Eaters on the storm...

In the calm before Irene last Saturday night, we feasted.   

Here you see me, my Uncle Brian, my Dad, and my Cousin Meredith downing a round of raw Pemaquid Oysters grown up the Coast on Maine's Damariscotta River.  These briny bites are packed with protein.

Despite the slightly grossed-out look on my cousin's face as she slurped up her first ever raw oyster, she enjoyed the experience enough to smilingly slurp down a second I offered her.   Meredith wasn't the only one marking a first with raw Oysters.  After more than a year of shirking shucking duty, I finally came to grips with the Oyster knife much to the chagrin of my right thumb. It bears the scars to prove that I am still learning when it comes to prying open these presents from Poseidon.


After the oysters came the pasta courses.  Sungold cherry tomato sauce made with the fruit of our own vines suffused spaghetti with a sweetness that makes sugar seem bland.  I was not the only one licking spare sauce from the plate off my fingers when all my noodles were gone.  The second dish of earthy spaghetti I tossed with sauteed onions and rough-chopped wild-harvested Porcini mushrooms from Vermont  then doused with aromatic white truffle oil.  That preparation also earned groans of pleasure as it passed our lips.  Cucumbers covered with mint came on as the closer to brighten up and cleanse our palettes.

Having hunkered down with fresh vegetables galore, the fete continued through breakfast and lunch on Sunday as Irene's whipping winds kept us mostly housebound.  With all the destruction Irene brought to my friends and fellow Vermonters, we are still counting our blessings that the lasting memories we carry from the actual weekend of the storm are of great food enjoyed with family.