Grass fed beef with marinated squash

This was dinner last Saturday, along with a beet and orange salad. Of course, there's nothing to the beef at all. I simply salted and peppered heavily, and then seared for a couple of minutes on each side before allowing to rest. The marinated squash is more interesting. I fried the peeled, sliced, squash until browned in olive oil. At the same time, I brought a bit of cider vinegar and French chestnut honey to a boil, poured it all over the squash in a shallow crock, and allowed to marinate for about four hours before serving at room temperature. The flavor is of delicate squash with a bit of sour, but the touch of powerful chestnut honey gives it an interesting sweet edge.

Photos from Maine - A Friar's Bakehouse Loaf

Photos from Maine

Some food notes on my trip to Maine

Gendron's - a small gas station that also has terrific soft shell lobster. As one native Mainer told me, "they're so sweet, like candy".

Gosselin's Bakery - Excellent donuts, fresh in the morning. The perfect way to start off election day.

The Friar's Bakehouse - Ten years ago now, I bought a book called Country Bread in a bookstore in Scotland. It mentioned a small bakery in Maine run by friars that made real, honest, bread. Unbelievably, I ran directly into it in Bangor, and, remembering my much leafed through book, rushed in like a kid on Christmas. The bread, which we'll mostly devour on Saturday morning for breakfast, is rustic and excellent.

Bagel Central - much ballyhooed online, but the poppy bagel I had was super-stale.

Simpson's Oceanfresh Seafood - Another small seafood purveyor like Gendron's. Two 1 pound lobsters, cooked, cost me $10. I ate them furtively on the side of Route 1, the meandering road along the Maine Coast that eventually cuts back towards Portland.

Gay Marriage

Just to be entirely clear, though I thought the California Supreme Court's opinion legalizing gay marriage was an outrage from a legal standpoint, I would certainly have voted against proposition 8.  Some theoretical displeasure with how gay marriage appeared on the scene would not have justified taking away people's rights.

I guess the best result for me would have been a constitutional amendment at once overturning the California court's opinion and establishing gay marriage, but obviously, that wasn't on the table. 

Some more sober thoughts on this day

Of course, many of us who voted for John McCain are disappointed this morning. I certainly don't welcome Barack Obama's election, and will need a couple of days to salve my wounds. But my emotions and thoughts are more complicated than just a visceral revulsion at the prospect of a jubilant Hollywood, and hopefully I can describe them a little here, for my future reference if for nothing else.

For one thing, I cannot see how anyone could be unmoved by the scenes of African-American jubilation and pride we saw last night. I hope we can start the process of burying our racial wounds, and if that is the legacy of Obama, his election will have been worth it.

And on January 20, when he takes the oath of office, he will become for me the legitimate successor and heir to Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and all the rest. I see him as the physical manifestation of our people, our history, and our laws, and my loyalty to his office will be as fierce as my opposition to his likely policies. Congratulations to Obama and his supporters. I hope you'll understand that I can't join in your celebrations, and yet I wish Obama well (though well means different things than what you mean)

I hope that those who insisted that courts should undemocratically decide gay marriage are happy now. They wrought this.

I have been up in Maine trying to help McCain take at least one electoral vote in this state. While that effort failed, I have been tremendously impressed by the friendliness of this state, and especially of the Democratic legal observers I ran into while doing my rounds. Part of it was genuine bemusement at running into someone from my law firm, which they appear to view as a collection of bizarre aliens doing things better left undone in a city they'd rather not visit. But I also left the day clutching literally a dozen cards and far more lobster recommendations. I swear to you that I am not joking when I say that Gendron's Seafood sells Maine lobsters for $3.49 a pound. I was also left with the impression of what legal practice must once have been in New York, and also a deep sense of despair that the towns I visited, which once housed the American shoe industry and provided the lawyers I met with solid, lifelong clients, are now empty of mills and factories.

I found Bates College to be quite beautiful, in a New England kind of way.

I am getting in a car soon to drive back to Portland, and then get on a plane to New York. More contemplation to follow.

Well, ugh. More balanced thoughts later.