I’ll be real with you—I’ve been doing island things instead of baking.
Like wading into the fuh-reezing Atlantic Ocean with three of the most fabulous women I know.
And picking blackberries with my sister.
But, I mean, we still have to eat. We might as well do it in style.
Meals here on Swan’s Island are meticulously planned. Four years in though, we sort of know what we’re doing.
We have a meeting before we leave NYC. There’s an organized menu. There’s an itemized grocery list. There’s one harried/hilarious trip through the Hannaford in Ellsworth, Maine. And then there’s cooking every last meal, snack, and dessert we eat on this beautiful island.
If it sounds like work to vacation here, that’s because it is. Fortunately for me, it’s the sort of work I love most. I mean, what’s to complain about when there’s daily Salsa O’Clock?
And don’t forget Guac O’Clock. It’s very important when you are on vacation.
It’s impossible to be grouchy in the morning when VJ makes you gluten-free vegan waffles…
…and blueberry muffins. The bacon was my contribution.
There were Migas, too…
…and the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal I told you about on Wednesday.
And cantaloupe. (Can you tell I am in love with the white prep table?)
Lunches have been less curated, but this chickpea-centric spin on my favorite Jacques Pepin soup recipe really hit the spot on Sunday afternoon.
And don’t forget extra-toasty grilled cheeses.
Dinner is an event though. We’ve had a Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Onions, and some extra caramelly maple-roasted carrots.
There was vegan cornbread, too. (My recipe, but with non-dairy milk + vinegar, vegan butter, aquafaba for egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup more cornmeal.)
And Eliot made my crowd-favorite Everyday Cassoulet and some garlicky kale.
Last night was taco night. Hooray for using up leftovers!
Dessert has been plentiful. I mean, I’m here.
I made a batch of Toasted Oat Graham Crackers,
so naturally, there were s’mores.
There have also been also S’moreos.
And just straight-up toasted marshmallows.
Also, lots and lots and lots of coffee. Arnab finally learned how to use the French press we bought him for Christmas. #adulting
So, as you can see, we have not starved. We have some produce to finish and a few things we’ll divvy up on our way back to New York, but we have, by and large, used everything we brought.
I’m planning to do some last day of vacation baking today (all those blackberries!), but I may also just sit on a rock and watercolor.
The day is young.
Hello from 
VJ and I got here Saturday afternoon. It was supposed to be us and two more that day, but due to a work snafu, they didn’t join us until yesterday. Thank goodness for our other guest, my sister, 
Since it’s just been the two of us these last few days, meals have been simple. As I’ve mentioned 
While everyone else I know was going to work Monday morning, I made this Blueberry Baked Oatmeal for us. Made with gluten-free old-fashioned oats, rice milk,* and 
This oatmeal is super simple to make. With just a few minutes of prep-work and 40 minutes of bake time, you’ll be rewarded with a rich, cinnamon-spiked oatmeal that is positively bursting with blueberries.
You just need two bowls and a stirring implement to put it together, and you probably have all the ingredients already (with the possible exception of blueberries).
VJ and I prefer our oatmeal on the sweet side, so I used 1/2 cup maple syrup here. If you’d like a less-sweet breakfast, you can reduce it to 1/4 cup.
Feel free to add nuts or seeds (toast them with the oats!), or stir in coconut flakes or mashed banana. Everything we eat on Swan’s Island comes from one pre-ferry grocery trip on the mainland, so meals are paired down and simple. I like this oatmeal as-is with an additional drizzle of maple and a pat of butter, but that’s just me.
As with many of the recipes on this site, this recipe can be made with many variations. Feel free to take my favorite and make it yours.
If you follow me on 
We just had to start out our trip with a lobster roll! This one from Hill’s Seafood Co. absolutely hit the spot after our long drive north. Eliot and I especially liked that we could skip the fries and get a side of broccoli instead. The service and harbor view were great too. No complaints from the peanut gallery. I wish I had more to say, but I was so happy to have food that I didn’t notice much else 🙂 
Even if coffee and artisanal beverages aren’t your thing, I recommend checking out Rock City Coffee for the bookstore in the back. That’s right—after you grab your coffee, walk to the end of the counter and you’ll find 
As you may be able to tell, I didn’t capture any photos of my coffee (rest assured, it looked like coffee), but I did capture this guy in all his cinnamon glory ❤
Primo is a farm-to-table restaurant right on the border between Rockland and Owls Head, ME. The restaurant itself is in a beautiful Victorian house, but the real magic is in the farm behind it.
Mom, Eliot, and I zipped over right after we made our reservation and spent a good 40 minutes wandering through the farm. We loved all the colors of the vegetables, and we named every animal. All the chickens were named after characters from Frasier. You won’t be surprised to learn that none of us ate chicken or pork.
We had to get dessert too. I had this chocolate budino cake with mint gelato and local strawberries. Eliot went for this almost comically large affogato with the lightest zeppole ever. So dreamy.
On top of the amazing meal and farm, Primo had spectacular service. I’m starting to see a trend 🙂
All four of us got the Shack Fave: half-lobster roll, half-crab roll. I mean, we were only in Maine for 24 hours—two lobster rolls were a necessity. Plus, Rockland is the 
Our lunches came with potato chips, cole slaw, dilly beans, and a wedge of watermelon. Everything was delicious, but I’ll be honest and say that I personally prefer lobster over crab in this particular instance.
After lunch, we went over to the 
Alright, that’s enough of that Maine trip—now it’s time for another 🙂 We’re spending the night in 
If you’ve been around here a while, you know that I spend 51 weeks of the year dreaming about my annual trip to 
This is my fourth year going up to Swans Island, and my third organizing the trip. There’s something wonderful about the anticipation of it all. From the moment we start looking at vacation dates and rental houses, and then confirming guests, there’s a wonderful familiarity to the whole process.
We book the house. We choose a spot to stop overnight on our way up (usually Portland) and VJ books the AirBNB. We rent a car. We create a menu and make a grocery list. Throughout it all, we dream about this incredible place and probably annoy the crap out of the first-timers going with us 😉 
One of my favorite parts of the process is coming up with recipes we can all enjoy. VJ, my Swans Island ride-or-die, is a 
When it comes to my on-island baking adventures, VJ is always willing to help take 
The idea for these sweet little crackers came to me as I was falling asleep one night last week and the inspiration was so strong that I had to get up and type it all down before I forgot! Four test batches later, I’m serving up a delicious and deliciously easy recipe perfect for our vacation 🙂 
Toasted Oat Graham Crackers are crunchy and nubbly, and have just the right amount of sweetness. They’re everything you could want in a graham cracker, except where the traditional treats start with a specialty coarse wheat flour, these are made with ingredients you likely already have in your pantry, like old-fashioned oats, light brown sugar, cinnamon, coconut oil, and pure maple syrup.
Also, the dough is made entirely in the bowl of a food processor! Easy peasy.
Once the dough is made, roll it out between two sheets of parchment and give it a quick freeze before slicing it into crackers. A chef’s knife works well for this, but I am fond of this expandable pizza wheel.
Score each cracker down the center…
…and pierce it a few times with a toothpick. I use a wire cake tester.
Bake the graham crackers for twenty minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes and then, all bets are off! These crispy, crunchy, cinnamon-spiced Toasted Oat Graham Crackers are great by themselves, or topped with peanut butter. Or cream cheese frosting.
These crackers can be kept whole or broken neatly in half along that score line. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m pretty sure these would make an amazing gluten-free vegan graham cracker pie crust!
One thing I know for sure is that they’re pretty damn good stacked with dark chocolate and toasted vegan marshmallow. Best vegan s’mores ever.
I can’t wait for vacation.
e2 bakes brooklyn 