Uncorked in Maine

UNCORKED IN MAINE is collection of recipes saved by my father-in-law, former Dover-Foxcroft, Maine Police Chief Herb Green. Making wine on Maine's hardscrabble farms was a common practice. These recipes were mostly hand-written on scraps of yellowed paper with frayed edges by my husband's ancestors. They embody ingredients that famers had handy: rhubarb, dandelion and daisy blossoms, grapes, cranberries, blueberries, choke cherries, blackberries, raisins and more. The recipes were not complicated, but they worked. Gallons of wine, often stored in the barn under the floors in sawdust filled boxes, relieved sore muscles and tired minds during brutal winters. Eking out even a bare existence on these hardscrabble lands was back-breaking work.

Over the years, I wondered how to use these snippets to honor these folks who lived with such Yankee ingenuity: determination, solitude and stiff upper lips. They wore pride like a favorite raiment, exuding toughness coupled with unchanging demeanor. After my husband's passing, I decided to put them into a book. I hope you enjoy the recipes, coupled with a few family tales.