other fillings too. Blueberry is the only one I can remember right now.


Not so impressed with this. The fish was decent sized but covered in the icky brown sauce. The spinach was not very flavorful. The butterbeans, however, were pretty tasty. I have never had them before and will be on the lookout for them.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Remodel - An aside

This is what the floor looks like in most of the rest of my unit. There are some sections that are older and more beat up looking but this is in most of the hallway and open space next to this new room. I was assured several times before the project began that this flooring would be found.





Remodel - Day 5


Not feeling too good about this. Yes, it's the same picture as Day 4. I call contractor the next morning to go over the schedule, find out what's going on with the flooring. Still no wood but I get reassurances about the schedule. He's going to bring me some samples of flooring.

Remodel - Day 4

Progress resumed but is very slow. Rest of plastic sheeting is put up over the pink insulation. Big sections of sheetrock are up. Contractor's contractor probably only worked a couple of hours after being on another job all day.




Remodel - Day 3


Yup, that's that the same picture from Day 2. No progress.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Remodel - Day 2

Insulation is partly installed. All the pink stuff is up. Plastic sheeting is partially up as is the brown paper that is the final layer. Contractor's contractor made good progress considering how hot it is in my unit

Once this is all up up, sheetrock will be next.
Electrical and cable wiring is run into space. There are going to be 4 outlets in the room plus cable wiring. Contractor suggested recessed lighting which I wasn't sure about. Seems pretty boring.

Salesman at Yale Electric said the same so that's what we are going with. I though I might do some sconces to give some pizazz to the lighting but since I don't know which side the closet will be on yet, I decided to skip it.





















Sunday, August 16, 2009

Remodel - Day 1

What a difference a day makes. The wall is down and I have a much better idea of the true size of this space. It will still be a very tight fit for a queen bed (hopeful end result after phase II of the project but I have lots of time to figure that out. At the end of phase I, I will probably just put the desk in there facing out to the living space, the rocker with small table and the bookshelf.

My biggest concern at this point is not finding a match for the wood in the living area. Freddy has brought a few samples over but they are more burreled oak which is goregeos and matches most of my antique pieces. The floor in the living space is more honey colored.

I did see a beautiful white floored room in a magazine which would be perfect for the beachy feeling I want in there but without the door between the two rooms, that would not look good.

I know, at some point I have to stop looking and just decide.


Oceanaire or pickled herring, who knew?


Door is locked when I arrive at Oceanaire, 40 Court Street, Boston a few minutes before 6 pm. I go to the entrance to the office building thinking there's an interior entrance. Nope. I get directed to the locked door. Luckily a couple comes up and tries the door. It's locked. Older gentleman comes out and opens it. No "Sorry, don't know how that happened." No "Welcome to Oceannaire." So I'm thinking this could turn out not so good but I was wrong. Everyone else who worked here was personable, knowledgable, everything you'd hope for from the service industry.

Here's how it got better. After a discussion with the bartender, Joe, I decided on a Bombay martini with olives. That's a picture of a fish on the glass not some new
-fangled addition to the traditional cocktail. He started shaking before I remembered to tell him stirred. I mentioned this as he placed the drink before me on a long stainless steel topped bar with a seafood cook station at the end. I have to agree with him though that I do like the little ice shards on the top on the drink. Drink was $11.50; I think my friend's vodka one was slightly less.

While I'm waiting for me friend, I learn that Joe, who's worked there for about a year, just closed on a condo today. So if you stop in, and I highly recommend that you do, congratulate him.

We check back with the hostess station and arrange for our drinks to be brought to the table.

Water is poured immediately, bread served. Amuse bouche arrives - a large tortilla chip with a mix of seafood. And the lovely plate pictured below. Some veggies and a dish of something really wonderful. It's fish. It's a little tangy. What is it? We ask for more and get it. It's pickled herring. My friend and I agree that we would not have tasted it if we knew what is was before hand. Yech, right?

There is a decent selection for all three courses (3 appetizers, 4 entrees, and 3 desserts). We both get clam chowder. It is not that heavy, overly starchy kind but a smooth light cream. You can taste the clam broth and there is a decent amount of clams and potatoes in the chowder.

My friend gets the trout which comes with a medley of green beans and maybe dried cranberries. The taste she offers me is delicious. The fish is not as mushy as I have found catfish to be. I choose the yellowtail flounder stuffed with crab, shrimp and brie. The fish is wonderful. What I am not so crazy about is the pool of butter that it's in. It had a slightly off taste but didn't appear to effect the taste of the fish (more like the butter sauce was placed on the dish and then the fish put on top as opposed to the fish being cooked in the butter sauce). No vegetables on my dish but both come with nice mashed potatoes. I'm guessing had either cream cheese or sour cream and chives mixed in.

Key lime pie and NY cheesecake were both delicious. The key lime pie was a little loose but that didn't effect the flavor.

We're still yammering away about the pickled herring when the female, I'm guessing, manager comes over to inquire how everything was. We inquire about the PH, she spots the chef and says she'll see if he can come over. Dan Enos, the Executive Chef and Operating Partner, stops by, gives us his PH distributor's name and talks with us for about 10 minutes about all kinds of things. He later sends over a pint container of PH for each of us.

In our bill we get a postcard advertising "The Down Turns Up" promotion. They'll be offering bottles of red and white wine for $20.10 and on Sunday - Thursday from 5-7, they'll be offering 3-curses for $20.10. How sweet is that?




Sunday, August 9, 2009

The reality or the 2nd scariest thing I've done lately


It started out as a hole the size of a switch plate, then two holes the size of switch plates. Then Fredy, the contractor, came over last week and cut a hole large enough to walk through (with a bit of maneuvering). Here's what's on the other side.


All told the space will end up being 15' by 8' if we include what is now the hallway. It will not have that much usable space because of the pitched roof but I am convinced and he agrees that this can be a 2nd bedroom.



I think a closet can go against this wall with space for hanging stuff to the right and shelves/drawers to the left thus eliminating the need for a dresser. Bed will be up against the opposite wall. I hope to have frosted glass doors that open out into the living space since right now there is no natural light in this space. Eventually (when the inevitable roof repairs are necessary) I will add skylights to this room.

Mmm, mmm, good

This might look like fried chicken but it's really baked. Easy: roll in flour, dip in egg and milk mixture, roll in breadcrumbs. Put a little butter and oil in a baking pan and cook at 375 for about one hour. Turn once at around 30 minutes. Piece of cake...or should I say piece of chicken.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

I love hats


This beauty was purchased at Boutique Fabulous, 1309 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA. Visit them virtually here. This place is packed with gift items but has a nice corner of vintage clothing and some antiques.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

What $100 gets me or how to beat the new tax on liquor

Inspired by Sheryl Julian of the Boston Globe and looking to stock up on supplies before Massachusetts started taxing liquor purchases on August 1, I went to Kappy's and Atlas Liquors last week. I got two bottles of Old Overholt Rye, one mega-sized bottle of Bombay Gin, one bottle of Fee Brothers Orange Bitters (yummy), one case of Stella Artois, two bottles each of Gancia Extra Dry and Mionetto Brut Prosecco for just over $110. I used one bottle of the Gancia with the blueberry (from Russo's) and chocolate chip pancakes I made for Sunday breakfast.

How can you not go into store with a 50% off everything sign?

Driving down Pleasant Street on the way to Russo's, I spotted a thrift store with a sign saying everything was 50% off so we stopped in on the way home. I bought this nicely matted print for $1.50. Yes, that decimal point is in the right place.

What I did by at Russo's

Asparagus was great grilled.

I don't have the best of luck with summer fruit; either don't let it ripen enough or let it go too long but I had great luck with these plums. They were sweet and juicy.


Let me wax rhapsodic about the 7 grain bread (Russo's own). It had just the right amount of chewiness, toasts nicely and is just about perfect.

Russo's brand brioches were also good. I toasted them and used them for buns for turkey burgers with carmelized onions and cheddar cheese.

Not pictured but maybe the best tasting purchase was the corn. The parmesan cheese was OK, smoother and less tangy than what I get at Sessa's. Next time, I'll make the trip to Sessa's.

Things I might buy at Russo's next time


Above is sweet Italian eggplant and below is graffitti eggplant. Only one way to find out what they taste like, right?


What I didn't buy at Russo's

This is dragon fruit (aka Chinese cactus pear) and it's a product of the US.


This is rambutan and product of Guatemala.

Ideas? I did find out that the buddha's hand that I saw on my last visit is used in marmalade. Also read someplace that it can be used as a substitute for a lemon twist in a cocktail.