Maine Travel Maven

Spend an autumn morning hiking Acadia National Park’s Huguenot Head

Hilary Nangle

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September 28, 2011

Spend an autumn morning hiking Acadia National Park’s Huguenot Head

What better way to spend a glorious autumn morning than hiking in Maine’s Acadia National Park. It’s not only views that make hiking the Beachcroft Trail up Acadia’s Huguenot Head so rewarding, but also the trail itself. It’s an engineering masterpiece, comprising nearly 1,500 pink granite steps that snake through woods and over ledges.

According to The Rusticator’s Journal, a collection of articles from Journal of Friends of Acadia (published 1993), the Beachcroft Trail predates the park. It was constructed in 1915 as a memorial gift from Mrs. C. Morton Smith, who named it for the family’s summer cottage.

From the trailhead across from the parking lot at The Tarn, a glacial lake, on Route 3, the Beachcroft Trail climbs roughly a half mile to the granite headland.

It progresses through deciduous forest to a series of stepped, hairpin switchbacks that rise quickly to granite ledges. Glimpses en route take in The Tarn with Dorr Mountain as a backdrop and eastward to Bar Harbor, Frenchman Bay, and the Porcupine Islands. The hiking is easy to moderate; the views get better and better as you climb.

The trail wraps around the headland then descends into the woods before rising steeply to the summit of Champlain Mountain, but if you’re not up for the effort, leave the trail where it begins to wrap around and instead scramble up the ledges to Huguenot Head. It’s not signed, but it’s pretty easy to figure out the route. You’ll have to navigate around bushes, but the it’s worth the trouble. Just keep ascending and within 10 minutes, you’ll arrive at the top.

The bald headland is a fine place for a picnic. Chances are, you’ll have it to yourself as most hikers here are destined for Champlain’s summit. If you do choose to continue to Champlain’s summit (yup, the views get even better), you can connect with the Bear Brook or Precipice Trails.

The Tarn parking area, on Route 3, is just south of the Sieur de Monts Spring park entrance and just north of The Tarn. It’s on Route 4/Blackwoods of the Island Explorer bus.

North Haven: autumn on a Maine island, oysters, organic produce, and Angela Adams

Hilary Nangle

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September 21, 2011

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North Haven: autumn on a Maine island, oysters, organic produce, and Angela Adams

Most of my friends who live beyond Maine’s borders think I live in the most ideal place. And they’re right, to a point. But I think there’s an even better place, and that’s one of the islands off the Maine coast. Especially in autumn, when the crowds are gone, the light is soft, the air is clear, and the fire-singed colors of the season are beginning to glow. Take North Haven, for instance. I recently spent an all-too-brief overnight on this island, roughly 70 minutes across Penobscot Bay via the Capt. Neal Burgess ferry from Rockland.

North Haven Oyster Co.

I went for a taste of local fare and began at the North Haven Oyster Co., where Adam Campbell raises the shellfish in Heidi’s pond, a brackish mill pond, near Pulpit Harbor. When he’s around —he’s also a lobsterman, so that’s not too often—he’ll walk customers to the pond and explain the farming process as well as the proper way to open an oyster and—very important—how to eat one without ending up with gunk on the tip of your nose.

Back in the mid 1990s, a marine biologist visited the island to see if the smelt runs could be restored. He noted as a postscript in his report that the pond would be a great place to grow oysters.

Since Campbell’s land fronted on the pond, he decided to pursue it, obtained an aquaculture lease from the state, and began raising oysters from seed. It takes up to four years for an oyster to mature, and when its ready, a diver harvests it by hand.

Turner Farm

Next stop, Turner Farm, a Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association-certified organic farm on the site of a farm dating back 200 years. This is, perhaps, one of the most visually pleasing farms I’ve ever seen. The land slopes down to the Fox Island Thoroughfare, a watery passage where lobster boats and sailing yachts pass between North Haven Island and neighboring Vinalhaven Island. On a September late afternoon, it’s simply gorgeous, with the light shimmering on the water and the crops coloring the fields.

A magnificent barn tops the landscape. It’s one farm manager James Blair hopes will stand the test of time, that visitors here 200 years from now will be still admire. The farm could be viewed as a rich man’s folly, but it is intended as a profit-making enterprise, and while the setting and buildings are expensive and innovative (the greenhouses are mobile, for instance), the farming practiced here could be practiced in far less fancy locations.

After visiting with the herd of goats penned behind the barn, I sampled a few of the cheeses made from their milk. Cheesemaker Jamien Shields makes fresh chevre and aged goat cheeses in the farm’s Maine state-certified creamery. I immediately regretted not bringing a cooler with me, because I would have loved to have brought home the one ribboned with dulse (seaweed).

Nebo Lodge

Turner Farm partners with Nebo Lodge, an inn located just a couple of minutes stroll from the ferry dock. Upstairs are nine rooms decorated in Maine cottage-meets-Maine island style, with accents by famed designer and islander Angela Adams. It’s really quite sweet, but while I love hardwood floors, the combo of those and thin walls means you’ll hear everyone who walks around at night or who rises early. Be forewarned. Also pack a robe if you’ll be staying in one of the rooms with shared bath, as they aren’t provided (although I hope they will be soon, as I highly recommended it to the manager).

While the rooms are lovely, the heart of Nebo is the downstairs bar and restaurant, a cozy spot favored by islanders—be sure to make reservations if you want to land a table. Turner Farm provides much of the produce and meat served here. The menu is small, but highlights island grown or raised fare whenever possible. Be sure to share a table order of the crispy kale ($4), and don’t miss the North Haven Oyster Bisque, North Haven Oysters on the half shell, or the North Haven Oysters Mosca ($9-14). Entrees begin around $24; lighter fare, including pizzas, burgers, and a fried North Haven Oyster & Maine shrimp po’boy, are $9-16.

Afterwards or in the early morning, walk around the village. There’s little as soul-satisfying as a Maine island in the quiet of an autumn night or by first light, when the sounds of an island awakening include the chug of lobster boats and birdsong.

And let me leave you with one more image of those luscious North Haven Oysters.

And a couple of parting shots.

Barak Olins’ ZU Bakery gives meaning to life

Hilary Nangle

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September 20, 2011

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Barak Olins’ ZU Bakery gives meaning to life

UPDATE: ZU Bakery moved to 81 Clark St., Portland, in 2022.

BIG UPDATE: The James Beard Foundation named ZU Bakery its 2024 “Outstanding Bakery,” defined as “A baker of breads, pastries, or desserts that demonstrates consistent excellence in food, atmosphere, hospitality, and operations, while contributing positively to its broader community.”

People line up to purchase bread from Barak Olins' ZU Bakery. hilary Nangle photo. — ZU Bakery began in Barak Olins’ home. At first, he sold his magnificent breads at farmers’ markets. In 2022, he opened a bakery in Portland. And in 2024, ZU Bakery was named Outstanding Bakery by the James Beard Foundation. (©Hilary Nangle)

Barak Olins is passionate about bread. Every Friday, he handcrafts 200 loaves, using traditional French bread-making methods and certified organic ingredients, including whole grains that he mills just before mixing the dough. Then, he bakes the loaves in a brick oven he built on his South Freeport, Maine, property. (Update: He moved to Portland in 2022)

ZU Bakery: Bread & Life

Olins’ ZU Bakery breads are as beautiful to behold as they are delicious to eat. That each loaf is a work of art is not surprising for a man who is an artist as well as a baker. He’s also the grandchild of Jewish Holocaust survivors, and that leads him to some disquieting questions. He writes:

My artwork is derived from the unsettling recognition that my wood-fired brick oven is in many ways indistinguishable from the crematoria of Auschwitz. This observation, as it turns out, is not simply one of frivolous similarities. Indeed, J. A. Topf, the company that designed the crematoria also designed grain roasting ovens for breweries and bread ovens for bakeries.

Strangely, I have found myself working next to a machine that so closely resembles an icon of vast destruction. What would it mean to bake bread in these ovens? How might I consider the space between the life-providing and life-reducing potential of such machinery? How do the mechanics of memory and its inevitable blurring with the present further complicate this quandary? What it means to be a Jewish-Artist-Baker is unsettled — it offers and perhaps even insists on its own questioning.

Is he driven by the desire to bake bread, something deeper and innate, or a combination?

Olins’ breads reaffirm the goodness and sanctity of life.

Making the miche

Here’s a photo sequence depicting ZU Bakery founder Barak Olins work the dough and shape loaves of miche (I was fortunate to watch him at work way back in 2011).

All is Well at Jordan’s Farm, in Cape Elizabeth, thanks to development easements—and don’t miss The Well restaurant

Hilary Nangle

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September 19, 2011

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All is Well at Jordan’s Farm, in Cape Elizabeth, thanks to development easements—and don’t miss The Well restaurant

Last week, I had the good fortune to visit a number of Maine farms with the Maine Farmland Trust, an organization that’s working to preserve Maine’s working farms and agricultural landscape and support farming’s future. Some of the farms I visited are supplying restaurants, such as Fore Street, in Portland, and the Harraseeket Inn, in Freeport—both early adopters of the farm-to-table movement—or Nebo Lodge, on North Haven Island, which works with the island’s Turner Farm. Others sell direct from stands on the farm or through farmers markets.

Jordan’s Farm, Cape Elizabeth

Penny Jordan’s ancestors were some of Cape Elizabeth’s earliest settlers. Although now considered an upscale suburb of Portland, it wasn’t that long ago that the town had plentiful farmlands, such as the Jordan Farm on Wells Road. The homestead, as Jordan calls the big farmhouse, has sheltered four generations of the Jordan family.

What makes the property even more extraordinary are the views, which extend over the Spurwink River and Marsh. Those views made the property highly likely for development at a time when the farm was financially in crisis. “We had to strategize to save the farm,” Jordan says. The community wanted to preserve the view.

“We worked with the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust and the Land for Maine’s Future program. After three grueling years, we sold the development rights to the property across the street, which put us in the financial position to take on growth.” Which it has been able to do, thanks to community support.

Volunteers built the main part of the farmstand. “We paid for lumber and food, and volunteers built it,” Jordan says. They’ve since expanded it. Available are not only farm-fresh produce, but also artisanal breads, cheeses, dips, sweets, and other goods. The Jordans also put the farm on the road via a brightly painted bus that brings fresh produce to schools, the Maine Medical Center, and other places.

The Well at Jordan’s Farm

In the summer of 2010, The Well, which is the epitome of farm-to-fork, opened at Jordan’s Farm. Jason Williams, a Culinary Institute of America grad and a sous chef at Back Bay Grill, used to come to the farm regularly to purchase fresh produce. He was ready to open a restaurant of his own, so he approached the Jordan family with a unique concept: a mobile kitchen (That met deed restrictions in the easement).

“I wasn’t thinking food truck,” he says. He had no plans to drive it from location to location. His goal was to be on a farm. “The whole idea was to be the town cook,” he says. He says he overbuilt the kitchen (complete with wood-burning oven), but it allows him to make everything from scratch. He can walk outside and handpick fresh vegetables, so diners are truly getting farm to table fare.

Chef Williams prepares a four-item menu, and those fortunate enough to snag one of the stools on the porch looking into the kitchen can watch him at work preparing it. Guests order at the counter, then choose a picnic table on the grounds. Jordan says she hopes to add a gazebo for 2012 to help shelter diners from the elements.

In an interesting twist, all prices are suggested. When people question the price, he tells them to order and after eating, tell him whether it was worth it. No one yet has argued.

The Well at Jordan’s Farm is seasonal and cash-only. Iced tea is available, but beyond that bring your own beverage. A kid’s menu is available.

Escape Bar Harbor’s crowds in the Compass Harbor section of Acadia National Park

Hilary Nangle

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September 12, 2011

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Escape Bar Harbor’s crowds in the Compass Harbor section of Acadia National Park

Shhhh, now don’t tell too many people about Compass Harbor, a lovely little, relatively unmarked section of Acadia National Park that’s an easy one mile stroll from downtown Bar Harbor, Maine. Whether you’re coming in on a cruise ship and simply want a little quiet time or are intown and trying to escape the shopping/ice cream-eating frenzy, this little ocean-side park provides respite.

With the promise of two or three cruise ships in town yesterday, and not wanting to get back into the car after having just arrived on island, we walked out Main Street (after grabbing two scoops—salt caramel and chocolate wasabi—at MDI Ice Cream, of course) to Compass Harbor. To find it, pass the YMCA fields and keep walking. The sidewalk continues, passing private driveways that lead to oceanfront cottages. The parking area for Compass Harbor is located on the oceanside of Route 3/Main Street, just after the Nannau Woods estate driveway. Look for a small patch of open dirt with perhaps a car or two and a small sign at the back indicating it’s part of the park.

Walk down the woods road or split off onto one of the side paths (all easy) that loop through this pocket part. At low tide, the gravel beach is quite inviting for a dip (for those who want to brave Maine ocean waters). At low tide, it’s also possible to walk out onto the point, a jumble of granite rocks, for expansive views over the Porcupine Islands, Breakwater, and distant mountains. Perfect place for a picnic.

But that’s not all that’s here: Walk the side trails, follow the stone steps, and you’ll discover the ruins of Acadia National Park co-founder George Dorr’s home. Not much to see, other that a bit of foundation, those steps, and brickwork, but an interesting find in the woods. The trails here do connect to the rest of the park via the Schooner Head trail, so you could take that for a bit of exploration, too. Or do as we did, just find a nice rock with a vista and have a Zen moment. Heaven!

New pool, spa, restaurant, and other renovations at Maine’s oceanfront Samoset Resort notch up its luxury status

Hilary Nangle

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August 31, 2011

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New pool, spa, restaurant, and other renovations at Maine’s oceanfront Samoset Resort notch up its luxury status

If you haven’t been to Maine’s Samoset Resort in a while, you’ll be amazed at the changes. I toured the oceanfront resort in Rockport, overlooking Penobscot Bay and adjacent to the Rockland Breakwater, with general manager Connie Russell, who showed off the recent improvements. He has a right to be proud. Many accommodations use the word resort, but few live up to it. The Samoset does.

Among the changes since my last visit:

• a new zero-entry pool: Dive in and savor the views of windjammers sailing by the Breakwater Light and golfers on the course; warm up on a chilly or foggy day in the large hot tub; have lunch at the Splash Pool Bar.

• the Flume Cottage, built on ledges at the ocean’s edge and with a hot tub on its oceanfront deck, plus three other one- and two-bedroom guest cottages clustered near the shorefront and on the golf course, all with spectacular views.

• La Bella Vita Restaurant, the new Mediterranean-themed dining area (replacing Marcel’s) is both casual and chic, it flows both internally and externally, with tables inside overlooking the deck, which in turn overlooks the golf course and ocean. For a special occasion, consider the glass-walled wine room. A daily happy hour features discounted drinks and tapas specials.

• Enoteca Wine Bar &Lounge, flows from the dining room indoors and patio outdoors. Grab a seat at the bar to watch chefs prepare antipasti platters or tend pizzas in the brick oven. (Hint: The Umbria piza, with wild mushrooms, asiago cream, truffle oil, and arugula is scrumptious; $11).

• The Spa at the Samoset, offering facials, massages, body treatments, and salon services as well as a small lounge and outdoor patio area.

• renovated lobby, with new deck (views!) and windowed nook. The main stairway has been moved back to its original location, making the space far more guest friendly.

• updated room decor: One of the best parts of the Samoset is that all the rooms are quite spacious and have at least ocean glimpses if not jaw-dropping views. Updating the decor is ongoing, but if you prefer a more modern look, ask for one of the rooms that’s received a facelift (personally, I prefer the traditional decor).

Other signature Samoset facilities and programs include the oceanfront 18-hole golf course (Not a golfer? The pro shop offers a 45-minute narrated cart tour that covers the resort’s history and highlights signature holes); the health club with indoor pool; lawn equipped with croquet, shuffleboard, volleyball, tetherball, etc; and summer children’s programs.

As always, the best deals are the packages.

Fez, Portland’s new Somalian-Moroccan Restaurant dishes out authentic flavors

Hilary Nangle

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August 18, 2011

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Fez, Portland’s new Somalian-Moroccan Restaurant dishes out authentic flavors

On a lark, I had lunch at Fez, Portland, Maine’s, new Somalian-Moroccan Restaurant on Washington Avenue. Loved it! That’s the short story, now let me tell you the rest of it.

My plan was to eat at Silly’s, one of my favorite cheap-but-damn-good-eats spots, but I landed a parking space in front of Fez. So I took a look in the door, and was quickly welcomed inside. I asked to see a menu, and at first glance, it appeared to be heartier fare, more appropriate for dinner than lunch. Then a woman seated at a table pointed to her falafel salad and said it was really good. Okay, sold.

And how. One taste, and I was planning my return. In a former life, I pursued a graduate degree in Middle Eastern studies, and during that time, I learned what falafel should taste like. This was it. Falafel at its most basic is deep-fried chickpeas, but getting the seasoning and textures right can be a challenge. All too often it’s dry and virtually tasteless. No so Fez’s version, which is served on a salad of greens with tomatoes dressed with an herbed tahini dressing that enhanced the flavors. Hands down, this was the best falafel I’ve had in Maine.

Fez is in the space that previously was occupied by Hamdi. The L-shaped front room is kind of diveish, it’s small, with a no-frills decor: a handful of banquet-style tables and chairs (the small vase of fresh flowers on each is a nice touch), a soda cooler, sink, and open window to the small kitchen. Two more rooms are stocked with specialty grocery items. Out back is a nice, fenced-inn patio area with umbrella-covered tables.

Hinda, one of the owners, sat down and chatted with me for a few minutes. She’s especially outgoing, engaging in easy conversation with strangers. She came to Portland from Somalia about 15 years ago and is now a U.S. citizen. We talked about the famine and lawless situation in her homeland. She still has family there, who she supports and hopes will be able to join her here some day.

Hindi’s a talented—and passionate—self-trained cook (she makes the falafel). She says she serves a what she considers a normal-sized portion: There’s too much food waste in the world. And too many people going hungry. If diners want more, I’ll give them more. She simply doesn’t want to throw good food away. That may be true, but my salad was listed as an appetizer, and it easily sufficed for my lunch. ($6.25, by the way).

Her biz partner, Abraham, (strictly biz, each is married and has a family) is Moroccan and a trained chef. He strode into the restaurant carrying a couple of large bags, while I was eating my salad. “Here, have some bread,” he said, placing a large piece of fresh bread on a plate in front of me. “Usually we make it here,” he said, “but we ran out. This is homemade by someone locally.” I eagerly used it to sop up what was left of the dressing on my plate. Later, I peered through the kitchen window and watched Abraham dance with knives, pans, and fire as he prepared a more elaborate lunch for three other customers

When I return—and I will—I might opt for a special (today’s was tilapia sauteed in garlic, olive oil, cilantro, and lemon sauce, $9.95) or the lamb tagine, tender lamb slow cooked in a saffron sauce served with dolphin potatoes ($12.95) or maybe the hilib ari, pieces of goat meat (on bone) slow cooked with onion and cilantro, served with basmati rice and a banana ($10.95). Kebabs also are on the menu.

While I’ll miss Hamdi, it’s nice to know goat meat hasn’t disappeared from this stretch of Washington Avenue, a pocket of entrepreneurial immigrant-owned few-if-any-frills restaurants delivering tastes of their home countries at wallet-friendly prices.

Fisherman’s Inn Restaurant in Winter Harbor, Maine, shares recipes for Thai-style mussels and finnan haddie

Hilary Nangle

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August 16, 2011

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Fisherman’s Inn Restaurant in Winter Harbor, Maine, shares recipes for Thai-style mussels and finnan haddie

Restaurants come and go in Winter Harbor, Maine, but Carl and Kathy Johnson’s Fisherman’s Inn stood the test of time. Although closed (now, the family operates a hot dog/lobster roll cart on the site), it served fresh and local fare since long before it was the trendy thing to do.

Carl, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America, is the chef, but he’s also the brains behind Grindstone Neck of Maine, located just up the street. That operation produces some of the state’s best smoked seafood (and a divine smoked blue cheese).

It’s no surprise that seafood was the specialty at Fisherman’s Inn, both traditional fare (including finnan haddie, a special, recipe below), or more spicy versions with a South East Asian twist (see Carl’s recipe for spicy Thai-style mussels, below). The latter is thanks to the Johnsons spending many winters volunteering in Thailand. They’re dedicated to getting involved at the grassroots level, cutting out middlemen, and seeing through projects such as bringing fresh water to a village.

Finnan Haddie Fisherman’s Inn

serves 2-4

1 lb. Cold smoked haddock (Grindstone Neck of Maine’s is our favorite)
2 c. 1/2 & 1/2 cream
3 Tbs. Butter
3 Tbs. Flour
shredded sharp cheddar (State of Maine Cheese Co. brand)

Poach haddock in cream for 4 minutes
Remove haddock and save cream
Cook butter and flour together over low heat, without browning, for 2 minutes, to make a roux
Add reserved cream to roux, whip together quickly to avoid lumps.
Bring to simmer and season with salt and white pepper.
Add poached haddock in bite size pieces.
Place in a buttered casserole and top with shredded sharp cheddar
Bake in 450 f oven until browned and bubbly.

Maine Mussels in Yellow Thai Curry, Fisherman’s Inn

serves 2

4 lbs. Maine Mussels, cleaned and debearded
2 oz. Vegetable Oil
4 Tbs. Garlic, chopped
2 Thai Chilis, chopped

Cook mussels in oil/garlic/chili till shells are shiny, ADD:

2+ Tbs. Yellow Thai Curry Paste
6-7 oz. Coconut Milk
2 large Limes, juiced
2 Tbs. Thai Fish sauce
2-3 Tbs. Brown Sugar

Cook mussels in seasoned coconut milk until opened.
Remove mussels from broth, taste broth, adjust seasonings, and reduce till broth coats the shells as desired.
Pour over mussels.
Serve with fresh lime wedges and sliced scallions as garnish.

Notes from a Maine Kitchen celebrates seasonally available Maine ingredients, anchoring recipes with a sense of place

Hilary Nangle

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August 6, 2011

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Notes from a Maine Kitchen celebrates seasonally available Maine ingredients, anchoring recipes with a sense of place

Talk about perfect timing: A review copy of Notes from a Maine Kitchen: Seasonally Inspired Recipes, by Kathy Gunst, arrived in the mail at the same time my local produce stand was brimming with possibilities.

Experiencing Maine is as much about plate as it is about place. The state has developed a national reputation for its farm-to-table fare. Farmers markets, farm stands, and humble honor bars salt the landscape and food festivals—from lobster to blueberries, chowder or bean-hole bean suppers to harvest fairs—pepper events calendars. Gunst understands this. She writes:

“These days Maine is a major culinary destination, and not only because of lobster. While this is not a book about restaurants or chefs, what inspired me to write this book is how the climate of the food world here has changed dramatically. The local, sustainable food movement is alive and strong, making Maine a place where good local food abounds. Be it wild ramps or fiddleheads, amazing cheeses, crusty breads, smoked local salmn, Maine-grown wheat, berries, and so much more.”

She shares recipes for all of those, and so much more. A renowned food writer (author 14 cookbooks, Resident Chef on PBS series Here & Now, recipient of IACP and James Beard nominees), Gunst live in southern Maine and knows Maine food. In this book, she shares her knowledge, providing recipes as well as insights (her essay Hunger in Maine is a must read), stories, facts, and trivia.

It’s the recipes highlighting seasonal Maine foods that snagged my attention. She provides snappy versions of Maine classics, such as a lobster roll, but also encourages cooks to get creative, with preparations such as Latin-style lobster (recipe below).

Chapters cover the months, and as I perused through, a few that caught my eye were: Maine Crab Cakes; Rich Dark-Chocolate Tart with Maine Sea Salt (listed in February…as if I’m going to wait that long to make it!); Fried Eggs in Olive Oil with Fresh Chive Oil Drizzle; Ginger Shortcakes with Local Strawberries and Lemon Cream; Filet of Sole with Slivered Almonds, Capers and Whole Lemon Slices; Cold Cucumber Soup with Mint, Dill, and Lemon (recipe below). And those are drawn only from the January through July chapters.

August is devoted to lobster, including the a lobster and corn chowder and an intriguing (if somewhat intimidating) Angry Lobster (a name likely derived from the preparation). And when fresh corn is abundant, recipes for Maple Breakfast Corn Fritters (recipe below) and Fresh Corn-Cracked, Pepper-Scallion Cornbread are begging. Since I love making potato-leek soup, her version with sharp cheddar cheese and a chive-walnut-cheddar swirl is on my fall must-make list.

Truth is, I’m a cookbook collector. I have way, way too many on my shelves. I usually use them for inspiration, only a handful I keep within reach and actually follow the step-by-step instructions. Gunst’s book, Notes from a Maine Kitchen, will be one of those.

Latin-Style Lobster Salad

As much as I’m a purist when it comes to eating lobster, this salad — flavored with fresh corn, lime, and avocado — is delicious and refreshing served as a summer lunch or light dinner. All the fresh flavors, colors, and textures work well with the lobster meat. Serve with warm biscuits, French bread, or tortillas. The salad can be made, covered, and refrigerated, several hours ahead of time.

Serves 2-4

1 cup cooked lobster meat, cut into small cubes

1 cup fresh raw corn kernels, shucked off the cob of 2 or 3 ears of corn

1/2 ripe (but not overly ripe) avocado, cubed

juice of 1 large lime

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 dash hot pepper sauce

tender butter lettuce leaves

In a medium-size bowl, gently mix the lobster, corn, avocado, lime juice, oil, salt, pepper, and a dash of hot pepper sauce; season to taste. Scoop the salad in the lettuce leaves and serve with any of the accompaniments listed above.

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Cold Cucumber Soup with Mint, Dill, and Lemon

On a steamy summer day this is ideal cooling food. The soup is whirled in a blender or food processor and can be made in less than fifteen minutes. Chill for several hours (or overnight) and serve with chopped cucumber, dill, mint, and drizzle of lemon oil. Warm pita triangles make a nice accompaniment.

Makes about 4 cups; serves 4 to 6

1.5 pounds cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/4 cup fresh dill

1/4 cup fresh mint

1 cup low-fat milk or buttermilk

1 cup sour cream or low-fat plain yogurt

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 dash hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon lemon-flavored olive oil, plus more for garnishing drizzle, or 1 tablespoon olive oil plus 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest, optional

For the garnish

1 cup cucumber (peeped, seeded and finely chopped) mixed with 2 tablespoons finely chopped dill and 2 tablespoons finely chopped mint

drizzle of lemon olive oil or olive oil mixed with touch of grated lemon zest, optional

In the container of a food processor or blender, add the cucumbers, dill, mint, milk, and sour cream or yogurt and process until blended, but not totally smooth. Add the salt, pepper, and hot pepper sauce to taste, and drizzle in the olive oil (and lemon zest) if using. Place in a bowl or jar and chill for several hours.

Serve ice cold sprinkled with cucumber-mint-dill garnish m ixture and a drizzle of oil.

(TIP: To seed a cucumber, simply cut it in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds in the middle)

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Maple Breakfast Corn Fritters

This recipe makes a sweet fritter by adding maple syrup to the batter (and omitting the herbs and scallions) and serving the finished fritters with maple syrup. Either way, you want to use really fresh corn.

Makes about ten small fritters; serves 3 or 4

1/2 cup flour

1 pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons maple syrup, plus syrup for serving

2 cups fresh corn kernels cut off 2 or 3 cobs

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

warm maple syrup for serving

In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Beat in the egg and maple syrup and then gently mix in the corn.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over moderately high heat. Drop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the hot oil and cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Serve hot, with a small pitcher of maple syrup on the side.

Dip into Maine’s logging heritage at the Ambajejus Boom House

Hilary Nangle

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July 31, 2011

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Dip into Maine’s logging heritage at the Ambajejus Boom House

If you get a sample of what it really was like during the hey day of Maine’s Great Age of Logging, make plans to visit the Ambajejus Boom House, on Ambajejus Lake, near Millinocket and Baxter State Park.

It’s been more than 40 years since Maine’s last logging drive, more than 40 years since trees felled in the northern forests were cut into four-foot lengths and floated down rivers such as the Kennebec and Penobscot to the lakes below. There, they’d be corralled and chained into boom bags, each holding between 3,500 and 5,000 cords of pulpwood, and towed onward by boat. If it weren’t for Chuck Harris, the Ambajejus Boom House likely would have been lost to history.

Ambajejus Boom House history

Ambajejus Boom House & River Driving Museum ©Hilary Nangle

Sited northwest of Millinocket, where the West Branch of the Penobscot River flows into Ambajejus Lake, this National Historic Register-listed property is the only structure remaining from the West Branch drives. Its heritage as a shelter for river drivers and boom workers dates back to 1835.

“This one was built in 1907 and transported across the ice in three sections,” says Harris, the self-appointed caretaker. It remained in use until the last West Branch log drive in 1971.

Harris is a soft-spoken man who has river water running through his veins. He’s worked in Maine’s woods and rivers since he was 18, first as a deck hand on a tow boat on the Chesuncook Lake drives, later on the Kennebec drives, and then for Great Northern Paper.

When the drives ended, he helped clean the waterways, salvaging lost boom logs and dri-ki or driftwood with foreman Harold Kidney, who lived in the camp adjacent to the boom house. One weekend Harris and Kidney returned to the boom house to find the windows broken. “Vandals had made a mess of the property, so we boarded it up,” Harris says.

Labor of love

Former river driver Chuck Harris on site at the Ambajejus Boom House — Credit former river driver Chuck Harris for saving and restoring the Ambajejus Boom House. ©Hilary Nangle

The boom house remained boarded until Harris began repairing it in the mid- to late-1980s. “I knew it was on the National Historic Register, and I’d had it in the back of my mind for a while to fix it into a museum, so the history wouldn’t be lost,” he says.

He’s since replaced all the windows, painted it, replaced bunks that had been burned, and rebuilt the lakefront log restraining wall. “I spent summer after summer working for nothing, I was never paid for being a watchman, it was a labor of love, but it worked.”

To counter vandalism, Harris stopped locking the door. “Out here in the woods, if someone wants in, they’ll just bust down the door,” he says. “In the last 10 years, nothing’s really been harmed.” Now property owner Brookfield Power sends crews to help with repairs, including most recently leveling the building and rebuilding the porch.

Breathing new life into the Ambajejus Boom House

Artifacts fill the interior of the boom house and river drivng museum — Visitors may tour the boom house interior. ©Hilary Nangle

Harris didn’t simply save the boom house, he also outfitted the shed, kitchen, main room, and upstairs bunkrooms with artifacts. “When I worked around the dams and lakes, I had the opportunity to go into old barns and boom houses and collect old tools,” he says. “I had a little shack, and I kept saving things.”

He went to local libraries and researched the history, enlarged old photos, and created signage explaining the purpose and often heritage of the items on display. And he used his artistic background to make paintings of different boom houses and structures associated with the drives. Visitors who take the time to examine the exhibits and read the explanations leave with a solid understanding of Maine’s log-driving heritage.

Artifacts fill the interior of the boom house and river driving museum

“Lumbering here made Bangor the lumber capitol of the world at one time, it also made Great Northern Paper one of the best papermakers in the world, and this is how it got started, driving logs down the river,” Harris says.

He saved the Ambajejus Boom House to educate a younger generation about what their forefathers did and what the area is all about. He’s dedicated it to the men he worked with who didn’t have a chance to tell their story.

“Many died on the drives. For every man lost working the woods, 10 drowned on the drive,” he says. ” There was no safety equipment back then. A lot of the old timers I worked with couldn’t even swim.”

River drivers and cowboys

Upstairs bunk room in the Ambajejus Boom House

Harris doesn’t guide people through the boom house, but he’s often on site, either working on the house or building a birchbark canoe. He’ll answer questions from those who’ve taken the time to go through the house and read the signage. Sometimes he’ll relate stories from his experiences or passed down from other river men.

“Cowboys are nothing but river drivers on horseback,” Harris says. “When the logs jammed during the drive, sometimes there would be hundreds of cords piled up on rocks. You’d have to get it moving again, then jump back in a boat and get out of the way. If it happened in a gorge, a man would be lowered down with a rope tied around his waist carrying about a six-foot stick with dynamite tied to the end. He’d jam that into the jam, and get hauled out of there before she blew.”

And like cowboys, after a drive, many river men would head to Bangor. “They’d be broke within a month, just like the cowboys off a cattle drive. They’d whooped it up, spent the money, and be back on the drive again.”

Visiting the Maine Boom Houses

Katahdin dwarfs the Ambajejus boom House. Credit: Hilary Nangle — Katahdin dwarfs the Ambajejus boom House. ©Hilary Nangle

Ambajejus Boom House is one of two Maine Boom Houses Harris has restored. The other is the Chesuncook Boom House, which is accessible by road.

There is no admission fee to visit, but Harris is mighty appreciative of those who “slip a dollar or two into the donation box. Every little bit helps,” he says, as there is no fund dedicated to preserving this historic Maine site.

Access to the Ambajejus Boom House is by boat. Experienced paddlers with their own boats can put in at the public landing on Spencer Cove, across from the Big Moose Inn, approximately 8 miles northwest of Millinocket via the Baxter State Park Road; an alternative is to arrange a shuttle and put in at the bridge on Grant Brook Road and paddle downstream to the house, then take-out at the public landing. The trip is not advisable via canoe or kayak on a windy day.

The Big Moose Inn, Cabin & Campground offers a two-hour pontoon boat cruise to the Ambajejus Boom House; call for details. It also offers canoe and kayak rentals.

Guided paddles can be arranged through the New England Outdoor Center. Rates vary with number of paddlers.