Blog Memories: A Fun Weekend in Maine

May 29, 2021

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend. Here's one more encore blog posting - this one was originally published on June 10, 2019. Enjoy.

Whenever I go to Skylands, my home in Seal Harbor, Maine, the days are always filled with lots of great activities - hiking, shopping, and touring local gardens are often on my list. I also love nature strolls through Skylands, and of course, spending time with good friends while preparing and sharing delicious meals.

Here are a few more photos from my weekend in Maine. I took many of these images, but a large number of pictures were also taken by my guests, Kevin Sharkey, and Kate Berry. Enjoy.

: I love playing Scrabble® and this is my Scrabble® board, which is always set-up in my Living Hall. Cheryl and Gretchen, who help me take care of Skylands, spelled out this welcome message for me and my guests.

: On the first morning of our stay, I decided to make French toast using this delicious brioche I made from the new book, “Baking at République: Masterful Techniques and Recipes” by Los Angeles baker, Margarita Manzke.

: I love making French toast – it’s a great breakfast recipe for company. In my recipe, I also add a couple tablespoons of orange liquor, such as Grand Marnier – it gives the French toast a fresh citrusy flavor.

: I also served homemade pink applesauce, fresh yogurt, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

: This is an antique calendar that Cheryl and Gretchen update every day – it sits on the table in my kitchen. On the left is a three-minute egg timer I put there last year – it is very accurate.

: Here is the French toast coated and sizzling in the skillet with four tablespoons oil and two tablespoons butter. They are cooked until golden brown on both sides – about five minutes per batch, flipping only once.

: I added bits of bacon to each serving – every morsel was devoured.

: After finishing our planting chores out on my Skylands terrace, we took a short drive to Surry Gardens, in Surry, Maine. I visit this nursery often. It has more than five acres dedicated to growing and selling the area’s largest selection of unusual perennials and classic shrubs.

: I bought several specimens to add to my gardens at the farm.

: That evening back at Skylands, Kate and some of my other guests went out to pick some rhubarb for our dessert.

: One of the few perennial vegetables, rhubarb grows back year after year if cared for and picked properly. A ripe stalk should be about the width of a finger and feel firm. When harvesting, twist and pull the stalks as close as possible to the base of the plant. Rhubarb stalks should always be twisted clean from the crown to invigorate the roots to produce more. Collect only a third of the stalks per plant each season. This avoids over-stressing. And remember, rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, so never eat them.

: Before dinner, Kevin was tasked with making some martinis for the group. He never made them before but took on the challenge and they were superb!

: Saturday night’s dinner included fresh asparagus grown in my Bedford, New York garden.

: We also had some delicious bread with herbs and butter.

: Our main dish included these fresh clams from Parsons Lobster and Seafood Shop in Bar Harbor.

: Everyone was very hungry after such a busy day.

: We all enjoyed pasta topped with our clams.

: With the fresh rhubarb, I made this rhubarb crisp. Each piece was served with homemade creme fraiche.

: Skylands is so relaxing. This is my living room in the early morning. The telescope originally belonged to Edsel Ford.

: My living room is decorated with lithographs by artist and collector, Carroll Sargent Tyson. The collection includes the native birds of Mount Desert Island.

: This lead window in my living room looks out onto the giant terrace.

: Kevin took this photo of the butler’s pantry, where linen table cloths are rolled up and stored on dowels so they don’t have any folds or creases.

: This is one wall of my Map Room – filled with all kinds of maps from Maine. I had them framed by Ahlblad’s Frame Shop in Bar Harbor, owned by Raymond Strout.

: Here on this windowsill is a group of original faux bois pots.

: The next morning, I decided to prepare eggs – fresh from my chickens at the farm. Here is a bowl of fresh eggs below my “Great Wall of China”.

: I fried 10-eggs in this hot cast iron skillet – no turning needed. I served every guest a piece of toasted brioche with an egg on top.

: Here is our breakfast table set in spring pink with a single peony bloom at the center. I also served oatmeal, fresh mango, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

: I always love to take walks around Skylands whenever I am here. This photo is taken standing outside the laundry room – left at this fork goes to the back porch and right goes to the big natural pool in the meadow. The paths are filled with pine needles during summer for a gorgeous woodland look.

: These steps lead up to the back porch – more pine needles marking the way.

: Sunday afternoon lunch – Dungeness crabs. I had these shipped from Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Being from the west coast, Kate already knew how to clean Dungeness crabs, so she was a great help and was happy to do it.

: I made the horseradish sauce from my own horseradish grown at my farm – it is always a big hit.

: For dessert – more rhubarb crisp and bread pudding I made from my brioche. I made it with golden raisins and delicious yellow apples from Washington state.

: Hannah took this nice photo of our group – Ryan, Chris Baker, me, Kevin and Kate. Chris is a photographer who has done a lot of work for me over the years – he now lives in Maine. It was nice to catch up with him.

: After lunch, we walked down to the greenhouse shop. This is where my Boston ferns spend the winter. In a week or two, when the weather is consistently warm, these will be hung around the west terrace and my back porch.

: On the last day of our stay, I made everyone a spinach and onion frittata.

: During our morning drive, we stopped on Dodge Point Road to look across Seal Harbor. At the top, you can see Skylands.

: We also visited Hunter’s Beach – a secluded cobblestone beach nestled in a small cove a short distance from Bar Harbor. The beach is only 100-yards long, but great for playing on the rocks.

: And we made a stop at Asticou Azalea Garden in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Asticou Azalea Garden was created in 1956 by lifelong Maine resident, Charles Kenneth Savage, who was inspired by his love of native plants and his study of Japanese garden design. The Garden and its pond are open to the public from May to October each year.

: Asticou features a wonderful selection of rhododendrons and azaleas, a sand garden, and a meandering collection of fine gravel pathways.

: This is Higgins Antiques in Southwest Harbor. We were all successful at this shop – I got some plates decorated with lobster motifs, Kate bought some china from Japan, Kevin purchased Lenox swans, and Hannah got a few shell art cards.