New Maine Cookbook Celebrates Homegrown Values

Ogunquit, Maine — The Cliff House Resort & Spa in Ogunquit, Maine is celebrating its 1872 beginnings this season with a new edition of its cookbook titled Dining at The Cliff House: Food that has delighted guests since 1872.

Priced at a celebratory $18.72, the deliciously down-east cookbook features recipes from the oceanfront resort’s rich history — like Aunt Louie’s codfish balls or tomato aspic, a summertime classic — as well as fresh and inventive dishes including the resort’s own spa-inspired cuisine.

Wild Maine blueberries are part of the state’s homegrown agricultural heritage. The cookbook includes recipes that are new and true-blue: like Maine Blueberry Champagne Bisque, a heady poolside drink … Cliff House Blueberry Halibut … and Molasses Blueberry Cake.

The 72-page cookbook is beautifully illustrated with old-time photos of big city rusticators in their bathing costumes or taking in the salt air, parasols and all. Just as charming are the anecdotes that tell the origin of each recipe. The stories are sweet and salty, as delicious as the recipes themselves. Like how lobsters that were stranded in the cliffs after a big storm were harvested, boiled and served cold as a side dish sprinkled with vinegar. And how Lil Weare’s rich orange cake found its way into the popular Methodist cookbook — even though she was a Baptist.

Historic value throughout the resort

The new cookbook is just one facet of the resort’s 1872 celebration that taps into old-fashioned values — and value. It recalls an era when Elsie Jane Weare, great-grandmother of contemporary innkeeper and CEO Kathryn Weare, opened her seaside hotel, promising visitors clean rooms, fine food (three meals a day from the Weare’s own farm), fresh air and personal hospitality — all for just $6 a week.

This season The Cliff House is offering a number of ‘historically’ priced specials throughout the resort ranging from $8.72 to $18.72 and more.

To order the cookbook or for details, visit cliffhousemaine.com.

The Cliff House Resort & Spa, located on 70 oceanfront acres in Southern Maine, offers premier guest services, fine dining, a world-class spa and conference facilities. Owned and operated by the Weare Family since 1872, resort information is located on the Web at www.cliffhousemaine.com or by calling (207) 361-1000.

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Updated May 2009.