Recipe: Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Wondering what to do with your fresh spring rhubarb?

We were recently given some fresh rhubarb by a local grower/friend. Ruth made it into Rhubarb Apple Crisp. It was an immediate favorite of our guests!

Don't tell anyone, but here's the recipe:

Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 2 c rhubarb, cut in 1/2 inch pieces


• 2 Granny Smith or Braeburn Apples, peeled, cored and sliced


• 3/4 c Sugar


• 2 T Minced crystallized ginger


• 2 T Flour

Topping

• 1/2 c Flour


• 1/2 c Brown sugar


• 4 T Butter, cold, cut into chunks


• 3/4 t Ground ginger


• 1/2 c Oatmeal


• 3 T Granola (without dried fruit)

Procedure:

Place rhubarb, apples, 3/4 cup sugar, crystallized ginger, and 2 tablespoons flour in a large bowl and toss well. Turn into a greased 9 inch pie pan.

Combine topping ingredients, except granola, in a bowl and mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. Spread crumb mixture over rhubarb and apples, sprinkle with granola and bake at 350F for 40 minutes, until fruit is tender and topping is browned. Serve warm...with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and a little more granola sprinkled on top for garnish.

Bon appétit!

Planning Maine Day Trips from Freeport

Our two previous posts, on Planning Your Maine Getaway and Touring Some Out of the Way Places have merged into an idea of what type of day trips make sense from a relatively accessible area like Freeport, where Brewster House Bed & Breakfast is located.

Of course, if you can only stay a short time in Freeport, from one to three or four days, we would normally suggest day trips that are within about an hour to a two hour drive from here. That will allow for some absolutely wonderful sightseeing (several lighthouses, moose, beaches, rocky coastlines, hiking in state parks, exploring quaint villages, historic sites, and more). We've written a number of posts about these spots, such as our Ten Things to do Near Freeport Maine (Other Than Shop), 5 Maine Lighthouses You Can Visit (Within About An Hour of Freeport) and of course our series called Visiting Maine: Where to Find the Information You Need.

If you have the time, however, there is much more to see! In fact, that is one reason the official (and excellent!) State of Maine website has as its slogan, "There's more to Maine."

Our day trip up the coast to Lubec (just across the river from Canada's Campobello Island) is the proof that you can really cover a lot of territory in a day trip from Freeport. We were up and away early. While we have found that taking US-1 is not much different than taking I-295 to I-95, then back down to US-1, there was a big difference this time. The State of Maine will be doing major road improvement on US-1A between Bangor and Ellsworth, and the delays were (and will be through fall 2010) significant. Even so, once we were back to US-1 we drove along through the beautiful scenery until we reached Lubec, where we stopped to take pictures of the Lubec Channel light, then went on to West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking Quoddy Narrows and its (Canadian) islands.

After lunch we went into Lubec, where we photographed the Canadian Mulholland lighthouse (just across the river) near the Roosevelt Bridge to Canada and learned from a friendly museum curator about the smokehouse and its use in smoking herring.

As we returned south on US-1 we took several side trips, exploring the coastline near Cutler Harbor, Hancock Point, and the Schoodic Peninsula section of Acadia National Park, as well as Prospect Harbor, Winter Harbor, and vicinity. We also had time to visit Mount Desert Island and Bass Harbor Lighthouse, before returning to US-1, where we drove to Camden, Maine for dinner, then returned home.

Yesterday, in search of more lighthouse photos, we repeated part of the route as another day trip. We drove to Mount Desert Island, where we again visited Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, then decided to explore some areas of the island we had not seen previously. We found some wonderful harbors and vistas, then returned to US-1, where we went from antique shop to antique shop until they had closed for the afternoon.

All of which goes to show that even some fairly far-away sights can be included in a good day's activities, if you're willing to make a bit of a drive.

Maine Lighthouses - Touring some out-of-the-way places

One of the favorite pastimes of our guests is visiting the nearby Maine lighthouses. The closest one to Brewster House Bed & Breakfast is Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth. We also love to send guests to visit Cape Neddick Lighthouse (the Nubble) in York Beach, as well as Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse (Two Lights), Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Owls Head Lighthouse and Marshall Point (Port Clyde) Lighthouse. The locations of these and the other lighthouses in Maine can be seen on our lighthouse map.

Some of our guests are already aware that we're in the process of changing room numbers to room names, and that the names will be some of our favorite Maine lighthouses. We needed some new pictures of these lighthouses to put in the guest rooms, so we decided to venture a bit farther than most of our guests would normally go for a day trip from Freeport Maine. We went all the way to the Canadian border, to visit West Quoddy Head Lighthouse near the town of Lubec, Maine. We had a sparkling, sunny day, with vivid blue skies, as we visited this eastern-most point in the United States. While it made for a long day trip, it is a worthwhile one, and can be done with a (relatively) early start, and willingness to explore.

We were able to climb down the stairs from the park area to the rocky beach for some unusual angles to photograph the lighthouse. Since it was low tide at the time, we were able to scramble out on some of the rocks to get nice pictures back toward the beach and the lighthouse.

Across the waters of Quoddy Narrows is Great Manan Island, owned by Canada, while to the northeast, behind the lighthouse is Campobello Island, once a playground of the rich and famous, now a vacation spot that is part of New Brunswick, Canada.

While in the area, we went into the town of Lubec, where the Franklin Delano Roosevelt bridge connects the US with Campobello Island, and took photos of Canada's Mulholland Point Lighthouse, across the river, and learned from a local museum curator about the smokehouses, where herring was caught and smoked.

As we returned to the south on US-1 we turned left at Gouldsboro Maine, to take the loop that Route 186 makes, to Winter Harbor, then into the Schoodic Peninsula and the remote part of Acadia National Park that relatively few of those who visit Maine ever see. From there we could see lobster boats passing Winter Harbor lighthouse, and we were greeted on the road by an adventurous porcupine (from whom we kept a respectful distance)! We also were able to find some fine opportunities for pictures at Prospect Harbor and Prospect Harbor lighthouse.

We continued to Mount Desert Island, where we made for Bass Harbor Head lighthouse. We scrambled onto the rocks and took several photos, but were a little disappointed to find the sun almost directly behind the lighthouse, making picture-taking a bit difficult.

Driving back as night was falling, we stopped for some wonderful chowder in Camden Maine, then home to fall into bed, tired and happy after a full day of sightseeing!

Planning Your Maine Getaway

Spring is a glorious time to be in Maine! The flowers are in bloom and the azaleas are budding. Can the lupine be far behind?

As you think about your Maine getaway, consider how many days you want to spend here, and also whether you prefer to be on the move, changing locations every day or two, or make one or two locations your "base of operations", taking day trips from those spots.

It seems that most people who visit Freeport Maine either spend a night here, then travel on to their destination (to the north or south), or spend two or three days here, before going on to their next destination. Freeport is two hours drive north of Boston, and about three hours south of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Once in a while a group will spend their entire getaway here in Freeport. For those with only one day (almost all of whom leave wishing they had spent more time here!), we have to set priorities and limit ourselves to one or two activities, whether shopping, lighthouses, beaches, hiking, or whatever. Our "Only One Day for Freeport" article explores those possibilities.

If you have more than a day, we have suggested itineraries for you, with ideas for up to four days of activities based in Freeport. Nevertheless, we have had several groups stay as many as eight days, then leave saying there was so much to do here, that they would just have to return to do the things they missed.

Taking a hypothetical one week getaway, as you can see, we could suggest activities around the area that would keep you busy the entire time. However, if you want to see more of Maine, we would suggest spending three or four days in Freeport, and then another three or four days either in the northern parts of Maine (such as the Bar Harbor or Downeast Acadia area) or the western part of the state, where there are lakes and mountains (and a good chance of seeing moose in the wild). To see what the other areas in Maine have to offer, you may want to visit the State of Maine's website, or read through our series on the different regions of Maine.

In either case, while in the Freeport area, we suggest visits to several of the area lighthouses - Portland Head lighthouse, Pemaquid Point lighthouse, Cape Elizabeth Lighthouse (Two Lights), Goat Island lighthouse at Cape Porpoise, Cape Neddick Lighthouse (the Nubble), Owls Head lighthouse and Marshall Point lighthouse are all easy to visit and provide beautiful views. Reid State Park and Popham Beach State Park each have lovely beaches and natural beauty. Wolf Neck State Park and Bradbury Mountain State Park offer hiking trails and wonderful vistas. Lest we forget, there are many art galleries and museums, antique shops, lobster shacks and wonderful villages, all worth spending a few hours exploring.

Now is the time to firm up those summer holiday and vacation plans! The traditionally busy weekends are either full or filling fast, but many (Independence Day holidays - July 2-5, and Labor Day Weekend - September 3-6, for instance) still have rooms available. Book online or contact us by email or phone.