Death of a Blueberry Tart

Island Food & Spirits BY HAYLEY POWELL

There has been a lot of major drama happening in our small town over the past few weeks—the shocking and untimely deaths of two residents, the very public arrest of salon owner Julio Garcia and his cousin, not to mention all the canceled hair appointments, and of course, the Golden Girls sleuths finally hanging up their detective shields and going back to their normal lives. Things in my life finally seemed to be settling down.

Or so I thought.

Randy and Sergio felt bad that Bruce and I had to postpone our honeymoon cruise to a later unknown date because of the fast unfolding events we had to deal with recently. They were also very much aware that when we took our impromptu wedding vows, we never really had a chance to have any sort of celebration. So out of the goodness of their hearts, the boys decided to throw us a surprise evening wedding barbecue party at their beautiful home on the shore path, with all our friends in attendance along with a couple of extra surprises thrown in for fun.

With the finicky Maine weather gods providing a beautiful warm summer evening, Randy and Sergio spared no expense when it came to the barbecue, which is one of Bruce’s all-time favorite meals. If he could, Bruce would scarf down barbecue every day if I didn’t change it up with some Italian or Mexican food on occasion.

Mainely Meat BBQ was called in to cater the whole affair with their delicious pulled pork, sausage baked beans, corn on the cob, and tangy coleslaw. And for dessert, Mona enlisted someone she knew who she considered to be “a baking genius” to provide some delicious blueberry tarts. In fact, a lot of people commented that the tarts even rivaled, perhaps tasted even better than Caskie Lemon-Hogg’s recipe, God rest her soul.

Which leads me to our next surprise. Apparently, “the baking genius” was my own daughter, Gemma, who with her boyfriend, Conner, had arrived in town a day prior, unbeknownst to me. They had hidden away for the night at Randy and Sergio’s house so they could surprise us at the party!

Then, of course, there was my favorite boxed wine and Bruce’s preferred canned beers iced down in metal wash tubs. Randy, who always insists on serving a signature cocktail at any party that he hosts, enlisted his friend Dana from college, who also happened to be visiting for the weekend, to whip up her favorite summer cocktail, Thyme for Maine Blueberries. A drink so good Randy said he was going to steal the recipe and serve it at his bar for the rest of the summer.

Yummy food, tasty cocktails, and close friends all gathered at a gorgeous home on the water. What more could anyone ask for?

Well, that’s when Randy announced an extra special guest would be attending. A world-famous performer who happened to be a dear old friend of mine was in Portland for a concert. Randy had just called him up and asked him to surprise me and Bruce by showing up at the party. Not only did he accept and break speed records from Portland to Bar Harbor to be there on time, he also offered to be the evening’s entertainment and sing for us! Out came Wade Springer, my favorite country singer of all time! Wade and I had met a few years back when he was performing in Bar Harbor and I was hired to cater his meals. We also had managed to get caught up in a murder investigation! But what I prefer to remember about that time together was the blossoming love connection between us, which had caused me a few heart palpitations. But a full-blown romance was not to be. And I got the guy of my dreams in the end anyway when I married Bruce. Wade and I, however, remained good friends and occasionally email back and forth or jump on the phone for a few minutes during holidays.

Well, suffice it to say, the party guests went wild when Wade hopped in front of the microphone and belted out one of his top-ten country hits.

The night was perfect except for one tiny detail.

The guests of honor were a no-show.

That’s right. Randy waited until the last moment after all the party plans were in place to call Bruce and me to invite us over for “a simple cocktail on the front porch.” Unfortunately, earlier in the day Bruce and I had the crazy idea of getting away for the night, just the two of us. So we packed an overnight bag, called Randy’s cell and left a message when he didn’t answer that we would be over sometime the next day to visit with Dana, and headed up to Bangor for a night of gambling at the Hollywood Casino.

It was the first time in history that I convinced Bruce that we should go “off the grid” as they say and turn off our cell phones so we would not be disturbed. On our way home the next morning was when we finally turned them back on and heard all of our missed messages from the frantic hosts demanding to know where we were and why we weren’t answering our phones! It turned out Randy had not heard my previous voicemail message until after the party because he had put his phone away in the house and he had been using Sergio’s to call us nine times.

I must admit my heart skipped a beat when I listened to the last message and heard that deep, slow, Southern drawl I knew belonged to Wade Springer. Wade had said he was sorry to have missed me and my new husband, but the next time he was in our neck of the woods, he would be sure to stop by to say hello. However, he would definitely call first and give plenty of notice as he laughed that deep, intoxicating, manly laugh. Is anyone else feeling a little hot right now?

Well, at least everyone had a great time, and I must say, even though Bruce and I apparently missed the party of the summer, we did enjoy our uninterrupted night alone together in Bangor.

The bonus was when Gemma brought over a plate of blueberry tarts that she had set aside for us, and Conner made Dana’s cocktail recipe for us all to enjoy when we finally arrived home.

It’s still blueberry season, so I definitely want to share Gemma’s delicious blueberry tart recipe and Dana’s Thyme for Maine Blueberries Cocktail.