CAMDEN

Tuesday Talk at Merryspring to feature natural herb teas

Sarah Lambson will give a talk on natural herb teas at noon Tuesday at the Merryspring Nature Center.

It’s part of the nonprofit center’s Tuesday Talk series, and is free for Merryspring members and children. There is a $5 charge for nonmembers.

Merryspring is located at the end of Conway Road, just off Route 1 by the Hannaford shopping plaza.

For more information, call Merryspring at 236-2239.

CAPE ELIZABETH

The Well at Jordan’s Farm hosting wine dinner Sunday

The Well at Jordan’s Farm is hosting a wine dinner at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

Chef Jason Williams will serve a four-course dinner paired with Devenish Wines. The menu will include dishes such as bacon-wrapped monkfish tail served with salad greens and salsa verde (Italian-style) paired with Three Saints Chardonnay Santa Maria 2008, and chicken ballotine served with grilled red onion compote, spinach and gaufrette potatoes paired with Dierberg Pinot Noir Santa Maria 2007.

The Well is a true farm-to-table experience. The chef sources his food directly from the Jordan Farm and other farms in the area, and customers eat around picnic tables. The establishment accepts cash only.

Tickets are $55, and reservations are required. Stop by The Well, located at 21 Wells Road, to purchase tickets. For more information, call 831-9350.

CAPE NEDDICK

Clay Hill Farm Restaurant having authentic high teas

Clay Hill Farm Restaurant will host two authentic high teas from 2 to 4 p.m. today and Aug. 17. British chef Ruth Kramer will make traditional jam-filled cookies, sweet treats and other British fare to be served while customers learn about the history of tea and the sacredness of tea ceremonies. Gluten-free options will be available with a reservation.

The cost is $20 per person, and reservations are required.

Details and a video are available at clayhillfarm.com. To make reservations, call 361-2272.

ELIOT

Weekend barbecue festival will include competitions

The last big local barbecue event of the summer will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Mainely Grillin’ & Chillin’ BBQ Festival at the Raitt Homestead Farm Museum, 2077 State Road.

The festival will include a barbecue competition; cooking demonstrations with DennyMike’s ‘Cue Stuff, Jean Kerr of Northeast Flavor magazine, barbecue expert Ardie Davis and Carl Hallman of Smithfield Foodservice; an EZ Grill Kids Que competition; and a Shipyard Brew Garden. Nonfood-related activities include a colonial encampment, horse-drawn wagon rides, an artisan alley, tractor rides and a woodsman competition with log rolling, ax throwing and other events.

Admission is $5. Children ages 6 and under get in free. For more information, call 748-3303 or visit mainelybbq.com.

FREEPORT

Kitchen tour on Sept. 10 benefits Portland Habitat

Freeport is getting its own kitchen tour Sept. 10.

The tour, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., is sponsored by the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, and part of the proceeds will benefit the Women Build program of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland.

Seven kitchens will be featured. Brochures with maps to the participating homes will be available for pick-up beginning Sept. 6 at the Chamber of Commerce office, 53 Depot St. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to conta.cc/pOtdwA.

HARPSWELL

Lobster dinner to raise funds for scholarships

Lobstermen dressed in their oilskins will serve up a benefit lobster dinner Aug. 20 against the backdrop of the sun setting over Goose Island in Middle Bay.

The event, a fundraiser for the Fishing Families for Harpswell Community Scholarship, will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at Mitchell Field on Route 123 in Harpswell.

Plenty of parking will be available, including handicapped and senior parking.

Each lobster dinner costs $25 and includes lobster, mussels, potato, corn, dessert and a beverage. An extra lobster can be purchased for $5. The $7 children’s plate includes a hot dog or hamburger, corn, potato or chips, dessert and a drink. Add a hot dog for $1 or a hamburger for $2.

The lobsters are being donated by Harpswell wharves and individual lobstermen. The blueberry and chocolate desserts are being made by the Harpswell Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization.

Last year, the Fishing Families for Harpswell Community Scholarship awarded five $1,000 scholarships to Harpswell students, and $1,250 each to Harpswell parent-teacher organizations.

For more information, directions or to buy tickets in advance, call 833-6451. Advance tickets cost $22 if purchased before Aug. 15.

This is a rain-or-shine event under a big tent.

PORTLAND

Whole Foods store will host smoothies talk, wine tasting

Today from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Whole Foods Market hosts the Health Starts Here Customer Connection Group. Tanja Kunz, the store’s healthy eating specialist, leads this monthly meeting of people interested in healthy eating. During this free event, she’ll talk about smoothies and how to make them packed with micronutrients. To register for the group, call 774-7711.

On Saturday, the store will host a free wine tasting from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wine buyer Colleen Caron has selected a group of wines for summer enjoyment. Tasters must be 21 or older and show a valid photo ID.

 

Sebago Brewing, DiMillo’s will price meals by calories

Want to eat out for lunch today, but worried about calories?

Sebago Brewing Co. and DiMillo’s on the Water are offering a “Calories Count Lunch” today that will feature a number of menu items priced by how many calories the meal contains.

Sebago Brewing, 211 Fore St., will be selling white chicken chili, which contains 310 calories per bowl, for $3.10 rather than the usual $5.99. Another example: A baked haddock sandwich that contains 532 calories will go for $5.32 rather than the usual $9.49.

At DiMillo’s, located at Long Wharf on Portland’s waterfront, customers can order a clubhouse salmon sandwich that contains 802 calories for $8.02 (regular price $9.50) and a chicken, broccoli and bacon mac-and-cheese that contains 943 calories for $9.43 (regular price $13).

The Calories Count Lunch event is part of the city of Portland’s “Smart Meals for ME” program that encourages restaurants to provide calorie information on their menus. The city supplied the restaurants with a nutritional analysis for their menus from Portland’s registered dietician.

 

Benefit will raise funds for brain tumor research

“Cooking for a Cure,” a benefit to raise funds for brain tumor research and treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Sept. 8 at Holiday Inn by the Bay, 88 Spring St.

The benefit is held each year in honor of Matthew Noyes, who died from brain cancer three years ago at the age of 25. His family started the benefit to raise funds for the hospital where Noyes was treated. The event has grown to include 25 restaurants from southern Maine, and has become one of the largest donors to the brain tumor program at St. Jude.

The goal of the benefit has also been expanded. It now provides funding for children with brain tumors and their families to attend Camp Sunshine in Maine at no cost to them.

Tickets are $40, and can be purchased at the event or in person at the dental office of Dr. William Noyes, 2 Dental Ave., Biddeford. To purchase tickets online or find out more about the Noyes Brain Tumor Foundation, go to noyesdental.com/tnbtf/wordpress.

 

Petite Jacqueline bistro to offer tomato-tasting menu

Petite Jacqueline, a French bistro at 190 State St., will offer a four-course tomato tasting menu Sunday featuring only local tomatoes.

The menu will be: warm corn soup with chilled tomatoes; a local cherry tomato risotto; seared local fluke with sauce vierge, pickled jalapeno, heirloom tomatoes and brioche croutons; and olive oil cake with house tomato sorbet and macerated cherry tomatoes and strawberries.

The dinner costs $50 per person, and includes an aperitif.

The restaurant’s regular menu will also be available.

Petite Jacqueline opens at 5 p.m. For reservations, call 553-7044.

 

Slow Food’s potluck 6 p.m. Aug. 17

Slow Food’s monthly potluck dinner will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 17 at the Quimby Colony, 769 Congress St.

Check slowfoodportland.org for more information on the evening’s program.

 

Italian Street Festival next weekend

The 86th annual Italian Street Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday at St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, 72 Federal St.

Admission is free to the festival, which will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Lots of Italian food will be for sale, including pizza, meatball-and-sausage sandwiches, Italian cookies and cannoli.

On Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m., a pasta dinner served with a salad and beverage will be available for $8 for adults and $5 for children under age 16.

The festival celebrates the feasts of the Assumption and St. Rocco, a patron saint of the sick.

UNITY

Common Ground tickets on sale

Advance tickets have gone on sale for this year’s Common Ground Country Fair, which takes place Sept. 23-25.

The flagship event of the Maine Farmers and Gardeners Association is a three-day celebration of rural living featuring organic agriculture exhibits and food vendors along with the state’s only organic farmers market and vendor areas devoted to artisans, Maine products and sustainable building suppliers, among many others. Each day brings a full roster of speakers, workshops and live entertainment.

Ticket prices are the same in advance as they are at the door, but many choose to buy them in advance to avoid lines at the gate. Tickets cost $10; $8 for ages 65 and older. Children age 12 and under are admitted for free.

Purchase tickets online at mofgastore.org or at local gardening centers, health food stores and book shops.