Fruit Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Here's my take on a summer fruit salad. The twist is a Balsamic Vinegar infused with peaches or another flavor of your choice. This can be drizzled over any ripe fruit to give it a fresh tang.

Two small plums

One white peach

One nectarine

1/2 cup wild blueberries

1/2 lemon- fresh squeezed juice

One tablespoon peach infused balsamic vinegar

Chop the plums, nectarine and white into small equal sizes cubes- no bigger than an inch. Add fresh or frozen wild blueberries. Combine in a bowl. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over everything and add one vinegar. Stir and taste. More vinegar can be added.

You can also try fig, vanilla or any other dessert flavored infused vinegar to give your fruit salad a summery taste.

My Campaign to Eat My Way Through Maine

My campaign to eat my way through Maine has been in progress since last August. I brought my husband up to Northern Maine on a four day vacation and I told him, "You can't diet in Maine. The food is just too good." Our first stop on our drive from New Jersey to Bar Harbor was a little whole-in-the-wall breakfast place in Kittery. If you get off the exit for the shopping district, and pass Kittery Trading Post and all the outlets, eventually you will find this roadside little restaurant sharing a parking lot with a gas station. My husband had wild blueberry french toast stacked three layers high with jam and butter smothered between the slices.

Back in the car and our next stop Boothbay Harbor. This is the land of homemade salt water taffy, flavored popcorn and one of the largest lobster rolls I've ever had in my life. At every turn there's homemade ice cream, fudge, candy-- walk the streets and you expect Willy Wonka to pop out from behind a door at any moment.

From there we headed up 95 and then eventually made our way to Bar Harbor. Our first night we ate at the Fish Grill down on the waterfront. Another very large, sweet delicious lobster roll. (Yes, two rolls in one day. I was on vacation!!!!) It was so good we went back the next night. (I had the small, sweet, local fried clams at the bar with a cold beer.)

Other great stops:

• The Blueberry Pancake House on Cottage
• Two Cats the ultimate breakfast stop (go early or you will have to wait)
• Maggies- yummy cooked to order gourmet dinner -make a reservations.
• Geddy's- always great food, large portions and fast service. The menu is vast!

Heading into Bar Harbor Route 3 is lined with lobster pounds. I encourage you to try every one!

Spring is here, summer is right around the corner. My motto... Head Downeast and feast.

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Wine, wine, wine

Over the holidays, my friend Carl handed me a gift bag and said "Have this one night with your husband, when you can just sit and relax and enjoy. This is one of my favorite bottles of wine." I didn't even open it. Instead, I tucked it away in our wine cellar and there it sat since last December. When I finally cracked it open last weekend, the bottle lived up to its promise. Shafer Merlot, a 2007 from the Napa Valley. My favorite wines all come from Napa and Sonoma and the wine was completely what I had hoped for. That deep rich color, the smokey, earthy and almost pungent taste that is is distinctly from that Northern California volcanic soil. I highly recommend this bottle for California Merlot lovers. I also had the priviledge of drinking Mariner, Dry Creek Vineyard, 2006 Meritage. This was a gift from my husband and comes from the Healdsburg and Sonoma region. Wonderful wine but the Shafer made a more lasting impression.

2007 Shafer Merlot Napa Valley 750ml

I'm eating the same food as my dog!

Yes, it's true, my dog and I are on the same diet. Surprised?

Two months ago my vet diagnosed my 10 year-old dog with severe back pain. Pepe, my Bichon Frise-Cockapoo mix started a course of steroids for the pain. Little did I know that the aspirin he had gotten the day before, combined with the steroids, would upset his stomach and result in a bleeding colon for five days.  After going through a series of emergency vet visits to get my dog stable, I decided I was going to try any natural healing methods I could find to help stabilize my dog's digestive system, so I visited my local holistic pet store.  

I explained to the storeowner all the issues going on and she suggested, "You should just feed him natural table food. It's much better than the dog food out there. It's much healthier for him."

Bing. A light went off in my head. Over the last year I have drifted off my very healthy diet. My schedule got busier and my diet slid downhill to a menu supplemented with frequent off-hour visits to fast food restaurants. I've been trying to get myself back on track and maybe this is exactly what I need... to eat what my dog eats. Yes, that's it!

To start, I knew Pepe would be eating a few blueberries a day. I had been told by our vet that blueberries would help get rid of the red discharge collecting under his eyes. So out comes the bag of wild frozen blueberries at dinnertime and it gets mixed in with his food. For me, a half-glass of bubbly seltzer with the frozen blueberries floating on top. Yum. Fizzy, chilly and I know it's good for me.

Since my new commitment to my dog's health, my shopping is now honed in on fresh green beans, carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes and Idaho potatoes. My dog can eat endless amounts of cooked veggies. He loves everything! He likes more veggies than I do. So in this ironic role reversal, my dog is my Jenny Craig, my weight watchers buddy, my "personal consultant." I just look into his deep, dark eyes and think, "If it's good for you, it's good for me."

Baked Potatoes and Carrots

It's a spring Sunday and I'm feeling the need to have a lot of veggies for dinner. I was looking for a recipe that would help you prepare the perfect baked potato. I found this one on FoodNetwork.com. What I like about the recipe is that you coat the potatoes in oil before baking.

I used convection bake at 325 and I added carrots into the mix. The carrots cooked a little faster then the potatoes, so if you like them slightly al dente, I suggest removing them early. My oil of choice, olive oil. A dash of sea salt when ready. Yum. Healthy too.