Northern Nosh

I want to talk about lemons.  Inspired by a friend’s recent blog post,  Kitchen Chronicle, I felt the time had come to honor the citrus in my life.  I sense the distance in them. They have traveled far and without them where would I be?  A splash of lemon in most anything can brighten, zip, or energize a dish from fine to fabulous.  Even water can benefit from a little lemon…Now there maybe those out there who are repulsed by the notion of lemon in anything…this blog is not for you.  We lemon lovers, well, we live on the edge, perhaps a tart edge, but hey, lemons can make all the difference on a cloudy, blustery, damp March day in northern Maine.

Spring comes late to the North Country.  As I write this we still have ice on the lake, ice you can walk on, ice that is at least still 8-10 inches thick.  The yard is muddied, strewn with patches of deep snow.  The snow is crusty and rotten; everything is brown with dirt.  Times are desperate.  Here is where we haul out the big guns and blast our way towards the fresh, light, zippy taste of summer, with of course, lemons leading the way.

My dear friend Andrea blogger of Kitchen Chronicle passed this recipe along in her blog a few weeks ago and I knew immediately that is was the antidote to my moody, muddy, March.  I made it right away, in my version of the recipe I sprinkle dried lavender leaves on top. You can find the recipe for the Lemon Polenta Cake on her site. http://kitchenchronicle.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/lemon-polenta-cake-or-early-spring-cabin-fever/  Go ahead and move to spring, it is time…the lemons will help.

We know this is a tough time of year…cabin fever, mud, slush all seem to bar the way on our slog towards the warmth and light of summer.  But slog away we must, at least outside, but not in our kitchens.   The River Driver’s is most excited to finally haul out the spring recipes for our Easter Brunch Buffet.  Come join us for all the fresh tastes our kitchen has to offer,  hold the lemons, have the lemons…we aim to please.

Easter Brunch Buffet, April 24th, reservations required, seating 10am-2pm.  Find the menu on our Special Events tab in the header.