Only a five and half hour drive separates Boston from Acadia National Park located in the northern part of Maine. We love it up there. We have reached a point where the Atlantic ocean meets gorgeous mountains. The pleasure of enjoying both at the same time.
I know well that you are perhaps all waiting for the DMBLGIT results. But if you permit, I am asking for just a little more patience! And my excuses are good, trust me. Beside, it was planned.
As I am currently still enjoying the beauties of a short vacation week in Acadia National Park in Maine, I have less time to spend on line or in the kitchen, and oh yes, that feels good too! Our days are spent hiking long hours in this magnificent park, eating simply, from packed picnics to homemade cooked meals at night, while pretty much enjoying an almost entire disconnection (well, I am on line, so this means that I still need progress to get to a hundred percent, don’t I?). And this time, we were able to enjoy a vacation destination that we drove to instead of the long flights we usually take. Benefit? Pack the car to the roof!
Well, almost.
Let me take you on a tour of one of our usual hiking trips, if you will.
- Prepare a short list of possible meals to have, and plan your shopping around them — which is what I did
- Pack homemade cookies or a cake. I made langues de chat (cat’s tongues) and a Dark Chocolate Cake made with Amaranth flour, great to pack on the trails, or eaten at night with a cup of tea
- Do not forget your Thermos for a cup of tea at the top of the mountain. Oh we love ours! And why not, bring a teapot to prepare your favorite teas (packed as well). I have so many Japanese iron teapots that one is now devoted to travel!
- Bring your favorite Chef’s knife with you, you never know what cooking utensils you will find in your rental place. As it turned out and was to be expected, our cottage was quite basic with cooking utensils
- Take your favorite ground spices with you. I brought cumin and coriander that served well for the marinated lamb skewers I made on our first night
- Take fresh herbs well stored in zip-loc bags. I used mine for the Asparagus Pesto I made the second night
- Pack a vegetable grater and your favorite vegetable peeler. It really served me when I grated carrots to pack on trails, or when I wanted to slice zucchinis to be sautéed. I have too many bad memories of poor quality vegetable peelers I literally fought with to get decent results.
- All right, I can confess that this time, I even pushed it even further. Since I really wanted us to prepare my Asparagus Pesto, I brought a small travel-size food processor. I usually only use it to chop large quantities of herbs, if I need to. It worked great to grind the garlic, pine nuts, coriander and blanched asparagus
- And yes, you can laugh now and open your eyes wide, but I also decided to bring a juicer with us — it is not a typo and I know, not your usual travel size at all — because I am currently loving carrot/apple juices in the morning. And let me tell you, there is no regret here that I did this extravagance !
- And last, I also wanted to make sure that I would have a good non-stick frying pan for the Spanish Potato Tortilla I wanted to prepare for the trails — I have seen so bad ones before in the cottages we rented! I hope you will enjoy it too. Scroll down below for the recipe. We enjoyed it at breakfast too!
Just the necessary — and more — to be comfortable cooking great food on hikes, you know!
My newest cooking/eating hiking purchase: foldable cups and plates ($6 each). It only takes 30 seconds to put them up together (well P. made a point of timing me because remember, I am not known as being so good at assembling things!)
Incidentally, the people working at this UK-based company would be in need of some help with the French translation. Argggghhh, grammar mistakes drive me nuts!
Of course, on ne perd pas le Nord non plus ! Always enough time to spend relaxing by the pool in the last place we stayed in, to be pampered.
And, as odd as it seems, I don’t seem to have taken many food shots at all. I thought about it, many times, but for some odd reason, it did not happen. Did we eat out? Once, but nothing to remember or write about, really. At least I had some Lobster. And Blueberries.
It proved that we went to Maine indeed.
A bientôt !
You need:
- 1 large Yukon Potato
- 4 large eggs
- 3 to 4 scallions
- Dash of ground cumin
- Chopped fresh coriander
- Salt and pepper
- Olive Oil
Steps:
- Peel the potato and dice it. Rinse under water and pat dry.
- Heat 2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil in your non-stick frying pan. When hot, add the potato and cook on medium heat until tender (about 8 to 10 min, according to size). Remove.
- Beat 4 eggs in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add a dash of ground cumin, the chopped scallions and coriander, and the cooked potato.
- Heat 1 to 2 Tbsp in your frying pan again and add the egg/potato batter. Cook on medium heat for a few min, before covering.
- Cook until the top is almost set, then gently flip on the other side (use a plate to flip the tortilla on it first before putting back in the pan). Cook on the other side until set. Eat warm or pack in plastic wrap to be eaten cold while traveling, or on the trails.
Ingrédients :
- 1 grosse pomme de terre à chair ferme, type Yukon
- 4 gros oeufs
- 3 à 4 oignons tiges
- Une pincée de cumin en poudre
- Coriandre fraîche, hachée
- Sel et poivre
- Huile d’olive
Étapes :
- Pelez la pomme de terre et coupez-la en dés. Rinsez-les sous de l’eau froide et séchez-les.
- Faites chauffer 2 à 3 càs d’huile d’olive dans une poêle anti-adhésive. Faites cuire les dés de pomme de terre sur feu moyen jusqu’à ce qu’ils soient tendres (environ 8 à 10 min, selon la taille). Retirez.
- Battez 4 oeufs dans un saladier. Assaisonnez de sel et de poivre. Ajoutez une pincée de cumin, les oignons tiges hachés et la coriandre, ainsi que les dés de pomme de terre cuits.
- Faites chauffer 1 à 2 càs d’huile d’olive dans la poêle anti-adhésive et ajoutez le mélange oeuf/pomme de terre. Cuisez pendant quelque minutes avant de couvrir.
- Cuisez jusqu’à ce que le dessus soit presque entièrement pris, puis retournez (utilisez une assiette pour vous faciliter la tâche en faisant d’abord glisser la tortilla sur l’assiette avant de la remettre dans la poêle pour cuire le deuxième côté). Poursuivez la cuisson jusqu’à ce que le dessous soit bien pris. Retirez. Mangez chaud ou froid, à emmener sur les chemins de randonnée.
Technorati Tags: Food Styling, La Tartine Gourmande, Food Photography, Spanish Tortilla, Acadia National Park, Maine, Hiking Food
Oh my… And to prove you aren’t just talented at photographing food, you add some pictures of the natural that take my breath away! So wonderful.
what a great get-away!
Hi! I Adore your blog, photos and recipes. If you could only know what you’ve done to my cooking!
Please oh please share the recipe for your dark chocolate cake? It looks incredible, all crisp outside and melting within!
Mais quelles photos, mais quel voyage! Je prendrais bien un gros morceaux du Dark chocolate cake!
quel plaisir de te relire! c’est superbe
That place looks heavenly and ever so peaceful! Your pictures are always very stunning…
Et ce cake, j’y goûterais volontiers!
The plates look so perfect for a hiking trip!
Is the loaf pan you did the little cake in an old one? I have a baguette pan with that texturing that I really love and can’t find them anymore.
We always travel with our Laguiole OpenL(not the right spelling) but I can see that the chef’s knife would be a lot more useful for what you did.
I love the equipment you took – all very focused and purposeful and put to excellent use.
Your on a trip like we love. Happy trails.
Je me jette sur cette tortilla pour contempler une nouvelle fois tes photos !
Que la nature peut être belle si on prend la peine de regarder. Tu le fais très bien et tes photos le prouvent bien.
Bien à toi
verO
J’ai adoré ton reportage, et j’ai finalement reussi la recette de tortilla. Merci pour tes hints.
Un très beau reportage, tes assiettes m’ont fait rire, notre cousine qui vit à san francisco nous avait offert une lampe dans le même style.
Hello Béa! J’aime beacoup ton blog, and I’m de-lurking to welcome you to the ranks of Tortilla-de-Patatas-for-breakfast Lovers. It is one of my favorite foods to eat in the mornings, and just knowing I have some of it ready in the fridge makes me jump out of bed in happiness! 🙂
Make me want to take a hiking trip soon.
Pour la traduction de la vaisselle, cela commence mal lorsqu’il y a des fautes dans les noms de produit.
Beside the translation, would you buy them again?
sympa la vaisselle pliable 😉
tes récits de voyage sont aussi beaux, merci…
Magnifiques photos du Maine…
Bea, Your photos just get better and better all the time. Bisous from France, Riana
i love the pictures, really !
Great pictures. I love the pic of Acadia pond the best. There’s nothing like having your own utensils when you cook!
I _so_ second the request for the cake recipe. It looks phenomenal.
I also second the request for the cake recipe, particularlyif it gluten-free, as the amaranth flour suggests. It would be highly appreciated. cheers
Oui, la recette du gâteau, s’il te plaît. Les photos sont superbes, comme d’habitude.
I love your hiking and nature posts! The writing and photos are so inspiring!
Thanks Molly. Sweet of you!
Kat, it was indeed! I could have stayed for another week, easy!
Damedini, thanks so much for your nice note. You know, this is the best compliment you can make to me! It makes me very happy that I am inspiring you, and others, to cook! I will post the recipe for the chocolate cake later!
Sha, merci!
Claude, merci bien. Et contente de voir que tu t’es amuse aux USA.
Rosa, merci encore une fois. Acadia, c’est super beau.
Tanna, oh yes, this is a great point. Can you believe that this time, P. forgot his knife? We kept wanting it!
Sophie, ahah, mais que oui! Merci.
Vero, merci de ton gentil commentaire.
Texmex, eh bien j’en suis super contente. Le meilleur feedback!
Bergeou, ahah, oui, une lampe?Je voudrais la voir!
Marta, oh thank you! We love the Spanish for their food and tortillas. I am sure yours must be heavenly!
Kim, yes indeed. Especially when it literally takes 1 minute for someone to proof-read two sentences, right? But I like the products, no doubt.
Peggy et Cocotte, merci beaucoup !
Riana, merci beaucoup! You are nice!
Leonine, thank you!
Veron, oh yes, isn’t it the best thing?
Vladimir and Elizabeth, I will post it later. Need to make it again and take new pictures!
Mary, oui oui, ca arrive 😉
Joey, thanks so much! I am pleased to read this, really!
Where did you stay in Maine? I am planning a trip and would love a recommendation…
Christina,
Check Emery’s Cottages on the Shore, in Salisbury Cove near Bar Harbor (http://www.emeryscottages.com/) Not fancy cottages but great location, quiet. We also discovered NorthEast Harbor which we liked. Less busy than Bar harbor and easy access to the National Park!
I grew up in Southern Maine but had the chance to go to Acadia a few times… it is so beautiful – Your photos are amazing!
I now have a new place to add to my growing list of places I want to visit before I die!! How gorgeous!
I seem to be moving to Maine!
Oh my gosh, I want to be there NOW! So beautiful (as always, we share the same taste in vacation getaways!:-)
As always, going on vacation with you is a pleasure! Thanks for bringing us along.
isn’t Maine wonderful! I hope you had tea in the Jordan Pond teahouse and made sure to try the blueberry pancakes at Jordan’s in Bar Harbor:)! It’s such a magic place, our family used to always agree to not eat lobster anywhere else and then stuff ourselves so full with lobster, bisque, lobster rolls,etc. that we wouldn’t miss it all year! Oooh and I hope you’ve tried some of the old fashioned fudge shops – Maine’s answer to Laduree:).
What a wonderful post! I’m in a wedding in Tenant’s Harbor in September, and now I’m really looking forward to it!
Invaluable tips for someone who intends on camping a lot in the future. Thank you.
Thanks all again. Indeed, a great place to be, for great Nature and hikes. And quietness, especially at the top of the mountains!
Chef’s knife, vegetable peeler, frying pan, tea pot – you had me laugh out loud, finally somebody who travels with those essentials too (first thing I shopped for here in Vienna, was a good chef’s knife, a 100 Euros well spent, I can’t believe how often people use puny little knives, what a waste of energy!)! I also pack my own tea leaves and disposeable paper tea filters, I can’t live without good tea.
Those cups and plates look very practical, I have to look for them here, thank you for the tip. The pictures on their own speak of the very good vacation you must have had. I hope your workload is easier to carry with renewed energy.
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Hi Bea,
thank you for your blog, i love it.
would you please share the recipe for the glutenfree amaranth dark chocolate cake?i am on a glutenfree diet and this cake looks delicious, and i’m always looking for new good recipes!
Thank you.
Sophie.
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Bonjour Béa, I stumbled upon your blog through Design Sponge and I adore it. I want to LIVE in your photos. My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Bar Harbor/Acadia and we loved it. I’ve got some food issues and can’t wait to try some of your gluten-free recipes!! Will be checking your blog often, please know that your work is much appreciated and admired!
Guess what?! When I was reading the things you packed into the car, I was thinking. Yeah, you know, I will bring that too, and this too and that also! I will bring the juicer for a Carrot and Celery juice. Many poeple I know shun away from that taste cuz it tastes too raw. And that’s the same reason why I like it!
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