liamsaunt

Chicken francese on a corn, cherry tomato, shallot and green bean salad, with crispy smashed potatoes

Udon noodles with king oyster mushrooms, baby bok choy, sweet peppers, spicy peppers, scallions, cilantro, and miso glazed salmon.

Coconut fish curry with some of the huge supply of green beans I got in this week's CSA box. I still have enough green beans for another meal or two.

And to go almost completely off topic they just filmed one of these in the town next to mine, right in front of where my sister works. She reported that it is going to be Christmas themed and they covered the entire street with fake snow (in July no less) and there was a horse driven sleigh involved. The street runs in front of a recently restored vintage theater, so maybe they filmed inside there too and some finger footsie with overfilled popcorn bins will be involved 😆

Roasted golden zucchini "noodles" topped with cherry tomatoes and broccolini roasted with garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes. Basil and parmesean cheese also.

That sounds about right. I worked in a movie theater all through high school and on my college breaks. When I was feeling antisocial and not wanting to work behind the concession stand (you made more money back there because we got commission on upsells), I would work in the popcorn room. Waiting for the giant block of coconut oil to melt was the most time consuming thing. It never tasted the same (or as good) after we switched to canola oil. The flavacol we used was dyed a brilliant yellow to give the popcorn its signature color. The secret to the salt level was to pop a batch with almost double flavacol for every four batches of regular, and then mix the five batches together in a massive bin before bagging it up for the concession stands downstairs. I ate waaaay too much movie theater popcorn back then, and now I can't stomach the stuff, so I use a whirly pop at home. Just a smidge of oil in the popper (sometimes canola, sometimes coconut), and lots of freshly melted butter and salt. Occasionally if I am feeling fancy I will add some freshly grated parmesan or cheddar powder, but I usually make it with just butter and salt.

Pizza (yay) and football (sigh). White pizza with prosciutto, arugula, and parmesean Margharita And one with a really tiny but fat eggplant from my CSA box and some roasted mushrooms

Rigatoni with roasted mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and arugula

Quick sautéed golden zucchini squash zoodles topped with chicken sautéed in garam masala, ginger and garlic, topped with a mango-cilantro chutney and a yogurt sauce with mint, cilantro, and garlic.

Blackened swordfish and warm lobster sliders. With some tater tots because we are out of oven fries right now.

Pesto spaghetti with lobster And with shrimp for me since I do not like lobster.

I am certainly no expert on congee, but this reminded me of the kind I make at home. It was very simple and comforting. If I had to guess, it was just rice cooked for a long time in lightly salted water, with freshly blanched and pureed peas and whole peas stirred in at the end. That's just my guess though. The menu listing was not descriptive.

Last installment for this visit. Here is the house we rent in Provincetown. It's really nice and completely by itself. You can walk to Herring Cove from it, though there are no ocean views from the house itself. Instead, there are views of the locally famous quaking bog. Luckily, a lot of people went home yesterday morning, so when we went to Race Point for a long walk, the beach was not crowded. The ranger was not even at their booth collecting fees for the day. I did not take any pictures of the beach, just one of this buoy that I found. I usually bring the buoys I find home with me (I have a display of them all under my deck), but this one was covered in seaweed and I did not have a knife to cut it all off, so it was too heavy to drag back to the car. On the way back from the beach, the restaurant that we had reservations at called to say that they no longer had an outdoor table for us, but they could seat us inside. I said no thanks and cancelled. Irritating but whatever. We ended up going back to the old mainstay Mac's. Jalepeno yellowtail Spicy tuna mango martini Drinks. My sister and I both got the salmon yakisoba bowl. The salmon was perfectly cooked medium rare all the way through. I wish I could make it like that at home. I always overcook the thin part a bit. My husband got the seared halibut with lobster mashed potatoes And husband's brother got the broiled blackened swordfish with jasmine rice and roasted vegetables Another tasty meal. After dinner we ventured in to town. It was pretty dead, so we parked and got some ice cream to close out the trip. This was from the Nut House. Salty caramel, espresso, mint chip, and black raspberry. (sorry for the feet in the photo 😆) We went to Herring Cove for the final sunset of this visit. It was a good one. See you on the dinner thread.

Nooooooo. It is JAMMED everywhere. We drove by Herring Cove and the parking lot was full and there were over 500 bikes lined up along the road. I think it is more crowded now than it has been when we have been here in peak summers pre-Covid. We parked up by the school to go to dinner last night and got one of the last spots in the furthest auxiliary lot. My picture does not capture how many people are here right now. It is definitely not what I was expecting. If I had known we would have stayed in Wellfleet. In any event we are going home tomorrow and we are not going all the way in to town for dinner tonight anyway. At least last night there were a decent number of people wearing masks in town. We went to Pepe's Wharf for dinner. We had a table on the lower outside deck off in a corner away from other tables, which was nice. Here's the view. It never really cleared up yesterday. Drinks with a side order of my sister's hand haha Oysters Clam flatbread. More garlic would have been nice Mushroom flatbread Lobster ravioli Cod provencal. I thought this looked overcooked but husband's brother said it was fine. Linguini with asparagus pesto and shrimp Colossal shrimp with arugula salad

We moved to Provincetown yesterday. There are a LOT of people here, and no one is wearing masks. I do not think we will be spending much time in town. The house we are renting is completely off by itself, with no neighbors in sight. It's quite overcast right now but I will share some pictures of the setting at some point. We were not smart enough to make dinner reservations for last night (I quickly wised up and booked tables for our remaining nights), so we tried walking in to Mac's Fish House at 5PM, figuring the earlier we got there, the better our chances. They seated us at an outdoor table all by itself over in a far corner. It was perfect for our paranoid selves haha. Drinks. My delicious sparkling water 😉, a gin spin for my sister, and both guys got a special drink of the evening that I forget the name of. I do know it was tequila based. Bad drink reporting again. Second drink for husband's brother. This was a sweet heat margarita. Basically a margarita with chiles. For appetizers we shared a couple of things. Shrimp and grits. I liked the grits, they were very creamy. Steamer clams The biggest hit was the halibut and striped bass seveche. This was terrific. Husband's brother got lobster gnocchi. He really liked this. I got a special of blackened scallops over pea congee. This was really nice. The scallops were so sweet and tender. My sister got a plate of fried clams. This was huge. Husband's brother helped her eat it. My husband got the fisherman's platter. I could not believe he ordered this. It was gargantuan. It had shrimp, scallops, whole bellied clams, and cod. He managed to eat all of the fish, but most of the fries and the slaw was left behind. After dinner we decided to drive to town. The plan was to walk around for a bit while the car charged at the pier, but it was just too crowded for our comfort level as there is no way to keep your distance from others in town the way you can at the beach. I guess I am just not ready to fully reenter society yet haha. We did find a section of Commercial Street that was not too bad, so we walked down here a block or so before turning back. We walked over to the town beach to look at the boats for a few minutes.

This morning my sister and I woke up early and decided to walk to breakfast. There are two places in easy walking distance, and she chose the Fox and Crow. She wanted the same egg sandwich she had there earlier in the summer. I was hopeful that they would have the mezze plate I wanted to try that they were out of back in June. Success on both fronts. Egg sandwich Jerusalem mezze plate. It came with toum, goat cheese, mustard, roasted pepper spread, and cucumbers. My husband was still asleep when we got back so I woke him up by breathing my toum breath all over his head hahaha. That's what you get for sleeping late! I made up for it by bringing him back an egg sandwich. Dinner was at Winslow's Tavern again. Drinks. Crush and blush (sparkling rose and pampelmousse), Summer in a glass (lemonade, vodka, basil), Porch swing (St. Germaine, limoncello...and that is all that my husband's brother remembers from it. It must have vodka or gin or something, like that too). No photo of my boring sparkling water. Tabasco lime roasted oysters Lobster croquetas Tomato and burrata plate with bacon jam My husband's brother got the same swordfish I had the other night, so I did not take a picture. My sister had cod with clams, a bouillabaisse sauce, olive relish and roasted fennel. Husband chose tuna with roasted cherry tomatoes, fregeola, and pepper relish Nothing was really appealing to me, so I went for the restaurant's vegetarian choice: braised zucchini and summer squash pasta with toasted pine nuts, golden raisins and parmesan cheese. It was tasty. We had to skip dessert in order to make the sunset So, of course, gelato. Tonight's flavors were mostly repeats, except for me. I chose blackberry. Other people chose salted caramel, coffee, and dark chocolate. That's it for the gelato. We decided to move to Provincetown tomorrow since Sunday's weather looks a bit iffy, so new restaurants and sunset locations start then.

Yes, we are fine. The tornado was minor, and in a town about 10 miles from us. It is my understanding that no one was injured from it. The big tree in front of the house lost a large limb from the wind, but it landed in the lawn, right next to the house and adjacent to the driveway, but not on either. The saltwater creek behind the house was very high but did not flood. Your state took much more of the damage from this storm than MA did. I saw some of the tornado images from NJ and they were truly frightening. I hope that you are OK as well. After a rainy morning, the sun came out and we got in a good long walk. We had dinner at the Wicked Oyster. They built a nice al fresco area next to the restaurant in answer to covid, so that's where we sat. Cocktails. The pink one is a watermelon margarita and I am unsure what the other one is. I guess my cocktail reporting has gotten kind of spotty since I stopped drinking any of them 🙃 Oysters Shrimp egg rolls Fried calamari Husband's brother got a seafood stew with clams, mussels, flounder, and shrimp I had a lemon herb risotto with a sun dried tomato pesto topped with shrimp My sister had blackened swordfish with coconut rice and a canteloupe salsa Husband ordered lobster gnocchi We skipped dessert at the restaurant because....gelato! Tonight's flavors: coffee, chocolate hazelnut (my sister insisted on ordering that one instead of choosing a new flavor, sigh), and sweet cream. Husband's brother skipped gelato in favor of having a beer later. Tonight's sunset

Breakfast was more tomatoes from home. Extra napkins required. The day was pretty overcast with showers off and on, so other than a walk along the harbor, we just spent most of the day at the house. Here is the backyard. It's pretty relaxing back there. My sister and husband's brother came out this evening, and wanted to go back to Mac's Shack, even though we were just there last night. Twist my arm. Oysters Shrimp toast Fried clams My husband and his brother both got tonight's special: seared striped bass on polenta with confit tomato My sister and I both wanted the seared scallops, served with quinoa and corn puree Everything was delicious.

We rent from different sources. Not VRBO/AirB+B because you can usually find the same places on other sites without the fees. It just takes some poking around online. Once we rent a place, if we like it and want to rent again, we typically rent direct from the owner, as usually the owners will reach out after your stay and ask if you want to lock in again for the following year. We rented this house from a realty company in town that reps vacation rentals as well as offering the usual realtor services. I made breakfast from stuff I brought from home. An omelet stuffed with sautéed summer squash, zucchini and swiss cheese, a tomato from the farm box, and some bread that I baked to bring for toasting. We spent the morning at Indian Neck. This is a sticker beach on the harbor side, so not crowded. It's a good walking beach because a lot of it is firmer sand. We spent the afternoon at Lecount Hollow on the ocean side. You can see the clouds starting to move in. We are expecting weather from the remnants of Ida tomorrow evening into Thursday. Dinner was at Mac's Shack. Halibut turadito and jalepeno yellowtail Husband chose a seafood stew with calamari, monkfish, shrimp, mussels, and razor clams I had grilled monkfish skewers on a farro, tomato and cucumber salad with a stone fruit compote. We finished dinner in time to catch the sunset at Duck Harbor And then went back for more gelato. Tonight we tried the chocolate hazelnut and the coconut. Both were very tasty, but we gave the edge to the chocolate hazelnut.

We are back in Wellfleet. Since my last posting, my nephew has moved to Montana to do a service year on the Crow reservation and my niece has returned to college (fingers crossed that they stay in for the whole semester, we will see), so this will be an adults only visit. My husband and I came out yesterday and will be in Wellfleet through the weekend, after which we will move to Provincetown for a few days. We have an accommodation overlap on Saturday, so I am not sure if we are moving to Provincetown on Saturday or Sunday. I guess it will depend on the weather. We are still sticking to outside dining only. My sister and my husband's brother are joining us later this week. My brother is out of vacation time at work, so can't come. Here is where we are staying this time. It's an old house that is walkable to town and the beach. I like it a lot. Last night we walked to the Pearl for dinner Husband's Cape Cod margarita (it has cranberry juice in it) We split an order of bang bang shrimp I got grilled swordfish with jerked pineapple salsa. I was pleasantly surprised. The fish was very fresh and perfectly cooked. The serving was too large, so I shared. Husband had scampi with shrimp and scallops (and the swordfish I gave him from my plate). He was very hungry so this was a good choice. I am against cheese on fish dishes, but he voiced no complaints. We sprung for a beach sticker for the week, and headed to one of the town's beaches this morning. As you can see, it's still awfully crowded on the Cape! We walked down a ways, and found a spot to ourselves. This is as far in to the water as we get. For real swimming (for us, anyway), Wellfleet has a series of kettle ponds. We visited one later in the day. Dinner was at old standby Winslow's Tavern. We shared a tuna tartare taco appetizer. I had swordfish again, grilled and served with braised red peppers, roasted summer squash, and sauce vierge Husband wanted pasta again, so he had crab strozzapreti with ginger, scallions, and chiles. We found a new to us gelato place at the far end of town after dinner I had toasted almond and husband chose salted caramel. They were both very good. Award for funniest bumper sticker found at the beach today goes to this car

Rigatoni with raw tomato sauce, chopped up arugula and parmesean

Happy Anniversary @Ann_T! Chicken katsu, rice and a cucumber salad made with salt and pepper cucumbers from my farm share. I think the salt and pepper cucumbers are a bit crisper and juicier than a standard cucumber.

Vegetable coconut curry with carrots, yellow bell peppers, and summer squash, plus Thai basil/cilantro/lime.garlic/ginger. I added mushrooms to all but my niece's bowl. It would have been better with peas and/or green beans, but my niece dislikes those too, and according to her they flavor the entire dish. She goes back to college Sunday and then I will be back to cooking only one type of dinner in the evening for a while, so I do not mind catering to her tastes this week.

We just had sandwiches last night. Arugula, tomato, parmesan and some leftover steak from the weekend for my husband My sister and I had bacon, arugula, and tomato

Big salad with burrata and tomatoes. My CSA box was three boxes this week, plus a bunch of sunflowers. One box was entirely tomatoes. I love this time of year for vegetables, and wish some of the bounty could be spread out to the winter months when all we get are potatoes and onions.