Okay so it's July 2. Two days before the Fourth of July, which, coincidentally, falls on the fourth this year :-)

I took a break from writing over the weekend, which is kind of unusual for me, of late. I’m usually scrambling to get at least this food column done by Sunday so I don't wake up in the middle of the night sweating, thinking, “OMG! What am I going to write about THIS week!”

At the risk of sounding like a small town columnist (which of course I am haha) my sister and mother are up from Fort Myers for a vacation at the cottage. I don't have to tell you where that is, right? I have told you at least 50 times IT'S IN CUSHING!!!

So anyway they came down on Friday after I had scrambled all day (I'm hoping my editor and publisher read this) to finish a couple stories before Friday night, so I could relax and have fun with them over the weekend.

We did. We ate, drank, and laughed. A lot. My brother, Peter, and his wife, Kerry, live in Boothbay, so we got to hang with them too.

We ate out at a few local restaurants. Fish and chips all around at the Carriage House on Friday night. Perfect fried haddock. Very fresh fish, light, crisp and golden brown, with fries and some yummy cole slaw. Kelly runs a special every Friday night: a plateful of scrumminess :-). He threw in an order of his ridiculously delicious salt cod cakes too.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at Ship’s Chow Hall in Wiscasset. Have you eaten there? It’s the kind of little, unassumingly innocuous place you’d probably drive by if you didn’t know how great the food is. Everything is fresh, made with the best local ingredients, and the owner, Tina, is a hoot. (I don’t think I’ve ever used that word. It’s something an old, small town columnist would say. Uh oh.)

I don’t usually eat muffins. They’re so fattening, and of course you HAVE to have them with plenty of butter. But whenever I go to Ship’s Chow Hall I order one. They are ridiculous. Wendy had one too, because I told her she had to. Wendy is void of fat around HER waist. Life isn’t fair sometimes.

Anyway. Saturday night we went to the opening celebration at Brad and Danielle Betts’ new Down East Gallery in Edgecomb. I wrote a story about it, and the beautiful barn, where there was some great music, including Brad and his son, Ben, playing guitar and singing. Burgers&Freys food truck was there. Wendy said, around 15 times, it was the Best. Burger. Ever. It is. The fresh-cut fries are, like, perfect, too.

Soon, along with Brad’s beautiful paintings, and music in the barn whenever the spirit moves them, there’ll be a vineyard on the hill overlooking the 35-acre field behind the house. You know what THAT means: Wine! Art, music and wine. Hello.

Okay, so, food. On Sunday morning I made breakfast for Wendy and mum. Wendy wanted something she only gets at my house and the cottage: Creamed asparagus on toast. I’ve told you about it before, but if you haven’t made it, and you like asparagus, you really should. Cook asparagus in an inch of water, reserving the liquid. Make a roux, with brown butter. (Thanks Alex Tallen.) Stir in the asparagus liquid, then throw in the asparagus. Serve over toast.

We had bacon with it, and a bowl of white flesh peaches and native strawberries, with lemon noosa yogurt and a cherry on top.

Then, because I had pretty much given up on retrieving a waist, we had lunch at Robinson’s, on Southport.

Wendy makes a point of stuffing herself with Maine seafood during her too brief stints in Maine. She had fried haddock, again. I had a Reuben. Mum had some clam chowder. Peter, the more health-conscious of the crew, that day at least, had a salad with seared fresh tuna. Everything was great. And I’m not just saying that because I love the new owners, Kellie and Craig Slater. The food is great.

We stopped at Wicked Whoopies on our way home, and stocked up on Whoop-De-Doos. I will be eating those with a big glass of WHOLE milk. My svelte sister has convinced me that whole milk is less fattening than skim. I kid you not. Google it.

Over the course of the weekend we drank a few manhattans on my new deck. Have I mentioned my new deck? It’s really nice. An “old friend” built it. That was a fiasco at times. One for the memoirs. Then my first husband built the steps and walkway leading up to the deck. Another one for the memoirs :-).

Mum and Wendy headed back to the cottage late Sunday afternoon, and I had my first cookout (and a manhattan, duh) on my new deck. There were five of us there. Elliot the dog, Ruby the cat, and me, myself and I. I burned the chicken, but the grilled summer squash was perfect.

I headed up to the cottage myself for the Fourth. We had lobsters. And manhattans. And Champagne. You’ll hear all about it next week, whether you want to or not.

See ya then!

P.S. Mum and Pete, are both svelte, too.