Boston Trip - Harwich Port, Cape Cod

We stayed in Harwich Port for two nights at the end of the week for the wedding of Julie and Lou. I actually hadn't been to the Cape since college a "few" years ago, so I was very happy to return and even visit some of the same places.



The day of the wedding we had some free time and decided to get breakfast at Bonatt's. Most of us had been before on that trip in college, and we all remembered the melt-a-ways. What's a melt-a-way you ask?



If you click on that picture it should get big enough to read the whole story. In short, melt-a-ways are the specialty of Bonatt's and you get them as soon as you sit down to the table. It's basically a sticky bun that's croissant-like on the inside with glaze and some powdered sugar on top.



Now, I have to say that some members of the group didn't like them. It's hard to tell if they're different from when we were there last because it was so long ago, but some people detected an anise flavor, others said it was lemony. I'll admit there was a very, very slight bitter flavor to them. But I thought they were really good. And so did Tim because later that day he informed me what was in his hotel room:



For breakfast I got an egg and cheese sandwich with linguica. I don't pass up a chance to eat linguica.



I didn't get lunch that day, breakfast was pretty big and the wedding was at 4pm...but of course some of the boys needed a second feeding before the ceremony. We stopped at the Mason Jar after spending a couple hours at the beach.



I wanted to take a photo inside but it was pretty crowded and I felt like if I started snapping pictures in there I may as well have been a fanny pack-wearing tourist. But here you can see it looks like a cute little house.



So I didn't get anything, but I had some of Peter's ham and brie sandwich and clam chowder.



We never made it to Sundae School which I am still very sad about. We just didn't have a lot of time with all the wedding festivities. But I had to share this photo...one of the most genius wedding hors d'oeuvres I've ever seen. Grilled cheese and spicy tomato soup. Delicious.

Sonoma Chicken Salad (NOT homemade)

Ok, sooo...I guess this whole work thing IS getting in the way of cooking. Just a little bit. I did have today off, so I am going to make something fun for dinner tonight (hopefully it goes well and I'll share it tomorrow). But don't worry, I'm not converting to buying pre-made foods. With one exception. Actually, I don't even consider this an exception because I've always bought it. And that food is Whole Foods' Sonoma Chicken Salad.



If you click on the picture it will probably be big enough to read the ingredients. But I'll list them for you so you don't have to do that: chicken, grapes, pecans, celery, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, honey, poppy seeds, salt, pepper. Mmmm. I've been on a chicken salad kick lately. I've been buying the chicken salad sandwich from King Cafe while I'm at work - their chicken salad has red cabbage and grapes in it. And I also heart the chicken salad sammy from The Goddess and Grocer. But Sonoma Chicken Salad is by far my favorite.



We happened to have challah bread buns, and so Peter and I split this one as a very, very late lunch. With a little rosé on the roofdeck...perfection! I do want to try to make it myself, though. Since I have the ingredients list, it shouldn't be too hard.

Beach Picnic

What a beautiful day to go to the ocean! Clear skies, hot weather...ahhhh. Fooled you! That's Lake Michigan. This is what the view looks like if you turn the other way.



I can't bring myself to call it the beach. I actually like to call it the "fleach" - fake lake beach. But hey, I'm not complaining...it's just a few blocks from our apartment, and it was the perfect answer to yesterday's 89-degree weather. And of course, with a trip to the fleach comes a fleach picnic. I made one big fat sandwich for us to share - mozzarella di bufala, tomatoes, basil, prosciutto, olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper on ciabatta bread.



Don't sandwiches just taste better when eaten outside on a hot summer day? Especially with salt and vinegar chips.



I think we'll be spending a lot of time at the fleach this summer.

Grilled Cheese

I don't remember what sparked the idea, but I decided I should make some fun grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner last night. Then I found out that April is National Grilled Cheese Month (who knew?) so I definitely had to do it. I grew up on grilled cheese sandwiches. And Eggo waffles. But really, my mom has probably made thousands of grilled cheeses. It's pretty much all I would eat. Instead of the classic American cheese on Pepperidge Farm bread that I loved when I was a kid, I went for some more sophisticated versions last night.

Most importantly, start with good bread. I chose a French country loaf.



First sandwich: Camembert, thin slices of a Granny Smith apple, and whole grain mustard.




Second sandwich: fontina, prosciutto, and arugula.




Third sandwich: Cana de Cabra goat cheese (semi-soft), strawberry jam, chopped macadamia nuts




Yummm. I think my favorite was the fontina one, probably because it had prosciutto in it. But they were all good. Everyone does grilled cheese their own way, but I like to melt butter in the pan and then butter the top piece of bread (instead of buttering both pieces of bread). But with butter, cheese, bread, and prosciutto or apples or jam or whatever you decide to add, you can't go wrong.