Shannon twisted my arm and, like always, I broke under the pressure. I had avoided making jambalaya ever since our cooking class in New Orleans for reasons that were a mystery, even to me. Maybe it had been built up too much. Maybe the loosey-goosey directions from our cooking class were a bit intimidating. Maybe it was just sheer laziness. Whatever the reason, the clock was ticking. Read More…
We’ve experimented with beer floats under the assumption that alcohol makes everything better. But in our trials the bitterness of the beer always overwhelmed the sweetness of the ice cream. We could never get it to work quite right. Now we have proof that our original hypothesis was correct. Read More…
The variety and quality of East Coast brews is one of the delicious surprises of our trip. I’ve come to realize that prior to setting out, I was a New York City beer bigot. It wasn’t that I thought New York City had a lock on great craft brewers, they don’t. It’s that they have great bars with beer lists a mile long. It comforted me knowing that I could walk into the Peculier Pub and indulge in any of their more than 300 beers. I assumed, wrongly, that once I left the great metropolis I’d have to settle for less. Read More…
We discovered Stonewall Kitchen during our foodie walking tour in Portland, and happened upon another store in Camden, Maine. Nearly everything in the store we’ve had the opportunity to sample is out of this world: from the unique (roasted garlic, onion jam) to the exotic (habanero, mango hot sauce) to the ordinary (country ketchup).
In talking to the store owner, we learned that most of their products are used as simple dips or spreads, which is a bit of a shame. There is so much here with the potential to make excellent meals. We picked up a couple of salsas (peach and verde) to try out with some new Mexican dishes. Can’t wait.
I can’t deny that her answer wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear. But I had asked the question for a reason, and I was determined to see it through. We stopped at Congdon’s Doughnuts in Wells, Maine, on a whim and I had just asked our cashier, Rebecca, for their best doughnut. Her response: jelly. With options like chocolate crunch and blueberry filled, how can jelly be the answer to that question? A jelly doughnut is so ordinary, so typical, and not usually my first choice. But she was the expert, or at least more expert than me in all things Congdon’s, so who was I to question her wisdom? Jelly it was.
I could tell the pastry was going to be terrific the moment I plucked it from the bag. It was plump, and pillowy, and almost impossibly fresh. Just the feel of it in my hand was something to be admired. A bite confirmed my suspicion. Holy crap these are good doughnuts. The fresh raspberry preserves still contained lumps of fruit and had just the right sweetness to complement the sugar dusted cake. Too often jelly doughnuts are sweet enough to induce diabetes, but not Congdon’s, theirs are perfectly balanced. Somehow they’ve managed to raise the simple jelly doughnut to a form of high art, a masterpiece. Thank you Rebecca!
When we’re lucky we happen upon places like this. Little, nothing-looking, road-side establishments that turn out to be memorable gems. We found out later, though, that many others have discovered Congdon’s before us. This mere doughnut shop is listed by Trip Advisor as the sixth best restaurant in all of Wells. If anything, it is probably ranked too low.
Everywhere Once 