Wicked New England – Favorite Foods

Because there are five Wednesdays in March this year, let’s combine Wicked Wednesday with Wicked New England today.

Wickeds (and readers in the Comments section): What are your favorite New England foods? And which have you already included in one of your books?

Liz:  So much good New England food! I do love lobster rolls and French fries, but since I don’t eat real bread anymore  I’ve had to get creative. If I’m out, I’ll get the lobster on a salad (with the fries, of course!). At home, I found a fun vegan recipe reminiscent of the  traditional New England lobstah roll, but using tofu. It’s actually really good, and looks almost like the real thing! Since my books have food for pets, this, naturally, has not appeared. But maybe Stan will find a nice vegan cafe and try one…

Edith: Because of our long winters, when the growing season starts up it’s a huge treat to eat fresh local produce again in the spring. I suppose asparagus in May and local strawberries in June aren’t particular to New England, but I can never get enough of them. The first thing I did when I moved three years ago was prepare a wide bed for asparagus crowns. Breaking off a stalk and eating it in the garden is just the best, and I included Cam’s Marinated Asparagus in A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die. And then there are sun-warmed heirloom tomatoes a little later in the summer…

Jessie: One of my favorites is Anadama Bread. It’s a yeast bread made with cornmeal, oatmeal  and molasses. We used to eat it often when I was a child and every now and again I bake a couple of loaves. I included a version of it in my book Maple Mayhem, which is a speciality of the protagonist’s grandmother, named Grandmadama Bread. Since that series features a sugarmaker I substituted maple syrup for the molasses and was pretty pleased with the results.

Sherry: I’ve live a lot of places since my husband was in the Air Force. You end up finding different favorite things for different parts of the country. Moving to Massachusetts opened up a whole new food world for me! My very favorite which I’d never had before is a lobster roll — heaven on a bun, a New England style bun, of course. Next comes pizza — I don’t know why they taste different and oh, so yummy there but they do. And one slice is the size of your head. Then I discovered Italian pastries — cannoli and lobster tails, perfection!

Julie: I love clambake foods–lobster, clams, corn, potatoes. YUM. But to top it off, the real New England food–ice cream. We love our ice cream here. Coffee ice cream is a special favorite. I used to love frappes (shakes to most of you) , but now I’m wicked happy with a dish of delish ice cream. One of my favorites comes from Somerset Creamery in Cataumet (down the Cape). Cranberry Bog ice cream has craisins, cranberries, walnuts, and white chocolate. So, so good. There is some food mentioned in Just Killing Time, but the food talk gets ramped up in Clock and Dagger.

Barb: Since we’ve just passed St. Patrick’s Day, I have to go with a New England Boiled Dinner. That’s corned beef, cabbage and other vegetable such as potatoes, carrots, and onion. It sounds disgusting, but cooked properly it ends up being a smoky, salty delight with a little crunch left in the cabbage.

Readers: Favorite New England food? Please dish! (The groan heard round the world – hey, it’s been a long month…)