Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty-Two (Bread and Chocolate: Impress your Friends, Bribe your Kids!)

Oooooooh, finally, I got to try something I have been dreaming about:  Spelt Right Pizza Dough stuffed with the famous Death by Chocolate Sauce by Pemberton's Gourmet Foods in Grey, Maine.  It met all my expectations!

  Not long ago, I met Jim Robbins, the new owner of Pemberton's doing a local night at the Portland, Maine Whole Foods.  It felt a little strange being a consumer rather than a vendor that night, but it gave me a chance to explore.  And, explore I did.   First, meeting with Jim, and then becoming obsessed with the idea of a Spelt Right bread and Pemberton chocolate combination.   Jim is a neat guy; I immediately felt comfortable with him.  We both recently ventured into the specialty food world after leaving other professions (banking for him and law for me) following a passion to offer good food to good folks.   So, over the past few weeks I started pestering Jim.   "Hey, Jim, might I stop by for some chocolate to try with the Spelt Right Pizza Dough?"   Well, I reached him today, and he said a common phrase I often  hear regarding my many encounters. "My, you are persistent."   Well, persistence is a good thing in this business, and even better when you are in pursuit of some of the best chocolate in Maine.  "So, Jim, any chance you are going to be around today and you've got some chocolate hanging around?"   Hurray!  Scored!  Today I made my trek to Pemberton's and am so glad I did. 

Pemberton's offers an array of specialty sauces: some savory, some sweet, all delicious. You can buy them at Whole Foods, Hannafords, Micuccis, Rosemont and many other spots.   I was fortunate to try many of them on top of the Spelt Right Pizza Dough that I so handily brought with me.   The Death by Chocolate (I think of it more as Heavenly Chocolate) and Spelt Right Pizza Dough combo is a match made in Heaven.   Having it just once today wasn't enough, so I brought some home and made a few for the family to try.   TWO CHOCOLATE COVERED THUMBS UP!!!   At one point, Spencer was saying "MAAAUUUMMM" while he was sitting in the dining room as I was cleaning up drips of chocolate here and there.  "What?" I retorted, sensing that he was about to tattle on his sister again. "Ummmm" he said in this 13 year old dialect, "Ummmm, this is the best dessert I have ever had.  It reminds me of those things stuffed with chocolate made of wheat that I can't eat any more.  This is sooooooooo good.  Is there anymore?"  Enough said, these things are a hit, make them for your friends, they will be impressed.   Make them for your kids, they could be used as a bribe!

Ingredients: Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen), Pemberton's Death by Chocolate (we used both original and raspberry).   Preheat oven to 375.  Divide dough into 8 even balls.  Make small pizzettes, place about 1 TBL of the DBC in center.  Fold to make a triangle.  Leave a slight gap in the center or you will have a chocolate explosion.  Place on oiled baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown on the top.  ENJOY!

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty-One (The 10 Mile Trio)

I am on a Maine kick these days.   I am truly loving this state.   Perhaps it is a bit of infatuation with the streak of warm weather or the fact that a traffic jam lasts about 3 minutes.   Or maybe, it is something a little deeper.  There is a community culture here, a sense of openness and access that is hard to match.  A culture of neighbor helping neighbor, business entrepreneur helping business entrepreneur. A culture of mutual cooperation. 
And, so is the story of the 10 Mile Trio - a pizza made with ingredients sourced in Maine all businesses within a 10 mile radius of one another.  This 10 mile trio includes ingredients from Spelt Right Baking in Yarmouth, Maine, Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, and Olivia's Garden in New Gloucester, Maine.  If you have not visited Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, you should put it on your agenda.  It is a MUST stop on your visit to Maine.

  Ingredients:  Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen), Pineland Farms Tomato Basil Harvest Pasta Sauce (made with Olivia's Garden tomatoes), Pine Land Farms Fresh Cheese Curd, corn meal for the pizza peel.   Preheat oven to 450F.  If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven on the upper shelf.  Divide Spelt Right Pizza Dough into two even balls.   Stretch or roll out.  I placed these on a pizza peel generously sprinkled with corn meal, but you can put this on a lightly oiled stainless steel baking pan.  Top with Pineland Sauce, and Pineland Farms Cheese Curd.   If using a peel, tip the peel toward the pizza stone, and gently persuade the pizza with a spatula onto the pizza stone.   If using a pan, place in the oven on upper shelf.   Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until done.   The consensus from those with refined palates (Tim, Emma, Spencer, and mom) is that this is a richly excellent combination.   The comment from the peanut gallery, eight year old Olivia was that it was not plain enough.   Verdict? Two thumbs up.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty (Maine: The Way Life Should Be)

I should NEVER EVER complain about living in Maine, and, if I ever do during one of those long winters, remind me that I should NEVER EVER complain about this state.   It is simply beautiful!  We have incredible beaches just a stone's throw (If you have a great throwing arm) from where we live.  And, vibrant Portland with its cobble stone streets, world class restaurants, and bustling waterfront is just a 15 minute drive.  The Spelt Right bake house is in a historic mill enveloped by the Royal River which powers it.  And, if I were a skier and a hiker, I might mention the hills and the mountains, but I'm not so I guess I won't mention them....
AND, the LOBSTERS....I truly want to be vegetarian, but there are a few things that keep me from making the commitment.  Did I mention the LOBSTERS at $3.99 -$5.00 per pound, please.....AND, how about the fresh Haddock purchased at the Portland waterfront caught that morning?

Dinner on this beautiful Maine night.   Lobsters, Spelt Right Bread Sticks, Shipyard Beer (for papa).  The kids and mom were satisfied with filtered Maine tap water from Sebago Lake. 

Ingredients: Maine lobsters, Spelt Right Pizza Dough, powdered garlic (we love Frontier), extra virgin olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese, Shipyard beer

Directions:
Lobsters: We get the lobsters pre-cooked so will leave the directions for someone more experienced.  Spelt Right bread sticks: One Spelt Right Pizza Dough, fully thawed and risen, extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, pre-grated Parmesan cheese.  Pre-heat oven to 450.   Roll out 10-20 dough sticks, roll dough in EVOO, then sprinkle with garlic powder, then roll in Parmesan cheese.  Bake until brown on bottom.  Turn over and continue to bake until lightly brown.
Beer: pop off cap

PS:  I might complain just a little bit about the mosquitoes, but then again, I can be thankful for the simple curing powers of Witch Hazel....ohhh, my kids just love that name.

Lunch Box Chronicles Day Seventy-Nine (Amen! Peanut Butter & Jelly Angels)

What to do?  Summer camp and really no sandwich food in the house.  And, we just don't do pre-made store bought lunches or anything with artificial ingredients.   We have learned to always, always, always having a Spelt Right pizza dough ball thawing in the fridge.   It gives us a great base for diverse lunches, especially for Picky Olivia.    Tim (the loyal spouse and devoted dad) looked slightly desperate yesterday.   "What are we going to make?"   I had two quick solutions:  Viola!  Angels descended with PB&J wrapped in Spelt Right pizza dough (Olivia loved it!) and Olivia's Garden's Pesto (different Olivia!), mozzarella wrapped in Spelt Right pizza dough.

Ingredients and Directions:  One Spelt Right Pizza Dough fully thawed and risen.  The ingredients listed above.  This can make at least 10.  Preheat oven to 400-450.  Shape dough in 10 small rounds.   On a lightly oiled baking pan, place what ever ingredients you think might be tasty inside and make a triangle with the dough.  BE SURE TO SEAL ALL GAPS or the ingredients will come oozing out during the bake.  Bake at 375 until lightly brown on top.  Check out post DAY ONE for clear instructions on how to make the triangles. http://speltrightbaking.blogspot.com/2010/04/lunch-box-chronicles-day-one.html.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Seventy-Eight (Beach Fare)

Well, I finally did it.  I took off a day and went to the beach and it was DIVINE.  Ferry Beach is Scarborough, Maine is such a magical place with its shallow pools and creepy crawly aquatic life.  And,  it is especially cool when the tides are high enough to jump off the sand banks into deep water.   Spencer and I had a blast jumping and diving off while letting the currents carry us.   It brought me back to childhood, though the water somersaults made me much dizzier than when I was a kid.   With the beach, comes summer fare, packed in a cooler ....In Scarborough, we call it Scarborough Fare (without the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme)....I guess you need to know Simon and Garfunkel to appreciate that one.

We made some quick pizza triangles (fitayers) with Spelt Right dough, but also made some nice sweets with my favorite RASPBERRY CHAMPAGNE fruit spread from Fieldstone Farms.

Ingredients:  One Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen), Fieldstone's Raspberry and Champagne Fruit Spread.

Instructions: Cut dough into 4 equal balls.   On pizza peel, sprinkle finely ground corn meal generously (I like to use a an organic non GMO corn meal).  Roll doughto less than 1/4 inch thick on pizza peel.  Spread on fruit spread.   Roll and place on pan in 350 degree oven until brown on top.   Bring to beach!

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Seventy-Seven:The Perfect Maine Trio for a Very Hot Day (Spelt Right Sesame Bagel, Kate's Butter, and Fieldstone Farms Red Raspberry with Champaign Fruit Spread)

Today was HOT, is HOT, and promises to continue to be HOT.   HOT is not so great when you need to make 2,000 + bagels in a day in a non climate controlled bake house, but who is complaining?  Really, I'm not.  I'm just hot.  And tired, having worked a 9 hour day, packaging bagels, organizing the freezer, and cleaning the bakery.  But, the neat thing about today and this weekend is the YARMOUTH (MAINE) CLAM FESTIVAL.   I used to poo poo the Clam Festival, behaving a bit baahumbugish, but yesterday at the annual CLAM FESTIVAL parade, a change overcame me, a good one at that.

After another busy day at the bake house, I trudged up Bridge Street to Main to join my family for the PARADE.   I was preparing to poo poo the event, feeling really that I was above all this frivolity.  As I watched the bands, the kiddie paraders (keep on jumpin' Angus!), the endless mini cars and trucks from the Kora and Shriners, the pageant winners, the float winners, the emergency vehicles, the stilt walkers, the antique cars, the cheerleaders, and the various other ordinary folks entertaining the crowds, I could feel the PASSION.  And, I felt moved.  A little like the Grinch whose heart began to grow.  And, then looking around at all the vendors, artisans and craftsfolks (many of whom are friends and acquaintances) displaying all types of wares:  applesauce (Hey There Pastor Chuck), embroidered bird T's (nice work Whimsy!), Peace T's (way to go Meg + ALI), incredible fruit spreads by Fieldstone Farms (great to see you again David) it occurred to me that this annual festival is driven by passion.  And, passion is what makes the ordinary EXTRA-ORDINARY.   And, really, what is life without passion?

So, despite the hot and long days at work, I step back and realize I should stop kvetching about Spelt Right Baking because it is also driven by PASSION. 

And, today's dinner, a Maine trio, compliments of Fieldstone Farms, is a SPELT RIGHT sesame bagel (toasted), Kate's Butter, and Fieldstone Farm's Red Raspberry With Champagne, all natural fruit spread.  The perfect light meal for an extremely hot and busy day.

  I first tried Fieldstone Farms at the New England Products Trade Show.  I became a fan immediately. David Jones, who owns the company with his wife, Brenda, is a really nice guy AND this fruit spread is PHENOMENAL.  David and Brenda's niceness is somehow transferred into every jar of these amazing products.  If you haven't tried it, you should treat yourself (the Red Raspberry with Champagne is my favorite).   Here's their website.  Fieldstone Farms website.

Spelt Right Chronicles: Day Seventy-Six (Smiling Spelt Right Bagels by Steff D.)

Well, I typically do not post faces on this blog (have you noticed?).  Just hands and fingers and food, but I am making an exception here for Steff Deschenes, who posts her face on FACE BOOK nightly, opening her nightly dinner feats to her readers.  Steff is also the author of "The Ice Cream Theory," The reviewer in the Portland Press Herald is endeared to this book, calling it "a cozy, upbeat book that tells us a lot about people -- vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, even pistachio -- and how we often interact. Most of all, it offers fresh, insightful looks at ourselves. Seldom has a book with ice cream as its central metaphor been so endearingly warm."  AND, the book has won at least 10 indie book awards.   I haven't YET had time to read it, but it is at the top of my list. 

Steff is full of good energy, positive karma, and incredible drive for one who is 25 years young.   Imagine writing a book by 25 years young? 

Also, Steff is doing a little fund raising to help market her book.   Check out her site and, if you are so inclined, send her a buck or two or twenty.  Such good energy deserves support. http://steffdeschenes.blogspot.com/

Here's her Spelt Right Recipe for the night.

Cucumber and tomato sandwich with Vegenaise on a Sesame Spelt Right bagel.

PS:  Kind of curious that a vegan, or almost vegan, wrote a book about ice cream....more reason to check out the book.