Day Six - Thursday, September 29, 2011 - Eastport

This last day was relatively quiet – the banana bread at breakfast was especially good.   Our first activity was not until 11:15 am at Quoddy Bay Lobster in downtown Eastport leaving plenty of time for a stop at the Thrift Store to see if we missed anything.

On to Quoddy Bay Lobster where Sara (one of the owners) provided a really good explanation of the lobster business --- Sara showed us large lobsters, small lobsters, hard shell lobsters, soft shell lobsters --- and told us all that goes into getting the lobster from the trap to the table.

 

We ordered lunch--- I had the best lobster roll – big chunks of meat with a claw on top – it was so delicious because it was fresh and on a grilled roll.   

In the afternoon we visited Carol at Shore Road Farm --- Carol explained the challenges of her new venture of growing organic wheat.   Carol also runs “Scythe Supply”  – a business she started with a partner a few years ago.  Scythe Supply provides custom-made scythes to customers worldwide.

Before going to Audrey’s for our special last cooking lesson/dinner – we had time for a stop at the “Red Sleigh” – a lovely shop with a variety of items from hand-knitted caps and scarves to food items to mats made from rope used on fishing boats.   We swarmed into the place and several of the mats were purchased for those with available space in their cars  ---- some of us opted to buy the huge homemade cookies.

At 5:30 pm we arrived at Audrey’s – we had been told this would be a special evening and it was.   As Audrey announced the teams – we noticed there were no recipes – that was the surprise.  Each station was stocked with a variety of ingredients  -- the team’s task was to make something out of the ingredients and name the recipe.  It was a challenge but lots of fun – every dish came out great.

Phil and I were paired together – Our ingredients consisted of a large eggplant, a bag of small multi-colored peppers, an onion, two small zucchini, a box of mushrooms, seasoning and olive oil.   We developed “Eastport Eggplant” --- sliced eggplant sautéed then placed in a baking dish with a pepper ring on top of each slice surrounded by mushrooms and finished with a sauce of olive oil, chopped onion and pepper.  

Another surprise for the evening was the entertainment – Penney and Kara played guitar and accordion – it was perfect background music as we went through our paces. 

Our menu this evening consisted of:  Appetizers:  Endive Salad, Guacamole Dip with Tortilla Chips, Pureed Vegetable Soup – and the Main Course:  Lobsters, Pork,  Eastport Eggplant,  Mississippi Mud Cake and Apple Crisp – if I missed anything I hope someone will let me know.  

 

Our diplomas showed successful completion of:   “Culinary Escape on Passamaquoddy Bay”  September 29, 2011.

We could not have had a better week – the accommodations, the schedule – the people  - the weather – and of course the food – everything added up to equal a wonderful week in Eastport, Maine.