Finding our people.

My friend Elizabeth and her husband Skyler were unbelievably generous with their recommendations when it came to all things mid-coast Maine. They've been living in Rockland for about two years now, and they are (being my friends) very into food - good food. And so we basically just did everything they told us to do. That's how we found ourselves at Sweets & Meats one afternoon, a charcuterie and grocery in downtown Rockland, buying cheese, pâté, and baguettes.

The staff were lovely and helpful, offering samples and recommendations as we put together a cheese and meat platter for our hungry houseful of people, right down to the pickled local fiddleheads and housemade pâté de campagne.

On that trip (the first of many), Louisa spied this cucumber soda - which, believe it or not, I'd never heard of, let alone tried. Verdict? Delightfully light, a bit sweet, and very much redolent of cucumber - particularly its most melon-like qualities.

The next morning, a croissant was in order. I went for broke and chose the chocolate version. Topped with dark chocolate shavings, it was perfectly crisp and flaky, and the chocolate filling (bittersweet, I do believe) was still creamy and lush when I gobbled it down at around 10:30 AM. Pretty dang impressive, especially when you consider that we weren't even in France.