Maine Shrimp Season Off to a Good Start

There’s a report in today’s Press Herald on the start of the Maine shrimp season.

Mike Alfiero, whose family owns Harbor Fish Market on Custom House Wharf, said he planned to charge around $5.99 to $6.99 a pound for hand-picked meat, $3.99 to $4.99 a pound for headless shrimp, and $1 to $1.25 a pound for whole shrimp when supplies show up in display cases today.

Viva Lebowski & 13th Cookie

Today’s Press Herald includes an interview with Dave Cousins, the organizer behind this weekend’s Viva Lebowski festival at Bayside Bowl.

In Cousins’ mind, the event needed to be bigger than just a fun night out. His “reason” for doing the event came through a friend, Colleen Kelley, owner of Silly’s restaurant in Portland. Nicholas Stevens, a former Silly’s employee and owner of 13th Cookie, a local bakery of organic, vegan, gluten- and soy-free cookies, has multiple sclerosis, and a flare-up prevented him from working.

Cousins, who only knew Stevens casually, jumped at the chance to put his passion for Lebowski to good use. Stevens, Cousins said, is a humble guy who can’t believe complete strangers want to help him out. But Cousins sees it differently.

Today’s paper also includes a What Ales You column on winter beers.

Viva Lebowski & 13th Cookie

Today’s Press Herald includes an interview with Dave Cousins, the organizer behind this weekend’s Viva Lebowski festival at Bayside Bowl.

In Cousins’ mind, the event needed to be bigger than just a fun night out. His “reason” for doing the event came through a friend, Colleen Kelley, owner of Silly’s restaurant in Portland. Nicholas Stevens, a former Silly’s employee and owner of 13th Cookie, a local bakery of organic, vegan, gluten- and soy-free cookies, has multiple sclerosis, and a flare-up prevented him from working.

Cousins, who only knew Stevens casually, jumped at the chance to put his passion for Lebowski to good use. Stevens, Cousins said, is a humble guy who can’t believe complete strangers want to help him out. But Cousins sees it differently.

Today’s paper also includes a What Ales You column on winter beers.

Wine & Apps at Trader Joe's

The Portland Phoenixconvened a panel to sample a variety of the store’s cheap red wines, along with some of their representative frozen appetizers.”

None of this wine was much worse than what you might get from Hannaford for twice the price. The snacks were good for getting a bit of grease in the stomach between sips. Potato pancakes had street-vendor-latke simplicity with no discernable herbs. Lemongrass rolls had distinct and pleasant gingery flavor, and pastries topped with ham and a creamy bland cheese were not bad when piping hot. Mini chicken tacos were stiff and unacceptably tasteless.

Wine & Apps at Trader Joe’s

The Portland Phoenixconvened a panel to sample a variety of the store’s cheap red wines, along with some of their representative frozen appetizers.”

None of this wine was much worse than what you might get from Hannaford for twice the price. The snacks were good for getting a bit of grease in the stomach between sips. Potato pancakes had street-vendor-latke simplicity with no discernable herbs. Lemongrass rolls had distinct and pleasant gingery flavor, and pastries topped with ham and a creamy bland cheese were not bad when piping hot. Mini chicken tacos were stiff and unacceptably tasteless.