Tidbits

Tealicious

Not that it’s been hot enough to think about cool treats, but for those who like to plan ahead, the Stash Tea Catalog has a few ideas. Stash’s summer catalog offers pitcher-size tea bags in flavors such as Fruity Blueberry, classic American Blend, and Lemon Ice, a lemony blend of green and black teas. They can be used to brew tea for drinking, or add fruit for a batch of pretty, jewel-toned tea pops. To make 8 pops, brew 11/2 cups double-strength tea, pour in a blender and add 3 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 cup fruit (fresh or canned with liquid drained), and puree for 30 seconds. Pour into molds, leaving a little room at the top, insert popsicle sticks and freeze for at least 2 hours. For a free catalog or more tea recipes, call (800) 547-1514 or visit www.stashtea.com.

Marrakech express

Have a craving for couscous? A taste for Tagine? Try Fatima’s Baraka, a take-out Moroccan restaurant, which recently opened in Orono. Fatima Munson, a native of Tangier, Morocco, offers a small but diverse menu featuring specialties such as Tagine, a traditional stew of meat, prunes or raisins, honey, vegetables and spices served over couscous, a rice-like pasta; or Pastilla, a chicken pie with roasted almonds, saffron and onions rolled into phyllo and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. Fatima’s Baraka is located at 12 Spruce St. (from Main Street, turn onto Pine Street, take a right onto Elm Street and another right onto Spruce). It’s open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, and offers free delivery with an order of $15 or more. For information, call 866-3643.

Taste of Maine

Get your tastebuds ready – this is the weekend for The Maine Gourmet & Specialty Food Producers’ food festival at Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections in Freeport. At the festival, you can sample all those locally made jellies, jams, pickles, smoked fish, cheese spreads, coffee, smoked hams, maple products and gourmet sauces you’ve wanted to try. The festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Wilbur’s, located on Route 1 between Exit 19 and downtown Freeport.

Stone soup

The Maine Stone Workers Guild has teamed up with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association to hold the third annual Rocknockers Picnic and Stonecutter’s Ball at the Common Ground Education Center in Unity. Starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, volunteers will consult with guild members to learn about selection and placement of stone when building a wall. Throughout the day, crews will complete planter walls at the facility. There will be a lunch break at 12:30 and a Summer Solstice celebration at 5 p.m. The Stonecutter’s Ball, which begins at 7 p.m., will feature a contradance with Cynthia Phinney calling. For information, call 568-4142 or visit www.mofga.org.

Tidbits is hungry for news about local food products and events. Send your Tidbits by mail to: Bangor Daily News, attn: Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor ME 04402-1329; by fax to 941-9476; or by e-mail to kandresen@bangordailynews.net.