Month: April 2017

K is for Kendrick | scrappy little nobody: 10% defiant should be everyone’s goal.

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OK, full disclosure, I am not sure if Anna Kendrick was “Made in Maine” but she did grow up here so I’m using that convenient bit of trivia and the fact that I just finished her book scrappy little nobody to include her in my A to Z challenge this year.

I knew scrappy little nobody would be funny. Anna pops up regularly on those “People you should be following on Twitter” lists because her posts are hysterical. I recommend you take a minute to follow her on Twitter if you are not one of the six million who already do: @AnnaKendrick47.

What I didn’t expect was how relatable it would be because other than both being “Made in Maine” there’s not too many places where our life experiences intersect. She started in theater young and was performing on Broadway by age twelve bouncing between New York and Maine ultimately graduating high school early and then moving to Los Angeles on her own at age seventeen. It was a good decision. Other than a little ramp up time she has been steadily working.

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J is for Jarva Cakes | Delicious things come in small packages.

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My daughter recently went through a microwaveable meal in a mug phase. Trust me, it’s a thing. You can google it. My daughter enjoyed finding and pinning mug meal recipes on Pinterest and then testing them out in our microwave. She was doing pizza in a mug fairly consistently for a few weeks. It was intriguing but not really something I thought about again once the phase receded… until Christmas.

As you can probably tell from earlier posts, our Christmas stockings are filled with lots of food treats. This year my husband surprised me with a locally made treat from Jarva Cakes. This woman run business is made up of a mother and her two daughters and was launched about four years ago. They create single serving treats that are so easy to make and instantly cure any sweet cravings you might be having. It’s a prepackaged mug meal.

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I is for Islandport Press | Stories connected to New England.

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When my oldest learned to read she became obsessed to the point where I would dread parent-teacher conferences because we knew we would be chastised with stories of her inappropriate reading. I am not sure reading can ever be truly inappropriate, but it impacted her attention in the classroom. If she had two minutes of free time, she read for thirty. It was a problem. Still, how lucky that she could so easily be transported into the world of books and so engrossed that everything around her disappeared.

Stories are important in my house. My youngest didn’t read as much as my oldest, but no one did. Instead, she was enthralled by the other side of stories. She became my writer. She is looking into creative writing programs at college now. It is an exciting time.

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H is for Highland Foods Maple Pepper | Maple makes everything taste better.

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The maple connoisseur in my family is my husband. It is with great pride that he was able to wean me off of imitation maple syrup and onto the real stuff. Now I’m a convert and the worst kind of zealot. I can’t image not using the real stuff for my pancakes, over ice cream or in recipes.

Other maple products have thus far eluded me even though there are many to choose from in Maine. There was even a limited edition craft beer release of Maple Sunday from Lone Pine Brewing that was released this year on Maine Maple Sunday.  I blogged about Maine Maple Sunday during last year’s challenge with my post #atozchallenge | C is for Coopers Maple Products and Maine Maple Sunday.

Last month, with St. Patrick’s Day on the horizon, I decided to try out Highland Foods Maple PepperTM and cook the Guinness Beef Stew recipe listed on their blog. Highland Foods has been making maple pepper for thirty years and they sell three types: garlic, original and habanero. I used the original maple pepper for my beef stew. The original flavor is made with 100% pure maple sugar, sea salt and black pepper along with a few other ingredients.

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G is for Good Natured Brand | Facing mosquito season with Bugaroo and no fear.

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I still remember hiking to the top of Douglas Mountain last spring. We were out numbered by mosquitoes 1,000 to 1. It was challenging and required that we stay in constant motion to minimize the swarms. Our stay at the top was brief as the bugs were relentless so we headed back down after only a few quick pictures. The memory hasn’t faded over the past year. I think Hitchcock should have done a movie on mosquitoes  instead of birds. They’re far more terrifying.

Fighting off black flies and mosquitoes is as much a part of spring and summer in Maine as is swimming in the lake or eating lobster. When the weather gets nice, the bugs come out. And, if the flying insects weren’t enough, tick season kicks in and you don’t want those little guys anywhere near you. Since we have animals, we have to be especially vigilant. We had so many one year, I made a “tick jar” full of rubbing alcohol to kill any ticks that got carried into the house on the pup.

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