Highland Foods Store

Summer has come and gone according to the calendar, though yesterday could have been a day in mid July with plenty of warm sunshine. Billowing sails continue to grace the sea, and ocean waters warmed from the summer sun are delightful for early fall swims. Fall colors are starting to show here and there along the edges of swamps and marshes, and the osprey and summer tourists are migrating south for the cooler months ahead.

We have been enjoying our garden tomatoes and summer squash with Maple Pepper® and look forward to baked pumpkins seasoned with butter and, you guessed it, Maple Pepper®. We love to garden! This year we had a few surprises in our garden. A couple of volunteer potato plants popped up in the spring and produced potatoes the size of grapefruits! Now that is what we call a potato! Maine potatoes and Maple Pepper® go together naturally.

We can still find plenty of corn on the cob at our local farm stands. One customer wrote to tell us that whenever she has left over ears at the end of a meal, she cuts off the corn and cooks it with onions, a bit of butter, and Maple Pepper® for an easy side dish for the next evening’s dinner.

The Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival and Regatta begins today and runs through the 10th. Our downtown will be decorated with pumpkin giants on the order of 500 or more pounds, crafted into artistic masterpieces by our local artists. Festivities include dropping pumpkin giants from tall cranes onto derelict cars. And then there’s a pumpkin boat regatta where pumpkin motor and sail boats race to see which is the most seaworthy and fastest! The festival and regatta are a real hoot. If you are in the neighborhood, this is an event you don’t want to miss. Learn more at http://damariscottapumpkinfest.com/

Happy fall to you all.