A Foggy Day in Rockland-town

Sunset at Seal Harbor last night

We awoke this morning to a thick fog that didn't lift until the middle of the afternoon.  It didn't matter a bit.  Today was going to be a Rockland day.  Rockland is a small community close to us.  I ate my breakfast here at the cottage so that I could stay on my plan.  We drove into one of our favorite restaurants called The Brass Compass. 
 This is a great little spot that is popular with the locals.  I had some tea and Dave had the "Seaweed Omelet." This is a beautiful omelet that is filled with fresh spinach--not actually filled with seaweed.  It came with a raspberry muffin that they 


actually slice and "grill."  The grilling amounts to warming it up.  It also came with potatoes that they called American fries.  Dave said they were delicious, but they weren't the American fries that we think of, more like breakfast potatoes.

We wandered down the street and stopped in a couple of shops.  One of them is a great kitchen shop that also has cool toys.  Dave found the stacking clowns that he remembered from growing up.  This was a toy that he played with at his  Hummel grandparent's house.  When he first described them to me, I couldn't remember them at all.  However, as soon as we saw them I realized that not only did I recognize them, but that we had them when we were growing up at my house as well.

From there we headed to a very cool store called Fiore--Artisan Olive Oils and Vinegars.

  Picture this--The store is filled with what looks like stainless steel coffee urns.  Each one is labeled with the type of either olive oil or balsamic vinegar.  We wandered through and got to sample.  I would stick my fingertip into our tasting cup and take just a tiny taste.  

They had little pieces of bread that you could use to see how things tasted that way as well.  We chose 2 different oils:  Butternut Squash--Yum!  There is a hint of cashew and toasted sesame, but it is actually made from the first pressing of butternut squash seeds.  The other choice was Meyer Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  This has a really bright flavor and is made from olives and Meyer lemons.  It is going to be delicious on salads, fish and chicken.  We also bought 2 different aged balsamic vinegars.  We opted to buy the "younger" balsamic vinegars, the ones aged 12 years as opposed to 35 years.  The first choice was Blueberry Balsamic which was really delicious.  The woman that waited on us said that it makes a delicious dressing when paired with the Meyer Lemon EVOO.  We also bought what is called Aged Premium Balsamic.  It also has a really rich flavor and is suggested with salads and as a marinade.  Once you choose what you want, they fill the bottle right there in front of you.  We chose the small bottles rather than the large ones.  It was surprisingly reasonably priced.




We headed back home after our stroll through Rockland.  The sky opened up just as we got close to the car.  We drove home in a steady rain.  It quit just as we got back to the cottage.
Later in the afternoon, the wind changed direction bringing with it a very unpleasant diesel smell. We went outside to discover that a lobster boat was being removed from the harbor by a large crane. Yesterday, we had seen a boat being towed in by another and wondered if this was the same boat. At any rate, it was quite a production. 


  We knew that we wanted to have lobster here at the cottage tonight.  There is a large lobster company just down the block from us--Atwood Lobster Company.  In the past,  they sold to the public as well as wholesale.  They were bought by another company in May.  I talked to the woman in the office and she directed us to another seafood company very close to us called Maine Coast Seafood.  I called and talked to a very friendly young woman who cheerfully said that she would have two (2) pound and a half soft-shelled lobsters steamed and ready for us at 5.  (Those 2 lobsters cost us a total of $17.  Can't beat it with a stick, can you?)


Here is your lobster lesson for today:
Soft-shelled lobsters are also called "shedder lobsters" because they have just molted or shed their old shell so that they can begin growing their new larger shell.  The meat is supposed to be sweeter.  The downside is that there can also be less meat.  So, the plan is to have lobster again tomorrow night.  We'll have hard-shelled lobsters tomorrow night and do a comparison.  See the sacrifices we are making in order to keep you well informed?!?



Since you weren't here to enjoy the lobster with us, we took some pictures so that you could see our feast!

The morning view from our front window at Sprucy.