Summer Solstice: Karmic Payback

There's a reason we tolerate Maine winters.
Maine summers.

The solstice on Tuesday was absolute perfection. At 6 pm we thought, "How we can best take advantage of this?" We hopped in the car and headed to...

It's in Georgetown.
You go through Bath, where they build the wicked big ships, and take a right.
Go all the way to end.

You can enjoy the view.
And you can eat.

The lobster roll was just the way I like it - no mayo, toasted bun. The onion rings were the best I've had in a long time. Shatteringly crisp in a salt-and-pepper batter.
The fried clams were as fresh as possible, with big fat bellies. The tartar sauce was homemade.
Someone was eyeing our food jealously, hoping we might be distracted for a moment so he could swoop in.

No such luck.

As we were getting ready to leave, one of the lobsterman said,"If you stick around a little longer, one of the fishermen will be coming in with a big tuna haul. There'll be a big crowd coming down to the dock to see it."
(In Georgetown, a big crowd = 20 people.)
How could we possibly leave now?

We hung around a bit, enjoying the sunset, feeling the excitement build.

It wasn't too long before locals began to gather at the dock and  the fishing boat
arrived to quiet applause.

A round-cheeked young man standing next to me proudly stated the captain was his dad. I asked if it was unusual to catch so many large tuna at once.
He said that last year his father caught three the entire summer.
Today, the first day of summer, he was coming in with four.

That one on the left was about seven feet long and close to 1000 pounds.

See this long bowsprit?

This is where the captain stands and throws the harpoon at the tuna.
That's right. He throws it. With his bare hands.


That man deserves a clam dinner and a beer. Or two.

We were told that the sale of those tuna to Japanese buyers would keep the family financially secure for the coming year.
How's that for a happy ending?
We said our congratulations and headed out to our happy ending.

To The Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick, for a cone of straciatella and bacio.

I'd call this pretty much the perfect Maine evening.
Karmic payback for the long, harsh winter.
I'll take the trade-off.

Blueberry Crumb Cake and Excuses

My poor neglected blog.
Just lying there, so eager to please, so hungry for some attention.
Its mother  author has been so, so busy.
We had a graduation.

That's the Bonus Baby over his shoulder

How that sweet little boy grew to become this big lovable going-to-college guy overnight, I'll never understand.

We had graduation parties.
And company.
We had senior awards and convocation.
Baseball playoffs.

And oh yeah, two other children.
One who needs to be driven to a ferry for her job on the island every day.
And one whose class needs a chaperone for the field trip to Boston.

So the blog got pushed to the back burner. (Get it? Back burner? It's a cooking blog.)
Enough with the excuses - let's get to the food.

I cooked lots of it these past few weeks, but the all around favorite had to the blueberry crumb cake from Barefoot Contessa. If you ever want to try something new and have it guaranteed to come out right, then you have to go with a Barefoot Contessa recipe. They always work.

This cake has a thick crumb topping that reminds me of the Entenmann's cakes we had when I was a kid. There always seemed to be an Entenmann's box in my house, that we would eat sliver by sliver, then crumb by crumb.
That seemed pretty good at the time, but this is way better. It's an easy cake to put together, and a nice one to bring to a friend.
Excellent to eat by yourself too.

Blueberry Crumb Cake
Barefoot Contessa at Home


For the streusel:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter, then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:

6 Tbsps. unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest (optional)

2/3 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

confectioners' sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour (or use cooking spray for baking) a 9" round springform pan.
Cream the butter and sugar together, on high speed, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, until light, 4-5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add vanilla, lemon zest and sour cream.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula, making sure the batter is completely mixed.
Spoon the batter into prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter.
Bake 40-50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely, then remove from pan to serving plate. Sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar.