One of my friends from college has been visiting and, while we have been having a lovely time taking long walks and enjoying the natural beauty of the Cape (see photo above and others on Instagram), my dinner plan went out the window during her visit. Partaking of fried clams and daily afternoon ice cream cones meant that we were not really hungry at dinner time so, though I had planned lovely dishes to make for her (as illustrated by last week’s menu plan), we ended up having tomato salad and bits and bobs from a cheese plate twice, and a large bowl of Rocamole and chips once. I had made a vat of Vichyssoise for lunches, all of which we ate out, so we dabbled in that one evening as well.
We rounded off last night’s tomato salad -- made with 3 varieties of perfectly ripe and juicy tomatoes and the most fragrant of basils -- with incredibly delicious yellow peaches and cherries for dessert. There is definitely something to be said for dishes simply made with perfect, seasonal produce. There is also something to be said for college friends who like to weed, as she went through the garden like a dose of salt and cleaned out the flower beds (a task L. and I had been putting off beyond five minutes here and there when the mood struck.)
Some of the ingredients with which I filled fridge and freezer for her visit will get repurposed into this week’s menu, and a couple of dishes that I promised you – namely Buttermilk Pancakes, Beet Salad With Lavender-Mustard Dressing, and my Ultimate Lentil Salad -- will get made for lunch this week instead because I was looking forward to eating them. There may also be a few bonus recipes this week because the CSA box that I mentioned last week arrived and I have some extraneous produce that needs to be used. All I can say about this – and you all know that getting a CSA box is one of my favorite things, right up there with opening Christmas presents on Christmas morning, aged six – is that I highly recommend no one ever order anything from Farmbox Direct. You have been warned.
Other than that, we are starting to see our time here on the Cape slowly run out. My plan was to stay through the autumn, and I was looking forward to crisp mornings, deep blue skies and fall foliage, but it looks as though Manhattan schools will open and we will be going back early September instead. That being said, Covid is nothing if not unpredictable, so that plan may change again.
In the meantime, we will continue to eat, drink, and be as merry as our little naturally pessimistic souls will allow.
On this week's list of dishes to be mastered:
Summer Monkfish Stew
Avocado with Crabmeat Salad
Tomato Cornmeal Galette with Pomegranate Glaze
Enjoy a bonus photo of the sky meeting the sand.
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