PORTLAND

McLellan to represent Maine at national seafood cook-off

Margaret McLellan, executive chef at Morrison’s Maine Course in Portland and a resident of Boothbay, will once again represent Maine at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans on Saturday.

This is McLellan’s fourth time entering the contest. Last year, she and her chef son, Mackenzie Arrington, tied for third place with the chef from New Jersey.

The eighth annual contest will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans during the Louisiana Foodservice Expo. The competition is open to the public, and costs $5.

Judges will be chef Rick Moonen, an advocate for sustainable seafood, restaurateur, cookbook author and finalist in “Top Chef Masters”; Laura McIntosh, host of the traveling cooking show “Bringing It Home”; chef Roland Schaefer of the American Academy of Chefs; Patricia Mack of Gayot.com; Melissa Kogut, executive director of the Chefs Collaborative; and Will Blunt, managing editor of StarChefs.com.

The cook-off is sponsored by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration and presented by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board.

New festival hosts brewers from all over Maine, region

There’s a new beer festival coming to town.

The Portland Brew Festival will be held Sept. 3 and 4 at the Portland Company Complex at 58 Fore St., and will feature craft beers from all over New England.

Mak Sprague, the event organizer, said he plans to have more than 25 brewers on site, including Sam Adams and High and Mighty from Massachusetts; Switchback Brewing and Woodchuck Cider from Vermont; and Prodigal Brewing and Tuckerman’s Brewing from New Hampshire. Local brewers who have committed to the event are Shipyard, Baxter Brewing, Sea Dog, Casco Bay Brewing and Fatty Bampkins cider.

Home brewing clubs and retailers will also be at the festival to talk about home brewing.
Tickets are $30, and can be ordered at portlandbrewfestival.eventbrite.com.

YORK

Demonstration lets visitors cook, sample colonial food

Learn how food was prepared in the 18th century during the Museums of Old York Hearth Cooking Demonstration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Friday in August.

In the Jefferds Tavern, the tavern mistress and the junior docent ladies will prepare a full meal using colonial recipes and techniques.

Over an open hearth and with a Dutch oven and iron kettle, the women will prepare fish, chicken, bread, pies and pudding.

Visitors can assist in the cooking and taste the finished meal.

Tickets to the Museums of Old York cost $6 to visit one building or $12 for a full campus pass.

For more information, visit oldyork.org or call 363-4974.

SEDGWICK

Work the soil, hear speakers, tour farms at activist retreat

The Food & Farm Activist Retreat takes place Aug. 10-16 at Saving Seeds Farm.

Participants will camp at the farm, participate in hands-on farm work, tour local farms and listen to speakers. Meals will feature locally grown and raised foods.

On Saturday night, participants will travel to the Island Culinary & Ecological Center in Stonington to hear a panel presentation, “Food, Past and Future.” Panelists include food writer Mark Bittman, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Maine food historian Sandy Oliver.

Other highlights of the event include tours of Eliot Coleman’s farm and the Nearing homestead; a presentation by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which advocates for human rights for the workers who harvest Florida’s tomato crop; and a presentation about the Local Food & Community Self-Governance ordinance adopted by four Maine towns.

A $10 donation or volunteer farm work is suggested for the meals. Registration for the event is free, but space is limited.

For more information, call Bob St. Peter at 359-2128.

CLINTON

Maine Farm Days offering broad menu of activities

Maine Farm Days will be held Aug. 24-25 at Misty Meadows Farm on Hill Road.

The event, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, will feature a farmers market, educational presentations, agribusiness exhibits, a children’s learning center, wagon tours and other activities.

Misty Meadows Farm ships 38,000 pounds of milk daily to Oakhurst Dairy in Portland. The 530-cow operation is owned by John and Belinda Stoughton.

A chicken lunch sponsored by the Pine Tree Camp will be served each day of the event.

Maine Farm Days is a collaborative effort among Maine Farm Days Inc., the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources.
Admission is free. For more information, go to mainefarmdays.com.