Bringing a taste of New England
to Colorado
By Lisa Nicklanovich; photo courtesy of Brenda Bushey
Brenda Bushey brought her love of seafood from Maine to Castle Pines. For special occasions, the Bushey family, including husband Brett and daughter Sarah, fly in lobsters from Maine as a tradition “to spoil each other.” Brenda is from Massachusetts and Brett is from Pennsylvania, so they appreciate a New England seafood cookout.
Although the annual Maine Lobster Festival has been canceled this summer, the Bushey family of Hidden Pointe is bringing the experience of a New England seafood cookout to Colorado.
Having grown up in East Weymouth, Massachusetts, Brenda Bushey is familiar with seafood cookouts on summer holidays. Steamer clams and lobsters became Brenda’s favorite special-occasion meal growing up. Brenda’s husband, Brett, is from Pennsylvania and grew up enjoying Maryland crabs. When Brett and Brenda would fly to Boston to visit family, they would scour the area for the best clam chowder. “Chowder you can stand a spoon in!” Bushey said with a laugh. “I make it myself now, and mine is pretty good,” Brenda added.
After Brenda moved west, she said, “It became very special to me when I would visit my mom and we would drive to York, Maine for lobster.” Brenda said they would visit the Cape Neddick Light Station, also known as the Nubble Lighthouse in York which was built in 1879. The last photo Brenda has of her mom is when they had taken such a trip.
The couple carried their tradition of enjoying New England seafood forward, “splurging on seafood when we wanted to spoil each other,” Brenda said.
What makes the Bushey family’s seafood feasts extra special is that they have theirs flown in from Maine. Chowder bisque, clams, scallops, and of course lobsters arrive on dry ice. The Busheys use the website www.getmainelobster.com to order their seafood. Brenda said that in addition to the many seafood options, the site even offers whoopie pies, a cake-like Maine tradition which is a cookie sandwich with a fluffy white filling.
Cooking live lobsters can be intimidating whether you steam, grill, boil or broil them; one time when Brenda and Brett had live lobsters flown in, their daughter Sarah named the lobsters. If you want to take the guesswork out and not deal with live lobsters, you can order meal kits that provide cooked food, or you can cook lobster tails. A lobster roll kit would be fun to assemble too, with lobster meat in a New England-style split top roll.
Fresh from the ocean, lobsters dipped in butter or just squirted with some lemon juice are truly an indulgence and sure to make a summer meal special. Add potato salad, corn, and baked beans to complete the meal
