Tasty Planet

TCA Alums Booze & Bond

2007-10-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

Babe...was this a great night or what...Baabe?? After four days of being beaten with Michael's sage advice (close up of the hands...close up of the face...OTS shot...wide shot....DNMTFC!) and experiencing some extremely wonderful moments ( This...THIS is the opening shot!!) and enduring some horrible ones (OMG...please have a freakin' breath mint before I commit hari kari right here and now) - a few of us literally RAN to the nearest bar to celebrate our TCA victories, drown our sorrows and of course, to make fun of the others who didn't join us. Seriously...What the F*#@ IS a window seal??

I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard with such complete strangers. Or walked so far to a guy's apartment with two fine lesbians at three am or dissed so many hookah-smoking pirates..and, well.. I'm sorry, but I'm contractually restricted from telling you anything more. You'll just have to do Travel Academy on your own.

Thanks to my new friends, Heidi, Peter, Ammo, Arthur, Annie & Keri for a really fun night out. And to all the TCA grads - Rock on Babe.

Lili Graduates From The Travel Channel Academy

2007-10-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hey! I'm back from Disco Channel Headquarters in DC where I attended The Travel Channel Academy - You're now looking at a (more or less) bonifide Travel Jock. The program was intense...a bootcamp for video journalists. Michael Rosenblum (the godfather of video journalism) was our fearless leader along with the lovely Lisa Lambden. Final Cut Pro pros Peter Salvia & Steve Gruskin taught me more about Final Cut in four days than I've learned in uhhh...too long.

Thanks to all my new TCA buds. I hope it's a very short time until we meet again.

A Thing of Beauty

2007-10-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

A perfectly poured pint...

THIS Is What I Do To Vegetarians On The Set of Plague Town

2007-10-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

It's always a trip feeding the cast and crew on this shoot...you just never know who's coming for dinner. Just for the record? ..this guy already had no face when he got into the buffet line. Really. My cooking is just fine. Only two more days til wrap! Stay tuned for the whole Plague Town Menu - See what the 'Stars to Be' eat.

C'est Fin!

2007-10-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

YEEEAA! We finished the Tasty Planet Trailer. Then we went to the beach. And drank a lot of wine. And other stuff.

www.youtube.com/Tasty Planet Trailer 1:18

Paste this into your browser to check out Adrian's latest cut.

This Dish Dishes

2007-10-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Soooup Anyone?

Dark Sky Productions Filming in Connecticut

2007-10-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

If you know me, then you know how much I love Ireland...although I've never seen the Emerald Isle teeming with diseased, murderous freaks. Well... welcome to PLAGUE TOWN, which Dark Sky Films and MPI Media Group have begun shooting in the rural pastures and fields of the Nutmeg State. (I don't know what the hell that means anyway - what does Connecticut have to do with nutmeg?)

The film tells the tale of a dysfunctional family's vacation to the Irish countryside where they encounter a village of diseased, deformed and flesh-starved homicidal residents. If you think this sounds even remotely scary, you should see them at the chow line at 6:00 am. ..and the gaffers and grips ain't so pretty either.

Tasty Planet is providing all the craft services and catering for the entire cast and crew for the length of their shoot. So far..it's been interesting. I've never fed dead people before. Stay tuned for more... Tomorrow night we shoot in a cemetery....

Groovin' On A Sunday Afternoon...

2007-10-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Lili’s Fave Downloads - October 2007 – If you’re having a dinner get- together or a cocktail party, toss one of these selections on. Music and food go hand in hand. I guarantee you’ll dig these sounds and so will your guests.

Hossein Alizadeh & Djivan Gasparyan: “Endless Vision” (World Village)

Alizadeh, an Iranian lute virtuoso and Gasparyan, an Armenian duduk player – (the duduk is a temperamental liquid-toned reed flute)- crossed long-established boundaries to record “Endless Vision” live in Tehran. They were joined in the studio by both male & female vocalists – a rare gender-mixed ensemble. The combination of traditional instruments, evocatively sensual vocals and ancient poetry create a profoundness that nearly suspends time. Track 3, “Armenian Romance” can be piercingly pleasurable and agonizing simultaneously. Like a philosophically weighty opera aria, it’s as capable of bringing tears of joy as it is of bringing tears of sorrow to the listener. This is an unflinching look through a musical lens into the psyche of a culture many of us may not understand. “Endless Vision” is the effort of two artists to stay human in a world that regards their people with suspicion on an almost constant basis. There are no apologizes offered by either Alizadeh or Gasparyan, just the purity of breath, instrument and intention that allows music to heal.

Daara J: “Global Hip-Hop” (Calabash)

Hip-hop artists from Senegal, Turkey, Brazil, Six Nations Indian Reserve and East LA bring their own distinct musical tang to this brilliant alliance. The beauty of “Global Hip-Hop” is what each artist and their respective culture brings to the table in this solid collaboration. Not a hip-hop fan you say? Keep an open mind; these musicians and MC’s aren’t about bitches and bling. This is a seriously fleshy musical gift to anyone who digs an exhilarating exchange of beat, words and verse. Track 5, “La Receta” by Kemo the Blaxican (of Latin hip-hop pioneers ‘Delinquent Habits’ fame) is a hard-hitting beat that attacks at first but then hooks you with Kemo’s powerfully smooth and commanding baritone. “La Receta” is a rapid-fire bi-lingual joint that, like all the other tracks, uses the best lyrical ingredients and technique to create an exciting mix of sounds and emotions.

Hanine y son Cubano: “10908 km” (Elef Records)

Wrap your mind around this: a full Cuban band churns out a mixture sexy salsa, rumba and Latin rhythms while backing the honey-voiced Lebanese vocalist, Hanine, as she sings traditional folk and love songs in Arabic. Behold the latest and sweetest fusion in a long time: Arabo-Cubano. The sounds are evocative, mischievous and dripping with artistic dexterity. The lonely, undulating sounds of the desert winds come together like in a dream, with the ardor and white-hot heat of sexy Havana. Hearing these two manifestly diverse styles unify on “10908 km” is like heaving yourself onto a bed in a steamy embrace with a stranger; exhilarating, a bit risky and impossible to close the senses to. If you need to amp up before a date or just want to roll your shoulders, hips and pelvis in an act of self-love, throw on the last track “Arabo-Cubano Improvisation”. I dare you not to move while listening to this amazingly corporeal cut. BTW – the album’s title “10908 km” is a reference to the distance between Havana and Beirut.

Try cooking a meal that compliments the music - not the other way around. It will open your mind to new recipe searches and ideas.

On The Soap Box About HFCS

2007-10-05T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here's my rant on High Fructose Corn Syrup:

Children of the Corn

We do it more than sex. We plan for it. We worry about it. We spend a good deal of our earned income on it. It can cause anxiety and in certain cases depression. It’s the thing that got Adam and Eve busted in the Garden.
It should be reasonably simple. We’ve been doing it for as long as there’s been life on planet Earth. C’mon! Invertebrates, bivalves, and even simple cells do it.
So who would have guessed that eating would become so complex? When did buying an egg or a carton of milk become a civic act? How did the word ‘consumer’ become an ugly euphemism for eco-terrorist? And how for Pete’s sake, could something we need for our continued existence, the life sustaining food chain itself, have turned into the very thing that may be our eventual undoing?

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” Would he tell us then, after looking at our national diet, that we are a society living in the golden age of cornography? If we are truly what we eat, aren’t we the Children of Corn?

Corn Stalkers? Corn Heads?

In the world of the never-ending pickings available to a professional chef and self-proclaimed food wonk, I always find myself inundated with more questions than answers: Carnivore, omnivore, vegetarian or vegan? Organic, locally grown or micro-local? – and yes, there is a difference. Hormone free, free range, cage free? Carbo-load or carbo-phobe? (Are potatoes really the evil rulers of the produce empire?) What the hell is Xanthan Gum anyway and what’s it doing in my fig bar? But the 800-pound gorilla of all food related questions is this; do we really want a steady stream of all things corn funneled directly into our primary food chain?

High fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, genetically modified corn starches, corn-flour, corn oil are just a few of the molecularly questionable ingredients pumped into almost every American breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s in bread, muffins, dressings, catsup, sports drinks, sodas, deli-meats, cereals, commercially made beer, coffee-creamer and ice cream. It can be found in things we think are by and large healthful –like peanut butter and low-fat yogurt with fruit, which may contain as many as ten teaspoons of high fructose corn syrup in a single serving. It’s the frying oil and the binding agent that is the glue for the twelve, (yes twelve), corn ingredients that make up and hold together the Chicken McNuggets we eat by the ton. Shiver and Gag. And HFCS have covert names too – dextrose and all the di- and tri-glycerides…so sneaky. The meats we consume, even the organic ones, are corn-fed, not grass-fed, as they should be. Fish like salmon, once an exclusively carnivorous species, are now being ‘re-engineered’ to eat nothing but corn. Even the packaging the corn-based-food is shipped and sold in is corn derived, as is the wax on your apples and pears, and your toothpaste, cosmetics, disposable diapers, trash bags and batteries - to name but a few non-edible, but never-the-less kernel derived products. Keeping an elevated awareness level when negotiating the maize minefield in the local supermarket is an especially prudent idea when this idea hits you; out of the 45,000 standard grocery store items, approximately twenty-five percent are made from and feed with…right, you guessed, corn. Side by side with corn, I guess the humble potato is starting to look a lot less creepy and a good deal more benevolent than we’ve been led to believe these last few carbo-phobic years.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no beef with corn itself; after all it sustained a myriad of healthy indigenous people, like the Mayans, for ages. I just don’t want to be assaulted with the presence of its alter ego –HFCS- everywhere I go. It haunts me in the grocery store and I can’t seem to get away from it …kind of like Rachel Ray. And it’s making our country lazy and ill ...kind of like Rachel Ray. As a nation we’re facing serious eating related dilemmas; cardio-vascular disease, obesity and diabetes are driving the health of our nation down and the cost of our health care up. We’re fatter and unhealthier than any first-world country on the planet.

Corn does not cause disease per se. The real culprits are the agro-industrialists who over-produce and Franken-Stein the true stuff until it is damn near unrecognizable and then upload it - super-sized of course- into our food chain. Corn is cheap and there’s an abundant supply of it. More than 80 million acres are devoted to growing corn in the United States, thanks in large part to policies instituted during the Nixon Administration, which control and subsidize corn productivity. And let’s not forget the import quotas and stiff tariffs, which directly affect our diet and health. Since 1982 the U.S. has imposed soaring import taxes on natural cane sugar, (which, unlike high fructose corn syrup, our bodies can metabolize in regulated amounts), making it prohibitively expensive to import the white stuff for use in food production. Lo and behold! Two years later in 1984, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi switched entirely from cane sugar to HFCS in all of their soft drink production. Hello Big Gulp. A vast number of American food manufacturers and agro-businesses supported the import tax initiatives with generous campaign finance contributions. Not good. The government makes it easy for big-biz to produce Franken-Foods on the cheap and let’s face it – when crappy food is decidedly less expensive and more plentiful than whole foods that are grown in a natural and sustainable environment without modification or pesticides, people are going to eat the crappier stuff and get fat and sick. They don’t call it ‘junk food’ for nothin’.

Food is primal, an essential part of human nature. In fact,
many researchers believe our brains may have developed into the sophisticated organs that they are out of the simple need to figure out which foods would nourish and sustain our race and which would kill us dead. Up until now, we’ve been pretty good at it. But times, they are a’ changing. Many of us are not making conscious decisions about the foods we eat. We want convenience. Pile it on and make it snappy. The nuclear family dinner table has become the fast-food joint or increasingly, the car; 19% of our meals are eaten while driving. More and more food manufacturers are designing pre-packaged foods so they can be eaten in the driving environment; Go-Gurt anyone? For the tens of millions of us who are chained to our cell phones, i-pods, laptops, computers and steering wheels, eating may be one of the few visceral, insightful or sensually pleasing experiences we have left. We should be right concerned about what we’re putting in our grocery baskets, on our tables (or dashboards) and into the bellies of our children. Regrettably, most of the appeal of industrio-cuisine is its handiness; it offers families who log long hours at work a quick and easy way to farm out the task of feeding ourselves and our families to the food manufactures that make pre-packaged, pre-processed meals. And as much as I beat on Rachel Ray, I give her credit for devoting at least 30 minutes a day to cooking a real meal. (Even if it’s a really lame one that involves Cheese-Whiz.)

Three of every five Americans are now overweight. Some researchers predict that this generation will have a shorter and less healthy life expectancy than their parents. Enormous changes in the fields of food production and agriculture have left us in a sticky nutritional, economical, ecological and political stew. Our food system has changed more since the end of World War II than it has in the previous 5,000 years. We’re producing more food than ever before in the history of the world (while a countless number of children remain malnourished), yet we have no relationship to the foods we eat or the places it comes from. We know our plumbers, carpenters and computer repair geeks better than we know the people who grow the foods we’re eating everyday. Wait, it gets worse; we don’t know what the foods we are eating will actually do to us or to the environment in the long run.

Here’s the rub; HFCS and the other processed fillers that are interjected into our food supply are making us sick. And fat. There is a correlation between the decline of the family unit and industrial agriculture. Maybe it’s not crystal clear (yet) but once we devote attention and resources to unearthing the overall consequences of our current eating habits, like global warming, the evidence about the evils of HFCS will become incontrovertible. Researchers do know for certain that it takes a tremendous amount of natural resources to produce industrial foods. In the U.S. one-quarter to one-third of every gallon of oil we use goes into producing a single bushel of corn. They know for certain that there are concrete reasons to avoid HFCS in the diet too. In a study on the effects of diets high in HFCS, two groups of lab rats were tested – one group was fed glucose (sugars found naturally in whole foods, such as fruit and cane sugar) and the other group was restricted to HFCS only. Scientists distinguished that the HFCS rats developed multiple health problems. The male rats did not reach adulthood. They had anemia, high-cholesterol, and heart hypertrophy – (in simple terms, their hearts enlarged until they exploded) – as well as delayed testicular development. The female rats fared just a tiny bit better. They were merely more susceptible to cancer and unable to produce live young. Like rats, humans can metabolize glucose in every living cell in the body; however, fructose can only be metabolized in the liver. The livers in the HFCS group of rats looked like the livers of alcoholics; plugged with fat and cirrhotic.

Public health officials are finally beginning to worry in a bigger and broader way. Obesity and type-2 diabetes rates are reaching unprecedented levels in the United States. In 1970, the average American consumed less than one pound of high fructose corn syrup. In 2005 that number jumped to an unconscionable 42 pounds per person per year. Do the math. The USDA did. They are finally connecting the dots. Finally. Even with big agro business breathing down their backs and filling campaign coffers with donations and the halls of congress with lobbyists, it’s hard to flat-out deny that there’s no correlation between disease and HFCS consumption. The amount of processed sugars we take into our bodies matters because it directly affects everything from our weight to how our bodies produce insulin, so therefore, the amount of processed corn products in our diet affects our health significantly.

This mess of diet related conundrums may have you feeling baffled or running to the nearest bookstore or library for the latest “How to Eat and Not Die” book and I’m not sure that I’ve helped. But, wait up. Take it from someone who lives and breathes food; better to simply read the labels when we buy our food and educate ourselves about what we’re really eating. Avoid processed foods and unnatural additives or anything you can’t pronounce. Here’s a good bit of advice from Michael Pollan, agro-sleuth and best selling author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”; if your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it as food, best not to eat it yourself. We can’t simply put the onus of our health on the government or big food business or shrug off those extra pounds as the unfortunate result of being covertly super sized. We can no longer afford to harbor the illusion that our primary role is that of the ‘end user’, a defenseless consumer of market commodities. Facing an entire future generation of un-well citizens should be sufficient reason to raise serious practical and ethical questions and force deliberation on food ethics in the public sphere, in educational facilities and in our own homes. Keeping our local economies healthy buy buying locally grown and raised agriculture is more than a quaint or sentimental idea. It’s a matter of critical importance, one that affects every single consumer in this country. I would hope that if I told you that we were unwittingly raising a generation of alcoholics or drug addicts that you’d start banging down some congressional doors. This issue is as important. Get pissed, because it needs our collective attention. So, start small… pack yourself or your kid a lunch tomorrow instead of hitting the drive-thru. Swear off all processed beverages for 30 days. Plan a family meal at least twice a week – sans Cheese Whiz. Learn to read food labels. Re-acquaint yourself with your kitchen. Yes, undoubtedly it’s more work. Shopping will take longer and may be a bit more expensive. We have to put in more effort in order to have an improved food system, but it will bring back the gratification associated with food… real food. One of the sweetest gifts we share as human beings is the talent to choose the best tasting things with which to feed our brains and hearts, as well as our bodies. We are being force fed a pack of lies about the grind and unpleasant pains of food preparation so that food manufacturers have a viable market for their junk foods. Baking and breaking (non-genetically-modified) bread with those closest to you creates community and wellness. Don’t be fooled…cheap and quick food will not nourish the body or satisfy the soul. Eating well perfects human nature and whets the appetite for free will and choice. The human appetite as a whole invites a kind of thoughtful analysis of our culture. Without it, we may as well be made entirely out of corn.

FREEEDOM!

2007-10-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Chef Lili Kinsman - TIme Out Taverne, Durham, CT

i love the line...i love the line...i love the line...

Every few years I find myself back behind the line, knee deep in tickets on a Saturday night. I do somehow convince myself that I love the line (or maybe my meds need adjusting). It's kind of like having a baby, (i think), the brain cannot remember the pain and somehow the past experience takes on some kind of spiritual meaning. ...good thing or the human race would not survive and there'd be damn few line cooks and chefs out there. But there I was for the past eight months...a simple stage for a new place. Don't even get me started on how sucked into this business one can become. I'm just happy it's done..I'll be happy to see friends and drink wine and go to restaurants where other poor, but talented, suckers will cook for me during a crazy ass rush. I'll be able to see my nieces and nephews play a toad or a lamp or baby jesus in a school play. I'll take a trip and maybe clean out all of the to-go containers that have been in my refrigerator for months now. I can pick up where I left off writing my cookbook. I'll wear my hair in a girly (ok..how 'bout just clean?) manner instead of stuffed under a ball cap that smells like fryer fat. Eventually my burns will heal and I'll be able to makes fists with my hands without having to choke down a handful of ibuprofen first. I'll stop wondering at 7:55pm if it's too early for a FREAKIN' COCKTAIL. My car mats won't smell like somebody missed the dumpster and hit my car and I won't have to strip in my basement to keep my cats from attacking my kitchen clogs. ..I'll have time to keep pitching this Tasty Planet vibe. I'll have a life.

Then the Jones will come. I'll get a foodie-hard-on for some crazy new menu I want to try. I'll start missing the ball busting, insult-slinging banter of the kitchen crew..those insults and digs that bind an 8-man line into a precise, exacting machine. I'll forgive all the ass-clowns who so cruelly deconstruct all my beautiful specials. I'll forget the names and faces of the imbeciles, pre-menstrual bitches, hysterical food-grabbing waitresses, the drunks and the morons that always come with restaurant jobs. The 16-hour work days will become a dim light in the back of my mind and I won't remember the days when I couldn't get through the day without pain meds for my back or not being able to wear regular shoes because my feet are so swollen.

My Sicilian grandfather used to say 'What's in the blood, you cannot beat out of the flesh". I have tried. Many times. Being a line-chef is in my genetic makeup..my DNA..my blood. I have repeatedly beaten myself up back there over the last twenty-seven years, and I expect that someday, I'll do it again. Because despite all the loony-ness, I love the adrenalin rush that comes with being under the gun, with putting out 300 dinners in a 90-minute window. It's the place I love best.

Thanks to all my guys at TOT. Keep on rockin' out those awesome dishes. I'll be in soon for a couple of cold ones and some f@#*% french toast.

Thanks for the love, xoxo, Chef Lili aka Rudy

Diners Rock

2007-10-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

The A1 Diner in Gardiner, Maine is a sweet blend of old and new school. Check out the scene: Old timers being waited on by hip-alt girls with tats & piercings. Leather –clad bikers that had just ridden in from New Hampshire sat across the booth from a family with toddlers covered in pancake syrup. Voices mixed with the soft buzz of the neon transformers in the stainless steel dining car and forks and knives sawed in rhythm with a backbeat of world-music from the CD player.
This phenom, quintessential diner has been around since the 40’s – but expect a hip and edgy twist to the regular menu items which you can check out in their recently published cookbook:
A1 Diner: Real Food, Recipes, and Recollections
by Sarah Rolph and Jeff Giberson - Available on Amazon

A1 Diner, Bridge Street, Gardiner, Maine
Owners – Michael Giberson & Neil Anderson

207.582.4804

We Love American Diners!

Pub Crawling in Wallingford, Connecticut

2007-10-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

One Pint, Two Pint, Three Pint, Four
The Old Dublin
Wallingford, Connecticut

Whether it’s a trip abroad or a night out with a good friend, I am always mindful that the best memories are the ones that have nothing to do with what I came to see or do in the first place. It has been my utmost pleasure to visit Ireland four times. Last year I spent St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin drinking copious amounts of velvety dark Guinness and crawling from one 900 year-old pub to the next; an experience that could very well spoil a person for good. A perfect pint and ‘good craic’ (pronounced crack - the Irish term for lively, irony-laced conversation) are best enjoyed a few hundred meters from the Liffey River or on the craggy banks of the Dingle Peninsula, right? So imagine my delight when I found myself standing in a proper Irish Pub in...Wallingford, Connecticut?

If you’ve never experienced the joys of an authentic Irish pub, allow me to give you a few pointers. When, upon opening the front door, if the lovely pitch of the penny whistle jumps into your ears – this is good. The Irish are prolific musicians and nothing makes a pint taste sweeter than a round or two of ‘Trad’ – or traditional Irish music. Your second clue would be that, immediately after entering, you want to move your bed into the corner for a long, cozy snug - also an excellent indication that you’re about to have one hell of a grand time.

Expect all this and more from the Old Dublin. Perhaps because the owner is a born Irishman himself, or possibly because the man upstairs knows that to live a full and good life, one has to be less than a day’s journey from such a place – whatever the reason - The Old Dublin is as much an Irish pub as any you’ll find on the Emerald Isle. Dark wood hugs a shallow bar-top that’s spiked with colorfully painted draught pulls, like so many Crayolas in a box. The bar wall are hung with crackly mirrors, pleasingly soft light surrounds you and the smell of tasty grub wafts through the kitchen’s doors. After just a short wait we were able to belly right up. Our intention on this Friday night, nay… our mission for you dear reader; drink five pints in five different bars and rate them according to: taste, freshness, temperature, pour and price. We want you to be armed and mentally equipped to fight off anyone who tries to force you to drink that ghastly green beer that everyone tries to give you on St. Patrick’s Day –green beer bad.

Suffice it to say, between the eight lively musicians – fiddle, bodhran (pronounced bow-rahn - a trad Irish drum), penny whistle, squeeze box, guitar and vocals – and the truly inspirational pint… well, we just weren’t getting to bar number two with any urgency. A compromise was made. An Irish-style negotiation. Drink five pints in one place, scrap the ambitious rating plan and enjoy ourselves entirely; a task similar to shooting fish in a barrel at The Old Dublin. This, in my humble, but thoroughly researched pint-drinking evaluation, is the mark of a perfect pint and a wonderful pub. (Call the movers and have them bring my bed.) Here’s another Irish pub tip: don’t get all ‘American’ when you order a pint of Guinness. This is not the drive-through or the express lane. Ree-lax. The pint here is expertly poured, and as in Ireland, you should expect to wait a full five minutes or more before your glass hits the coaster. The barman, or in our case, the lovely Trish from Cork, first pours the pint three-quarters of the way full, lets it settle and then tops it off. You should then wait again until the top has settled, at which point the brew turns a beautiful deep black. The mark of a skillfully poured pint? As you drink the glass down, the brew will leave thin rings to mark each mouthful. If you’re a quick-quaffer, order your next pint when you’re halfway done with your first. Not a Guinness lover you say? No worries. The Old Dublin serves 21 beers and ales on draught as well as an impressive selection of Irish Whiskeys and a full bar. They have live music Thursday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Expect anything from Trad to ‘Rebel Folk’. The owner, Paul Pender himself, and Pat Robbins will be playing on St. Patrick’s Day beginning precisely at eight or nine-ish in the evening. Chef Scott and the kitchen crew are serving all the quintessential dishes of Ireland; fish and chips, Guinness stew, and corned beef & cabbage. Dinners start around $13 bucks. Treat yourself to one of Trish’s delightful pints for $5 bucks. The Old Dublin has no cover. What they do have is spirited trad music in an authentic atmosphere and capable, friendly hands behind the bar. And don’t forget the good craic. There’s a deck where you can step out for a breath of fresh air (or a puff). Laura Pender, the other owner, and a few of the staff hung out with us and we all enjoyed a good chat there too. By the way, The Old Dublin cleaned up in the ratings; five out of five pint points, but who’s counting? And me? I went to The Old Dublin with a good friend and found exactly the memories I wasn’t looking for at all. Slainte!

The Old Dublin
171 Quinnipiac Street
Wallingford, Ct
(203) 949-8022
www.theolddublin.com

Important Travel Reminder!

2006-12-15T15:21:00.000-08:00

As of January 8, 2007, travelers going to Mexico, Canada (yes, even if they're connected),the non-U.S. Caribbean (Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. John & St. Croix are all U.S.Caribbean), Panama and Bermuda NEED PASSPORTS! Until now, a driver's license and a birth certificate would get you through customs and back into the States. If you don't have a passport or are traveling with someone who does not have a valid passport - apply now! An onslaught of applications for winter travel is expected. Don't get left behind. Most U.S. Postal offices and many Town Clerks offices have passport applications. Passport photos (you'll need a specific kind) can be purchased and processed at places like CVS or Walgreens - be specific - let the person taking the picture know its for a United States Passport.Happy Travels!

Chinese Music Torture

2006-12-08T13:49:00.000-08:00

Buenos dias amigos y amigas.
Your Country Needs You! You Have Been Enlisted!
My good friend who is living in Asia for six months recently e-mailed me about a horrid experience he recently had in a Chinese nightclub -where he was subjected repeatedly to -'gasp'- a Filipino band covering American tunes like 'Heart of Gold'. God's Teeth!! I knew there was torture going on over there - I just didn't know to what extent.

Hearing this terrible story got me thinking - if you can't hear traditional/indigenous music in your host country or you're good on culling, snorting, honking or Tibetan yak-milking tunes - how great it would be to hear real American music - Al Green, The Ramones, Deftones, Johnny Cash, Metallica, The Doors, Dusty Springfield, Frank Zappa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Ricki Lee Jones, Liz Phair, Jane's Addiction, Korn or anything written by Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, The Cure or Bernie Taupin - (I know the last three are British - they count as American when it comes down to invasions -musical or actual)- if I were abroad for an extended time and in need of a musical funk-jection. (On my last trip to Dublin - every single pub I went to -and there were a few, believe me - was playing either the theme song from "Friends" or Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" - it was creeepy - I would have given a finger for a fiddle or a harp after five straight days of that.)

So... I am compiling a list for the Tasty Planet blog of must-have favorite road tunes to download before a trip - I would be grateful if you could pass on one or two (or more!) of your "if-I-were-stranded-on-a-desert-island" musical selections and any reviews you wish to include. They will be posted on the Tasty Planet blog - if you do not wish to have your name and/or comments posted - please note that in your reply -or if you would like to be removed from this list please let me know.

And please - don't include any songs that might force me to take my own life on foreign soil - i.e - Bjork, Barbara Streisand or Whitney Houston... thanks.

Spread the Love! Feel free to forward this to fellow musicians, readers, writers, philosophers- (arm-chair or actual), foodies & travelers.
Hook a sista up with some tunes.

Sidebar - I recently read in the NY Times that 'Peace' tops the list of ways not to sign-off your e-mails. Whatever. Whoever wrote that probably listens to 'Air Supply' on a regular basis.
Peace,
Lili Kinsman
Producer, Host
Tasty Planet

Yummy Buns

2006-12-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

The Tasty Planet crew was editing footage from our "Going Coastal - The Maine Tour Summer 2006" last night and we came across some footage of Barak Olins - pictured right - who we met at the Brunswick Farmer's Market last August - A collective female 'squawk' pierced the editing suite at 11:00 pm...just as we were getting tired and a bit sick of sitting in a dark room for six hours - The footage of Barak was a treat for our tired eyes. We decided that he is the hottest bread baker we've seen in a looong time... and yeah... his bread is completely sublime too.
Pass the butter.

2006-10-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Once a journey is designed, equipped and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over - it has personality, tempermant, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself, no two are alike.
~ John Stienbeck ~ Travels With Charley

If you are a traveler at heart and you have not read this book (somehow I missed it in highschool), do yourself a favor and get a copy. It just may be one of the best books ever written about the art of travel.

Coming soon: Tasty Planet's 'Reading List' and 'Road Tunes' - what to drop in the pod before you grab your map & gear'.

And The Winner Is...

2006-08-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Man. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it.

The Cold River Vodka Maine Martini-Mix-Off on August 25th was another fun-filled night with Chris Dowe (pronounced 'Doe') and Bob Harkins from CRV. The competition was held at beautiful Sebasco Harbor Estates in Casco Bay, Maine. What a gorgeous venue. I had the pleasure of judging with the owner Bob, who is the consumate host, a fun dude...and a hell of a martini taster. Sebasco Harbor also employs some very talented (and good-lookin') bar and wait staff. Ask for Tony - one of our martini entrants... he's very cool. Tony - who is currently single - enjoys sunsets on Casco Bay, amusing the guests with his razor-sharp wit and making Tang-rimmed watermelon-tinis. Alas, as good as the watermelon-tini was, it took 1st runner-up. First Place honors went to the "Liquid Lobster Bake". We all agreed that this martini screams "Maine!". Cold River Vodka and Clamato Juice (gotta have the clams in a Lobster Bake, yo) are mixed in a shaker, strained into a martini glass and - this is the best part - garnished with a steamed Maine lobster claw, a Maine new potato, a cob of baby corn and a stalk of celery. (For the whole down-low on the recipe visit www.coldrivervodka.com) Once again, I found myself with a righteous cocktail in my hand on an exquisite patio watching the sun sink into the bay. I love my life.

A big shout out to all the entrants - all the martinis were great - and a special hello to the pretty assistants from Darien, Connecticut who assisted their mom Cricket with her entry, the 'Mo-tini'. For anyone counting calories who still wants a tasty martini, check out Cricket's recipe. It's similar to a mojito...but very skinny.

Bob and Chris were nice enough to buy my camera man, Guy and I dinner at Sebasco. The food is perfect if you're looking for a true Maine eating experience. We ate and talked and Chris and I went on and on about how much we both love Ireland. The next best thing is the Maine Coast. Get there and live large.

Thanks again to Sebasco Harbor Estates, Cold River Vodka & Maine Distilleries for a wicked good time. Rave On!

PS: If you're wondering about my last post re: kayaking with the guys from H2Outfitters on Orr's Island - an unfortunate communications error at the last minute left us without a paddle. Too bad. It looked like a nice day to be out. If you're wanting to kayak in Maine, you'll have more choices than you can shake a stick at. Check out one of the best - Maine Kayak at www.mainekayak.com. They paddle out of New Harbor on Pemaquid Point. It's a hauntingly beautiful area filled with secluded bays and coves and you can see the lighthouse that's pictured on the Maine State quarter. Cool.

Our logo has arrived...

2006-08-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

Original design by:

Priscilla Aguirrelacabeza estudio
www.lacabezacr.com
(nuestro sitio esta en contruccion/our site is under construction)

Additional design by:

Alissa A. Nagy | All Natural Design
Print | Web | Illustration | Photography
203.512.7268 | www.allnaturaldesign.com

QuickTrip To Martini-Ville

2006-08-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

August 22,2006

Thursday we're heading back to Maine to shoot additional footage. Also, Lili is going to sit on the panel of Maine Martini-Mix-Off judges. The event, of course, is being sponsored by the folks down at our fave - Maine Distilleries in Freeport- where Cold River Vodka is born. Lili is the 'supreme justice' of martini judging. We're not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but she's looking foward to a couple of cold ones with her friends Chris, Bob and Nancy - also judges and fellow vodka lovers. Of course it's their job to love vodka. Is that somehow wrong? If you're in Maine this weekend, check out the competition at Sebasco Harbor Estates in Casco Bay - the drinkin' begins at 6:00pm. The entries at the last mix-off at Dennett's Wharf were delish and ...damn, that Cold River Vodka is good. Stop by for a tour and tell em' the Tasty Crew sent you (www.coldrivervodka.com).

Before we get rip roarin' toasted, we're hoping to get out on the water with our cams and the guys from H2 Outfitters on Orr's Island. Ross and Jeff invited Lili to paddle out to an island offshore. They're thinking there might be some kind of cooking going on on said island...maybe a batch of Lili's Fish Stew?

Check out H2 Outfitters website. These guys are tasty travelers for sure (www.h2outfitters.com).

Maine Lobsters for Papi

2006-08-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

Bringing on the Butter for the Big Batter!

As the host of Tasty Planet, I feel the obligation to offer my culinary expertise to any member of the Boston Red Sox - MOST ESPECIALLY PAPI! - If you need any assistance in boiling, killing, dismembering or eating a Maine Lobster - I'm your man...Lili K.

Big Papi Getting Lobster Love From Maine

(AP) BOSTON Noting that David Ortiz loves seafood but has never been to Maine, Gov. John Baldacci said Thursday he is sending the Boston Red Sox slugger 41 lobsters and an invitation to visit the state.

The lobsters -- one for each of Big Papi's home runs this season -- will be delivered prior to the start of Friday's game at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles.

Baldacci's invitation followed a Maine Day interview at Fenway last month in which Ortiz said he loves seafood but didn't know much about Maine. He said he wasn't sure how far away it was or even how to get there.

Along with the cooked Maine lobsters, Baldacci will include an AAA TripTik with directions from Fenway Park to the Maine coast.

The governor's announcement noted that Ortiz will be getting "Certified Maine Lobsters." Baldacci last week announced the introduction of special branding tags with that designation that are being affixed to crustaceans landed in the state.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Street Cred for Maine Lobsters

2006-08-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Accept No Imitations...Support Sustainable Fisheries.

Let me tell you...I've been out there with these fishermen and they work hard for every lobster they trap. They fish in every kind of condition that you can imagine, and in some conditions that landlubbers like you and I could never imagine. They end up with more "shorts" - lobsters that are tossed back - than they do with "keepers". Fuel is outrageously expensive. - (Thanks George & Dick!) - Bait ain't cheap. Lobstermen & their families are self-supporting, independent Americans. So those buggers are worth every penny.
For the most part, the Maine Lobstering industry is self-regulated. Maine lobstermen promulgate and adhere to practices that protect the lobster population - especially the breeding stock. Sadly enough, this cannot be said of lobstering practices outside the Gulf of Maine. Ask your fishmonger or grocery store where the lobsters you intend to buy are from...if they're not Maine lobsters, I strongly suggest you ...EAT STEAK!
LK

read the whole story:

Maine Today - Lobster: Ending the Shell Game

Leaving Maine

2006-07-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

July 16, 2006

Our Visit to The Compass Project:
On our last day, we headed down to Portland to check out what was happening at the Compass Project. It was about 2oo degrees in the city - I was sporting a good-size reggae-love hangover and my booty was tired from 5 non-stop hours of groovin' to Inner Visions the day before. I wasn't sure that hanging out with a bunch of inner city kids in a hot, stuffy tent was going to be all that much fun. They so proved me wrong....

The Compass Project is a community based project that teaches kids to build boats. Of course, they end up building so much more than a row-boat in 3 or 4 days. Every kid there (and some adults too!) went home with a boatload of team building skills, self-confidence and a sense of real hands-on accomplishment.

I saw kids as young as four years old standing on up-ended milk crates so they could sand and caulk their vessels. I chatted up one team - a mom and her two sons , 9 & 11 - and learned that the boys had received tools from mom at Christmas and she thought this was a great way for them all to learn how to use them together. Sweet idea, no? I'll have this picture in my head forever now of two grown men building a beautiful house for their mother some day...

The group of young ladies below called their group "Gurl Power" and told me that they were thinking about painting their boat pink. I thought that was a cool idea and suggested their motto be: "Pink Don't Sink!"

Notice that I am the same height as the members of 'Gurl Power'. (i'm the one with the hangover in case yur having a hard time finding me) They thought that was rather amusing and ripped on me for it. These are some cool chicas. I was tempted to hang around for a few more days to see them 'put in', but sadly enough, 495 south was calling my name.

When traveling, attempt to seek out & support these kinds of projects. In less than an hour, I felt like I really learned something about the lives of these kids and that memory will stay with me for a long time to come. Pink rules.
"The kids build the boat... and the boat builds the kids."

To find out more about TCP visit www.compassproject.org

Reggae, Mon...

2006-07-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2006

Lili and Isaac The Cute Lobsterman @ the Reggae Fest, Darmariscotta, Me.

Did you ever have one of those perfectly magical summer days?...ya know....the weather is superb, the music is dead-on rockin', the herb is delish, the view is breath-taking and the company is sublime? Well, this day definetly was one of those days.

After 9 long days of lugging our gear around, jockeying vans, loosing keys, finding keys, getting lost, getting lost and then getting lost some more - (do you have any idea how freakin' big Maine is?) - packing coolers, setting up locations, breaking down locations, bitching each other out - (ok...I mostly bitched people out while other people either bit their tongues or rolled their eyes) - sweating our asses off, stressing over equipment, lights, booms and script changes...not to mention - sharing ONE bathroom between 8 people; we absolutely needed this day. Lo and behold...the sanity of the Tasty Planet crew was restored. (Pretty much).

Originally, the Damariscotta River Association's 'Reggae Fest' was not on our "to shoot" list. We were supposed to shoot some blue grass band at some unknown campground somewhere near White's Beach. Turns out that the band we want to interview (two 18 year olds and a 19 year old-psssfffttt) start getting squirrely-butt about 'copyrights' and 'intellectual property' at the last minute. WHAT ever. I had my ratty old copy of DownEast Magazine that I had been using as a pseudo production guide - and in the listings was the announcement for the Great River Basin Concert Series at the Damariscotta River Association - a land preserve - So I called up the dude running the show - Mark - who put me in touch with the lead singer from Inner Visions -Grasshopper- (fyi-the moniker comes from his habit of jumping around on stage during performances) - and they invited us all to the show. Mark -bless his soul- comped the whole crew, as well as three of my buds - Isaac, the cute lobsterman, Isaac's sternman -(also very cute) - Alex and Alex's beautiful girlfriend, Louisa.

The crew led by the ever-industrious and capable director of Tasty Planet - Adrian Nieves, aka 'A-Dawg' - went on ahead and set up the whole shoot, interviewed the guys from the band, plugged into their soundboard and generally made themselves at home before I decided to grace them with my presence - ok... so, I got a little 'lost' (read: lost in ganja-land) - I told you Maine was a big-ass state.

Turns out...this is like the most awesome performance I've seen in a long time. The music was so bloody smooth that we danced for the entire two and a half hour set without stopping once until the sun sunk into the mouth of the Damariscotta River. Truly a perfect day.

Inner Visions is so aptly named. We all got a massive dose of big West Indian style lovin' from Grasshopper, Ras Paul, Jupiter, Mr. Snooze and Hollywood. The band hails from St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands where I have had the good fortune to spend part of my unencumbered youth scraping barnacles from boat bottoms, smoking rope and drinking too much cheap Cruzan rum. The music transported me directly back to the street festivals- called 'jump ups' down island - where the music is loud, the dancing is serious and the love flows like water. We were treated to tasty new selections from Inner Visions' latest CD - "Frontline" - as well as inspirational musings from Grasshopper - who as far as we can tell, is a reluctant prophet.

We wouldn't have guessed as we crossed the border from New Hampshire into Maine 9 days earlier how righteous this day would turn out to be. In the words of Isaac - the experience was "totally sick". Many, many thanks to Inner Visions, Mark and the Damariscotta River Association for their love and hospitality. Keep on rockin' the free world.

If you're any kind of reggae fan, you simply must check out their website: www.innervisionsreggae.com

To find out more about the Damariscotta River Preserve - log on to www.draclt.org

Farmer's Market/Church Supper

2006-07-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

July 14, 2006

Wake up: 7 a.m.
Crew call: 8 a.m.

Up at the crack of dawn to shoot a farmer's market in Brunswick. We get lost on the way there and come across signs for a few church suppers which, conveniently, are on our list of things to check out.

The Farmer's Market:

The Chrystal Spring Farm in Brunswick sponsors a farmer's market that has been active for over 4 years and includes over 50 growers and producers of cheese, baked goods, organic produce, cut flowers, herbs, perennials, meats and poultry, jams and jellies and of course, pickles.

In 2004, the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, which owns the farm, partnered with Seth Kroeck and his family to manage a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program on the property. The first year was a tremendous success. Seventy-five families joined the CSA in its initial year and from June through October enjoyed a fabulous array of organic seasonal vegetables, flowers, and herbs—fabulous in taste, variety, and freshness! Eggs, milk, and locally produced meats were also available. The goal is to provide for 150 shares in the CSA in 2005 and additional shares as the farm operation continues to develop.

Crystal Spring Community Farm states its mission simply but eloquently: it "strives to grow the highest quality organic vegetables for the Brunswick-Topsham area. Using sustainable methods of agricultural production to preserve and enhance soil quality and protect environmental diversity, our goal is to ensure the long term viability of food production, recreation, and education at the farm." The farm's produce is offered both at the Saturday farmers' market (open May through October from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and through membership in the CSA.

The idea of a CSA is that consumers share both the risks and rewards of farm production. A specific number of shares are sold before the growing season, ensuring that the farmer has capital at the beginning of the year to buy seeds and equipment for a known market of people. If it is a good year, everyone benefits with bountiful, fresh produce. If it is not, the risk is shared. The first year of the Crystal Spring's CSA has demonstrated how committed Seth and his crew are to producing plentiful amounts of nutritious produce for the CSA shareholders. More than 160 varieties of vegetables were planted in 2004, and that number will increase as the farm expands.

We think this is one tasty idea. Spread the good word and SUPPORT these markets please! This is one of the best ways to stay the disease of urban sprawl - if we don't use these parcels of land they'll wind up as Wal-Marts or strip malls....or god forbid, greasy, nasty fast-food joints.

When you travel anywhere, to any country, the very best way to get the gist of the local vibe is to check out the markets and shops. There's nothing like getting back home and ripping into a package of spice that you ferreted out in an off-the-beaten-path market or bazaar, or sweetening your morning tea with a locally grown honey! (Lili has been known to smuggle and horde smoked fish from Ireland, sausage from Austria, cheese and butter from France, lettuce seeds from Belgium, olive oil from everywhere and assorted spices, powders and roots from any number of island nations into the U.S. -Please! Don't ask where she hides this stuff!...she is always the popular girl at Customs.) You can feel good about these purchases because you know it's responsible consumerism... and so much better than a stupid tee-shirt.

The entire Tasty Tribe got to prowl the market looking for goodies, listen to beautiful violin music played by two local women, eat fabulous food, drink freshly squeezed lemonade and flirt with really hot bread bakers. Barak, nice crust by-the-way -wink-wink!

Lili loaded up for a picnic lunch which we had later that day at the beach. We had a smashing goat cheese & vegetable tart, an Afghani eggplant dish that was to die for, 3 or 4 different types of local cheeses, freshly baked baguettes and boules, and, of course, there was plenty of Maine wine & Geary's Ale to wash it all down. Do we actually get paid to do this???

Coming Soon: The Skinny on Maine Cheese - Are These Ingenious Cheesemakers Going to Kick Some French Butt or What?

Blog on and see Lii's review of the cheese-producing farms in the mid-coast region.

After a small post-beach siesta at the Bath house (our rental pad) - We loaded gear and headed to Orr's Island in search of the "Church Supper" that we tore by earlier that day in our mad rush. These suppers have been traditional Maine fare for more than 200 years. It's simple community food, where, most likely, you will end up being served by and seated with the person that cooked it. We were a little freaked out when we walked into the "Helping Hands" chowder supper in the basement of this pretty small church on Orr's Island. We kind of ducked in under the door, stood upright and then realized we were in a room filled with a whole lot of old folks. When I say 'freaked out' I don't mean it in a Stephen King sort of way, it was just pretty clear that we were 'from away' and under eighty... so we kind of stuck out. Not to mention, we're kind of an eclectic looking group. (Eclectic being a nice way of saying 'weird').

- check out the pix & profiles of the whole Tasty Crew.

The walls of the room were draped with crayola drawings and macaroni/paper plate artworks - these folks definetly supported local artists. Literally. To me it was a display as lovely and gracious as 'The Gates'.

We managed to negotiate our way through the line and to our scattered seats with out making huge asses of ourselves. If you've never done it before, it goes like this:

get in line
pay for your supper (usually between 6-9 bucks)
get in the supper line
talk about the recipes for all the choices you'll have - (we had a choice of: New England Clam Chowder, Fish Chowder, Corn Chowder and Seafood Chowder - which differs from fish chowder because it contains both fish and shellfish.
grab a seat and make some tasty new friends

That was pretty much it. Painless. Within minutes the usual reserve of these marvelous New Englanders was gone and replaced with first hand accounts of World War II, the adventures of retirement and, now and then, a well-thrown jab or joke to a party at another table. A lone eight year-old girl circled the room tonging the diners with dinner rolls and busing the used paper goods from the tables. An hour later we were tucking into the home made - and I mean home made - desserts that all the 'church ladies' brought to the supper and sharing more stories as the tables emptied and re-filled with new supper-goers. We knew this stuff was exactly what we should be shooting for Tasty Planet, but we just couldn't do it. We felt that asking to drag in our gear would have been somehow sacrilegious. There are some things that are inexplicable and need to be experienced first hand. This kind of tasty love is one of those. We left with our bellies full and our spirits lifted. Long live the church supper. Do yourself a favor, stop in next time you see a sign - jump in line and grab a seat. You'll be livin' the tasty life in no time.

Friday

2006-07-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

July 13, 2006

Friday was technically a day off, but I think everyone ended up doing a bit of work. We posted no less than 3 blogs that day while sipping lattes and wandering town in search of wi-fi.

That afternoon, the girls went shopping. They hit the Maine boutiques, bought bling rings, and ended the stretch at a local coffee house.

That night, half of the crew went to the Monsweag Roadhouse and the moustache party. Jenny and her husband Chris run the roadhouse in addition to 5 Islands Lobster. As reported earlier, Jenny does indeed rock. It was Dark and Stormy night at the roadhouse. As in the drink. We also sampled the purple hooter.

A big shout out here to Andrew Moore and AJ the bouncer who gave good interview.

At around 11pm we made our way to the Moustache party in Augusta. A variety of hand-made moustaches were on display.

(good party Kelly!)

A1 Diner/Martini Mix-Off

2006-07-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

July 12, 2006

We arrive at the A1 Diner close to noon, in the middle of the afternoon rush. Monique and Simon are having a minor face-off over camera angles. Lili's stressing about time and money and getting in the way of lunch hour. Lili interviewed co-owner Michael Giverson about A1. Michael's father owned A1 prior to him. Michael moved out to LA for awhile and worked in the restaurant industry but became disenchanted and moved back to Georgetown to run the restaurant. A1 is an old boxcar-style diner. Michael co-owns the diner and A1-To Go with Neil Andersen. Neil showed us around A1-To Go which is a cafe/specialty market.

A1-To Go is housed inside of former pharmacy. When the pharmacy was closing, Michael and Neil decided to move in with an alternative eating establishment rather than give up the property to competition. They now command a bustling small town street corner in Gardiner with good taste and style.

Lili also interviewed Chef Kenneth Harrison who prepared a seared Ahi Tuna salad.

Kenneth is partly responsible for an eclectic menu that mixes classic diner fare with haute cuisine.

Kelly McGuirl, a waitress at the A-1, filled us in on her world travels and invited us to a moustache party on Friday night.

Leesh thought A-1 was doing alright because they had a nice Lebanese salad.

That evening Lili was a judge at the Maine Martini Mix-Off at Dennett's Wharf in Castine. The winner was the Castini.

Jenny Rocks!

2006-07-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Lili and Crew,

Thank-you so much for coming down today and taking the time to get to know Five Islands Lobster Co. We had a great time with the crew and hopefully you all had a good time as well.

Since we never discussed it at length, I'm curious to know when and where the final cut will be aired. Sorry if I didn't catch all the details. I really hope to see you and your family down again and good luck with your upcoming ventures.

Thanks again,
Jenny and Chris Johnston
Five Islands Lobster Co.
Montsweag Roadhouse

Lobstering

2006-07-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

July 11, 2006

Wake up call: 2:30 a.m.
Arrive in Bristol: 4:30 a.m.

Lili never thought she’d wear so much orange rubber in one week.

We split up the crew today to capture more footage. Some of us rode out with lobsterman Issac Molt at sunrise to pull 100 traps over 5 miles of ocean. Normally he pulls around 600.

Lili was attacked twice by lobsters but she valiantly fought back and prevailed.

Her finger got chomped by a hardshell wild lobster. Issac said the lobster had good taste.

(video coming soon! Keep your eyes open.)

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew headed out to capture some exciting B-roll. They stopped for lunch at the Sea Basket resturant. Everything there is made to order. Nothing is frozen. Even the onion rings are made fresh to order. They also have yummy vegan soup, which they make fresh with grilled veggies. Delish.

Cold River Vodka/Azure Cafe

2006-07-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2006

Today we went to the Cold River Vodka Distillery in Freeport where they refine potatoes. Lili had the exciting opportunity to scrub the insides of the fermentation tanks. Meanwhile, the rest of us wandered around the facilities getting B-roll. Joe the distiller took us into places that are normally off limits to the public.

Lili had an interview with the owners, Bob and Chris, in the souvenir shop. It was brutal in there with the lights on. If you notice they look shiny, that’s why. Anyway, it was a nice shop and the people there were awesome.

After the distillery, we headed back down the street and stopped for lunch at the Azure Café. Owner Jonas Werner greeted us and made sure that we were well taken care of. Simon had his first lobster. He said it rocked his boat.

The Chef, Chris Meyer, prepared Damriscotta and Winter Point Oysters with a garlic, onion, scallion, and nasturtium mignonette and Chandra, our bartender, prepared apple, blueberry, and Cold River Vodka martinis. The whole experience was absolutely amazing.

Maine Distilleries LLC
437 Us Route 1
Freeport, ME 04032
(207) 865-4828
coldrivervodka.com

Azure Cafe
123 Main St
Freeport, ME 04032
(207) 865-1237
azurecafe.com

5 Islands

2006-07-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2006

Lili’s sister, Victoria, and Guy’s kids, Victoria and Zack, joined us today. We drove 30 minutes out to Georgetown to meet with Heidi Klingelhofer, the owner of 5 Islands Farm. Heidi sells local cheeses, wines, and organic whole foods. She put out a spread of fine cheeses and crackers and we shot an interview outside surrounded by flowers. She tried to convince us she was camera shy but she was amazing. Be sure to watch our pilot episode to see her. Heidi was knowledgeable about cheese, wine, and the fresh organic produce she sells. If you ever have the chance to visit her shop, make sure you do. You’ll love it, I promise.

After that we drove down the road to 5 Islands Lobster and talked to the proprietor, Jenny Johnston. She was pretty awesome. Jenny gave us a tour of the lobsterhouse and we ate lobster and haddock on the pier. Jenny’s father-in-law talked to us about the lobster market. We had a great time; the weather was wonderful and the air smelled fishy. There were these three girls selling sand dollars. One of them said “Maine is Great!” Leesha thought it was so original. We also had the best coconut ice cream ever.

Bar Harbor

2006-07-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

July 8: Drove 4 hours to Bar Harbor for seal watching with Captain John Nicolai

Drove 4 hours back to Bath. Stopped at Angler’s Restaurant in Newport , drank beer and ate lobsters. Watched Rescue Me in the back of the mini van on the way back.

Greetings from Maine!

2006-07-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

July 7: Drove 6 hours to Bath Maine

- 1 van, 1 pick up truck
- 4 cameras,
- 3 tripods
- 2 soft boxes
- 1 light kit
- 1 pod

That morning we realized that the van was missing the attachments that would hold the pod in place. This would mean hours sitting together in the vehicles, practically on top of each other, piled high with equipment. Mike actually built an attachment out of wood to solve the problem.

We left late and arrived in Bath at 9pm. On the way up we picked up another crew member off Craigslist. Dave called and said he wanted to get involved. Up until this point we didn’t actually have an audio guy so this was a tremendous relief.

The house in Bath is an old colonial style, 2 floors, 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 9 people. Cora, the renter, greeted us with open arms despite the fact that Cora’s 5 children were home at the same time for the first time in 3 years. Lili guessd she was from Dublin and Cora gave us a tour of the house, broke the door knob off the laundry room door and told a few jokes, then Monique cooked eggs and Lili’s brother Guy brought beer.

End: 2 am:
Crew call: 9am

It's a lotsa fun.

2006-07-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

Ad for tastyplanet.tv (Coming Soon!)

A big shout out to all our peeps.

2006-07-07T22:06:00.001-07:00

We want to give a shout out to all the locations we visited on Wednesday, June 21. Thanks for sharing the Big Love.

Carmine's Restaurant
16 Main St.
Durham, CT 06422
(860) 349-5411

Fat City Cycle
70 N. Main St.
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 347-9880

Javapalooza
330 Main St.
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 346-5282

Nikita's Bar & Bistro
484 Main St # 1
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 344-9378

Pedal Power Cycle & Fitness
359 Main St.
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 347-3776

Lino's Market
472 Main St.
Durham, CT 06422
(860) 349-1717

and

Vecchitto Italian Ice
323 Dekoven Dr
Middletown, CT 06457
(860) 346-7301

(Image coming soon)

Day 2: Chester, CT

2006-06-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to play.

Day 1: Middletown/Durham, CT

2006-06-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say , good job everyone.

lili, great host
monique - great pics
leesh - great coordination
zeb - great set ups, sound
adawg - great dictatorship
myself - great "all around nice guy"

just some of today's reminder,

coould we get the time code digitalized and perhaps creat a sheet database. i could make it if necessary, or adawg (exel master)

oh and perhaps a list of the people we met today, i think copies or scans could be enough. or a database, of the encountered peeps.

Camera Lights -

well. good first day,

badges coming up!

simon

zeb - if you ever get that drawing let me know, ill get myself a shirt with it on it!

2006-06-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

Craig's List Posting

http://maine.craigslist.org/cwg/175587667.html

2006-06-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

"All great achievements, all great conversations and inventions have their beginnings in visions born of faith and all great advances can be traced back to the minds that dared to rely on faith. Success is but the flowering of a plant that had the will and the patience and persistence to push steadily upward, but faith is the soil from which it drew its sustenance." - Unknown

*

"To increase performance you have to ADD instability to the system's design. This means that a high performance aircraft with a large percentage of instability built into its design occasionally wants to careen into oblivion -- the feedback from the system's interaction with the environment can create uncontrollable loops that tend towards infinity (which of course means catastrophic failure)."

woo-hoo!

2006-06-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well...my trip up to Maine was very productive and exciting. Good things are going to happen...everyone I met is so eager to jump on board and support this project. Fantastic people...really, I've forgotten, living in Connecticut, how gentle and kind some folks can be. I can't wait to tell you all about the contacts I (we) made. We are going to have a little bit of everything - and I think the piece it's going to be both charming and sexy - like us. I'm thinking now since I've actually done some footwork - about making the episode more about what's hot in Maine right now - keeping the lobster and all of course, because we do have the _cutest _lobsterman in all of Maine taking us to work with him - but calling it: Tasty Maine - Going Coastal...or something along those lines. Limiting it to just the lobstering would, well, limit us. I used my little homeowner camera to get some shots - I am truly a shitbird cameraman - but we had a couple of really good laughs doing it and V. takes nice stills, so we got soma them too. So, I can't wait to share all the wonderful things I've learned in the last few days! I'm a bit daft right now from so much driving, so I will try to spare you my ramblings.

I think we should make Jacqueline a go - she sounds lovely. Leesh and/or Dree - you can contact her asap and let her know she's in. And let her know she's good for van-pooling from Bath. BTW -we got hooked up with a second mini-van for the week too - it's Stan the Man's Van - he works with my sister and just offered it cuz he has another vehicle...told you these were nice people - so if need be, we can split in two directions to shoot A & B roll and not have to use the gas-guzzling-gangsta mobile - although, that will surely disappoint Simon the Pimp. I am surprised...there are A LOT of miles to cover in that humongus state - we may need to break into 2 groups. FYI - only three of us can go out with Isaac the lobsterman at once if his boat is set up to work...the traps take up a ton of deck space and it would be dangerous to overcrowd.

WE NEED ARTWORK... If I am going to get crew tee-shirts or whatever, I need that stuff _stat_. It'd be nice to look cohesive and professional w/ TP Staff/Crew shirts. Please come Tuesday with ideas that are /easily and readily produce- able/ and keep it simple for now- we can get more elaborate when we get rid of Adrian - I mean - at a later date.

Also - send me requests for anything special you want in the house or on location to eat/drink...if you can't begin your day without Fruity Pebbles, Bazooka or something as equally disgusting - let me know now - I tend to go anorexic when I'm full tilt (Ha - That's the name of Isaac's boat!) and I know a few of you mentioned needing to eat more than once in a twenty-four hour period (wimps). Victoria is getting the basic staples: coffee, beer & Gatorade (my requests - add Xanax & Lunesta and you've covered my 5 major food groups). It'd be nice to pack a cooler w/ lunch a couple of times to save some coin - so let me know what you eat, especially Leesh, our veggie.

Victoria is going to be home with me next weekend for our good friend's wedding...maybe we could get together for a pre-prod meeting while she's in CT earlier in the week - I know it's 4th of July week so let me know if this is a sucky idea.

That's all for now...Hope you all had a steamy weekend.
I'm so full of love (but not for Rachel Ray),

xo
Kinsman

Maine TV Pilot

2006-06-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the information on permits in the state of Maine. Most towns in >the state do not require permits. However, make sure to call the town >officials in each town you are in to double check. Here are the phone >numbers for each town you mentioned:
>
>Bath= City Manager, John D Bubier 207-443-8330 and the Police Chief, Peter >Lizanecz 207-443-8339.
>Bar Harbor= Town Manager, Dana J Reed 2007-288-4098 and the Police Chief, >Nathan M Young 207-288-3391
>New Harbor= (which is too small for a town office and operates out of the >town of South Bristol)= Clerk , Mary Jane McLoon 207-563-3977, there are >no police stations here, I think the clerk can just help you with figuring >out any other protocol in the town.
>
>
>Most town just need to know what you want to do and if you will block any >traffic. Also, let them know you registered with the Maine State Film >Office. We will keep insurance records for you here.
>
>If you shoot on any state parks, it is free of charge. Here is the number >for Steve Curtis who handles all Southern Maine State parks= >(207-624-6076). He is really great. He is very welcoming and a great >resource for questions you may have about the state.
>
>I have attached our registration form to this email. If you can't view >it, I can fax it to you.
>Also, let us know if you need anything else. We have a lot of contacts in >the state, we can put you in touch with crew people, and people to >interview.
>
>We would love to hear how everything went after you shoot. We are >constantly looking to improve how we receive filmmakers coming to Maine. >We will probably email you at some point to ask how you found Maine. So, >good luck with the shoot and please let us know if you need anything else. >Also, our website is www.filminmaine.org for more info on our film >incentives program. Have fun!
>
>Sincerely,
>Serena Sanborn
>Maine Film Office
>207-624-9828

intro montage

2006-06-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

The montage shoot is Wednesday the 28th- we will meet in Durham @ 9:30 am and plan to shoot most of the day. We need a shooting script for the montage too. The city montage you sent is grtitty and sexy - if we can use it as a benchmark and bring a little more softness into it, I think it would be sooo hot. The only thing I don't see working with that kind of opening is the theme song - it'd have to have much stronger music to support that than a bluesy-tune. And what are our plans if the weather is inclement? Got any indoor ideas?

city montage

Acadia

2006-06-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

I checked out some things besides the North Atlantic
Music Festival, and I also found some other
interesting leads, including in the local punk-rock
department. I'll let you know more on Tuesday after
I've researched some more.

Also, there is a type of indigenous music from
northern Maine called Acadian music, obviously from
Acadia. It also turns out that this music is part of
my own heritage.

Most of the Acadian singers and musicians are older or
more private, and do not have any websites or e-mail
addresses to connect them to. However, after some
more searching, I found that there is a Freewil Folk
Society at Bates College in Lewiston, which isn't very
far from where we'd be staying. There is a General
Info. number to call, so maybe you could ask them
about any local Acadian musicians.

2006-06-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

i made a quick animatic for a possible intro to the show, or a come back from commercial ten second spot. the idea is to have people from all over, showing diversity. here's the link, its rough, but its an idea.

Life on the mat

2006-06-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yoo-Hoo,

Hey, I said I wasn't gonna drink tequila last night. psssffft. That was an easily broken vow. You guys are a blast to hang with so it makes the small hangover so worth it.

I wanted to get you guys a Pilates schedule. I'm serious about how synched-up it gets people. So, come to any of my classes - they are all free for the Tasty Planet Crew.

I'm off to Eli Cannons..in my Patron haze I seem to have left behind my bookbag with ALL my shit in it. Duh.

hot lobster chick

2006-06-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

You guys...
Check out this lobsterman, - Zoe Zanidakis -she is ALL woman! And she would make our show about lobstering sexy. go to: http://www.allzoe.com/.

We sooo need an interview with her.

I booked us a private charter today for July 9th on the lobsterboat -Lulu- out of Bar Harbor - We're getting a private 2 hour cruise to go seal watching with the Captain, Jonh Nicolia, who is also a former chef. check out the site. http://www.lululobsterboat.com/.

2006-06-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

*What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do - especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling,
you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.
~William Least Heat Moon, /Blue Highways/*

2006-06-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

*Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. ~Mark Twain

1st crew meeting

2006-06-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

What the hell is up y'all?

I can't even begin to tell you all how exciting this pilot project and subsequent episodes are going to be. It's lookin' sumpin' like this:

* Pilot - _'The Lobster Chronicles'_ shot on location on the Maine Coast & Durham, CT
* Episode 1 - _"Miami Spice - La Vida Grande in Little Havana_ - shot on location in Little Havana, Miami, EFF-EL-A & Durham, CT
* Episode 2 -" _The Baja Peninsula - Big Wheels, Fish Tacos & Tequila"_ - shot on location in San Diego, Cal, Baja, Mexico
and Durham, CT

other travel-food destinations are:

The British Virgins - Wind, Water, Rum & BBQ - West Indian Style

San Antonio, Texas - Hot Food & Cold Beer in the Alamo City

Croatia & The Dalmation Coast - The Old World with a Fresh Face

Argentina - Latino Cowboys & Lush Vineyards...yum.

Costa Rica - Surf School, Ancient Bread Ovens and Ceviche (and don't forget the Guaro!)

AND, Eat & Drink like a Dubliner- Ireland, Beach Bungalow Heaven in Thailand, Hiking in Cyprus, Mangia Sicilia, Tomato Throwing Festival in Eastern Spain, Sturgis Bike Rally - The Mecca of Motorcycles, Orange Festival in the Italian Alps, The Marakesch Express....to name some of the ideas I have.

And there's more..Stay Tuned!