The 6th annual UMaine Extension Backyard Locavore Day is this Saturday, and the weather is predicted to be lovely. All the gardens will have dried out and be poppin' after this week's rain. Come enjoy a stroll around someone else's backyard and be inspired by ways you can grow and preserve your own food.
The 6 sites in Brunswick and Freeport showcase a variety of properties and gardens, so no matter where you're at on the food production/preservation continuum, you'll be sure to learn something. Tickets are only $15 in advance, $20 on the day of, and can be purchased online.
I will be demonstrating making homemade yogurt in Freeport, so I hope to see you! I will have a few copies of my book, Portland Food: the Culinary Capital of Maine on hand for sale.
Once the Locavore dust clears, I am so excited to be hosting Marisa McClellan on her book tour for her second preserving cookbook, Preserving by the Pint. Marisa writes the popular canning blog Food in Jars and published her first preserving cookbook by the same name in 2012. It's a great read, full of inspiring recipes like roasted corn salsa, blueberry-lemon syrup, and even rosemary salt. I'm excited to see her new book, which highlights small batches of preserves. I'm sure it will be inspiring and filled with beautiful photography like her first book.
Marisa will be at the UMaine Extension office in Falmouth on Thursday, August 21st from 7-9pm demonstrating three recipes from her second book. I'll be providing pairings for attendees to sample (I'm already brainstorming which local cheeses will go well with), and of course Marisa will sign books and have copies of the recipes she demonstrates on hand. The class is $15 and you can register online (we do expect this workshop to sell out).