We have friends in Rumford (W of Bangor, N of Portland) with a standing offer to visit, and we might go up there in early May to see a concert in Brownfield, which is NW of Portland over toward White Mt. Natl Forest. So we'd be west of you but we haven't made any specific plans yet, and Acadia is certainly a place to see. Not having been there I would probably be fascinated with all of it. I require a lobstah, preferably on a beach, but with butter in any case. That is my only requirement. I live in Columbia and am very familiar with Stephens. In fact they have a great equestrian program and some of that Stephens horse manure is in my garden as we speak.

May, here is another recipe that Lori posted. Check out Lori's blog All That Splatters for pictures. Looks sooo good. Decadent Chocolate Cherry Bread Yield: 2 loaves 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/2 cup very warm water (105° - 115°F) 1/3 cup granulated sugar 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 cup warm brewed coffee (90°F or less) 1 large egg, separated 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened 1-1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1 cup dried sour cherries Place yeast and water in a large bowl. Stir with a fork to dissolve yeast and allow to stand for 3 minutes. Whisk sugar, flour, cocoa powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside. Stir coffee, egg yolk and butter into yeast mixture. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring until a shaggy mass forms and flour is moistened. If dough feels stiff, add 2 tablespoons of water. It should be moist and sticky. Move dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 7 to 8 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Shape into a loose ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest about 10 minutes. Flatten dough and stretch gently with your fingers to form a rectangle about an inch thick. Spread chopped chocolate and dried cherries evenly over dough. Fold into thirds like a business letter, then knead 2 to 3 minutes until the pieces of chocolate and cherries are well distributed. Shape dough into a loose ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, along with any loose chocolate and cherries. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours. Line 12" x 17" baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently pour dough onto lightly floured work surface, pressing any loose chocolate or cherries into dough. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces. Pull corners towards the center and press down in the middle to gather dough, turn dough over and seal shut by rotating closure against the counter to tighten the ball and form a seal. Be careful not to tear it as you are shaping it. Place one loaf on each end of prepared baking sheet allowing several inches between them. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until doubled in volume. About 15 minutes before baking, place one oven rack in top third of oven and another in bottom third. Preheat to 400°F. When loaves have doubled, mix egg white with 1 teaspoon water. Brush each loaf gently with egg wash being sure to coat entire surface. Gently cut a small cross shape on top of each loaf but be careful not to deflate loaf. Place pan on top oven rack. Using a plant sprayer, mist top and sides of oven 6 to 8 times, and quickly close oven door. Bake for 12 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350°F and rotate pan from top to bottom and front to back to ensure even baking. Bake for 12 to 20 minutes, or until tops of loaves feel firm but not hard when you press them slightly, and the bottoms are lightly browned. Loaves should have a thin, soft coating, not a hard, crunchy crust. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before serving.

Well, if it wasn't a doctor or nutritionist who put you off beans, please do some more investigation. I saw a warning against black eyed peas, but most people I've read online seem to think that beans are okay for gout even though they have that chemical which I think starts with "p". I've never had chili with lima beans. Are those the dried ones? I can't imagine that fresh would survive a long cook. I love that kind of thing, though not so much the salt and butter. I don't use much of either. So I read something that said that potassium was good for gout, and that lima beans are good for potassium. Vitamin C is also supposed to help. Is the B12 helping with the fatigue? I recently got Bragg nutritional yeast to try because several here said it was great to use as a seasoning and it has added B vitamins. I'm going to try it in vegan snacks. Even though there's not enough sodium to earn a mention on the label, it has an almost salty taste, and also umami. Plus nutritional yeast is supposed to have complete proteins. Maybe something like that would be a good alternative to some of the salt?

Although I've used the microwave method in the past, and there is a book written based entirely on this method so you can speed the rising of the dough, I have to caution using it. 1. You can get the temperature inside the microwave too hot if you aren't careful. Most people don't take the temperature inside the microwave before popping their dough into it. Yeast will begin to die at 115-degrees F. Yeast grows best around 75-85-degrees F. When temperatures exceed 85-degrees F, the dough can develop an "off" flavor. 2. The next potential problem is you can't always maintain a constant temperature. The temperature is highest when you add the dough, and will continue to fall. A constant temperature is optimal for dough. The goal isn't speed, and there is nothing wrong with a long cool rise, which develops flavor. If you want speed, find a recipe using a fast-acting yeast which eliminates the first rise. You cover the dough for a 10-minute resting period after kneading to allow the gluten strands to relax before you form the dough for the final proof and eliminate the first rise entirely. This is one of the reasons fast-acting yeast products were developed - that and you could add them directly to the dry ingredients and skip proofing the yeast in water/sweetener. This is also a problem when the "pre-heat the oven method" is used. In this method the oven is turned on for a few minutes to warm the oven, the oven is turned off, add the dough. Potential problems: 1. The oven temperature may be too hot if the oven temperature wasn't checked, and some of the yeast killed. 2. The oven hasn't been heated long enough to penetrate the entire oven in order to maintain/hold a good proofing temperature for a long period of time, so the temperature may be too hot when the dough is add, and then falls quickly during the proofing. Once again, a uniform temperature is best, not a falling temperature. A better method is to leave the light on in your oven for a constant low temperature. Turn it on when you start making your dough so it has time to warm the entire oven. Be sure to test the temperature in different areas of the oven. In my oven it is best as far away from the oven light as I can get it, and the temperature is too hot close to the light. If you want to add humidity, place a shallow baking pan or dish on the bottom rack and add hot (not boiling) water TO the pan as a safety measure. Don't fill the shallow pan at the sink and walk it to the oven. You could slosh the hot water all over yourself. -If you use a dough-rising bucket for proofing dough, it's a perfect little environment which maintains the moisture from the dough, so adding humidity isn't necessary, and keeps drafts off the dough. You are also able to quickly tell when it's "doubled" in bulk. If you pat 1-quart of dough into a dough-rising bucket, when it reaches the 2-quart line, you know it has doubled in bulk. -Cold dough is actually easier to handle when forming for the final proofing. -Cover the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap. If you handle your dough with oiled hands the dough won't stick to them and the dough won't stick to the plastic wrap. You can also give the plastic wrap a shot of vegetable cooking spray to keep it from sticking. -Avoid using damp towels over dough. The skin of the dough can get too hydrated from the excess moisture in the cloth and it can affect the flavor and texture of the dough. -Punching dough down after the first rise is an important, and often ignored, function. How to: Oil your hand/fist. Plunge it slowly down the center of the dough. Now pull the dough on the outside of the container to the center. Do this all around the ball of dough. You are essentially turning the dough inside out. The cooler outside dough has been moved to the center and the warmer inside dough to the outside. This breaks up the gasses and redistributes the yeast. -At this point you need to scale (weigh) the dough and divide it, if necessary. If you are making two loaves you can now have equal amounts by scaling the dough, and they will bake evenly. Scaling dough balls for dinner rolls, hamburger or hot dog buns, sandwich rolls, etc. will make them all the same size and they will bake evenly. -Rounding the dough after the dough has been punched down is the next step. This is done by laying the dough on a flat surface (I use a silpat so I don't need bench flour). With both hands, pull the top of the dough down to the bottom, shifting the dough a quarter turn with each movement until the dough is a nice smooth ball. This gets the gluten strands running all the same way and the tight ball helps hold gasses inside the dough ball. Cover (a sheet of plastic wrap or turn the mixing bowl over it) and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes so the gluten strands have a chance to relax before you form the dough. It's the techniques that make all the difference between good bread and wonderful bread. Unfortunately, they are rarely noted in recipes ;-). -Grainlady