Bakery Blog

Sam's Place hosted the Harvestfest's Pie Contest this past Sunday. It was organized by Saco Spirit Board Member Sally Howe. We were lucky to meet some of Saco's enthusiastic bakers, who were willing to share their pie recipes!

Sally Howe with Pie Contest winner Laura Mooney

Blue ribbon winner Laura Mooney won 9 Saco Spirit Christmas Ornaments for her Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie. Red ribbon winner Dianna Hill won a gift certificate for Women's Terapeutic Massage. White ribbon winner Diane Lamber won a gift certificate to The Candy Garden for her Carmel-Pecan Pumpkin Pie.

Their recipes are as follows:

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pie

Crust:
1 3/4C Chocolate Wafer Crumbs
6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, Melted
3 Tbsp Packed Dark Brown Sugar
Dash of Salt

Note: Do not use store bought pre-made crusts as they are too small for the amount of filling in the recipe

Filling:
6 Oz Cream Cheese, Softened
3/4 C Confectioner's Sugar
1/4 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/4C Smooth Peanut Butter
1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
2C Heavy Cream
1 Oz Dark Chocolate, Melted (for decorating top)
2 Tbsp Smooth Peanut Butter, Melted (for decorating top)

1) Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine wafer crumbs, butter, brown sugar & salt. Press mixture firmly into bottom & upsides of 9" deep dish pie plate. Bake 8-10 mins until set. Let cool completely on rack.

2) Make filling: Beat cream cheese, confectioner's sugar & salt with a mixer on medium. Speed until fluffy. Beat in peanut butter and vanilla.

3) In a seperate bowl, beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of whipped cream into peanut butter mixture, then gently fold in remaining whipped cream. Spoon into crust. Freeze uncovered at least 4 hours (or overnight covered with plastic wrap).

4) Before serving: Place melted chocolate in resealable sandwich baggie. Snip tip from one corner of bag to make a small hole. Hold about 5" above pie and drizzle over top. Repeat with peanut butter. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Caramel-Pecan Pumpkin Pie

Crust:

1/2 Pkg Ready-made Pie Crust

Filling:

2 Eggs, Lightly Mixed

1 15oz Can Pumpkin Pie

1/4C Light Cream or Half/Half

1 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 Tbsp Flour

Topping:

1/2C Chopped Pecans

2 Tbsp Softened Butter

1/2C Brown Sugar

3/4C Sugar

1/2 Vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare crust and place in 8" or 9" pie plate. Fold, crimp & decorate pie edge. In large bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, cream, spice, flour, sugar & vanilla until blended. Pour into pie shell. Cover pie edges with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and cover pie filling with topping. Bake another 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Refrigerate 2 hours after cooling. Best served with ice cream or whipped cream.

Colors of America

If you have been in the shop lately, you've noticed the moving of some displays. The goal is to have like items closer together, to make sense of the space. For example, the paint chip display is closer the actual California Paint products that it's representing now.


Following that logic, the massive "Colors of America" circular display needed to be closer to the paints as well. These Fres~Coat sample pots had to be taken down and then replaced to facilitate the move.


While putting the paint sample jars back, the system of color names proved interesting. Under the heading, "Historic Colors", were the standard reliable names the summon up stable thoughts of founding fathers and mothers: Asher Benjamin, Hawthorne Green and Lady Banksia. These shades welcome autumn back safely into your home and everyone admires them.


Then we have the "Color Revolution" heading. These are the names that tickel and surprise. Under the subheading "Hipster" there's a vibrant orange called Coctail Hour and a lush blue called Trust Fund Baby that gives that tasteful, prosperous vibe. Under "Empty Nest" there's What Inheritance?, a creamy cool butter shade and a peachy Breakfast in Bed color that flatters everyone's complexion. "Bachelor's" subheading offers colors like Alpha Male brown and The Ego Has Landed red that are fun.


For next summer(yeah, thinking that far ahead), the calm serenity of the "sancuary" colors is going to be my staycation inspiration. Nourish will be good for the woodwork, as it's that perfect greeny-blue that whispers summer. Calm is a basic white whit a hint of green that will make a great accent wall. Bask, looking like a blush, will make a great powder room tint.

This is the decade of purple, the industry's colorists crow. Until Refuge and Harmony appeared, there was serious doubt. But both these colors have a muted, peaceful hie that makes them seem karmatic.


So as each season arrives, the Colors of America circular display is a good place to look for new ideas in Fres~Coat and sometimes a giggle as well.

-Kathryn

Virginia Garrity's Dolls

My Grammy, Virginia Garrity, has been creating dolls since the 70's. She was featured in Maine Today, in the "Where's Amy" segment on news channel 13 and has been taking ribbons at the Fryeburg Fair for over 30 years. Recently, her Michele Obama doll was featured August/September issue of Soft Dolls and Animals Magazine. She's got a Barack doll finished that I'll have to get some pictures of.

Grammy, or Ginny as her friends call her, is a member of local art group Uncommon Threads in Saco. They have had group shows at Dogfish Cafe in Portland and Ginny has shown her work at The Heart of Biddeford Community Center.

Congratulations Grammy!

Biddeford Chalk on the Walk 2009

Photo by Samantha Milliken

Saturday, September 26 was the 2009 Chalk on the Walk Festival in Biddeford. Jim was featured in the Portland Press Herald. Here are the photos they took:

Jim's photo is also in the album up at Maine Today

Photo by Caraslifka

Dan Adam's (Buzz) robot won the contest, this is his picture:

Things To Do: September 19/20

Saturday, September 19, 2009

An Evening with Maine's Finest Songwriters, 8pm, City Theatre, 205 Main St. Biddeford ($20 balcony, $25 floor)

Maine's Finest Songwriters including Pete Kilpatrick, Marie Moreshead, Pete Miller and Anni Clark will be in Biddeford performing original acoustic sets. Anni is terrific, she's been performing her folk music for years. You may have heard her singing her folky-bluesy songs at Bebe's in Biddeford or North Star on the east end of Portland and she works here in Saco. If you've got a couple bucks to spend, this show should be great and it's always nice to support your local musicians!

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David Wax Museum, 8pm, Hog Farm Studios 140 Main St Biddeford ($6)

Another show in Biddeford, Hog Farm presents a mexo-americana quartet, David Wax Museum. I wish I had some computer speakers here at Sam's Place so I could check these guys out! (hint hint, have any old speakers??) I don't know what this band's all about but I fully trust Hog Farms will bring a good show!

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Eric Bettencourt's CD Release, 9pm, Empire Dine & Dance 575 Congress St Portland ($5advance, $8door)

If you're looking for something to dance to, Eric won't disappoint. This is his second cd release this year!! He's got a great voice, can really play that guitar and his band, Giraffe Attack, is awesome too. Come out and enjoy this music...I can't say enought good things about Eric and his new albums.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Farmington Fair, 8:30a-?, Farmington Fairgrounds ($5, $1 ages8-11, free ages under 8)

Sunday is the opening day of the Farmington Fair. I know it's a drive, but if you've got the whole day free, do some early leaf-peeping and head to the fair. Here's the schedule for the day:

• 8:30 a.m. - Steer & Oxen Scooting Contest (boys and girls, ages 9 to 15) in the Pulling Ring


• 9:00 a.m. - Team Penning in the Show Ring


• 9:00 a.m. - Farmers Steer & Ox Scooting in the Pulling Ring


• 9:00 a.m. - (running until 6 p.m) Western Maine Beekeepers in the Museum


• 11:00 a.m. - 4-H Working Steer Show in the Worthley Arena


• 1:00 p.m. - Peter Tracy Homeowner Chainsaw training in the Worthley Arena


• 1:00 p.m. - Midway opens


• 1:00 p.m. - (running until 6 p.m.) Mike Chase "Alderun Wood Creations" in the Museum


• 1:00 p.m. - (running until 6 p.m.) Western Maine Blacksmiths in the Museum


• 1:00 p.m. - Lawn Mower Pull in the Pulling Ring


• 2:00 p.m. - Para Mutual Racing at the Race Grandstand


• 4:00 p.m. - Farmers Ox Pull in the Pulling Ring


• 6:30 p.m. - Miss Farmington Fair Pageant at the Stage

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Maine Roller Derby Try-Outs, 6-8pm, Happy Wheels, 331 Warren Ave Portland

If you can skate and want to meet some fun people while playing a crazy sport, think about roller derby. Here are some myths about derby from the Maine Roller Derby site:

• Fishnets and/or skirts are required


• It’s fake or staged. We are athletes who train rigorously to excel in our full-contact sport.


• Come watch a bout and you’ll never doubt it again


• Size is an issue


• It’s “violent.” Roller derby is an organized, aggressive, full-contact sport with legal checks and blocks and ways to contact opposing players. Illegal moves result in penalties

Whatever you end up doing, have a good weekend and let us know what awesome things you've been up to!

-Jenna

Art Classes in the Saco Bay Area

If you're interested in learning to paint or draw there are a number of classes in the area. We hear about these classes when art students come in to gather supplies (we offer a 10% discount on art supplies to art students and artists).

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Judith Kinsman's "Watercolor: Beginners & Beyond" class starting this Wednesday, September 16th through the Old Orchard Beach/Saco Adult Education. Classes are held at Old Orchard Beach High School.

Judith also has a watercolor class coming up at the Saco Museum. Beginning October 7, Wednesdays from 9a-noon, the class will go for 4 sessions. You can go for all 4 sessions or just drop-in when you can.

Students rave about Judith's classes and take them over and over. She makes painting an art anybody can enjoy. She's had work in several solo and juried exhibitions. We try and keep all her supplies in stock so let us know if there's anything else you need!

Judith Kinsman's Watercolor, Hydrangeas

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Russel Whitten's "Inspirations in Drawing" begins October 19th continuing for 6 sessions and is also through the Adult Ed. The class will emphasize tonal drawing, the perception and composition of the appearance of nature, and form drawing.

Russel studied at MECA and in NY among other places and is a member of the Art Guild of the Kennebunks and The Ogunquit Art Association.

Russel Whitten's Self-portrait

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Biddeford Adult Education is offering "Hue Can Do It" by Priscille Verrier, an introducation to watercolor for those who might be a little nervous about it. No need, just sign up for this 12 week class starting Tuesday, September 15 from 3-5pm. Classes are held at the Learning Center in Biddeford.

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If you know of any art classes, please let us know!
-Jenna

Not Another Color Blog: Mehndi

I think I'll take a break from exploring color (though it is the quickest, least expensive way to change a space). Instead I am exploring Mehndi, thanks to Jim and Jenna. Okay, so I did not know what Mehndi was, though I am a huge Bollywood fan.

I have always been intrigued by the bride's (there's always a bride in a Bollywood film) painted hands. There seems to be such ceremony and affection, as the bride's hands are lovingly decorated with rich brown, rust or red henna shades by the women in her own family and those of her groom's. It is art and an intense communal effort at the same time.

So...Jim and Jen were making the rounds at the First Friday Art Walk in Portland. They met an amazing artist, Nev, and were totally enchanted by her and her intricate art. On their return to the shop, Jim showed me her promo card with her website: ReMarkable Blackbird and now I find myself immersed in her henna creations, researching Mehndi to my heart's content.

As I close this blog, I am going to steal a quote because it perfectly sums up my new found appreciation of an ancient art form: "Henna art is ephemeral and enduring...a journey of beauty, love, joy and luck." This is what Nev is exhibiting on her website and on her hands in her open studios on First Fridays in Portland.

-Kathryn

Note: All photos are Nev's. This is her beautiful work!