In the spirit of “Well what can we eat this time of year?” I thought this Sunday I would share the menu for the last Mud Season Dinner that I helped cater. This is an event sponsored in the spring by Food for Maine’s Future which showcases local food that is still readily available at this time of year. Remember the February Full Moon is called the Starvation Moon. Food stores were always low but with careful planning there was enough to get that family thru until the new harvest started.
Here is the Menu:
Soup Course:
Squash Soup (stored squash, local cream, local apples)
Shrimp Bisque (after all it is shrimp season)
Main(e) Course:
Maple-syrup Baked Beans (really delicious and easy to make even for 100 people)
Sausage stuffing (bread from local bakers and pork sausage from local farmers, onions from the root cellar)
Roasted root vegetables (the parsnips, potatoes, carrots and beets that are still down there waiting to be eaten)
Beet Slaw (usually with carrots too)
Beverages:
Cider (Hard and Sweet)
Maple Sap
Local Beers
Dessert Course:
Various Cheeses (especially goat’s milk cheese)
Apple and Blueberry Crisp (from stored apples and frozen blueberries using local oats and maple sugar)
Custard Pies
Pumpkin Pies
Anyhow you get the picture. Plenty of good food, plenty of variety. Yum Yum!
The Populist Farmer 