Food Gift Ideas, Slow Food Delegates, Butchering Workshop, Restaurant Inspections, Pirates Cooking

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a set of holiday food gift ideas,

Think of these items as hostess gifts you can take to all the holiday parties you’ll be attending this year, or as not-so-last-minute stocking stuffers. Some of these ideas are things I’ve written about earlier in the year, while others are brand new items I have given as gifts myself.

The common denominator: I promise you I have tried them all and liked them.

an interview with the Maine delegates who attended the Slow Food conference in Italy in October,

Fellow farmer and Maine delegate Sarah Bostick works for the New Americans Sustainable Agriculture Project at Cultivating Community, where she teaches Maine farming techniques to immigrant farmers from warmer climates. In addition, she runs a permaculture design business.

Bostick went to the conference looking for specific ideas that could help her in her work with immigrant farmers.

a report on a hog butchering workshop scheduled to take place at Local Sprouts in December.

Also in today’s paper is an update on restaurant health inspections,

The Wok Inn, which was shut down after failing four health inspections since April, is among four Portland restaurants to be closed in the past two months for health code violations. The other three — Sapporo Restaurant, The Loft and Mekhong Thai — have reopened after correcting violations.

and a report on a program that’s teaching Portland Pirates players how to cook healthy meals for themselves.

Chris Brown, a 21-year-old forward from Flower Mound, Texas, who calls himself “a sometimes cooker,” credited his ease with a knife to a lifetime of hunting deer. “I’m not a big vegetable person, so all these greens are freaking me out a little bit,” he said.

Brown said he is trying to eat better, and hopes the cooking class will help.

Holiday Season Challenges

Portland Daily Sun columnist has highlighted some of the special challenges of waiting tables during the holiday season,

We’re serving large groups at holiday dinners where people drink too much, offend coworkers, tell inappropriate personal stories a bit too loudly, and inevitably eat and drink too much. The parties have just started and I know this will be a season with many tidbits to share.

Thanksgiving Dinners at Harraseeket & Five Fifty-Five

The Press Herald interviewed chefs Steve Corry at Five Fifty-Five and Eric Flynn at the Harraseeket about the Thanksgiving dinners they’ll be serving at their restaurants.

On this Thanksgiving Eve, be thankful you’re not Eric Flynn, the head chef at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, who will be cooking for a record 900 people today.

That’s equivalent to the entire population of Ogunquit.

Boston Globe: Maine Foodie Tours

Earlier this week the Boston Globe published an article about food tourism which featured Maine Foodie Tours.

Maine Foodie Tours was created by Pamela Laskey after Portland was named “America’s foodiest small town” by Bon Appetit magazine four years ago. Clients can sample the city’s robust locavore culture by foot, bicycle, or trolley, and she recently added tours of Kennebunkport.

Her top demographic are clients 50 to 70 years old. Laskey said her older, more experienced travelers in particular appreciate being able to talk directly to the purveyors — the lobsterman, cheese monger, and brewer.

Katie Made Moving to Congress Street

According to a report from the Munjoy Hill News, Katie Made Bakery is “preparing to move her growing business to a much larger space on Congress Street” in 2013.

The Congress Street location will permit [Katie Made] to expand their menu to include soups and salads.  (They already make delilcious sandwiches at the Cumberland Avenue location.)   The new location will include display space for cakes, pies and other baked goods not currently possible because of space limitations.   Seating for about nine will be available as well.

Solo Dining & Bartender Interview

Dispatch magazine has published their list of the 5 best spots in Portland for solo dining,

…I think there’s something totally underrated about alone time.  I especially like eating alone and my buds here at Dispatch agree. In fact, my twitter identity is the @thelonelymower because I often “mow” (meaning to eat quickly/aggressively) alone. Thus, we bring you a list of five great spots to go and have a meal in the company of yourself in Portland.

and an interview with Sonny’s bartender Jon Clemons.

So, what’s your favorite thing about bartending?
Making drinks and watching people—teaching people about cocktails. I love it when people sit in front of me and ask, “What’s that? Why you doing that? What’s that for?” I love turning people on to cocktails that don’t like cocktails. Like some dude sitting in front of me watching me make cocktails and he’s drinking a beer and ten fifteen minutes into it he’s asking me a million questions then all the sudden he’s drinking cocktails. That’s what I like.

Breakfast FAQ & Silly’s with a Twist

This month’s edition of The Bollard includes a Portland breakfast FAQ,

“I just want a regular breakfast at a regular diner. Is that OK with you, Mr. Fancy Brunch Guy?”
Go to Steve and Renee’s (500 Washington Ave., Portland). You won’t find a better basic breakfast. The prices are low, and there is no friendlier service anywhere, period. And that’s a fact.

a bar review of Silly’s with a Twist,

In keeping with the more-is-more philosophy at Silly’s, the drink menu is four pages long. A fair amount of real estate is devoted to shakes, which can be made with ice cream and milk from cows, rice or soy. They also serve shakes with booze, like the Ragin’ Ruby (made with ruby port), Twist & Stout (contains Guinness) and the more traditional Mudslide. I tried the Sherry Baby ($7.50), which is made with Sandeman Amontillado. The fruits of the medium-dry Spanish sherry came through nicely and complemented the ice cream well.

The Maine Brew Bus

Today’s Press Herald includes a report on the The Maine Brew Bus,

In addition to the new Pour Tour, he offers beer-only tours of breweries and brew pubs York County and Portland. He began the business because he sensed a money-making opportunity in shuttling people around from brewery to brewery for samples and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the brewing process.

For more info visit www.themainebrewbus.com.