Our annual summer visit to York Harbor was perfect in all ways. Family and friends, the weather, the food, the rhythm of the days made it one of our best summers ever.
On one warm, sunny day, our neighbors decided to take trip to Strawberry Banke Historical Village
and invited us along! It had probably 10-12 years since my last visit there, and my oldest is the perfect age to start to understand history, so we said yes! We happily piled into two cars, crossed the Piscataqua river on the big green bridge into Portsmouth, NH and found it easily. It being summer and midweek, we almost had the place to ourselves.
Barrel construction demonstration from a cooper.
The kitchen in the Wheelwright house. The day we were there, a leg of lamb was roasting in the fireplace on a handmade tin spit, corn pudding was being baked in a dutch oven and an apple pie was being made using apples from the trees on the property. I love when history can be brought alive by demonstrations, costumes and hands on activities. The kids and I walked away with a tangible appreciation of what life must have been like for residents of Portsmouth in 1785.
Feeling inspired by our trip to Strawberrry Banke, I wanted to make something edible from a native plant growing in the neighborhood. Every year when we are there, the Rosa Rugosa bushes which grow in all the public areas in York, are laden with the hugest rosehips. I found a rose hip jam recipe online. After enlisting some kid labor to help me do the picking, I got to work.
I cut off the tops, scooped out the seeds with my thumbnail, added sugar, lemon juice, a grated apple and a chopped up orange. I let the mixture boil for about an hour. After it had "jelled", I poured it into bowls and let it cool. It ended up a lot like a marmalade, but with a flowery taste. It tasted good on toast!
We celebrated a birthday dinner with lobster and fries.
We took a walk to the cannon and stocks outside the old Gaol (pronounced "jail"). Part of the Museums of Old York historical village.
The annual fireman's parade.
My guy had the best job on the parade; driving the Reo Speedwagon.
Two happy, contented faces!
We had a beautiful day for a trip out to the Isles of Shoals. Off the coast of Portsmouth, NH, the islands of Star, Smuttynose, Appledore, Cedar and Malaga are rich in seagulls, seals, marine life and marine labs. Most interesting to me is the artistic history of the islands. The daughter of the lighthouse keeper was Celia Thaxter. She became a celebrated poet of her time and invited Nathanial Hawthorne, Childe Hassam, and other artists out to the islands for creative retreats. One thing that always sticks in my mind when I think of the Isles of Shoals is the gruesome history of a double-murder which was fictionalized in the book The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve. Star Island has a Unitarian Universalist hotel on it which is very busy all summer long.
The island trees and brush are scrubby, the rocks are many, yet the light is stunningly beautiful. We walked around a little, but spent most of our time in the kid-friendly interpretive center playing with snails and crabs in the marine life touch tanks.
The last really fun thing I did on my summer vacation was take a cooking class at Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School The class title was "A Maine Summer Lunch with Pat Bagg". We made Tomato tart tatin (my favorite), Crab cakes, Corn Risotto, Blueberry Cobbler and Corn Ice Cream. We left with our stomachs full of delicious summer-inspired lunch and our hands full of Pat's recipes. She was a great teacher. She had been making these very same dishes for years and knew her ingredients and techniques hands down. She had such confidence and was a joy to watch work.
Overall, a lovely summer, with a delicious ending.
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