Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

There's tons of good eats in Portland--for seafood in a romantic setting I love Street & Co. on Wharf Street. Try the whole fish (it's whatever's fresh), the lobster diavolo for two, the clams with chorizo or the calamari. Afterwards, walk over to Beal's for ice cream: maple walnut, grapenut and moose tracks are New England classics.

J's Oyster, on Commercial Street, is much more casual but you can drink beer and load up on steamed clams, lobster and mussels. If they have the raw scallop appetizer don't miss it.

Now I'm hungry.

Ployes are delicious! They're a thin, almost crepe-like pancake made with a mix of wheat and buckwheat flours, plus baking powder, water and maybe a pinch of salt -- no eggs or oil in the traditional recipe, which comes from the Acadian communities in Maine and eastern Canada.

There's a company called Bouchard Family Farms that sells an authentic ployes mix online, or this recipe looks about right: http://www.food.com/recipe/ployes-french-buckwheat-pancakes-24201

You can do just about anything with your ployes in terms of fillings or toppings, but as far as I'm concerned, all you need is some good maple syrup.

In Maine and New Hampshire, there's Heiwa Tofu. Organic, non-GMO, delicious. http://heiwatofu.com/places.php

Oh, cool, I'd never heard of top sirloin. And using a bulb baster to remove fat is a great idea! I need to buy one for my first T-day turkey in 15 years, anyway. Thanks so much.

I use it in bourbon/whiskey cocktails instead of simple syrup.

Agree that if you order wisely there are delicious treats here, and that pear and ginger cake looks amazing. But as a Mainer, I have to say, these whoopie pies aren't worthy of the name. (They taste okay as far as 'things that contain sugar' go, but to me they aren't authentically whoopie pie-esque. And as noted, they aren't nearly soft enough.)

I've always had great success with lemon bars at bake sales -- just don't drown them in powdered sugar, to minimize mess when they're unwrapped.

I agree that "traditional" items sell well, so maybe add a unique spin to an old standby: substitute white chocolate & macadamia nuts in a basic chocolate chip/walnut cookie recipe. Or do big, chewy oatmeal cookies with dried cherries and chocolate instead of just raisins - there's a simple, easily modified recipe on the inside of the Quaker oats canister lid. Saleswise, it always helps to wrap your treats neatly and make a cute label for the display pan/box so people know what's inside.

Oh, and whoopie pies are a great idea, as someone just said. Make 'em mini, because some recipes will give you full-sized whoopies that typically require two to eat! (At least in public, if we are being polite.)

Any combination of dark chocolate and marzipan -- from fancy shapes to the Ritter Sport bars in delis.

White chocolate.
Milk chocolate, except in rare cases.
The ever-divisive coconut.
Walnuts or pecans. (Almonds and cashews are fine, though!)
Pretzels or potato chips.
Too much... stuff. Someone once gave me a cookie that had, like, peanut butter cups AND toffee bars AND M&Ms AND chocolate chips... it was a trainwreck of sugar and goo. Yuck.

1. Have you ever eaten horseradish? Yes

2. If yes, what would you put it on? A roast beef sandwich, mixed with cocktail sauce to dip chilled seafood. As wasabi, on sushi... or those wasabi peas from Chinatown.

3. Where do you shop for special meal ingredients? Farmer's market, small neighborhood market, large grocery store. Depending on the meal, a local ethnic market.

4. Would you order ingredients online? If so, which sites? Maybe... I never have, though.

5. 1 to 10 scale, how adventurous are you at trying new foods? 9

6. How far have you driven to eat-out? About 2 hours each way.

7. How often do you prepare meals each week? Every day, most meals.

8. What colors come to mind associated with adventure? Orange, pink, red, silver

9. Do you consume artificial sweeteners? Only an occasional diet soda. I'm trying to stop entirely, though. I check labels for them now.