liamsaunt

My nephew joined us late yesterday afternoon. Last night was another repeat from our last visit, the Wicked Oyster. Drinks and mocktails. House made focaccia and pickles with coppa from Maine Wellfleet oysters I got the clam stew again my niece and husband both got the fish and “chips” (smashed and fried fingerlings) sister had the sole with citrus buerre blanc And nephew had a cavatelli with pork sausage We skipped dessert and hustled to the beach but missed sunset again. Still made for a nice walk. Sister and niece drove back to our home this morning, so it’s just me, my husband, and my nephew for the rest of the visit.

We are back on the Cape, staying at the last house we were at until Thursday, and then moving to Chatham for the rest of the time. We arrived Sunday, and the group voted for dinner at Winslow’s Tavern. My sister and husband’s drinks. We liked the curried mussels so much last time that we ordered them again. We also ordered a special of smoked oysters Rockefeller. I am not sure why they were served on scallop shells! Niece ordered the pork schnitzel Sister and I ordered ramp fettuccini with fried oysters. This was just ok. It needed more acid, I think. Husband had a special of roasted skate. We shared a blueberry panna cotta for dessert. and a salted caramel tart We got to the harbor too late for the sunset, but did manage a very cold, very windy walk Yesterday we had dinner at Mac’s Shack. They built a new outdoor patio which has a view of the water drinks and mocktails oysters spicy tuna mango martini steamed mussels sushi for my niece sister had scallops seared sesame tuna sandwich bluefish with clams and celeriac puree I tried to get a picture of the northern lights, but there was not much to see Some scenic pictures from our lunchtime low tide beach walk We found a very dead beached basking shark. I remember reading that this had washed up a few weeks ago. I found a whelk with many creatures attached Post-walk key lime pie ice cream

Last night's dinner for my husband, sister, and myself. Haddock cooked in a spicy, garlicky fresh tomato sauce with capers and olives over spinach. served with a garlic bruschetta. Since it's still my niece's week to pick dinners, I also cooked her what she wanted for dinner, which was crunchy haddock with peach-mango salsa, curry roasted sweet potatoes, and sautéed spinach. The rest of us just wanted a break from the sweeter stuff she prefers.

My nephew is in Montana this week, so I have been letting my niece choose the dinners. She has been picking stuff she loves that he dislikes. One night it was chicken katzu with rice and cucumber salad. He tolerates this meal, but it's not a favorite (he says he could live on five dinners: pasta, pizza, tacos, curry, and burgers) And last night she asked for pineapple fried rice with glazed bok choy. He hates pineapple in every form, and she loves it, so it was a nice treat for her.

I did not follow a specific recipe. Basically, I wanted to make gnocchi but I did not have time, so I made dumplings. I used this recipe as a jumping off point. King Arthur Flour sweet potato gnocchi Last night, we had grilled herbed chicken with tzatziki, salad, lemon rice and flatbread

Some quick dinners this week Rigatoni with roasted pepper sauce and spinach A NYTimes cooking recipe for weeknight chicken tagine Sweet potato dumplings with broccoli, brown butter, and toasted pine nuts

Thanks for this article! You solved the mystery of where Ceraldi is going for me. We went by the old place in Wellfleet and saw that he was out of there. The 9 Ryder spot is a good one. I do wonder if he is going to stick to the full seven course tasting concept. We actually skipped eating there last year because it's just so much food. I wish he would do a five course menu. We stopped into the White Hare on our last visit too. It's definitely over the top! I have a huge Alice in Wonderland collection, but it's very specialized as to what I collect, so I was unsurprisingly unable to find anything there. I wish them good luck though. Ladyslipper sounds like a successful concept too. We are heading back out there in a week, but the visit has morphed from just the two of us to a larger group, so not sure that we will be able to stop in this time given the size of the building (if it's even open yet). If we do though, I will report back!

Weekend dishes. Friday: sole meuniere with mashed potatoes and spinach Saturday, tuna with rice and smacked cucumbers Sunday, miso salmon with roasted broccolini and carrot-parsnip puree

That was mascarpone cheese with preserved lemon. It's called Caribbean mignonette. I am not sure what exactly makes it Caribbean. It was lightly sweet and had a little heat.

For our final day, we did some more hiking in Provincetown yesterday and then ended up in Truro for the opening night of Blackfish. I really like this restaurant, but sometimes the food feels too heavy in the heat of the summer, so I was glad to try it on this cooler evening. Husband’s negroni Fried oysters Steamed littlenecks with fennel, saffron, Calabrian chiles, and fregola sarda. We both got the tuna bolognese. This is the most popular dish at the restaurant. The server brought it out with a flourish and said we had ordered the first two of the season. The portion was smaller than in prior years, which I really appreciated. It’s usually way too much food. We shared a strawberry rhubarb crostata with basil whipped cream And then headed to the beach for the final sunset of this visit We’ll be back in a couple of weeks for some more beach walks and oysters.

Yesterday we did a lot of the trails. We drove to Chatham to hike in the Monomoy Wildlife Refuge. About two years ago a large portion of the preserve near the visitor center got washed out during a storm, and there’s only parking for about a dozen cars now. Because of the erosion, you have to park in one of the few spots and then walk into a private neighborhood, past many “private” signs, for about 1/2 mile, to reach the trailhead. We knew there was no chance we would be able to get anywhere near it once the summer crowds arrive. A quick stop at Lighthouse beach before Monomoy Monomoy is really stunning. It’s mostly a soft sand trek, which I find tiresome, but I am glad we did it. We went back to Eastham to do the Salt Pond trail And Nauset Light beach. This is the lighthouse pictured on the bags of Cape Cod potato chips, if you have eaten those. A very large driftwood sculpture on the beach. We saw lots of seals, but no sharks or whales. For dinner, we went to the Pearl in Wellfleet. Cranberry margarita, and cranberry juice with mint and seltzer water Steamed littlenecks (not what we ordered, but oh well) Shrimp tacos Sunset over Wellfleet harbor

Monday I went for a walk down to the beach near the house. It was quite cold and windy. I had the beach to myself. Stopped back into PB Boulangerie to buy some bread. I saw these cute chocolate sardines. If they came in dark chocolate I would have bought some After husband finished working, we went back to the beach to watch the very end of the sunset and then go to dinner. We quickly realized after driving around that almost everything was closed for dinner on Mondays. It was also too late to go to the fish market, as they were closed too. Luckily, Van Rensselaer’s was open, so we stopped in there, more from default than desire. Oysters A special of curried mussels Husband got a seafood pasta with clams, shrimp, swordfish and lobster I had pasta with shrimp We were too full for dessert. Yesterday, after husband finished working, we drove to Provincetown to walk on the beach at low tide and have dinner. The right whales have been spotted from the beach here recently, and I was hoping to catch a glimpse, but no luck. Provincetown was empty. That should last for about two more weeks, and then the summer crowds will arrive. I noticed a few new shops and what looks like a few new restaurants, but everything was closed, and signage was not up yet on the restaurant spaces. We went to Ciro and Sals since they are open year round Negroni for husband, berry mocktail for me We kept up our mussels theme and shared some mussels marinara I had seafood fra diavolo with more mussels, shrimp, and scallops And husband had spicy calamari puttanesca We shared a dessert of bread pudding with salted caramel sauce. It would have been better if it was warmer. The rest of the dinner was delicious though. We swung back to the beach after dinner just in time to catch the very tail end of the sunset. Odd things happen at the beach sometimes. There was a man at the beach who looked just like my Dad, who passed away six months ago. He was even wearing his clothes, down to his favorite pair of shoes. He was all alone just watching the sun set. I took his picture and sent it to my siblings, who were equally stunned by the uncanny resemblance. I hope the man enjoyed the sunset as much as my dad would have.

I am going to try and replicate it at home. I really liked the butter beans in it. Yesterday was more walking, this time at the Audubon Nature Sanctuary in Wellfleet. We hit all the trails Painted turtles Scenic views Then back to the house for a slice of vegetable quiche from PB Boulangerie…kind of bland and a shared raspberry tart. We went to a beach near the house at low tide to walk on the tidal flats it was cold and there were lots of laughing gulls Dinner was at Mac’s shack. A mocktail of muddled jalepenos, lime, cucumber and mint, and a spicy margarita for husband oysters clam fritters with garlic-parsley sauce. The flavors were good but the fritter interior was a tad gummy Husband tried a special of stuffed squid with a lobster mousse and crisped potato wedges. I thought it looked dry, but he said it was decent. The seafood portion was more like an appetizer than an entree though. There was only one piece of squid. I had this year’s scallop dish, which came with a curried corn bisque, toasted pine nuts, raisins, and capers. Full moon with osprey nest

We arrived back to the Cape last evening. It was raining and cold, so comfort food was in order. We headed to the Wicked Oyster. Menu Cocktails. I had a non-alcoholic aperol spritz and husband had a Gibson Had to get oysters of course And then we each got a bowl of clam stew. This was so fantastic. It had butter beans instead of potatoes, big pieces of bacon, and perfectly cooked clams over a piece of sourdough toast. No dessert. Today we tried to go for a beach walk. Ha! Ha! It was freezing, and really windy. Here are some intrepid windsurfers doing their thing We were determined to get some walking in, but veered away from the beach in favor of some woodsy trails to try and escape the wind. First, we did the Fort Hill hike, which takes you up high enough that you can view the ocean without being wind blasted, and then goes down to connect with a trail through a red maple swamp. It’s a very easy hike, about 2 miles or so. After our walk, we went to PB Boulangerie to pick up some bread for the house. We also got this dessert, new for this year. It’s a pistachio panna cotta with raspberry jam and whipped cream Unfortunately it was a “one-biter.” The panna cotta didn’t have much flavor. The jam, which you cannot see in the picture I took, was nice though. After our snack we headed back out to hike another easy trail, the Atlantic white cedar swamp trail. There are some very cool scenes on this hike. It’s about 1.5 miles, and easy except for the end, which is through soft sand and so a little more strenuous. This squirrel enjoying a pine cone reminded us that it was time for dinner We drove into town to go to Mac’s Shack, but there were a bunch of fire trucks at the restaurant, so we diverted to Winslow’s Tavern. Menu We normally eat out on the patio, but it was freezing, so inside it was Drinks-Negroni for husband, club soda for me We shared an order of the curry Riesling mussels. They were very plump and tender I got the cod with braised lettuce, peas, and onions And husband got the strozzapreti pasta with mushrooms and ricotta salata We decided to split a salt caramel tart to make up for the disappointing dessert earlier in the day. There will have to be more walking tomorrow! Luckily the weather looks like it’s going to be nicer than today was

A couple of quick clear out the fridge meals. Chicken milanese on salad Chicken shawarma