Christine Schweighauser calls herself a legend in her own mind.

With her newly opened Damariscotta food stand, The Cook's Corner, she may become a legend in other peoples' minds, too.

Some are calling it a taco stand because of her extensive and varied selection of tacos, but tacos are only one of the items on the delightfully eclectic menu.

Schweighauser, who lives in Waldoboro, began cooking at a very early age.

“I cooked for my brothers and sisters from the age of seven,” she said. “We grew up on a farm in central/western Mass. We had gardens, and if we wanted chicken, I went out and killed a chicken.”

She got her first job at Lee's Hotdog Stand in Baldwinville, Massachusetts, at age 12.

“I became friends with the owners' daughter, and they offered me a job,” she said. “From age 12 to 22 I worked there, and ended up running the place. They took me under their wings and taught me everything about the business.”

Schweighauser moved to Maine for the first time in the mid ’90s, but it didn’t take. She came back in 2005 with her two sons and lived and worked in the Rockland/Thomaston area before moving to Waldoboro.

Sometime last year she drove by a stand in Damariscotta that she had considered buying in 2008. It was for sale. Schweighauser said her boyfriend, Alex Brown, prodded her.

“He said, ‘Why don't you just do it’.”

Brown is now part-owner in the business.

There are two buildings on the site: The original one, and a new one that was designed and built by Schweighauser's daughter-in-law's father, Valdemere Skov.

“Between Alex and Valdemere, they made this happen for me,” she said.

The diverse menu at The Cook's Corner is due in large part to Schweighauser's family tree.

“A lot of the food I have here is what I cooked for my family growing up,” she said. “In my family alone we have blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans and Greeks. I am mostly Canadian, with a lot of full-blooded Micmac Indian on both sides. The only oddball is my mother's father — he's Irish.

“We like to get together and cook, and you never know what's going to come out of the kitchen. But nobody goes home hungry.”

The Cook's Corner serves breakfast with specialties like SOBs (sausage on biscuit), breakfast tacos, French toast sticks, mini flap jacks and different quiches. And if that's not enough, order a donut (traditional or Mexican spice), fresh and hot, made to order.

The tacos sport a Spanish and a Mexican flair, and Schweighauser said she loves fish, hence the fish tacos. Other Mexican menu items are quesadillas and burritos, and there are wraps, burgers, seafood rolls, and Spanish empanadas, made with fresh seasoned dough, hamburg and potato, with some Spanish seasonings.

“I make them in what looks like big popovers, and deep-fry them,” she said. “I serve them with Spanish rice with chorizo sausage and gandules (pigeon peas).”

The serving sizes are substantial.

“The first day one of my clients saw the size of the portions, she said ‘Wow! Those are your portion sizes?’ I said, yeah, if you ever leave my table hungry, it's because you didn't eat.”

Schweighauser said she cooks from her heart.

“I cook to smell and taste, and I never measure. Don't ask how many ounces my burgers are. It's the size of my hand (big). The first time one of our (now) regulars, Joe, came, he said, 'I'll have a double cheeseburger.' I told him I'd make him a house burger, and if he was still hungry I'd give him another on the house.”

The stand also features a Shortcake Shack, serving strawberry shortcake, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Don't come looking for tacos on Fridays. Schweighauser grew up with “fish-fry Fridays,” and she is continuing that tradition at her stand. Other Friday choices are fresh made seafood chowder, and other items for non-seafood lovers.

Expect a warm welcome at The Cook’s Corner. Schweighauser's smile is almost as big as her portions. Her son, Joshua, and Brown's daughter, Shaina, help out at the stand.

The Cook’s Corner is located at 603 Main Street in Damariscotta, a short distance north of Hannaford Supermarket. Hours are Monday through Wednesday 7-3 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; closed on Sundays. Call 207-563-1688.