The City Girl Goes to the Country

I am sorry for my sporadic posts! I have been to several interesting places in the last two weeks, but I also had two research papers to write and two presentations.  Life will be quite a bit calmer this week.

The weekend before Halloween Christopher and I searched for a pumpkin patch. We found Treworgy Farms in Levant, about twenty minutes away from our house.

There is no other way to explain the afternoon except as magical. The arrived just before dusk, the weather was gorgeous and the scenery was divine. It was everything an autumn afternoon should be. 

We raced around a corn maze and got free ice cream for our efforts. 

We picked out pumpkins, many of which were still on the vine.   

We explored the little farm which contained several horses, a few tractors and an apple orchard. We befriended the very sweet family who has worked there for fifteen years. We went home with half a peck of apples, two perfect pumpkins, an apple cider doughnut and a little present for my family. I hope to be able to visit the farm again, which is working on being open all year.  It was a wonderful, wonderful afternoon.

Walking Down the Main Street

Last week Christopher and I went for a walk through a part of our neighborhood we had yet to explore.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous that day and autumn was in full swing. Thanks to the rain, many of the leaves have turned brown and fallen away. More about that later. For now enjoy these photos of what October looked like in the state of Maine this year.

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Sea Dogs

After submitting his med school applications and getting through a rather rough school and work day, I decided my poor fiancé desperately needed a beer. We patronized Sea Dog Brewing Company on Front Street in Bangor.

Beer sampler

Isn't he handsome?

 Don’t let the nondescript exterior fool you- this place was good. I had a “Lomlito” or pork sandwich with avocado, provolone and garlic aioli, Christopher had a BBQ burger and we ordered a beer sampler. The beer sampler was accompanied by a chart which described the beer and the foods it best complimented. 

Yay chart!

Our waiter was chill (yes, yes, I just said chill), our food was good and the beer was excellent.   The staff even insisted on remaking my meal when it seemed my leftovers had mysteriously disappeared. If you are ever in Bangor and are need of a beer and some decent food, I would definitely recommend heading over to Sea Dogs.

Brownies? Cookies? Who cares!

Do you like chocolate? What a silly question, of course you do. Now go make these cookies. Recipe originally from here.



Yield: About 42 cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup (1½ ounces) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder (I used a Starbucks medium roast) 10 tablespoons (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1½ cups packed (10½ ounces) light brown sugar
½ cup (3½ ounces) granulated sugar
12 ounces (about 2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, stirring once or twice, until smooth; remove from the heat. (or heat in a microwave. Oh modern technology) In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork, sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve, and set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is and fudge-like, about 30 minutes (mine accidentally sat all day and turned out just fine)
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dollop the dough onto baking sheets, about 1-2 inches in size.
5. Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10-15 minutes. (Attempt not to eat all at once. You need to finish your dinner young man/lady!)

The Day I Slew a Basilisk and Met a Wild Turkey

Today was the first sunny day in a week. As usual Christopher and I enjoyed what little sunshine peaks through this part of the world and took a brisk walk through Essex Woods.

Although our walk was short, it was certainly eventful. We were strolling through woods, admiring the trees when suddenly a GIANT basilisk slid straight from the Chamber of Secrets and began to attack!!! I unsheathed the sword of Gryffindor, shielded Christopher from its poisonous fangs and slayed the foul, despicable beast. The tears of Fawkes the Phoenix were required to heal my wounds, but Slytherin’s slimy pet was no more…Ok, ok, it was a six inch gardener snake and I ran away screaming. But still­- it was horrifying. 

Shortly afterwards we saw a pack of wild turkeys! Wild turkeys are significantly more intelligent than your regular Thanksgiving dinner-variety so we were only able to catch a glimpse of them. It was still quite a treat. I have never seen wild turkeys before and have only occasionally seen them alive. Man oh man, do I like a turkey sandwich though (no offense turkeys).

Snakes and turkeys aside, it has been an eventful week. Work has been as busy as ever and school is also picking up the pace. Christopher officially applied to medical schools and Dartmouth and Boston University have already requested additional information!

I have a field trip coming up soon as well as several talks and conferences. Be prepared for far more frequent posts and pictures about this crazy state.

Mischief managed (for now).