Today is turning out to be a satisfying day!!  The morning started with a trip to the garden to plant some more peas!!  We already have a sweet pea variety in, but I had to start some Oregon Trail variety to pay homage to what was my home state for over 12 years   I also planted a vegetable called black salsify….its a perennial that is grown for its roots…i have only seen pictures of it, so we’ll see what it does!   A few weeks ago, my husband took the time to clean up and weed some of the abandoned rhubarb, and today we noticed some was ready to harvest!!  I was totally excited, but also felt a little bad…we had just had some dinner guests that had asked if we had some because they remembered it from last year here….only a few days off!

So that brings me to the second half of my day…working in the kitchen.  The yummy part…I will make up some pie dough, and then with that I will turn that rhubarb into tart alsacienne which means that the rhubarb is cooked in a firm custard.  Then I will make up some quiche with spring greens, some local goat cheese, and maybe a few mushrooms.  Quiche is so convenient for leftovers, so I tend to make lots!  To me this is the perfect spring day here in Maine…its about 60 degrees, sunny, and I got to spend the morning in the garden, and the afternoon in the kitchen, and the evening eating and sharing a glass of wine…Ahhh!

Photo of edible flowers picked in in July (lavender, thyme, dill, cilantro, day lily, squash blossom, Nasturtiums, chives, and basil).

After falling out of favor for many years, cooking and garnishing with flowers is back in vogue once again. Flower cookery has been traced back to Roman times, and to the
Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indian cultures. Edible flowers were especially popularin the Victorian era during Queen Victoria’s reign.

Today, many restaurant chefs and innovative home cooks garnish their entrees with flower blossoms for a touch of elegance. The secret to success when using edible
flowers is to keep the dish simple, do not add to many other flavors that will over power the delicate taste of the flower. Today this nearly lost art is
enjoying a revival.

Yet another exciting Slow Money Success Story, this time from a delicious, if chilly, source: the coast of Maine! This article originally appeared on SeafoodBusiness.com

Come and relax at our bed and breakfast in Midcoast Maine after enjoying a day of shopping and watching one of the events that LL Bean puts on during the summer.

June 11th is a garden & house tour given by the Sagadahoc Preservation in Bath, Maine.

This articel on Wiscasset Maine was written in the April 18th, 2010 travel section…
“A coastal trove of history, beauty, summer promise.”

Today I walked down to the water at our house. Vreni (Bernese) and the 2 cats came down with me. Mandy, the old dog, stayed at the top watching and waiting. I saw all the trees that came down in the storm a few weeks ago and was amazed at how many there were…that’s going to take a lot of cleaning up!!! Tomorrow we change our clocks ahead and loose an hour sleep but as it is meant to be rainy we don’t mind.

Read all about it here.

Here’s a great view of the inn.

I look back with different feelings about our experience driving across the USA from coast to coast in winter. An amazing experience but I would not do it again in winter, at least not such a northerly route. Flying back to Maine on January 15th was a piece of cake!!! But what an incredible country this is and I am happy to be back home in Maine despite the cold.

February 13th takes us back to Oregon (flying) for our daughter Lara’s wedding on the 16th.