End of Summer Lobster Picnic and New Traditions

Awaking this morning there was a definite chill in the air, I reflected on summer while drinking my coffee and thinking that it is... Labor Day! I look back with a  bitter sweetness and I will be missing the slowness that summer beholds to us and is replaced by a more hectic fall pace.

I already feel the shift, as my son gets ready for school as a third grader (gulp -where did the time go wasn't he just getting ready for preschool?) and he will be entering his last years in the single numbers as a  9 year old.

I love that we were able to slow things down a bit this summer and really cherish what summer offered us this year. We had a couple amazing trips and lots of fun on the water and at camps, garden's that are exploding with their bounties.

I wanted to share our last summer family adventure to York Beach, Maine

We explored beaches, tide pools, body boarding, surfing, relaxing, reconnected with friends from the previous year and unplugging from the world.

Because my husband is a true New Englander all the way through,  one thing that is a must when in New England = lobster. Andy grew up with lobster bakes on the beach at his grandmothers beach house on the New Hampshire coast. It is a tradition that I also experienced as a child when we summered at Aimhi Lodge on little lake Sebago in Maine.  At the end of the week there was the Lobster picnic that all the families look forward to.

We wanted our son to experience a similar tradition, we decided to have a lobster picnic of our own. The table needed to look special and we  brought some items from our shop  and some new items that were found locally in Maine.

Lily looks on to make sure that everything is looking the way it is supposed to setting the table. We found this wonderful chippy vintage table at our rental and realized this is the perfect color and size to stage our Lobster picnic.

My husband has an exact method of cooking a lobster,  we brought all our camp set up so we could cook outside and it worked out perfect.

Our picnic included clam chowder, corn on the cob cooked on the grill and of course lobster. Dessert was a wild Maine blueberry rustic tort I made from local blueberries. My son tried lobster but was not a huge fan- hence the pasta and butter all the more for Mom and Dad.

Table setting included: Enamel ware plates and mugs I found at Stonewall Kitchens in York Maine. The stoneware baking dish is our Potter Collection baking dish  and Farmhouse side plates that are found in our kitchen shop. The little stoneware butter dishes will be available as part of our new release coming soon,  sign up on our mailing list and you will be the first to know.  Our stoneware is fantastic to mix and match with other dishes and you can create anything from a formal look to super casual. Candles and Silverware are Pottery Barn , Wine Glass is found in our homeware  shop , Beer Sebago brewing Frye's Leep IPA , Maine sea salt Stonewall Kitchen . Lobsters we find are the best when you can find a small lobsterperson that you can buy direct from. We found our on the way home from Biddeford.

We hope that you enjoyed seeing some of our family summer traditions, we would love to know about yours!

XOXO,

Charity