Maine Course

Day 44

After a day like yesterday, I am happy to awaken to a cool, foggy morning. I don't think I could take too much more excitement. We visit with Amy and Harold around the breakfast table before they head out to Machias to run errands. We have a fun-filled day of chores planned.

Harold, being a near expert at just about everything, has a garage full of mechanic's tools and a pressure washer, so the Pirate and the Girl are going to have some one on one time. The gas leak is getting checked, finally, and she will have a bath.

I have big plans to do laundry, delete already saved photos from my phone, and catch up on the blog. I will also do some serious smooching on Grace Jackson.

We have also decided to make dinner for Amy, Harold and Chris, for their sweet generosity. Once all of the chores are done, we head into to Lubec to the IGA to see what they might have. The grocery store is usually the best place to plan a menu. We decide on burgers, fresh corn and blueberry pie.

Pirate Burger

Amy is an outstanding cook with a phenomenal kitchen, and she doesn't bake. There is no rolling pin, and her counter tops are made from gorgeous chunky six inch tiles which are not flat. This scenario is a challenge for one who is about to make pie crust. Never fear, mermaids are nothing if not resourceful. I peel the label off the Merlot we bought, viola: rolling pin. Amy digs out a flat cookie sheet which is the perfect thing for rolling the crust out. My pie crust recipe is always in my head: 2 cups flour, 2 sticks unsalted butter, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar and ice water until it balls up. The pie filling is made up: 2 pints of blue berries, zest from one lemon, enough sugar to barely coat it all and enough flour to do the same. When this pie finally emerges from the oven, it is a thing of beauty. I love making pie.

Big Ass Wench

Dinner is a delightful affair. Chris arrives just as the burgers are going on the grill, so he goes down to man the grill with the fellas. Amy and I stake out the kitchen, drinking red wine and caramelizing onions in bacon fat (a last minute stroke of genius). The guys are soon coming up the stairs with juicy burgers, toasted buns and corn cooked right on the grill. We gather around the table and tell stories, laughing and planning future visits. Grace Jackson stands under the table all night, tail wagging, getting fed from every single one of us. Once we're ready for the pie, I do some fresh whipped cream, no sweetener, and it's perfect. This might be the best blueberry pie I've ever made.

Boathouse boys

After dinner, I join the guys in trekking over to the boat house. The boat house is Harold's project. It's the original Coast Guard station, District 1 Station 1, put here to rescue lives and tax dollars from the chilly waters of Maine. Apparently coastal Maine was the bootlegging hotbed of it's time. You name it, you could get it in these U.S./ Canadian waters. The coast guard was invented to nip that in the bud. Harold is slowly but surely renovating this gorgeous building, piece by piece. It is an outstanding project, and there's no better guy for the job.

It has been a lovely evening, and sadly our last in Lubec at the Jackson place. We hope to stay in contact with these wonderful folks. I've made them promise to let us cook for them whenever they're in Asheville. We'll hopefully get to see them every summer on our way to Canada.