“Weekends with Yankee” Episode 608: Winter Scenes

In this episode of Weekends with Yankee, co-host Richard Wiese embarks on a brisk winter adventure. He meets Registered Maine Guide Polly Mahoney at her home in Newry, Maine, as she gets her Yukon huskies ready for a day of mushing. Then they cross over to the Errol, New Hampshire, side of beautiful Umbagog Lake State Park, where they take a dogsled ride around the frozen lake before settling in for a cozy lunch by the campfire. Then, co-host Amy Traverso meets food writer and media personality David Leite, founder of the James Beard Award–winning website Leite’s Culinaria, in his hometown of Fall River, Massachusetts. David shares how growing up in his Portuguese family within this heavily Portuguese community shaped his career. After getting an insider’s look at Portugalia Marketplace, courtesy of David’s friend Michael Benevides, Amy and David head to the kitchen to cook the traditional Portuguese dish of cataplana stew with clams and sausage. Then we head to Camden, Maine, which Yankee has ranked as one of New England’s “Best Winter Towns,” for the U.S. National Toboggan Championships. We’ll explore the tradition of this famed race, whose traditions stretch back to 1936, and meet the colorful personalities who organize and compete in this fast and fun event.