liamsaunt

We were still really tired yesterday, so did not do too much. The house is comfortable with a pool and views, so it was easy to just stay here and relax for most of the day. We did get out in the afternoon and went to the beach. If you do not get to the beach in the morning on Sundays in the summer, parking at the sandy ones can be limited to non existent, so we just drove out to one of the furthest ones, Francis, parked at the trailhead, and hiked in about 1/2 mile to the beach. Easier than fighting for a parking spot. The rocky side of the beach is always uncrowded even if the sandy part is more crowded For years, we would have this beach to ourselves, but the secret of St. John is definitely out. I am not really complaining (at least not here haha). I am sure people complained when my husband and I showed up for the first time in 2003. Last night we had dinner at Extra VIrgin Bistro. This restaurant, along with a few others on the island, recently went to a prix fixe format. Here's the menu. I remembered to take a picture of the cocktail menu tonight, but my husband did not order one because he did the wine pairing with his food. I decided to try and order two lighter dishes because I knew I wanted the mushroom pappardelle for my second course, and having had it before, I knew it was incredibly rich. I chose the burrata salad for my first course. I was so happy to have a salad, but was not expecting such a huge piece of cheese! I ate about half because I had to pace myself. I saw a lot of other tables ordering this. Husband went with the other popular starter, fried calamari I tried it and thought the oil they fried it in tasted a little old, but he did not notice that taste. Maybe I was just really not in the mood for fried food. Next course we both got the pappardelle. It was so delicious. The fried golden beet garnish really made the dish. We both finished this course. Third course, I got the catch of the day, which was mahi mahi. This was perfectly cooked (you know how mahi gets dry if you cook it too much), the coconut beet puree made a delicious sauce for the fish, and I really loved the pickled cabbage and apple salad. Husband got the shrimp and langoustino risotto. I think it was a bit too rich after the pasta. He said it was delicious but he could not finish it. He tried to get me to try it but I did not want any. We were both way too full to even think about dessert and it was not included in the prix fixe anyway so there was no pressure to order one. Overall I liked my meal more than my husband liked his, but we agreed that we probably would go back on a future visit.

I'm back!!! My husband and I are back in St. John for two weeks to celebrate our 25th anniversary. We usually bring family with us, but it's just the two of us this time. We have a ton of dinner reservations, including some new places. We got to the island really early yesterday, too early to pick up our Jeep or get into our rental house, so we of course went to find food while we waited. We had our luggage, so ended up just going to High Tide since they have a place to stash your bags while you eat. Restaurant view Lunch menu. Pretty standard stuff We got the the blackened fish tacos and blackened shrimp tacos to split, and one of us got fries and the other got salad so we could split those too. Shrimp Fish While we were at lunch we got a text that we could get in to our house four hours early. Since we had been up since 3AM, this was most welcome news. Here's the view from our rental house After a nap, we headed in to town for some light bites. The restaurants were not crowded, but there was nowhere to park! I have no idea where everyone was. We ended up having to park in a really expensive lot that I had vowed to never use again, which was annoying. We did not want a full dinner, so ended up at Longboard, which had small plates you can share. Menu pictures I forgot to take a photo of the cocktail menu. They have some really interesting choices here. My husband's sunshower cocktail (grilled lemon vodka, elderflower liqueur, basil, cucumber, house lemonade, bitters). We split the shrimp seveche the shrimp tostones and the spicy tuna lettuce wraps It was all light, fresh and tasty, just what we needed. The end of last night's hazy sunset from the house

Breakfast on JetBlue Mint. (The flight took off on time! I really, really hope they get it together and fix whatever is going on with them lately because JetBlue is the major domestic line at my airport) Menu pictures. I forgot to take a picture of the cocktail menu, but you could get them (included in fare). Considering that our flight took off at 6:30AM, that was not happening! Welcome snack was a (smushed) warm croissant. Husband had an iced cappuccino and I had a sparkling water with mint and cucumber from the non photoed cocktail page I got the blueberries, avocado toast and yogurt. The syrup on the blueberries was too sweet but when I drained them out of the syrup and mixed them into the non sweetened yogurt they were tasty. I was just grateful for the fresh fruit. The avocado "toast" was actually really spicy! I was surprised. That chili oil was not needed. Husband was brave and got the french toast and bacon (neither of us were brave enough to try the poached egg haha). He said that it was the best meal he has ever had on a plane, and he flies first and/or business class to Europe regularly for work (well, he did pre-pandemic) so that is saying something. It is still plane food though 🙂

This looks so great! I have some banana leaves in my freezer and am going to try this sometime soon.

Orleans is a lovely town. We rented a home for a week there last summer. It has a lot to recommend it--beautiful homes, nice beaches, the big grocery store is there, and if you like baseball, the town has a Cape Cod Baseball League team--the Firebirds--that you can watch for free. A number of MLB players go through that system before they head to the big leagues. We finished our week in Wellfleet with a splurge dinner at Ceraldi. This restaurant does a prix fixe seven course menu. This year the price includes either a reserve wine pairing or a house made soft beverage pairing with the food. Husband did the wines and I tried the soft pairings. Since I am still too full to go to sleep, and we have to be out of here tomorrow early, I figured I would post about it now. Tonight's menu: Restaurant interior Welcome beverage. Mine is a cinnamon soda, and husband's was a sparkling rose The meal always starts with an oyster. This year we got three! They were all delicious, but the rhubarb was my favorite, and my husband chose the sea bean one as his favorite. The chef said the hot sauce on the third one is sold at the Wellfleet farmer's market, but I must have missed that booth on Wednesday. I would have bought hot sauce if I had seen it. First beverage pairing. Wine was a Gaja Ca'Marcanda Vistamare. We actually have some of this in our wine room at home. The soft beverage was a rhubarb cordial. It was interesting. Next up, the asparagus course. This was our favorite dish of the evening. The fondue was decadent. It was paired with a lemon tellicherry tonic, which was quite spicy. The soup course was filled with mushrooms, vegan, thickened with potato. Wine pairing was a 2019 Domaine des Diables L'Hydropathe, and the soft pairing was a lavender-basil tonic. The panelle in the next course was really good--creamy and crispy, and we loved the olive puree underneath. This was paired with a carrot, ginger and turmeric juice. I usually just have sparkling water with my meals, so only tried a few sips of most of the soft pairings, but I did finish this drink. At this point my appetite was starting to flag, and we had three more courses to go! Luckily, the halibut course was small. It was delicious, perfectly cooked, and the leek butter was wonderful. The wine pairing was a 2020 Artisan Vignoble du Reveur, and my pairing was a bitter apple tonic Next up, the risotto course, paired with a 2015 La Poja Allegrini and a balsamic fig soda This was delicious, especially the figs with blue cheese on top, but I could not finish it. Too. Much. Food! Final course: dessert! We've had this mousse here before. I should have had them package one to take home from the outset, because there was no way we could eat two of these. The wine pairing was a Pio Cesare Vermouth di Torino, and my pairing was a bitter digestive tea made from raw honey and dandelion. Despite the odd presentation, I actually really liked the tea. The dessert also came with an espresso. The sad result of being served a delicious dessert when you are completely full. That wraps up this visit. We'll be back in Wellfleet the week of July 4th for more sunsets and seafood.

Me too! I took this picture last year when it was dark. I have had Spiritus pizza, and it is perfectly acceptable for Cape Cod. It's definitely better than some of the other pizza options out here! BTW I went by Pop and Dutch yesterday but they are not open yet for the season. Their sign said they are opening this weekend. Yesterday my niece and I went to the farmer's market in Wellfleet. It's in a clearing near town. There was not much for sale other than salad greens and baked goods at this point in the growing season. My niece got this mocha cupcake from one of the bake stands. She said it was a nice balance of chocolate and coffee Beach photo of the day. Herring Cove in Provincetown. As you can see, it was much calmer. We did not even need jackets to walk on the beach. I found a handful of sea glass. My sister and niece left yesterday afternoon, and now it is just my husband and me. We decided to go casual last night since we have a big dinner planned for this evening, and we went to the Pearl. Menu pictures I only noticed the note about the cash payment discount when posting these photos. We paid with a card and were not charged the service fee. Odd. (BTW that extra charge is legal in MA as long as it is disclosed on the menu or on signage when entering the restaurant. This is the first time I have seen it personally, but I have certainly read complaints about it in my local restaurant groups). Husband's cranberry margarita Banging shrimp appetizer to split Husband got a lobster roll ($42. Lobster is really expensive this year, so that price is not too bad. Ignore the dreaded lettuce @weinoo 🤣 ) I ordered the pan seared cod with lemon beurre blanc. It was a huge piece of fish, too big to finish. We were too full to even consider dessert.

If not for the salt, it would have been delicious. They just opened for the season on Thursday, so I am sure they will smooth out the kinks. I have never found anything as spectacular as your net float. They sell them occasionally in antique stores around here but that's cheating. Maybe someday! Yesterday we drove up to Provincetown. It was a windy day, so our beach walk at Herring Cove was a bit short. My sister and niece waited in the car while my husband and I went for a brisk walk. Dinner was at Mews Menu My sister and husband's cocktails. My sister's was a cucumber lemon drop, and my husband had a mezcal negroni. They seemed to enjoy them. My niece wanted the breadsticks We also got shrimp cocktail for my husband and I to split. And my sister and husband shared the lobster dumplings My sister had a tuna from the specials menu. It was huge I chose the scallops with artichoke pesto pappardelle. This was very nice My husband had the lobster tacos. He enjoyed these and said they were a little spicy but not so much as to obscure the taste of the lobster. And my niece chose the shaking beef. She loved this and ate every bite. It came with rice on the side and she ate all that too. For dessert we got three of the four options they offered to taste them all. Key lime pie. My niece basically took this for herself. I got a small bite though. I like frozen key lime pie the best (I usually make the one from Nora Ephron) but this one was good too A berry chocolate mousse torte. We all liked this, especially the berry layer on the bottom, but abandoned most of it in favor of the two other desserts And our favorite, a mango semifreddo with coconut sauce After dinner we walked around a very quiet town. Here's the famous Lobster Pot. I'm not a fan, but maybe will give it another try someday And we made it back to Wellfleet in time for sunset at the beach near the house My sister and niece are heading home today, and I'm not sure where my husband and I are going tonight. We have reservations for a special dinner tomorrow night, so might just do something simple.

Finding a place open for dinner yesterday was a challenge. We ended up punting on driving half an hour to a new place and going back to literally the only restaurant in town that was open, Winslow's Tavern. It was cold yesterday so we had to sit inside. Luckily it was not crowded. I ordered the asparagus salad I was considering last time we were in. It was pretty but needed seasoning. We also ordered the curried mussels to share. and the lobster croquetas We have had both of these before, and they are always very good. For entrees, my sister and husband's brother ordered the mixed sea pasta that my husband had the other day. I chose the pea tortelloni. I actually went and scrolled through this thread yesterday to see if I had ordered it last year, but could not find a picture, so I guess not. All of our pastas were the correct texture, and the seafood in the mixed sea pasta was very good, but both dishes tasted like a salt lick, and we all like salt! Not sure what happened, but we were starving so just ate it rather than saying anything to the server. I think we each drank three glasses of water when we got back to the house. My niece ordered the short rib pasta and said the salt level in hers was fine. Husband got the swordfish dish I had the other night. We shared a salted caramel tart for dessert. The peanut butter ice cream was the best part Here's the beach we walked on yesterday: Fisher Beach in Truro. This part of it is rocky and good for sea glass hunting, so I always spend some time poking around here. My house is full of sea glass haha. We are heading to Provincetown today once the tide goes down a bit.

It is possible that at the time they were built, they were at a reasonable distance from the ocean. That happens often here on Cape Cod. The ocean can take large amounts of land at once in a big storm, and what seemed like a place with a lovely ocean view 20 years ago is now on the brink of disaster. Like this house in Truro we walked by yesterday: It's been moved back twice already, and there is no where else for it to go as there are houses directly behind and beside it. The owner apparently owns land elsewhere in town that he wants to have the house moved to, and the town is working on the permitting. They'd better hurry or it is going to be in the drink! Last night my niece arrived, and sushi is her favorite, so we returned to Mac's Shack. Here is the sushi menu Drinks Spicy tuna mango martini Yellowtail jalapeño sashimi Halibut turadito Salmon poke Big kahuna roll And then there were some deviations from the sushi menu. I had a seared tuna with soba noodles Husband's brother got a roasted swordfish with cilantro rice and my husband and sister both opted for fried clams And here I present an unknown crazy person in the water, which is a brisk 46 degrees right now. At least he does to have to worry about sharks yet, as it is too cold even for them! Ballston Beach, Truro

Yesterday my husband and I hiked the dunes near the house. Lovely views It was a nice night so we sat outside at another favorite, Winslow's Tavern. Menu Drinks. Left to right, my (huge) San Pellegrino, an old fashioned, a crush and blush (rose with pampelmousse and sparkling water), and a gin and tonic with cucumber, jalapeño and cilantro. That's my sister hiding behind her menu 🙂 Oysters broiled with tabasco lime butter. We ordered a dozen of these Other than the oysters, we skipped appetizers. They were out of the razor clams, which is what my husband really wanted. I had plans to share the asparagus with my sister, but I'll try it another time. Husband's brother got the cod with cockles and broccoli rabe, a new dish this year. He really liked it. My sister got the scallops with corn risotto and prosciutto. This is always very good. I had the roasted swordfish with vegetables. The vegetables were my favorite part. The swordfish was very fresh but cold in the center, which I disliked. My husband's brother ate everything I did not want with no complaints though! And my husband had the mixed sea pasta, which he proclaimed "delicious." A couple scenic vistas from this morning's hike. There was a big offshore storm the other day, hence the seaweed on the beach. No people down there yet, but this beach will be crowded soon enough.

Cape Cod 2022! We are back in Wellfleet for a week to celebrate my birthday. Right now, it is just me, my sister, and my husband. My husband's brother joins us later today, and my sister is going to get my niece from college for the summer tomorrow, so she will be here too as of dinner time tomorrow. The driveway to the house we are renting has location-specific decor. We are across the road from the dunes to the beach. It's a (very) high tide right now, but I'll be heading down there in a bit to try and add to my own buoy collection. I found this sign in a cleaning closet in the kitchen. I am glad I am not Ezra! Our first dinner of the year had to be at our favorite, Mac's Shack. I took a couple of menu pictures last night. There's a sushi menu too, but we did not have sushi last night. We'll be going back for some later this week. Drinks. A gin spin (gin, sparkling water, basil, lime), my plain old sparkling water with lime (I stopped drinking alcohol a year ago for health reasons), and a mezcalito (spicy margarita with mezcal) Oysters to start And a very good halibut seveche Husband had the fettuccine verde. The pasta was really, really, al dente, but the seafood was delicious. Sister had the seafood zarzuela. Last night it had clams, mussels, scallops, calamari, and swordfish. It usually contains shrimp, which she does not eat, so she jumped at the chance to try the shrimp-less version I had the seared scallops with corn, gnocchi, tomatoes and bacon. This was really nice. It's still fairly quiet, crowd wise, but many of the tourist accommodations and restaurants are fairly full. I've already spotted license plates from 21 different states, plus Quebec, and we have only been here since last night! I can only imagine what it will be like when we come back in July.

I have the same one and agree that it is completely useless. Oil gets on the stovetop anyway, and it burns on the edges. In fact, I am going to throw it out! Last night, clean out the fridge fried rice. Leftover rice, ground up mushrooms and chicken, scallions, lots of garlic and chiles, cilantro, Thai basil, red bell pepper. Seasoned with a mix of oyster sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar, and ginger.

Pasta shells with asparagus cream sauce. The sauce was browned butter, parmesan, lots of cracked black pepper, and a splash of heavy cream, plus some of the pasta cooking water. So, not alfredo sauce, but tasty nonetheless.

Coconut curry fish. Unfortunately my fish share gave me pollock this week, which I dislike. You have to take the good with the bad though, and the curry disguised its unlikeable (to me) characteristics as much as possible.

Soy ginger baked salmon with broccoli and delicata squash roasted with the same sauce, plus coconut rice

I cooked dinner at my Mom's yesterday for mother's day. Crab cakes, the first local asparagus of the season (even my Dad ate that and he dislikes asparagus!), and a salad with apples and fennel.

Big salad with chopped spiced chicken, avocado, pickled onions, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and a tahini vianigrette

Pizza topped with roasted spicy cauliflower, pesto, and an arugula salad.

It was a blend of peanut butter (well, in this case, a 50/50 blend of peanut butter and cashew butter because I ran out of peanut butter), sambal oelek, garlic, ginger, low sodium soy sauce, and honey all blended together and then thinned with water to get it to the consistency I wanted.

Peanut noodles with roasted sweet potatoes, spinach and chives

So I am an idiot. I was confusing the Eventide cookbook with the Row 34 cookbook. In my defense, I was avoiding the side of the house where my cookbooks are due to extreme noise related to bathroom renovations. I do have the Eventide cookbook, and in the quiet before the workers arrive this morning, I checked to see the Eventide book has a crab cake recipe. It does not. There is a recipe for a crab roll with yuzu kosho mayonnaise. I have not tried it, but am happy to share the recipe if it interests you.

Chicken saltimbocca with fried caper sauce and arugula salad

Nice photos of a lovely town. We took my niece up there for college tours pre-Covid and had some really good meals. We did not eat there, but I have the Eventide cookbook. Their crab cake recipe has become my go to.

Oooh, I have not had white king salmon in years. Legal Seafoods used to carry it in their (now closed) fish market many years ago, but stopped. When I asked why, they said that people complained and did not believe it was actually salmon because it was white, so it was hard to sell. 😐 Anyway, yours looks delicious. We also had salmon last night. Soy, ginger, and miso glazed, over coconut rice with some roasted broccoli and king oyster mushrooms

I said I was not going to fry again until the renovations on my house were completed but I guess I lied. Fish and chips