The next part of my four day birthday weekend took me south to Portland, Maine. But only after I had a lovely breakfast of a spinach and sausage omelet. Please note the Confederate Army coffee mug from which I drank my black coffee. I was wondering why my coffee had a little extra bite to it:
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| Breakfast is Whole-30 and General Robert E. Lee-approved |
For those who haven't been, Portland, ME is a special little city, and my former home for about 5 years (and my backyard for another 5 or 6 more, when I lived in Gorham, ME during my undergraduate years). Portland is an unbelievably fun and friendly little city, with a small but thriving arts and music community. And the scenery is impressive, too:
For two years, I lived about 300 feet away from the Shipyard Brewery in Portland, Maine's Old Port. Every morning during the summer, I could smell the yeast as I left for work. Since I needed a new keychain bottle-opener, I made this my first stop in Portland.
Since fate likes to kick you in the junk every once in a while to remind you that you're alive, I managed to time my visit at the start of a group tour and tasting session. This would have been great news during any other span of 30 days. Instead of partaking in the merriment and trying new tasty brews, I sulked in the corner and sifted through a myriad of keychains, t-shirts, and other souvenir offerings. And then I paid and slinked out of the shop to the sound of clinking pint glasses and laughter. Sad day.
After a quick stopover at Coffee By Design for my 3rd coffee of the day, I made my way down to Lyman, Maine for an overnight visit with my friends Sarah Emily and Calen. If you've never heard of Lyman, don't feel bad; Lyman is so small, even some people from Lyman have never heard of it. Lyman is also in the middle of nowhere - which is very welcome after coming from the middle of everywhere in Boston. For five months out of the year, their driveway is both too steep and too snowy for my Toyota Yaris to ascend, which makes their house seem especially remote and cozy.
I first met Sarah Emily at LL Bean about 11 or 12 years ago, when we were both working as seasonal cashiers in the flagship store in Freeport, Maine. After I learned that a rival co-worker hailing from Alabama was stealing extra shift hours away from me, I felt like I needed to get to know her. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, right? Well, she ended up being quite nice, and we became friends. The following January, when we were inevitably laid off at the onset of the slow post-Christmas retail season, we decided to take a month-long backpacking trip through Italy:
That month in Italy was one of the best times of my life, and I've been good friends with Sarah Emily ever since. And now also with Calen.
When it comes to value-based diet restrictions (for lack of a better term) like vegetarianism, veganism, Whole 30, or Paleo - as I briefly touched upon in my last post - most outsiders usually fall into two camps: those who think you are just being a high-maintenance jerk who should shut the hell up and eat what everyone else is eating, and those who are curious and inquisitive about your restriction, and view it as a challenge to understand and to accept. Sarah Emily and Calen certainly fall in the latter camp, and were more than happy to experiment and prepare a delicious and amazing Whole 30-approved dinner...but of course I would expect nothing less from any of my friends than a little bit of good-natured taunting:
Dinner was fancy duck, roasted parsnips and steamed carrots. Dessert was - of course - fruit. The pictures really tell the story of the meal:
Needless to say, it was delicious. Sarah Emily really outdid herself. And I forgot to take a picture of the 'mocktail' I was drinking - club soda with fresh squeezed lime and mandarin juice. Refreshing! Coulda used a little rum, but still.
Breakfast the following morning was just as good. Red pepper and onion omelets, sausage, and adorable fruit cups:
This was almost certainly the best, most elaborate meals I've had while on Whole 30. You should ask Sarah Emily for the recipes.
For brunch (yes, I had breakfast and brunch on the same day!), I met up with my friend Kate. We went to a place neither of us had tried before in downtown Portland, Artemisia Cafe. Once again, I forgot to take pictures - sorry! It was a cozy little breakfast nook on Pleasant Street. The food was great, and they had about 5 different versions of eggs benedict - none of which I could try, sadly. In fact, there weren't a lot of things on the menu I could eat. Everything looked delicious, but with one or two extra ingredients to make each dish non-compliant. Instead of being the 'Chad' who substitutes ingredients in and out, I decided to order my breakfast off the sides menu. Who knew kielbasa would go so well with sunny side up eggs? I wasn't entirely sure that the kielbasa was compliant, but it was close enough. I had been this good for this long. Kate was also kind enough to eat the french bread toast that came with my meal.
So that was my four day weekend of eating! I thought it would be much more difficult to manage than it actually was, and so there was no real challenge to my challenge. All it takes is a little bit of planning and some family and friends who support your lifestyle decisions.
I first met Sarah Emily at LL Bean about 11 or 12 years ago, when we were both working as seasonal cashiers in the flagship store in Freeport, Maine. After I learned that a rival co-worker hailing from Alabama was stealing extra shift hours away from me, I felt like I needed to get to know her. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, right? Well, she ended up being quite nice, and we became friends. The following January, when we were inevitably laid off at the onset of the slow post-Christmas retail season, we decided to take a month-long backpacking trip through Italy:
In Italy, we also proceeded to take one of the greatest satirical tourist photos ever:
And the series kept going throughout the day in Pisa:
That month in Italy was one of the best times of my life, and I've been good friends with Sarah Emily ever since. And now also with Calen.
When it comes to value-based diet restrictions (for lack of a better term) like vegetarianism, veganism, Whole 30, or Paleo - as I briefly touched upon in my last post - most outsiders usually fall into two camps: those who think you are just being a high-maintenance jerk who should shut the hell up and eat what everyone else is eating, and those who are curious and inquisitive about your restriction, and view it as a challenge to understand and to accept. Sarah Emily and Calen certainly fall in the latter camp, and were more than happy to experiment and prepare a delicious and amazing Whole 30-approved dinner...but of course I would expect nothing less from any of my friends than a little bit of good-natured taunting:
 |
| Scotchy scotch with straws |
Dinner was fancy duck, roasted parsnips and steamed carrots. Dessert was - of course - fruit. The pictures really tell the story of the meal:
Needless to say, it was delicious. Sarah Emily really outdid herself. And I forgot to take a picture of the 'mocktail' I was drinking - club soda with fresh squeezed lime and mandarin juice. Refreshing! Coulda used a little rum, but still.
Breakfast the following morning was just as good. Red pepper and onion omelets, sausage, and adorable fruit cups:
This was almost certainly the best, most elaborate meals I've had while on Whole 30. You should ask Sarah Emily for the recipes.
For brunch (yes, I had breakfast and brunch on the same day!), I met up with my friend Kate. We went to a place neither of us had tried before in downtown Portland, Artemisia Cafe. Once again, I forgot to take pictures - sorry! It was a cozy little breakfast nook on Pleasant Street. The food was great, and they had about 5 different versions of eggs benedict - none of which I could try, sadly. In fact, there weren't a lot of things on the menu I could eat. Everything looked delicious, but with one or two extra ingredients to make each dish non-compliant. Instead of being the 'Chad' who substitutes ingredients in and out, I decided to order my breakfast off the sides menu. Who knew kielbasa would go so well with sunny side up eggs? I wasn't entirely sure that the kielbasa was compliant, but it was close enough. I had been this good for this long. Kate was also kind enough to eat the french bread toast that came with my meal.
So that was my four day weekend of eating! I thought it would be much more difficult to manage than it actually was, and so there was no real challenge to my challenge. All it takes is a little bit of planning and some family and friends who support your lifestyle decisions.
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