Category: quest for the best

Baking healthy

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, books, family, friends, health, quest for the best

No, that’s not an oxymoron…or is it? I set out to bake some muffins that wouldn’t comprise my total recommended caloric consumption for the entire day.

It has not been an easy row to hoe (or is it ‘road‘?  Whatever).  First of all, I have a husband who will always tell me exactly what he thinks of whatever it is that I’ve baked (or cooked, for that matter). I understand that there are some people out there that appreciate this level of truthfulness.

Usually (at least when it comes to my culinary efforts) I do not count myself among them.

I found a recipe that largely drew me because I had everything I needed already to bake them immediately, so I made them while my husband was at work. I figured we’d have them for breakfast in the morning. I tried one (okay, three) when they came out of the oven and thought they were just fine. I tupperwared them up and went to bed.

The next morning, there the lovely muffins sat  on my kitchen island. My daughter tried them. She said they were good. My friend Kristen tried them. She said they were good. I mentioned this to my husband, as he eyed them suspiciously, blatantly not trying them. He apparently was not convinced.

I tried again. “You always say you don’t like baked goods because they’re too sweet. This recipe is not too sweet, which is partly why I chose it.”

“Okay, I’ll try it…” he said. He picked one up. He gingerly took a bite. He turned and spit said bite into the trash. “Ugh, that’s horrible!” he said. He started to throw the remaining piece out when I grabbed it and said, “Stop! I’ll eat it! It’s good!”

Later on that evening, after I’d mostly forgotten (but only partially forgiven him for) his performance earlier in the day, he leaned over and whispered…”You know, I even threw one of your muffins to the chickens this morning.”

“They threw it back.”

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The devil you know: part 2

by Karen, posted in education, friends, quest for the best, Someone's gotta say it

I feel obligated to update you all after my first post about buying a new cell phone.

First I went to Radio Shack where I bought a Samsung Flight II. It was a cute phone and I chose it because it was the closest to the one my daughter has (that after a rocky start, I ended up really liking but that they don’t sell anymore). I took it home.

It was a problem from the start. The battery wouldn’t stay charged for more than 12 hours (and that was only if I didn’t use the phone at all!). The nice man at Radio Shack tried to tell me: “That sounds about right.” Huh? Did he really think I was going to believe that?

I decided that maybe it was just a bad battery and exchanged it. That was my second mistake. The new phone was better than the first one, but still terrible. I took it back, got out my old phone and decided to start over. Square one.

I asked a few of my friends what kind of cell phones they had and if they liked them or not. I was very surprised to discover that most people do not like their cell phones. The exceptions to this rule were few, but they did have one thing in common: they all had iphones. I told my son that I was getting a new cell phone and he said, “You might as well get an iphone.”

Well all-righty then. That’s what i did.

Epilogue:

i‘m in love, i‘m in love (with my iphone!) and i don’t care who knows it!

🙂

The devil you know

by Karen, posted in family, friends, no fear, quest for the best, Someone's gotta say it

While I was busy, out living my life, my cell phone was plotting to thwart my happiness. Now, I never loved it to begin with; it was my only option when my beloved pink Motorola Razr phone gave out after we had three lovely years together. So, I never loved it, but I…relied on it. Using it several times every day made it about as integral to my daily routine as is my toothbrush.

Therefore, you can imagine my distress when I noticed a crack to the left of the hinge, followed by a piece of it breaking off about a month ago. I beat down the panic and continued to use it, looking the other way whenever I opened it as best I could. Then yesterday, when I opened up my cell phone to answer a text from my son, there was a sickening cracking noise, that turned out to be the right side of said hinge which now also had a distinct fault line.

For me, buying a new cell phone is on the same par as buying a new car. It gives me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. It makes me sweat. I avoid it at all costs. As bad as my cracked phone was, I (after more than two years with it) know how it works. Getting a new phone means a new learning curve…the stuff of nightmares. Plus, with cell phones (as with cars)…the one thing you do already know for sure is this: It’ll cost ya.

Oh, were you hoping that the car charger that went with your prior cell phone, also a Samsung, would work with your new one? Were you excited when the store clerk told you that he would check to see if there was any trade in value on your old–emphasis on old– cell phone? Ha! Get real! Your new cell phone is worse than a new car in terms of losing retail value…before the monetary transaction has been completed you have already lost money.

NOTE: About that learning curve: got a tween or a teen? They will both already know how to use your new phone, even though they have never laid eyes on it before…amazing but true.

Somethin’ Sweet Bakery in Sanford

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, family, friends, local fun, quest for the best
Jennifer, owner of Somethin' Sweet Bakery in Sanford

Maybe it’s Sunday afternoon and 86 degrees and the last thing in the world you want to do is hang around the house with your cranky kids, since you yourself are very cranky. Here’s an idea: throw…er, put the kids in the car and drive over to Somethin’ Sweet Bakery, 883 Main Street Suite 1 in Sanford, next to Get Fired Up.

Jen opens for business Thursday through Saturday  from 11:00am to 7:00pm and Sundays from 11:00am to 4:00pm.  She may open other days as well; for example last Monday Jen opened for the 4th of July to provide excellent edible support for hungry (for Somethin’ Sweet!) parade go-ers.

Jen has always loved baking and that fact comes through loud and clear to anyone who has been lucky enough to enjoy any of the Whoopie Pies (try the Coffee-filled Chocolate Whoopies! They are amazing!), cookies, brownies, and other treats that you can find at her bakery. She changes up the flavors and items daily but of course, like the ice cream parlors always have vanilla and chocolate on hand, you can always find the old standbys (vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting for instance) represented at Somethin’ Sweet! Jen is working on the new website for her business (somethinsweetmaine.com), but if you need a focal point for your (sweet) meditation today, check out the picture up there now. . . you will have no trouble sitting for 20 minutes if you are focusing on that.

Speaking of Somethin’ Sweet, the decor of the store, as well as the lovely store owner, are exactly that. Jen mentioned that she is working on some new offerings (this week she made caramel blondies..now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!), so keep coming back and check out what’s in the display case. You can also check out the daily flavors which she posts on Facebook.  You may find that, despite the variety of options, your tween will always want the Cookie Dough Cupcake. Let her have it, as long as she stays away from your Chocolate Whoopie Pie with Coffee Filling…

🙂

Jen is taking Somethin’ Sweet on the road tomorrow (Monday, July 11) night. She will be at the Sanford Mainers baseball game at 6:30pm at Goodall Park, Roberts Street in Sanford. Why not eat a light supper then pile the fam in the car for an evening of baseball and baked treats?

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Creating a home office, Part Two: Choosing a desk

by Karen, posted in quest for the best, Work from Home

Choosing the desk was the next step. I have to be ready when the tech person comes out to set up my computer equipment so I must have a place for them to set it up on! Finding a desk sounds easy enough on paper, doesn’t it?

It’s not. Well, if your space can accommodate a desk that is 6 feet by 6 feet then you’re good to go. If it can’t, then your starting off at a distinct disadvantage. Distinct. Disadvantage. We were told that there was a chance we could buy our desks from our current job, so I waited a couple of weeks, but then the word came down that we should act “as if” we would not be able to buy them, so off I went: Target, Staples, Bob’s Discount Furniture…I checked online after someone mentioned that Overstock.com had desks (they do, but they aren’t cheap).

Then my husband remembered a store on Rt 1: Fisher James. I walked in, looked around, then…I saw it. The desk that had been in my mind’s eye whenever I saw myself working from my home office.

The best desk ever (modified to fit it will have legs instead of a filing cabinet on the right)

It was love at first sight.

For some reason I envisioned a wooden work surface with black metal filing cabinets for a base, which this desk had. Alas, my room couldn’t accommodate the size of the floor model, but it turned out that having it custom-made was cheaper. I would lose one of the filing cabinets but I could live with that. I use one of my filing cabinets at work right now mostly as a pantry anyway…but I digress. We ordered the desk. It will take 3-5 weeks to arrive. I’m saving some money because my husband will pick it up and assemble it. You gotta love a man who knows how to use tools…

Other considerations are setting up an ergonomically friendly work space, a chair, a tray for the keyboard and mouse, a coffee source…all still TBD…but since right now I’m sitting on a yoga block on my kitchen chair, it shouldn’t be too hard to improve on that!

My current desk and chair!

Painting comes next. To be continued…

All things cupcake

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, friends, local fun, Midlife Crisis, quest for the best, restaurants
PB&J cupcake (CFB)

My friend Charlotte asked me a question today: ” Who has the best cupcakes?” On the surface, it seems an easy enough question, right?  Wrong! I tried to apply my “Keep it simple” philosophy to this question but found I was not able to.

I mean, come on!

So here goes my attempt to answer this question:

  1. Cupcake Fetish Bakery, Main St. in Sanford. which has the best variety and most interesting flavors. Hello, The Elvis? Peanut butter, banana and bacon? Plus Tiramisu, Pink Lemonade, Drop Kick Murphy, Chocolate Kahlua…and I’m barely even getting started here. Plus the store has a little window into the kitchen so you can watch the actual cupcaking process as it happens! And the inside of the shop is decorated with cute cupcake paraphernalia that gives it a very fun atmosphere.
  2. The Village Cupcake, Kennebunk. Owner Kristy Douglas was recently at the Keys to the Kitchen in Kennebunk to giving out cupcake decorating tips. She also brought along some mini cupcakes to sample. SO GOOD! Kristy sells her cupcake wares from her home so if you want to pick up a cupcake on a whim, this will not be your cupcake go-to person…I don’t think. Call her though; maybe she does keep some on hand for when the whimsy hits. Also, they have many interesting flavors (amaretto, hel-LO) and are open to creating new flavors at your request (Green Tea cupcakes? You betcha!).  They also offer gluten-free cupcakes. 🙂
  3. Tulips Cupcakery, Portland. These cupcakes can be purchased at Kamasouptra in Monument Square; check the website for other locations to buy. They describe themselves as  “from farm to cupcake”, since they are inspired by and use local, seasonal ingredients in their recipes. If you are a person who loves strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting but doesn’t want any of those annoying strawberry chunks in the batter–you like ’em smoooooth–then these will be the answer to your strawberry cupcake prayers.

This post covers the above 3 businesses because they are the first 3 that came to mind!  Apparently, I’ve never met a cupcake I didn’t like…

🙂

Of course, cupcakes made at home or by friends are really the best of them all!

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The day I ate whatever I wanted…Part One

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, local fun, Midlife Crisis, quest for the best, restaurants

What better day to do so than on your birthday? That was my thought process anyway.  As I started planning my day’s meals ahead of time, I recalled reading about this in a book by Elizabeth Berg, entitled (appropriately) The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted. I was a little disappointed that the whole book wasn’t about this; rather, it was just the title of the first story what turned out to be a book of short stories. Oh well. The book is worth reading for that first story.

I’m interested in seeing how close to the plan the day ends up going, so I’m writing a “Before” and an “After” post.

One of the meals that woman in the story ate was doughnuts (her first stop: breakfast). Not just one doughnut…one DOZEN doughnuts. (Well, she didn’t actually eat all twelve, but you get the idea). I didn’t want to be overstuffed (read: sick) at the beginning of the day!

This would not be conducive to a  successful day of Eating Whatever I Want.

So here’s my problem: there are so many options!!! How to narrow it down? Darned if I know.

Breakfast: Amore Breakfast, All Day Breakfast (the one in Kennebunk), Omelette Factory, Congdon’s

Lunch: Anthony’s for tried and true good food. Maria’s for dying to try, rumored to be good food.

Afternoon snack: Bread and Roses for an amazing array of baked treats.

Supper: It’s gotta be Varano’s. My favorite Italian…unless I get Italian for lunch…decisions! One thing is for sure: it is totally all about the food, isnt’ it? At least these decisions are happy ones.

Late evening snack: Big Daddy’s in Wells or Brown’s in York for a Kahlua Brownie ice cream cone.

So, this is the before post. Will write Part 2 tomorrow to account for what I actually did end up doing for my birthday.

The Hayloft

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, quest for the best, restaurants
Fishermans Platter for 2

We recently returned to the Hayloft Restaurant in Moody, Maine after a 10 year (give or take) break. We used to frequent this restaurant with the kids but after getting a bad salad (not to be confused with the “big salad” of Seinfeld’s world), we stopped going.

Every summer when my son was small he would participate in their coloring contest and every summer he won. They would mail out a coupon for a free appetizer that we would look forward to using on our next visit.

Until we got the bad salad.

I recently saw a coupon on Groupon.com for the Hayloft, so after consulting my husband (and after learning that they were under new management), I bought it. We arrived, coupon in hand, expectations set reasonably at moderate level, on a Friday night. There were not many cars in the parking lot, but in fairness, we had received almost a foot of snow earlier in the day so people may have just been staying put.

We ordered the special: Fisherman’s Platter for two, which was plenty for the two of us and our daughter to split when combined with appetizers. Speaking of appetizers, we ordered the Buffalo Tenders and the Potato Skins with cheese and bacon.

Rolls were brought out for us after our order was taken. They were hot and crusty with soft interiors, and the three of us agreed that they were excellent.

The tenders did not come with celery, which would have been welcome (as well as a little less breading), but did come with blue cheese dressing. They were good and spicy. The potato skins were cut smaller than I usually see, but I liked them much better this way (they weren’t so overwhelming) and were delicious. The main course consisted of fried whole clams, large scallops, shrimp, and a good-sized piece of haddock, French fries, and about four onion rings. This was great; usually onion ring orders are much too excessive for anyone to actually appreciate them. Four large hand cut onion rings were perfect.

Verdict: the Fisherman’s Platter wasn’t quite as hot as it should have been, but was still good. Both appetizers were served piping hot, which made me wonder if the former was ready first and waiting for the latter. The real surprise was the cole slaw, which our waitress told us was made fresh daily. It was excellent.

Just a note on the soda: it had a nice, clean taste. You know how sometimes you order a Diet Coke and it has a metallic taste? You will not find that here.

For dessert we were persuaded to try the homemade (from a family recipe) hot apple crisp a la mode, which was also very good. We took  home a chocolate whoopie pie, made by Laura’s Pastry, for the road. We’ve had these before and know how good they are!

Our waitress, Rose, delivered the best service that we’ve had in any restaurant in some time. She is the reason that (although the food was good) that we will be returning to the Hayloft again soon.

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Lunch on the lam

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, Life in the cube, quest for the best, restaurants

Sometimes life in the cube can get overwhelming. Have you ever been at work and just wanted to take a break? I mean, really, take a break. Change the scenery for a half an hour? Not make small talk? Not force positivity for just a little while?

This is when an audio book can come in handy; it’s particularly conducive to hands-free eating. Okay, so the price of gas is prohibitive, I know. You wouldn’t want to sit in your car with it running for 20+ minutes every day (especially in the winter when you need to have the heat on, but once in a while it can be very restorative).

If you brought your lunch you will gain extra precious minutes of solitude in  your car (read: oasis of calm); just grab your lunch bag and go. Otherwise, try to choose a place from which to buy that is not known for its lunch time crowds. Standing in line for 10 minutes can make a serious dent in your alone time.

If you have to purchase your meal and you have any control over the timing of your lunch break, that’s even better. Choose a time that is off-peak: perhaps 11:00am or 2:00pm. This ought to get you out of the store and into your car more quickly. Don’t forget extra napkins. Eating in the car can be fraught with peril, what with the gear shift and the steering wheel to navigate and all. Also your choice of meal can make things more tricky (hel-lo, meatball sub?).

On this day I chose soup from Kamasouptra in Portland. The curried Pumpkin Bisque Soup won out over the other five options (so okay, maybe it’s winter-almost-spring, but it feels like fall-almost-winter). The real draw for me (even though the soup is excellent) is the bread, still warm from the oven. What can I say? The value of comfort food cannot be overstated.

Especially during the work day.

🙂

Cupcake Fetish Bakery Grand Opening!!

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, local fun, quest for the best
Amy and Jen from CFB

Amy and Jen have been selling cupcakes and other small baked goods for a while now at their new bakery: Cupcake Fetish Bakery at 883 Main Street in Sanford, but Saturday was a special day: the official Grand Opening celebration.

They set up a three tiered table that was adorned with an assortment of mini cupcakes which were not only delicious…but they were also so cute!

In addition to the generous offering of free bite sized cupcakes was a plate of mini cinnamon buns with icing to sample. It was a smorgasbord of sweet baked treats!

When we arrived at around 2:30PM the little shop was packed with happy people: men, women, children, all with their tummies filled with yummy cupcakes. Amy came out with another tray of Snickers cupcakes after hearing someone say, “Oh! They got the last one!” People were sitting and chatting at the tables. Kids were bargaining with parents over how many cupcakes they could sample and buy. The common denominator: the smiles that people smile when their sweet tooth has been satisfied...big time. 🙂

“I’ve been baking all day!” Amy said, smiling as she restocked the case. Jen was busy helping us with important decisions. Which cupcakes? Should we get a few whoopie pies? Yes! Thank you, Amy! Thank you, Jen! We appreciate you both!

Reasons to go to the Cupcake Fetish Bakery today:

  1. Your husband is in a funk and needs cheering up
  2. You’re in a funk because yoga teacher made cupcakes for the class…the class that you couldn’t get to.
  3. Your (amazing!) daughter got a 103 on her spelling test and a 106 on her science test and you want to celebrate.
  4. It’s someone’s birthday and you want to give them a little something sweet.
  5. The cupcakes (and everything else) at the Cupcake Fetish Bakery ROCK!!!

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Thank you, Amy and Jen, for opening your lovely little shop. We hope your business is supremely successful and that you are keeping us in cupcakes (and cinnamon buns and pupcakes and coffee cake and whoopie pies and muffins….) for a long, long time. 🙂

P.S. Maybe you could sell those bite sized cupcakes too? We LOVED them!