#AtoZChallenge | G is for Greens and planning ahead for our summer CSA.

I have an internal battle going on. It’s subtle but it’s there. I want to be something that I may have to acknowledge I am not. I want to be someone who passionately loves her CSA share and uses every single vegetable in creative and fun ways for my meals throughout the week.

Yuval Noah Harari wrote Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and the sequel Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. His books are fascinating and I definitely recommend you read them for a better understanding of his ideas but today I’m focusing on one of them in particular.

He talks about the concept of the narrative or remembered self versus the experiential self.  You can learn more from his podcast appearance on Armchair Expert. Dax and Yuval talk about the concept of these two selves starting at 44:48.

The way I understand it is the narrative or story telling self, is the part of ourselves writing the story of our lives. The experiential self is how we actually act and spend our time. They can often be in conflict. For example, my narrative self may have a vision of me as a blogger but if my experiential self doesn’t post or do any blogging related activities for a year they are in conflict.

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10 Maine Adventures on My Bucket List for 2019

For the last few years I have been putting together an annual bucket list of things I want to do in Maine for the upcoming year. It’s a fun exercise that gets me thinking about the adventures that we want to have and the places we want to visit.

This past year was especially challenging and we actually got through only a couple of things on the list which does make me wonder if perhaps a bucket list is not the best approach but I’m going to give it one more shot.

Below is a list of ten things on my bucket list for the coming year. Many are ones we didn’t get to last year although I’ve added a few new ones into the mix. Here’s hoping we have better results this time around.

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Six Family Friendly Winter Activities You Can’t Miss

I love all the seasons equally. I mean that sincerely. They all have something that makes them special but sometimes it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the challenges they can bring. Maybe it’s the mosquitoes in the spring, the humidity of summer, or the endless cold and snow of winter. The best approach is to embrace both the joys and challenges of each season fully.

Now that we’re in the midst of winter here in Maine, here are six can’t miss activities that will ensure you get the most from the season. There is much to embrace this time of year.

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10 Maine Adventures on My Bucket List for 2018

Last year I started a tradition of writing down a list of things I wanted to do in Maine for the upcoming year. While I only made it through some of my items from last year, I found it helpful to have the list as I planned out adventures during the year.

Below is my Bucket List for 2018. Some are holdovers from last year that I didn’t quite get to yet, but haven’t forgotten. Some are small things, others require more planning, but they are all adventures I hope to have this year.

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N is for Northwoods Gourmet Girl | The special joy of a Blueberry Dessert Sauce.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that blueberries would come up in my A to Z posts. As my previous blog post shared, Maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world. And, there are some great local business incorporating blueberries into their product lines.

I stumbled upon Northwoods Gourmet Girl Blueberry & Green Tea Dessert Sauce randomly while shopping at Bow Street Market in Freeport. I was intrigued as even though I’ve eating blueberries all my life, I’d never had them in a dessert sauce.

I’m sure this will date me, but I pulled out my “Cooking with Friends” (as in the TV show) cookbook. When my husband and I bought our first house, we hosted a housewarming party and asked guests to bring either a bottle of wine or a cookbook. I know it’s a little greedy to ask guests to bring something so specific, but we do have an amazing collection of cookbooks now. The wine however is long gone.

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