Official Blog of Kristy Gherlone

Heartfelt stories
Official Blog of Kristy Gherlone
  • Contact
  • About
  • Tag: eat

    • Hidden Gems in Maine

      Posted at 1:04 pm by writergherlone, on October 24, 2017

      727 2

      Not too far from the border of New Hampshire, on the Maine coast, there is a town called   Ogunquit.  It is truly one of my favorite southern Maine spots to visit.

      It is a small coastal town that draws in thousands of visitors in the summertime. People come from all over the world to spend time on the gorgeous, lengthy sand beaches, for the shopping, excellent dining choices, boating, fishing, surfing…you name it. There is plenty to do.

      image (34)

      When I was a kid growing up in northern Maine, I didn’t know anything about Ogunquit. No one ever talked about it. When people made the three hour trek to the ocean, they went to Old Orchard Beach or to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor. I often went to Bar Harbor, and of course, I’ve been to Old Orchard. Who didn’t when they were a teen? Families love Old Orchard for the amusement parks and side attractions. You can walk the “strip” in Old Orchard, or the pier, get a dough boy (or funnel cake, or fried dough..whatever you call them from wherever you are on the map; in Maine it’s a dough boy) a cotton candy, a cheap bathing suit, some plastic beach toys, and go on an array of carnival rides that will make you throw-up your dough boy.  In Bar Harbor, you can visit Acadia. You can hike, ride horses, sit at the beach, or do the side attraction like the Acadia Zoo in Trenton. Don’t get me wrong, they are both fun places to visit, but when I first saw Ogunquit, I was hooked!  It is a bit more of an upscale, adult- oriented beach town. Hot sun, lazy beaches, casual attitudes, upscale shops, and nearly every restaurant has lobster or some type of delicious seafood on the menu. To me, it has that Florida, I’m-on-vacation-don’t-bother-me feel to it.

      This is what I like to do when I get there:

      1. Walk Marginal Way
      2. Take one of the trollies back to the square.
      3. Eat at the Footbridge.
      4. Shop in one of the many, many gorgeous shops-clothes, jewelry, art, antiques..etc.
      5. Eat again!
      6. Go to the beach for some sun and relaxation
      7. Eat again
      8. Book a cocktail cruise on Finest Kind cruises
      9. Look at the lighthouse at Nubble and the moon over the ocean
      10. Sleep peacefully with a smile on my face

       

      The walk (Marginal Way)  is a little over a mile one-way with gorgeous waterfront homes on one side and incredible ocean view on the other. The people who own the homes there, landscape their lawns beautifully. There is always an abundance of flowers and butterflies along the way, even this late in the season.

      IMG_0897

      IMG_0899

      IMG_0898

      However, as I have said, the town does draw in visitors. Too many sometimes. Summertime is bustling and busy. It’s hard to find adequate parking and it’s hard to move around with all of those elbows and strollers.  The wonderful people there have all kinds of advice about where to eat, what to see, where to stay, and what to do. I have found some gems in the years I have spent there. I want to tell you about two or three, to save you some trouble.

      The Colonial Inn. It is not right on the ocean, which makes it seem less desirable. Everyone wants something right on the water but if you don’t book a room at the Colonial, for that reason, you are missing out. This is what it looks like:

      1555285_467234836709467_1009828529_n

      13015150_821740707925543_433324514702206509_n

      13669629_862722770494003_7238811456085170589_n

      So yeah, it’s gorgeous. It’s not on the water, but does have an ocean view. The staff is incredibly attentive and often do extras to make your stay even more special, like this:

      13102632_826850774081203_4839304819772148557_n

      Having an anniversary? They will surprise and delight your spouse with something like this. They also do weddings and special functions. I’ve never seen any other hotel go through so much trouble to make you happy.

      They are also a bit cheaper for not being on the water, but it is beautiful hotel. Relaxed, but fun. Elegant, but economical. I love it and the staff. They are in the middle of the shopping and very close to the entrance of Marginal Way.

      Where to eat? For a fancy restaurant on the water, try MC Perkins Cove. Good food, good ambiance, and excellent service…but if you don’t care what the place looks like as long as it has good food, you can’t beat The Footbridge Lobster. I don’t really like to eat anywhere else, unless I have to dress up and be fancy…then it’s MC.

      IMG_0915

      IMG_0914

      For one, they have the absolute best lobster stew and crab rolls I’ve ever tasted. I literally dream about their food all year long. The staff is pleasant and attentive and that’s amazing considering how busy they usually are. There is usually a line out the door! I would gladly wait in line an hour or more for a crab roll from them! So yummy!

      IMG_0916

      And if you are thinking, ‘Ogunquit doesn’t sound like a good place for families’, you would be wrong. York’s Animal Kingdom is right down the road. My grandson loves it.

      702 2

      You can pet goats, see tigers, lions, and maybe even some bears!  Plus Ogunquit has a couple of toy stores, and an arcade for the kiddos, pizza shops and those cheap beach toys that Old Orchard has. There are also plenty of places that have kids menus, as well. And what kid wouldn’t like to ride on a trolly?

      Anyway, I wanted to share what I know about Ogunquit so that when you visit, it can be just as wonderful as I know it to be. I’m not much of a travel blogger, but I do travel a lot; to Ogunquit, more than any other place. I love it and I hope you’ll find my suggestions helpful.

      553529_10151078936441711_1606744980_n

      457

      724 2

      Enjoy!

      Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged beach, dining, eat, familyfriendly, lobsters, maine, ocean, ogunquit, restaurant, seafood, shopping, thecolonialinn, thefootbridge, trollies, vacation
    • Well Isn’t This Fancy!

      Posted at 12:19 pm by writergherlone, on September 19, 2017

      IMG_0403

      Well Isn’t this Fancy! (Cornish Hen recipe for important dinner guests)

      by Kristy Gherlone

       

      So, you’ve decided that, even for a writer, you’ve been spending entirely too much time alone.  You think,  ‘Hey, I should host a dinner party for other writers in the area!’

      For about two minutes, you consider this thought. You picture all of those creative minds sitting around your table. Wine glass clanking, smiling, happy people, sharing ideas and reading excerpts from their latest works. Before you change your mind and retreat back into the dark cavern you call a work space, you sit down and send out a bunch of email invitations.

      Now, don’t lie. You spend the rest of the day hoping that no one will respond. At least you can say you tried, right? Except they ALL respond. Why wouldn’t they? They have been feeling just as isolated as you, and it’s a free dinner!

      You panic! What can you cook that would be worthy of such company?

      I’ve got you covered. Here’s what you do. Pre-heat the oven to 450 and follow along….

      Purchase one Cornish Hen for every dinner guest.

      Get out that Thanksgiving turkey roasting pan and coat the bottom with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss in some sliced garlic, some fresh squeezed lemon juice, and ringlets of Shallots. Throw down some beds of fresh Thyme.

      Rinse the hens, pat dry and place into the pan in rows on top of the mess you just made. The hens can touch each other(they’re dead and won’t mind)

      Stuff each bird cavity with a slice of lemon, a whole garlic clove, salt and pepper, a whole small shallot, and more fresh Thyme.

      Put a pat of real butter on each hen, sprinkle with more salt and pepper, and more thyme.

      Roast these at the 450 degrees for the first half hour and then reduce the temperature to 350 and cook for another 45 minutes or so. They should be beautifully browned like this:

      IMG_0404

      For the side dishes you can do fancy or extra fancy. It’s up to you. For extra fancy, I would add baby carrots to the turkey roasting pan when you cook the hens. Let them brown at the bottom of the pan and remove when done. Serve the hens on individual plates on a bed of wilted spinach with the baby carrots off to one corner of the plate. You can even serve cranberry sauce! Also, toasted baguettes would be great with the dinner with a homemade dipping oil like this recipe:

      Mix olive oil, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, fresh crushed garlic, and dried basil in a bowl. Transfer to a pretty dish when ready to serve.

      For just plain fancy, perhaps even rustic sides, roast fingerling potatoes tossed with olive oil, fresh rosemary, and salt and pepper until almost done. Transfer into individual, tiny cast iron pots like these: (Bass pro shops)IMG_0460.jpgSpray with Pam and finish baking at 400 degrees until tender and slightly browned. On the dinner plate itself, you’ll have the hen and perhaps some sprigs of roasted asparagus, and then serve the potatoes in the individual pots on the table next to the plate.

      You can even do mashed potatoes instead of the fingerling if you want but dress them up! For this: when the potatoes are cooked and ready to whip, add some dried parsley, celery salt, ground Coriander Seed, and of course your melted butter and cream. Keep whipping until all of the lumps are gone or your guests will write their next story about your lumpy potatoes.

      If you must do appetizers, and you probably must, do some stuffed mushrooms:

      Wash and remove stems of medium sized, whole mushrooms. Chop the stems and brown in olive oil with Hannaford Supermarket’s seafood(breaded) stuffing, or whatever seafood stuffing you use. Cool slightly.

      Stuff the mushrooms with that mixture and top with either shredded cheddar or mozzarella. Bake on a slightly greased pan for about 15 minutes at 375, or until tender and cooked throughout.

      And I would do a crackers and cheese plate with various cheeses and a variety of crackers, plus colorful grapes.

      (or you could do cocktail shrimp)

      You’re on your own for desert. I can’t think of everything!

      When your dinner guests arrive, undoubtedly someone will gasp, “Well, isn’t this fancy!’ when they see your table.

      You will enjoy the meal and the company and pat yourself on the back for coming up with such a great idea. But when the party is over and you have to clean up, you will vow never to host a dinner party again.

      The End. Enjoy the brief escape from solitude.

       

      *On a side note, another short work of my fiction has just been published by The Mystic Blue Review. See, “The Whupping Tree,” here: themysticbluereview.weebly.com

      and The Letter Words has me in the spotlight! See that here: https://theletterworks.com/blog

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged company, cook, dinner, eat, fancy, guests, hannaford, recipe, writer
    • Recent Posts

      • On the River in the Sun
      • Hot and Sour
      • English Tea and Crawdads
      • Wawetseka
      • Piano Hoarding Christians
    • Categories

      • Uncategorized (59)
      • shortstory (4)
      • #prose (3)
      • nature (2)
  • Search

  • My Facebook author page

    Facebook

  • My Twitter page

    Twitter

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Official Blog of Kristy Gherlone
    • Join 82 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Official Blog of Kristy Gherlone
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...