8/30/09 The Summer of 2009

Summers in Maine are what Mainiacs live for. Some say you "earn" the privilege after surviving the winter. I'm so used to traveling in the summer. I never minded being away from Dallas in June, July, and August. Next summer maybe I'll start spending more time in Maine. This summer, not so much. I spent 51 days out of the state. I traveled to 9 states (VT, KS, MD, VA, OR, WA, TX, NM, NY), British Columbia, and Washington DC. Unfortunately, I was having so much fun and accomplishing so many things I didn't find time to blog about the travels. But when I do, you'll find the stories in my travel blog, not here. I did do a teeny bit of traveling in Maine. Those travels, whenever I can find time to blog, will be described here.

My other big project this summer was to unpack the living room. In December I had the last of my stuff shipped from Dallas. It was all that sentimental stuff that you don't need but have to keep. When I thought I was only going to be in Maine for 2 more years, I put the stuff in storage in Dallas. When I found out I was going to stay for a while in Maine, I had the stuff moved here. For 7 months, I just lived with the stuff stacked in my living room. It took up over 40 square feet of my 600 square foot apartment. In July, I finally started unpacking. Then I built shelves and then filled the shelves. There's still a lot of stuff here but at least I can get to it now. AND I have 20 square feet of apartment back. :-) Phase 2 is to do the same for the dining room.

I took photos along the way. I compiled them into this 2 minute slideshow. Enjoy! My friend Michael suggested I should've had a last slide of me "collapsed in organizational exhaustion in the comfy chair." Great idea. However, I'll have to let you picture that photo in your imagination. Meanwhile, enjoy the transformation.

8/14/2009 How do you define hot?

I was at the mall today. In most cities, when you say "the mall" someone will ask, "Which one?" I was at The Maine Mall in Portland, which is named that because at the time it was built, it was pretty much the only one in the state. (Does that make it the main Maine mall?) So here, when you say, "the mall," everyone assumes you're talking about that one.

But I digress. So at the mall, I was in the parking lot and needed to cross the lane of traffic. The oncoming car stopped and waved me across. Maine has strong pedestrian right-of-way laws, so that wasn't unusual. I waved a thank you as I crossed and when I got to the other side, the driver rolled down her window smiling at me and then said, "Honey, you're the one having to suffer in 86 degrees, I've got my AC on. Of course, I'll let you cross."

And to think I was enjoying how cool it was on an August day in the "heat" of the afternoon with the temperature being only 86 degrees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On another note, it's been a long time since I posted anything here. Sorry about that. It's been a busy busy summer which means I have plenty to blog about but no time to blog. I hope to get caught up soon.

And one more note . . . Look Dad! I'm not blogging about snow!

5/18/09 Frost Advisory?

w00t! Gotta love it. There's a frost advisory out for tonight. Cover your new seedlings and little plants.

Wait! It's May! It's almost June! And we're having a frost advisory? Well, they say not to plant anything in your vegetable garden in Maine until after Memorial Day. Gotta admit, I didn't believe it when I heard it.

Frost advisory tonight for most of state

Submitted by The Associated Press on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 09:13

• Central Maine Newspapers
• Portland Press Herald

The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for northern Maine, while a frost advisory is in effect for most of the rest of the state.

The weather service said an unseasonably cold air mass combined with clear skies and calm winds will result in widespread frost from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. Tuesday in northern areas, where temperatures are expected to fall below freezing.

Most other regions, including southern and coastal areas, are under a frost advisory in the overnight hours. Temperatures are projected to drop into the lower to mid-30s, but a hard freeze is not anticipated.

The weather service says potted plants that are normally left outdoors should be covered or brought inside away from the cold.

retrieved 5/18/09 from http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/frost-advisory-tonight-for-most-of-state

5/12/09 Midnight Madness

So it's 12:38am and I'm driving home from work. (Can you tell it's the end of the semester?) I know it's 12:38 because the bank clock on the corner of Main and Broadway says so in large digital readout. Then I think my mind must be playing a trick on me because it then says 38. It's 38 at 12:38. What does that mean? It's 38 degrees?! On May 12 it's only 6 degrees above freezing?? It's MAY for heaven's sake! I knew it was a little chilly on the walk from my building to my car. The grass was a little slippery under my feet as I walked up the slight incline from the exit to the parking lot. But I thought that was dew. Now I wonder if it was frost!

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore. Nor are we in Dallas. No wonder the landlady didn't want to plant her tomatoes yet. She said there was still a chance of a frost.

Now I'll never get my parents to come visit me for Christmas. My dad doesn't like the cold. He for sure won't come at Christmas and now probably won't ever come in May, either!

5/4/09 Interpretive Dance

One of my assignments in EDU 101 is for a team of partners to take one of the Ten Standards for Initial Teacher Certification for the State of Maine and present an overview of the standard in a way that we'll never forget. (The standards tend to overlap and initially, they all look alike until you really get to know them, which our students do in their ensuing Education courses. But to start, I just want them to be aware that the standards exist and that there are 10 distinct points.)

I encourage a lot of creativity and I get some fabulous presentations: rap song, children's story, skits, board games, audience participation activities, weavings, mystery boxes, and more. After 11 sections of this course, you would think I had seen it all, but in fact, I haven't. This group had a balloon popping activity, a self-assessment to determine learning style, an acronym event, and more. In addition to all of that, this was the first time anyone had ever used an interpretive dance. I don't believe I'll ever forget Standard 7 (there's a vii painted on each of their faces) is all about Engaging Your Students.

4/23/09 Things you didn't know you would ever have to worry about

Rumford is not very far away from here. I stopped there on my way to Dartmouth last fall. I drive alongside the Androscoggin River on my way to Dixfield. It's a scenic drive. I'm glad someone was able to take care of this problem before it took away from the scenery and before it created a really bad stench. There was actually an article last week lamenting the problem and the fact that there didn't seem to be a solution. Hurray for public works employees who go above and beyond! The headline to this story tells it all.

Town breathes easier: Bull carcass removed

RUMFORD -- A public works crew in Rumford has retrieved the bloated carcass of a bull that had floated down the Androscoggin River and over a waterfall before landing on some boulders weeks ago.

Crewman Dan Peare told the Sun Journal of Lewiston that he convinced his bosses that he and fellow crewmen could and should remove the animal before warm weather arrived for the weekend.

On Wednesday, Peare climbed down the river bank and attached a rope to the bull's legs. They then pulled the 800- to 900-pound Hereford up the bank with a bucket loader, lifted it into a dump truck and buried it behind the town garage.

The animal was first spotted in early April when it went over the falls and landed in a seemingly unreachable position atop a rock pile about 100 feet below the top of the river bank.

retrieved 4/23/09 from http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/town-breathes-easier-bull-carcass-removed

4/22/09 A&M in Maine?

WHAT?! I'm driving up Court Street and here's a maroon and white awning sporting A-M . . . does Texas A&M University have a branch in Farmington, ME?

Oh my. No, it's not Texas A&M University, it's Adams ~ McFarlane Funeral Home! At least they have good taste in company colors. Go Aggies! It's fun to think about you here in Maine, even if it is because of a bit of an unusual coincidence.

4/29/09 "The Way We Get By" movie

Finally! I got to see this movie. It was in Farmington over spring break and I was so excited to see it and knew I'd have the time to see it. It sold out all 4 nights!! I was so disappointed. Then they brought it back for 2 more nights. I went with my friend Nancy that I first met by Walton's Mill Pond my first winter here but have now spent a ton of time with and become good friends with through the history project. We went extra early, got tickets, and had a blast. It was an 8-kleenex movie for me but so worth it.

The film focuses on three troop greeters in Maine. But it celebrates all troop greeters across the country. I know there are similar groups in Dallas that greet the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that go in and out of DFW. Thank you to all Americans who are so supportive of our troops. This is a great country that we live in and we all need to do our part to appreciate it and support it.

Bangor's troop greeters film in Farmington

Submitted by Betty Jespersen on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 10:51

• Central Maine Newspapers

FARMINGTON - A documentary film that showcases three senior citizens who belong to the Maine Troop Greeters, volunteers who welcome every returning soldier from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan at the Bangor International Airport, will be shown at the Narrow Gauge Theater in Farmington at 7 p.m. tonight throught Thursday. Tickets are $5.

The film's executive producer is Warren Cook of Kingfield. The award-winning film, "The Way We Get By," is being shown at screenings across the country to wide acclaim.

Cook said, “This film touches on the themes that I think are most important in life: service to community, service to country, and honoring our elders.”

The documentary is directed by Old Town native and filmmaker Aron Gaudet and produced by television journalist and film producer Gita Pullapilly. It had its Maine debut on April 9 at The Collins Center for the Arts in Orono with Governor John E. Baldacci, Congressman Michael Michaud and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree in attendance.

It has been honored with the Special Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Audience Award at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina. At the Cleveland Film Festival, it beat out 28 films to win the Greg Gund Memorial Film Competition, which recognizes films for their social conscience.

In Boston,movie critic Kerry Skemp called it, “A remarkable reminder of just how much we have to
learn from our elders.”

Yellow Light Breen of Bangor Savings Bank, which is providing the major financial support for the Maine showings,said the troop greeters are "quiet, homespun heroes in their own right. Their commitment has been ongoing for more than six years and hundreds of these volunteers have greeted over 850,000 U.S. soldiers, meeting every plane that arrives at Bangor International Airport."

"It is an inspiring and heart-wrenching film that had to be made and which needs to be seen," he said.

David Cornelius, a nationallty-known film critic who covered the South by Southwest Film Festival, summed it up in his 5-star review of the film by saying, “How many films are this effective, that with so few words, the viewer can become heartbroken? Gaudet’s film is a marvel of humanity, celebrating life (and lamenting the end of it) through its little moments. I adored every frame of this movie and every person in it.”

The film is slated for national broadcast on PBS later this year on the program POV. The film was made in association with American Documentary, Inc./POV, ITVS, MPBN, WGBH. Fiscal sponsors are Documentary Educational Resources and ida. Additional sponsors are Bangor Savings Bank and Manatt, Phelps & Phelps. To view the trailer and to obtain more information, visit www.thewaywegetbymovie.com.

retrieved 4/20/09 from http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/bangors-troop-greeters-film-in-farmington

4/20/09 Happy Patriots' Day

Though April 19 is the real Patriots' Day commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War, it is now celebrated on the third Monday of April. It is a Massachusetts holiday but since Maine was originally part of Massachusetts, we get to celebrate, too. The University of Maine Farmington is closed today to commemorate the event. Of course, it fell during our spring break, so it's a holiday for staff who are on 12-month contracts but was already a holiday for students and faculty.

Wikipedia has a nice article with more than you ever wanted to know about Patriots' Day including its timing with the Boston Marathon and Red Sox games.

I was going to go into the office today (I have a key to my building, so even though the University is closed, I can get in) and get work done but I slept in this morning and am still in my pajamas at 12:30 in the afternoon. I have been busily working on our Maine Community Heritage Project over the weekend and am tempted to stay home and work on that some more. But I have a giant list of things to do at the office, too. Oh the dilemma!

4/17/08 Red Flag Warning

I just saw where Franklin County is under a Red Flag Warning. What is that??!!

From the National Weather Service:
...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING...
A RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING.
WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 25 MPH ARE EXPECTED THIS
AFTERNOON WITH MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITIES BETWEEN 15 AND
25 PERCENT. IN ADDITION... VERY DRY SOIL AND FUEL CONDITIONS CAN
BE EXPECTED. THESE CONDITIONS WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR
DANGEROUS FIRE GROWTH DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING
HOURS TODAY.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Well now I know. I think in Texas we just called this a wildfire advisory. So did we have a different name for them in Texas than in Maine or has the National Weather Service come up for a new name and I just happened to be in Maine when the new name was used? Either way, I'm surprised with all the melting snow that we would be under any kind of warning (Red Flag or otherwise) related to wild fires.

4/12/09 Easter Dinner

Ashley invited me to Easter Dinner at her house. It was a Southern Style Eastern Dinner complete with fried chicken and "extra bacon in everything". (That's what her mother told her to do. However, since she had a vegetarian friend attending, she put the extra bacon in a dish and we could all add as much extra bacon as we desired to anything or everything.) There was Southern-style corn (Ashley personally husked and de-kernelled 16 ears of corn), fried okra, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, biscuits (I had to correct someone who called them rolls), fried cabbage, and I don't know what all else. We overstuffed ourselves and then out came dessert: 7-layer chocolate decadent brownies and a triple berry cobbler a la mode. It was incredibly delicious. And the company was awesome. Such fun people. The conversation and the laughter never stopped. What a glorious way to celebrate.

4/12/09 Easter Bunny Delivers!

After returning from the Easter Sunrise service, I took a little nap and when I awoke, I found this between my door and the storm door! There was a cute little white Easter basket filled with goodies (including my first Peep). I do not know if the Easter bunny purposely snuck up and delivered the basket anonymously or if the generous bunny attempted to deliver in person and I slept through the event. Either way, the result is, I do not know the identity of my Easter Bunny. It's almost like a May basket and an Easter basket combined.

Whoever you are, Thank you to my personal Easter Bunny!!!

4/12/09 Easter Sunrise Service

At 6:01 am the sun rose and the trumpets sounded at Farmington Area Ecumenical Council's Easter Sunrise service. It was awesome! The service is at the top of Voter's Hill. It used to be held on the side of the road and then a family in the area let the group use their driveway (and the trumpeters use the garage to keep their instruments a little warmer). Then after the service we went inside for a light breakfast (pastries and coffee mostly) and an opportunity for fellowship with fellow worshipers. It was a very very awesome Easter. The original family that hosted it has since sold their house and the new owners inherited the event but have continued being gracious hosts. The original family was in attendance! Andrea and her sister (who was visiting from Massachusetts) picked me up at 5:30 so that we could carpool and arrive in plenty of time to park and get to the event. The two of them have been attending since childhood and they knew many of the people in attendance.

4/10/09 The Easter Event

Wow! I had the opportunity to attend "The Event" at East Auburn Baptist Church. It was incredible. It really put Easter into perspective. Over 4,000 people see it, they put on 8 shows, and they don't charge admission. There were 130 cast members, all volunteers and all members of the church. Amazing. Here's the local news station's report:



Just so you know . . . I know Randy Corey, the director of the whole thing. :-) You should be impressed. I am. I sat with two of his brothers, one sister-in-law, and a niece and her husband. I pretty much know most of the Corey family now. They are a really special bunch and they include me in lots of family event, like saving me a seat at this production.

catching up

I finally had a chance to post some blog entries . . . there are 7 new ones that go back to March 12. There are some old ones interspersed in there, so don't be lulled into thinking "Oh I've read that one so I must be caught up."

Thanks for being a faithful reader, even when I'm not a faithful blogger. I hope to get even more caught up (can you do that?) over spring break which starts April 20. Don't get your hopes up, but maybe . . .

4/3/09 Salt and Vinegar Chips

Have you ever had a salt and vinegar chip? I had my first one today. They're a little spicier than pier fries with salt and vinegar but it's the same delicious combo: potato, oil, salt, vinegar. I'm guessing it's a New England thing, but I really don't know. I'd love your comments about this!

4/3/09 Flood Watch

This was an interesting email to receive. It was actually the first notice I had received (since I don't watch or listen to much news) that we were in a flood watch, much less that it was this close. I've heard stories of a flood a few years back where this parking lot was pretty instantly flooded and a bunch of students lost their cars to flood damage. It must be spring time. Rain and melting snow will overflow a river pretty fast.

Date: April 3, 2009 3:34:46 PM EDT

To: <students@umf.maine.edu>, <staff@umf.maine.edu>

Subject: [staff list] Flood Watch

FLOOD WATCH - PRESCOTT FIELD LOT 18

Students parked in the Prescott Field Lot 18 should move their cars as a flood watch has been issued by the National Weather Service and the river is rising.

Please do not leave campus while your vehicle remains in the Prescott Field Lot 18.

Student who move their cars can park in lots 21, 22, and 26.

Thank You!

Chief of Police

Department of Public Safety

University of Maine at Farmington

207-778-7400

4/1/09 Spring is coming

The snow is really melting. It's not an April Fool's Day trick--spring time is really coming. Here are the view from the veranda and the view out the front door.

3/29 More Needhams and More

It's Needham making time again! Only in this photo, we are not making Needhams. This time we added toffee making to the agenda. Here is Karen following Sara's directions for toffee. You can't see the brown paper bag that is critical for successful toffee, but we had it out. We made two batches of toffee before we tackled the Needhams. The toffee turned out perfectly! Thank you Sara for the private tutorial session in Oregon back in January. It paid off!

We didn't do our usual Jackson Polock signature on the Needhams this time. There wasn't time. We did make a triple batch. Karen wanted to take hers to a convention she was going to in Boston. She was going to share a hotel room with 3 other women and she was taking Needhams for the slumber party crowd. I wanted to make some for my Our Cabana buddies who are having a reunion coming up. If I can't be there in person, i can be there in spirit AND in Needhams.

This was our third Needham event. We definitely have this down to a fine science. It's a blast. And now we know how to make yummy toffee, too. Who knows what we'll expand into next.

Karen's a blogger, too. Here's her much more detailed version of the story, including the toffee recipe:
http://thirdfury.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/2009-03-30/

3/29/09 Easter Penguins

You can tell we haven't had as much snow this winter as last winter because you can see the penguins this year in time for Easter. Though I do think they're on pedestals this year that they weren't on last year. Anyway, here they are in their finest Easter attire. Notice that they are still wearing red and green Christmas mufflers around their necks while sporting their pastel-colored Easter Ears. It's a fashion statement only a penguin could pull off.

3/21/09 Maine's seasons

Today I posted this as my Facebook status: "Sunshine today, sunshine all week. yea! Of course it does mean melting snow and a great mud season. (Maine has 5 seasons.) But then comes spring and summer."

I then received the following comments:

Misty: Technically, it's winter, mud season, black fly season, summer, fall ... no spring. But it sure is beautiful through all of them, whatever they are called, isn't it!

Wendy: 4 seasons - winter, mud, 4th of July, construction....repeat

Elizabeth: When I lived in Vermont I was amazed to discover this entire season that we missed out on in Texas!

Cassie: Back in the County we have two seasons - winter and potato season :)
[Note, the reference to "The County" is Aroostok County, which is the largest, northernmost county in the state. They're famous for their potatoes and very cold winters.]

3/18/09 Whoopie Pies make the New York Times!

March 18, 2009

Whoopie! Cookie, Pie or Cake, It's Having Its Moment

By MICHELINE MAYNARD

FOR generations, vacationers in Maine and visitors to Pennsylvania’s Amish country have found a simple black and white snack in restaurants and convenience shops and on nearly every gas station counter: whoopie pies.

They were found in other pockets of the country, too, from New England to Ohio. But in most of the United States, people could be forgiven for not knowing that the whoopie pie is not, in fact, a pie at all. (It is sometimes described as a cookie, but that is not quite right, either. The closest description may be a cake-like sandwich, or perhaps a sandwich-like cake.)

Now whoopie pies are migrating across the country, often appearing in the same specialty shops and grocery aisles that recently made room for cupcakes. Last fall, they even cracked the lineup at Magnolia Bakery in Manhattan, which helped turn cupcakes into a national craze thanks to the bakery’s exposure on “Sex and the City.” Under the name “sweetie pies,” heart-shaped whoopie pies showed up in the February catalog from Williams-Sonoma. Baked in Maine with local butter and organic eggs, they sell for $49 a dozen.

In their traditional round form, whoopie pies can be found at Trader Joe’s supermarkets, at Whole Foods in Manhattan and at small bakeries like Kim’s Kitchen in Evanston, Ill., outside Chicago.

Kim’s Kitchen (soon to be renamed Fraîche) was an early adopter, first offering its hockey-puck-size pies seven years ago. The cakes come in chocolate and pumpkin, which remains a popular flavor long after the autumn leaves are gone, according to the shop’s owner, Susan Friedman.

“If we took them away after it stopped being fall, there would be a riot outside,” Ms. Friedman said.

Whoopie pies have been on the rise for several years, and nobody can pinpoint the reason they finally broke into the national consciousness. But the snacks evoke a more homespun era that seems to provide some comfort amid the economic gloom. “Pure edible nostalgia,” the Williams-Sonoma catalog calls them.

“Especially now, when people are so stressed out, they are going back to whoopie pies,” said Emily Isaac, owner of Trois Pommes Patisserie in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Ms. Isaac had never heard of whoopie pies before she was asked to make them as wedding favors three years ago. Entranced at first taste, she put them on the menu at her bakery when it opened in May 2007.

There are dozens of variations on the shape, flavors and fillings. Trois Pommes serves what seems to be the classic version: two round mounds of chocolate cake, about three inches across, with French vanilla cream filling.

The whoopie pie sold since last fall at Zingerman’s Bakehouse, in Ann Arbor, Mich., sports a chocolate glaze on its dense chocolate cake and is filled with Swiss buttercream filling.

The basic elements of the whoopie pie turn up in many other snacks that might be considered its far-flung relatives. Amy Emberling, a partner at Zingerman’s Bakehouse, grew up in eastern Canada eating a similar cookie called a Jos. Louis. Oreo sells a whoopie pie look-alike called the Oreo Cakester, while the Hostess Suzy Q is a square version that vies for space on some store shelves with whoopie-esque Little Debbie snack cakes.

Food historians believe whoopie pies originated in Pennsylvania, where they were baked by Amish women and put in farmers’ lunchboxes.

Tired from a morning’s work, the farmers purportedly would shout “Whoopie!” if they discovered one of the desserts in their lunch pails, Ms. Emberling said.

In parts of Pennsylvania, whoopie pies remain a celebrated sweet. The annual Whoopie Pie Festival at the Hershey Farm and Inn in Strasburg, Pa., features a whoopie pie eating contest and the coronation of the Whoopie Pie Queen.

The whoopie pie would probably be Maine’s state dessert, if the state had one. The filling is generally of one of two types: a thick, sweet frosting made from Crisco shortening combined with confectioners’ sugar, or, more conveniently, a dollop of Marshmallow Fluff.

The cake itself is typically not especially sweet, and is often on the dry side, since the frosting lends plenty of sugar and a gooey consistency, said Sandra Oliver, a food historian and columnist in Islesboro, Me.

How the cookies traveled to Maine is a mystery, however.

One theory holds that whoopie pies were brought north during the Great Depression through the Yummy Book, a recipe pamphlet first published in 1930 by Durkee-Mower, the Massachusetts company that makes Fluff.

Don Durkee, whose father co-founded the firm, discredits that notion. After checking the company’s collection of pamphlets, the earliest appearance of whoopie pies he found was during the 1970s. “I’m baffled,” he said.

Leslie Land, a Maine writer, said her research showed that the recipe might have been popularized by one of the many local radio programs aimed at housewives during the 1930s.

No matter how they arrived, they have been eaten by Maine residents for at least eight decades, said Ms. Oliver, who publishes Food History News, a monthly newsletter. Labadie’s Bakery, in Lewiston, Me., which sells whoopie pies as big as 16 inches across, claims to have sold them since 1925.

Many of the whoopie pies sold in Maine come sheathed in plastic wrap. Generally sold for less than $2, they can be found stacked next to cash registers, the dry cake growing moister by the hour. “If you peel the Saran off and half the cookie doesn’t come away, it’s not a real whoopie pie,” Ms. Oliver said.

Ms. Friedman, in Evanston, agreed that her whoopie pies have a rustic image rather than a luxury one, although they sell for $3 each.

“They’re not as perfect as a lovely cupcake that has a beautiful swirl of icing on top,” she said. “They’re a little more handmade looking.”

At Magnolia Bakery, maple-cream icing is sandwiched between two brown-sugar cakes. Sina Clark-Murphy, the head baker, said that the whoopie pie’s humble appearance may help it come across as less of a dietary threat than a frosting-piled cupcake or a serving of banana pudding. Unfortunately, they are no less caloric.

At the other end of the simplicity scale are the heart-shaped versions baked by the Cranberry Island Kitchen in Maine, which supplies Williams-Sonoma. The pies wound up in the catalog after a friend of one of the company’s food buyers sampled them at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, Me., and recommended that the catalog stock them, said Carol Ford, one of Cranberry Island’s owners.

Cranberry Island’s whoopie pies, which start at $28.75 for six, are made with chocolate cake or vanilla and are available in shapes like scallop shells and pumpkins. Filling flavors include rum, peppermint, Cointreau, raspberry and espresso.

To Ms. Oliver, the food historian, that upscale approach misses the point.

“It’s like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with almond butter,” she said. “It’s not meant to be fine cuisine.”

retrieved 3/18/09 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/dining/18whoop.html

3/15/09 Countdown to Spring

5 MORE DAYS until Gifford's opens for the 2009 season! A definite sign that spring is on its way (though they've been known to serve their free ice cream on opening night to folks standing next to 3 foot snowbanks). Looks like this year's opening might be wet and cold but not snowy.

3/14/09 What's on the horizon?

Today I went to the "Town Transfer Station" (can you say "The Dump"?) to drop off my recycling. If you look at the top part of this photo, you can see that even the dump has a gorgeous view. It doesn't matter where you are, there are mountains and trees and beautiful sky in your view. Now look at the bottom half of the photo and you'll see what mud season is all about. When you get a lot of snow in the winter, it melts in the spring, often before the ground is unfrozen, so the water can only soak so far down and then it just sits on top and makes mud. Lots of mud. But if it's mud season now, spring can't be far behind!

3/12/09 Moonlight Snowshoeing

The Fitness and Recreation Center (FRC) at UMF offered a free opportunity to community members: Moonlight Snowshoeing. I signed up! The event was postponed from its original schedule due to inclimate weather so we went on Thursday night instead of Tuesday night. The sky was clear but it was a bit nippy (13 degrees when we arrived, 9 degrees when we left--that's 23 degrees colder than the temperature at which water freezes). We met at the Fitness Center, had our snowshoes issued to us, and got in the van. There were only 11 of us, and I actually knew 6 of my fellow snowshoers! Three were former students, one was the brother of a former students, one holds the record for most appearances in my class videos than any other non-class member, and the other is the friend of a faculty friend whom I had met at a party.

We drove about 20 minutes from campus to the home of the director of the FRC. He lives on a lake and has his own snowshoe trail! There wasn't any moonlight, but it was a beautiful clear dark night. So it started out as "Starlight Snowshoeing". We used flashlights and it was actually very fun. The trail was easy to follow, even by flashlight. About halfway through the hike, the moon started to rise. It was gorgeous. The rest of the hike was by moonlight! And there was hot chocolate for all at the end. I tried to take photos of the moonrise but my camera wouldn't work. I got one faint message about needing to replace the batteries (which was odd because they were just fine earlier in the evening) and then nothing. Later that night, in the comfort of my own apartment, I took out the camera to see what was wrong and it worked just fine. I think it was so cold out there that my camera wouldn't operate! I've read that warning on technology before but I've never worried about it before. Wow. It was actually so cold out there tonight that either my camera or my batteries (or both) wouldn't function.

For me personally, I had a very hard time snowshoeing in weather that cold. Being out of shape didn't help but having subfreezing air in your lungs makes it very hard for oxygen to get to all the places it needs to get. At one point, I didn't think my lungs were going to work anymore, even going slow didn't help! Fortunately, it was only when we were going uphill. Flat land and downhill were manageable. And the trail was a nice mix with most of the uphill at the beginning. I don't want to admit that it might have been because almost everyone on the trip was half my age. I'm still 21 so it can't be that! There were three FRC employees in the group and they spread themselves out throughout the crowd. In the second half, Jennifer, the Aquatics Director just hung out with me and we stayed waaaaay behind the rest of the group. ;-) She's a very patient woman. The consistently slower pace along with the more even slope helped a lot. I felt badly for her but I had a blast. I just hope she wasn't looking for any kind of workout.


Here we are helping each other put on our snowshoes (well, I didn't help anyone...I didn't know what I was doing).




















These two photos were taken for Alison, my friend who introduced me to David, shown in these photos. She encouraged him to come and even 2 hours earlier they were on the phone and as far as he knew, she was planning to go. But she didn't show. That's okay, we had a great time anyway. Sorry to miss you Alison!!

2/26/09 Snowbound Hoedown

Now you can't get much better than this for a student event on campus. I received this notification via email today:

Make a Snow Sculpture! Win a Prize!

Snowbound Hoedown

Snow Sculpture Competition

Friday, February 27th 8:00 am-5:00 pm in the Mantor Library Green area

Awards Reception 5:00-6:30 pm at the UMF Art Gallery

Hot Drinks, Cool Music, Great Prizes!

Sponsored by The Ministry of Experimental Arts

This contest is open to the public.
Register at VAPA office in Merrill or in front of Mantor Library.

2/26/09 Maine's economy

There's no surprises in this newspaper article. These things were true about Maine long before the drop in the economy.

AUGUSTA (AP) -- A new report says Maine has some work to do to strengthen its economy but also finds areas in which the state already excels.

The Maine Economic Growth Council released an annual report Thursday that analyzes a number of indicators of progress toward sustainable, long-term growth.

Its report praises the state with gold stars in four areas: research and development spending, health insurance coverage, efforts to address chronic disease and a low rate of on-the-job injuries and illnesses.

But it also hands out red flags in several areas, including personal income, high-speed Internet access, manufacturing productivity, health care and energy costs, and state and local tax burden.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
retrieved 2/26/09 from http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=101199

2/24/09 Big snow storm

We had 27" of snow Sunday and Monday. This picture was posted by my friend Crystal who lives in Guilford, about an hour and a half north and east of Farmington.

2/14/09 February Break

I'm outta here again! I just got back and now it's time to go.

We have two breaks in the spring semester, one in February (a great time to go skiing or enjoy other winter sports) and one in April (a good time to get away from Mud Season). Our February break this year fell at the exact time as an exciting week at Our Cabana, one of four World Centres for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, located in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Nine of the women that I volunteered with in Dallas and I are having a mini-reunion. It's going to be a blast. Follow the tales at http://texastheresa.blogspot.com/

2/8/09 Look closely . . . what's that on the roof?

Can you see it? It's in front of the pine tree that pokes out from behind the garage.

Can you believe it?! How does someone get a snowman on top of a roof? Did they build it on the roof or build it on the ground and lift it up? Of course the question we're all dying to know the answer to is why build a snowman on top of a roof. And to that we may never have the answer. Meanwhile, just enjoy knowing that someone's out there who thinks of these things.

2/8/08 full moon over Farmington

This picture doesn't do it justice but today there was an incredible moon, as big as a harvest moon, ascending from the horizon about the time of sunset. Wow.

1/31/08 Fish fry

Alan and Betty graciously invited me to their home for the big fish fry. Alan cleaned the first fish and I got to clean the remaining 6. It involves cutting (off the head), slicing (open the belly), scooping (out the innards), and washing (out the inside under running water and running some water on the outside, too). Don't remove the bones, though. That is much easier to do after they're cooked.

The rest of our dinner: pork chops ('cuz there weren't enough fish), potatoes, peas, and the skillet on the back right burner has bacon in it 'cuz we're going to fry the fish in bacon grease.

Dip them in egg, then in a corn meal mixture.

Fry 'em up.

Filet them and eat them. Alan and Betty gave me all 7 to eat. They're so small that 7 is a small serving. Oh were they yummy!!

Thank you Alan and Betty for a wonderful day of life in Maine, especially the gracious Maine hospitality!

1/31/08 More about Smelting

We paid $15 a piece for the privilege of smelting in these shacks. Inside was a wood stove and a big stack of wood. The fire was already going when we got there, so we took off our jackets to settle in for our 6 hours. Our bait was sand worms. The package of worms wrapped in newspaper was included in the price of renting the shack.

But ewwww, the sand worms are too big for bait, so you cut them up! And the small pieces of worm still wiggle after they've been cut and that's the bait. Betty offered to bait my hook for me, but I insisted that I do it myself. ewwww. But I did it.

This is the right side of the inside of the shack. Betty is checking the line. There were 10 lines on our side of the shack (boys vs. girls). The horizontal wooden bar from which the lines hang is suspended on springs so you can pull the bar and all 10 of your lines will wiggle just right. We actually only used 9 of our lines 'cuz the 10th line was missing a hook.

Alan built this "jig board" which is just a board with 3 lines that are similar to a jig pole. They use a finer line (the ones provided were practically string they were so thick) and hang from a piece of wire that creates a rather constant jiggle.

On both sides of the shack are big holes like this cut into the ice. In the middle of the shack there's room for the wood stove, 4 stools or chairs, and not much else.

The first bite came after we'd only been there about 5 minutes. And this smelt bit one of my lines! So technically, I caught the first fish! Betty coached me through pulling it in.

Alan took it off the hook. You can see that a smelt isn't very big.

In the next 4 hours and 45 minutes, we caught 6 more smelt. Alan caught all of those on his jig board. Often you can catch over 100 smelt and even as high as 300. But that wasn't for us on this trip. At least we weren't "skunked" and I had a blast hanging out with Alan and Betty and their friend Doyle who went with us.

I learned a bunch of new vocabulary but it's written on a piece of paper that I don't have with me. So I will make another entry later with those vocabulary words. In the meantime, know that this was a true Maine experience! I love my life with the Mainiacs.

1/31/09 Smelting!

I did it! I finally got to go ice fishing!! Alan, one of the wonderful custodians in the Education Center is quite the outdoorsman and he and his wife took me ice fishing.

First thing to know: there is more than one kind of ice fishing. Today we are smelting which is fishing for smelt (a kind of fish). The ice that we're fishing through is on a river and smelt are a salt water fish. You fish during the tides on the river! So much to learn!!!

We met at the Park 'n Ride in New Sharon. On a Saturday morning at 8am there were already 2 cars: mine and someone else's. Good thing I got there at 8 'cuz there are only 7 parking spaces at this Park 'n Ride. ;-)

We drove about 90 minutes to Bowdoinham to fish on the Cathance River. We had to take the toll road. The signs said it was $1.00 but it was really only still $0.60. Tomorrow the rates go up but today the signs are already up.

Here we are at "the camp". (Yes, this means that there is yet another meaning to the word "camp.") Note that there are cars here from New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York. This must be quite the sport!

We cross the road from the parking lot to go to where the ice shacks are located. Yes, those shacks are sitting on the frozen river and they have no floors and have holes cut in the ice inside each one, yet they don't sink or break the ice. Wow. One of these (#17) is going to be our home for the next 5 hours.