This Week's Haul, Nov. 27: The greatest cheese dip of all time
And: A new candy shop in downtown Bangor!
Good morning from eastern Maine, where at this very moment I am likely wrist-deep in the nether regions of a - fingers crossed! - fully defrosted turkey, nearly ready to head into the oven. I wrote this on Wednesday, so who’s to say if I’m not well past the point of no turkey return, and have already moved onto post-turkey mimosas? I’m’s to say, that’s who.
Anyway, there’s not a ton of news or events to highlight this week, and most people are enjoying a long weekend, which means this weekly missive is a little light on its usual sort of content. That’s why I’m going to take this opportunity to highlight my friend Andy Day and his new business, Oh Grow Up!, which is opening early next year in downtown Bangor.
Full disclosure: Andy has been one of my best friends since we first met nearly 25 years ago. And, as you are surely aware, I’m also a massive downtown Bangor cheerleader. So the fact that my bestie is opening a candy store and gift shop in my beloved DTB is basically my dream come true. It’s opening in the former Friar’s Bakehouse space on Central Street, which has been either empty or used for storage since Friar’s closed its Bangor spot in February 2018. You know we love bringing a disused downtown space back to life!
The marquee offering at Oh Grow Up! will be a pick-a-mix wall of candy, with many, many varieties of gummies, chocolates, sours, chews and more, available by the pound or as a single size, single price box. There’ll also be packaged retro, regional and import candies - nothing you can buy at a convenience store. There hasn’t been a dedicated candy store in Bangor since Specialty Sweets closed in 2019, so the time is ripe.
As for gifts, I’ll let Andy explain it - and the idea behind the whole store - himself.
“Oh Grow Up! Is a celebration of immaturity. There won’t be anything for sale that won’t at least make me smile. Kids will love it, but kids aren’t my target audience. It’s for the young and the young at heart… besides the candy, we’ll have lots of goofy, fun, retro, campy gifts. Pranks, lunchboxes, fun decor, pet toys, puppets, things like that. I’m inspired by Keith Haring, Pee Wee Herman, old video games, classic kitsch. It’s all wacky and silly and nothing serious.
I’m also inspired by my dad, who passed away a few years ago. He was hilarious. He had a dry sense of humor, but he also loved pranks. My whole family is funny. All that has really rubbed off on me, and now I’m taking that to my business. I’ve always fantasized about opening my own place. I turned 50 this year, and I kind of made the decision that it was time to steer my own ship. There more thought I put into this idea, and the more people I told about it, the more positive feedback I got. I think it’s going to bring a lot of fun and levity to downtown Bangor.”
I’m beyond proud of him. I’ll let you all know when it’s officially opening. Next time you’re in downtown Bangor in 2026, make sure you stop in!
I’ll let this rather uncharitable article from exactly 50 years ago speak for itself. $8.50 in 1975 is about 50 bucks today. The cheapest nosebleed seats for Bob and Willie at the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor earlier this year were $67.
Music & Dance
Nov. 28: Bangor Contradance feat. Beat Bucket and caller Chris Ricciotti, 6 p.m., Unitarian Universalist Society, Bangor
Nov. 29: Brady’s Grownup Time, Mount Hope, Anthony Bedarian, Jake Tantog and Dog Mouth Doe, 6:30 p.m, 69 Burnt Hill Road, Bass Harbor
Nov. 29: Singer-songwriter Alice Limoges, 7 p.m., Underground Lounge, Belfast
Dec. 3: UMaine Symphonic Band and the Bangor Band, 7:30 p.m., Collins Center for the Arts, Orono
Dec. 3: Acadia Handbell Choir holiday performance, 7 p.m., Ellsworth Public Library, Ellsworth
Theater & Comedy
Nov. 29-30: Robinson Ballet presents “The Nutcracker,” three performances, Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Dec. 3: Comedian Katherine Blanford, 7 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Arts, Books, Film and & Culture
Nov. 28-30: Planetarium shows at the Versant Power Astronomy Center, all ages, kids and music shows on Fridays and Sundays, Jordan Planetarium, University of Maine, Orono
Dec. 2: “What’s Going on with Maine’s Climate: Historical Trends & Future Projections for Resiliency Planning,” presentation Sean Birkel, Maine State Climatologist, 6:30 p.m., Belfast Free Library
Dec. 2: Camden International Film Festival Dirigo Docs, screening of Maine-made short documentaries, 6:30 p.m., Colonial Theatre, Belfast
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc.
Nov. 28: Small Business Saturday in Downtown Bangor, all day; Downtown Bangor Holiday Tree Lighting, 4:30 p.m., West Market Square, Bangor
Nov. 29: Downtown Bangor Wabanaki Art Market, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness, Bangor
Nov. 29: Old Town Festival of Lights parade, 5:45 p.m., throughout downtown Old Town
Nov. 29: Our Town Belfast Christmas tree lighting, 4:30 p.m, Post Office Square, Belfast
Look, Thanksgiving turkey is fine. It’s fine! Turkey specifically isn’t anybody’s favorite anything, I don’t think, but once a year it’s great. The sides - maple syrup drenched squash, sage, walnut and shallot enhanced stuffing, buttery mashed potatoes - are the real stars of the show. And the pies - the pies! Pumpkin pie should be a year-round thing, shouldn’t it?
For me, however, there’s just one thing that truly signifies a holiday meal and the start of the season: Jed’s cheese.
Jed’s was the Belfast restaurant where my dad, Phil, was the chef for nearly 20 years. Longtime Belfastians probably remember it: it was in a standalone building on Route 1 in East Belfast, just up the road from Young’s Lobster Pound. It was famous for top-quality seafood cooked in all the favorite New England ways: fried, broiled, Newburg-ed, bisque-ed and on sandwiches and rolls. Prime rib and burgers and chicken, too. It also had a lively bar, where as a small child I would be lifted onto a stool and served Shirley Temples with extra cherries.
As a promotional enticement for the bar, my dad and his coworkers devised a scheme: order a cocktail, and get a plate of cheese dip and crackers. Not just any cheese dip, though: Phil Burnham’s famous cheese dip, a full-flavored sensation that excited the tastebuds of otherwise culinarily unadventurous Mainers, for many of whom salt and garlic are considered “spicy.”
My Dad - a Culinary Institute of America trained chef - loves bleu cheese, and isn’t afraid to use it. I recall being fed bleu cheese as a four year old and liking it, which seems kind of insane, right? Ask my parents, though: it’s true. Jed’s cheese is packed with bleu, naysayers be damned, along with other aromatic ingredients like super-sharp cheddar, chopped yellow onion and Worcestershire sauce. It’s quite punchy and, for those who dig that sort of thing, it’s addictive. My Dad says that when he runs into old Jed’s patrons while out and about in Belfast, they still ask him for the recipe.
Jed’s Restaurant closed in the mid-2000s, years after my Dad left that job, taking with him his cheese dip recipe. Jed’s cheese became a staple in the wider Burnham-Treat family, a specialty rolled out for summertime gatherings and as a treasured holiday gift. My great aunt Mary Alice - known forever as Sister because she was my grandmother’s sister, and who lived to be 102 years old - was obsessed with it. She did not share her Jed’s cheese with anyone. She put it on her toast in the morning. When I get my container of it each Christmas, I am the one that ends up eating 90 percent of it. All other cheese dips pale in comparison.
Here: make your own, courtesy of my dear old Dad, Chef Phil. Happy holidays!
Jed’s Cheese
Makes a lot; meant for sharing or gifting
1 cup softened cream cheese
2 cups of the sharpest cheddar you can find, thinly shredded and then chopped some more so it’s really fine
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup of bleu cheese, crumbled
About a quarter-cup finely chopped yellow onion
Half a green pepper, finely chopped
1 small jar of diced pimentos, drained and dried on paper towel
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic salt (NOT powdered garlic, garlic SALT)
2 teaspoons dried mustard
In a large mixing bowl, mix up the softened cream cheese and the cheddar until it’s well combined. Then add the cottage cheese and bleu cheese, and mix more until everything is again well combined. Add the onion, pepper, pimento and seasonings and mix until it’s a very smooth consistency. Divvy it up into individual containers and give it to people, or serve it all to a very large party. Keeps for up to two weeks in the fridge. It won’t last that long.