Beautiful Foods 2023

Thank you 2023 for good health and good food!

Here's to the home chefs and the dishes they prepared. 

Seared Scallops | Angel Hair Pasta, Lemon, Butter, Parsley

Pork Loaf | barbeque sauce, herb roasted potato wedges, green apple + cabbage slaw

 Lettuce Wraps | Sticky Rice, Yellow Pepper + Crispy Prosciutto

Thanksgiving Dinner!

Filet Mignon | mushrooms & asparagus in a bordelaise sauce

Christmas Dinner | Beef Tenderloin, twice baked potato, lemony brussels, homemade Caesar salad 

Mom's famous éclair ring

There will always be solace in gathering around an elegant (Simon Pearce x Target x vintage) table setting graced by a homecooked meal.

Here's to comfort,  joy and S U B S T A C K in 2024!

You can find me over there!

Matlaw's Stuffed Clams

This past weekend my sister Leah turned 30! There were lots of celebrations on Cape Cod - one of which was this late afternoon summer feast on my Mom's back deck! 

We started with classic New England style stuffed clams from Matlaw's. These stuffies from Gloucester come frozen - simply place them on the grill for 25 minutes, serve with lemon wedges, and your appetizer course is set! Succulent clams meet golden crispy breadcrumbs with chopped celery and peppers and a dusting of parsley and paprika; everyone around the table nodded in agreement - the stuffies were super fresh tasting and full of flavor. They paired perfectly alongside a hearty arugula salad featuring blueberry balsamic marinated and grilled peaches, toasted pecans and creamy goat cheese crumbles. Then, we enjoyed teriyaki marinated steak tips, corn on the cob, mushrooms and crispy potatoes - and for dessert, warm brownies and vanilla ice cream!

Special thanks to Matlaw's for providing the stuffed clams. Check out all their seafood products and where to purchase them right here.

cape & islands spring

Cape Cod and the Islands in the springtime are a lovely place to be. I feel like I packed in an entire summers worth of favorite places after back to back weekends in May. There was lots of quality time with Mom - dinner at Brewster Fish House for Mother's Day, grilling on her back deck and long beach walks in Dennis. Memorial Day Weekend saw opening night at The Beachcomber, a bike ride to Chatham Light and lunch at The Squire, and a spontaneous day trip to Nantucket to party with the Figawi Crowd. 

Also, I just spent four days on Martha's Vineyard, so, a lot of that coming up next....

1. The bar at Brewster Fish House 
2. evening walk on Corporation Beach
3. Pan-Roasted Skate Wing w/ marcona almond puree, pea tendrils, maitake & curry vinaigrette
4. Blue Haired Ladys at The Tavern on Nantucket
5. treasures from Chapin Beach in Dennis
6. Harpoon IPA at Chatham Squire | Lobster Roll at The Tavern
7. Chatham Lighthouse Beach
8. a morning on Chapin Beach in Dennis
9. dunes at Chatham Lighthouse Beach
10. salad and grilled pizza on my mom's back deck in Yarmouthport

home cooked meals.

One of my favorites parts about visiting my Mom on Cape Cod is spending time together in the kitchen. Usually she is doing most of the cooking and I am lingering about snapping photographs and we're both drinking a fun St. Germain cocktail. She combined vodka and the ever versatile liqueur with pineapple juice and a dash of lime. Shaken vigorously, the pour yielded a frothy and nicely balanced martini to kick off the festivities. We were celebrating my birthday (yes it was on February 21st) but since we hadn't seen each other, she treated me to a home cooked meal and the obligatory birthday cake. Often times my birthday celebrating might begin on February 21st, but with lots of friends and family to plan celebrations and only so many weekends, Adam likes to call this month long stretch "the never ending birthday." (Sung to the tune of, "The Never Ending Sto-orryyyyy"). I'll take it. For dinner she prepared a panko and pistachio encrusted Mahi Mahi in a lemon herb cream sauce and served it with roasted brussels sprouts and a baked sweet potato. The cake was a chocolate ganache torte from Trader Joe's served with Cape Cod Creamery coconut ice cream. This gourmet ice cream is some of the smoothest, creamiest and most flavorful this side of the Sagamore bridge. If you visit the mid cape, get some!We stayed up late drinking red wine and watching this awesome BBC cooking show Two Fat Ladies (that originally aired in 1996). Has anyone else ever watched or heard of it? These women are thoroughly entertaining home cooks who travel to kitchens in the British countryside and prepare family style meals using traditional techniques and fresh, local ingredients, with a side of quick whit and dry humor. I was an instant fan. Breakfast after Yoga on Saturday morning was mango apricot Greek yogurt (another fantastic Trader Joe's combination) which we mixed with even more fruit - some blueberries, banana and a dash of cinnamon and shaved nutmeg. Alongside we enjoyed fluffy, lightly toasted croissants with orange marmalade and rose petal jam. This morning marked my first yoga class ever, and it felt really good to finally try it out. I never had much interest though my Mom has practiced for years and would always invite me to a class with her. Her persuasive argument "you're 28 now, you should try something new!" this time around resonated. I stretched muscles I didn't know existed, focused on my breathing and loved that it presented me with a work out and a relaxation session at the same time. I would definitely take another class!

The final home cooked meal of the weekend was breakfast on Sunday morning, which consisted of thick cut french toast made from a lust worthy loaf of bread purchased at PB Boulangerie Bistro in Wellfleet. A must visit when we're about the towns of the lower cape, we usually just pop into the boulangerie for bread, sweets and cappuccino, but every time we leave I'm craving a sit down meal in the adorable Parisian meets beachy inspired bistro. Maybe this summer!

Mom paired the french toast with blueberry infused Vermont Maple Syrup and a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

It was a delicious weekend! More on the rest of our Cape Cod adventures (beach combing, sunsets, shopping at Atlantic Spice Co.) to come!

3rd Annual Blue Crab Weekend

View last years annual crab weekend posts (complete with words detailing the experience) here, here and here.