Last weekend, Melody drove up from Boston for one last visit before the end of my rotation in Maine. With the subzero weather, we decided to forgo trekking out to Camden or Acadia as originally planned, but cozied up indoors instead, venturing out only to dine at the local digs. Over the two days, we filled our bellies with meatloaf and short ribs from the Liberal Cup, shrimp scampi and sausage spaghetti from Pastaz, french toast and lobster benedict from Slate’s, and most memorably, Laura’s Seafood Stew from Red Barn– an amazingly simple but delicious concoction of fresh lump lobster, scallops, haddock, and bay shrimps in a creamy milk and butter broth that showcased Maine seafood to near perfection. The rest of our time was spent catching up on TV shows like Glee and SNL, chasing wild turkeys and deers around the house, and engaging in such geeky pastimes as RC car racing and BB gun plinking. The rest of the work week was quite chill (pun intended). I even picked up a quart of the seafood stew on my drive back to Boston on Friday. For the holiday weekend, my parents visited from NYC, so we treated them to the gammut of Asian cuisines in Boston, from shabu shabu and Northern Chinese dim sum to Indian buffet and hearty home-made meals courtesy of Melody. I even learned my mom’s recipe for flan in exchange for a new Harvard cap for dad and smiling for family photos. I wish all holidays were as relaxing as this!