Rocky Coast

Every other summer, my mother’s side of the family heads to Maine for a two-week getaway. My grandmother grew up in Maine, and her brother and 106-and-counting year old mother both still live there. My mom is one of five children, so the house is always packed and the tables overflowing.

The best part of these biannual trips is the food. We are a “cooking” family, blessed with more than a few talented chefs. Each year is a mini Iron Chef competition, each branch working to wow the crowd. I am a happily designated food-eater and dish-washer.

Beach by our house

After dinner comes a round of card games, Clue, or—the group favorite—charades. We are a competitive family. Our mother taught us young to “breast our cards” as she handily guessed all of our cards in Go Fish. Charades always brings out this playful competition…each team trying generating increasingly difficult or embarrasing clues.  The game that will always go down in infamy is when fourteen-year-old me tried unsuccessfully to act out “Debbie Does Dallas” to my confused team of my father, grandmother, nine year old brother, and uncle….the FULL two minutes. Needless to say, Maine is always full of good family fun, but it’s not necessarily always wholesome.

This year in Maine was slightly shorter due to increasing grown-up responisbilities and limted time schedule; however, our retreat to the rocky coast had all the restorative powers I remember from my childhood. Each year the cousins get taller, but the food always stays fantastic.

Fruit Pizza: Always the kids' favorite dessert to make