Lobsterzilla!

Lurking inside Larsen's Fish Market in Menemsha was... (cue the dramatic music)... lobsterzilla! Yup, the biggest lobster I've ever seen. The fish monger gal scooped the lobster out of the tank by its claws to show us just how big the crustacian really was. Run for your lives!

Island grown

We also bought a lot of locally grown produce during our stay on Martha's Vineyard. Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, walking distance from the house that we rented, supplied us with deliciously fresh produce, scrumptious blueberry muffins and French bread.

The lettuces were grown on what appeared to be 

someone's front yard on the way to the Farmstand.

Getting fresh

We had our share of local seafood on the Vineyard, including steamed clams and local (Katama Bay) oysters, quahogs and littlenecks. One night my brother made us a dinner of linguini with clam sauce using a big sea clam that he had dug up — using his feet while swimming — at the beach only hours earlier. (He also got a toe bitten by a crab in the process.) He chopped up the bivalve and added it to more chopped quahogs and littlenecks, but he left some of the littlenecks whole and in their shells for dramatic effect. So yummy.

A major culinary highlight came in the fishing village of Menemsha, on the western side of the island. Menemsha is a tiny, classic working New England fishing village and the seafood is as fresh as it gets. (It also has a nice beach that's popular for sunsets). Here's a photo of the best local oysters any of us have ever had at Larsen's Fish Market :

The briny seawater in these sweet shellfish made cocktail sauce unnecessary (though a nice addition). We also had these small steamers — golden little morsels that were incredibly tender and sweet.

And it was all "in the rough" — lobster traps with plywood for "tables," old wiring spools for "chairs." And it's BYOB! Here we're all reaching for the golden steamed clams. We made a second visit to Menemsha later in the week and were sure to have one more batch of those fresh Katama Bay oysters. Mmmm ...

Natural beauty

Where to even begin with all the photos we took on Martha's Vineyard? The natural beauty there is quite varied, from dramatic windswept cliffs, to windward-side beaches with pounding surf,  to quietly protected leeward-side beaches. Above is Aquinnah (formerly known as Gay Head) which juts out northward on the southwestern side of the island. It's known for these gorgeous clay cliffs (that artists love to paint) and its quiet serenity.

This is a pier off of Oak Bluffs on the Northeastern side of the island. When we went back a few days later this dock was being rebuilt.

Here is a grassy path that leads down to crashing waves on a beach in Edgartown, which faces south on the island.

all above photos by Diane & Dan

Although a mere 527 feet separate the smaller island of Chappaquiddick from the Southeastern Vineyard "main land," it feels worlds apart. We took the 2 minute Chappaquiddick ferry then went on a two-hour tour on a rugged four-wheel drive truck. The tour was by the Trustees of Reservations and covered their Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge and lighthouse. The photo above is from the top of the lighthouse. We drove right on the beaches and on the sandy trails that wind through the green shrubs. Chappaquiddick feels very remote in the summer, and probably even more so in the harsh winters! 

Here is an overhead view of the ferries going back and forth from Chappaquiddick (top right) to the main land of Martha's Vineyard, crossing Edgartown Harbor. (For the record: We didn't actually take this photo — we left our helicopter at home!)

The colors of Martha's Vineyard

Inspired by... The colors of Martha's Vineyard

beautiful azure blue skies

ever changing Atlantic Ocean

greens of beach grass

sandy shorelines

weathered shingled houses

Gone fishin'

We're currently down in Martha's Vineyard for some sun and fun! Highlights: languishing on gorgeous beaches with crashing waves... collecting seashells on the water's edge... swimming... eating the freshest raw oysters and the sweetest steamed clams on a working dock in Menemsha... sparkly diamonds dancing on the Atlantic ocean... blonde sand dunes with shimmering sea grass... skin all tingly from the warm summer sunshine... sunset cocktails...  It's all good on the Vineyard.

Sweet potato vines

We have two copper lanterns that flank the entrance to our bistro courtyard, and around each of them sweet potato vines are growing like wildfire. The lime green foliage on them is bright and happy, and a nice contrast to the green grass.

The Swedish Flying Monkey

Here is another in a series 

of our weekly Saturday Sippers! posts.

What do you get when you combine Swedish vodka, Swedish fish and a Lilly Pulitzer backdrop with monkeys on it?  A Swedish Flying Monkey, of course! Most flying monkey cocktails include some sort of banana flavor in it, but this drink is completely sans banana. There's a double Swedish nod with Swedish fish gummy candies, and Swedish Absolut vodka. Yaa, Yaa. This Saturday Sipper will have you swinging from tree to tree by the third sip. 

THE SWEDISH FLYING MONKEY

1 oz lemon Absolut vodka
1/2 oz blue curaçao liqueur
1/2 cup blue Gatorade light
 1/4 cup club soda

one wedge of lemon

Makes two swinging cocktails!

Combine first four ingredients and pour into two glasses filled with ice and a few Swedish fish. Add lemon wedge on rim of glass and start swinging.

Ferris wheel

What's summer without a ride on a ferris wheel? This 150 foot-high ferris wheel stands proudly at Chicago's Navy Pier, and provides magnificent views of the Chicago skyline and lakefront. The wheel was modeled after the very first ferris wheel which was built for Chicago's World's Fair in 1893. The lovely photo, almost painterly, is by Amy via Flickr.

Happy bees

With the Bee Colony Collapse Disorder spreading like wildfire, I always feel fortunate when I see honey bees in action in the yard. I see plenty in my yard, and I'm not sure if I see them less over the years or not. All I know is that they really love the blossoms of this Sum & Substance hosta. 

Zucchini + corn involtini

I made a grilled zucchini and corn salad recently, which I turned into a roll-up or Involtini—an Italian word for a small bite of food made comprising an outer layer of something (usually meat) wrapped around a filling. In this case I stuffed grilled zucchini slices (summer squash would work too) with a mix of a corn, onion, and lemon thyme. Think of it as a roulade, and just roll with it baby!

To make this salad, slice zucchini thinly lengthwise and quickly grill. In a bowl, mix 2 ears of fresh corn that has been sliced off the cob, 1/3 of an onion that has been diced, and sauté both in lemon olive oil, fresh lemon thyme, a squeeze of lemon juice, a little grated Romano cheese, and salt and pepper. Then you can either mix with zucchini or summer squash strips and serve as a salad, or place a teaspoon of the mix on the zucchini and roll up into involtino. I also added a little basil pesto to each one.

Crazy for coneflowers

I needed more purple coneflowers (echinacea purpurea) in my new wildflower cutting garden, so I packed the back of the Volvo with them! Strength in numbers, and the bees just love them. 

Pine needle smoked mussels

Yes, mussels cooked over a bed of smoking pine needles! (éclade de moules) Trust me, the aroma if these mussels was heavenly and the taste was nothing short of sublime. If the thought of flaming dry pine needles scares you, fear not, it was all quite contained, and we kept the grill lid and a hose nearby, just in case. The end result of this forest and ocean collaboration was tender mussels with beautiful, clean saltiness from the sea, and smokey pine overtones.

It's a theatrical experience to be sure, and would certainly entertain your guests. I would have never,  ever thought of this recipe on my own—all credit goes to grilling guru Steven Raichlen, who found it on one of his worldly BBQ pilgrimages in France. Leave it to the French. Read what Steven says about the experience here, and click here for his mussels on pine needles recipe. We anointed our smoked mussels with luscious melted butter. To round out the meal we had halved radishes with french Feta cheese to start, and a simple mesclun salad to finish. Although Raichlen states that it would be criminal not to have anything other than a dry Muscadet wine with the mussels, we think a French rosè made for a darn good pairing.

"The heat causes the mussels to open, 

while the smoke from the burning pine needles 

perfumes the shellfish in a way you can't even imagine."

— grilling guru Steven Raichlen

To start this light summer meal we had
halves of crisp radishes with French feta cheese 

and a few snips of chives.

smokey mussels... mmmm... insanely delicious

 Finally, a crisp mesclun salad with colorful baby carrot spears 

a mini crottin of goat cheese from Vermont Creamery,
and a crusty French bread.

You say mojito, I say mojato

Here is another in a series 

of our weekly Saturday Sippers! posts.

Just kidding... I really say mojito. What to do with all that crazy wild mint in the garden? Muddle up a batch of minty, Cuban mojitos, of course! There are some reports that the Cuban mojito was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway, and some that say he was a diabetic and stayed away from sugary drinks, but in any case, we decided to name this Saturday Sipper The Big Papa!

THE BIG PAPA

15-20 fresh spearmint leaves

one lime, cut into quarters

4 oz simple syrup

2-3 ounces Bacardi white rum

1/2 cup club soda

Makes two minty mojitos!

Place mint leaves and lime quarters into a sturdy glass. Use a muddler to bruise the mint leaves (not shred) and crush the lime to release the yummy mint oils and lime juice. Pull out most of the mint, but leave some for effect. Add simple syrup and rum.  Fill 2 glasses half way with ice. Pour your muddled mix over the ice in each glass, and top off with club soda. Stir Garnish with wheel of lime and sprig of mint. Toast and sip to the Big Papa.

By the sea...

Dan and I went on a cultural road trip last week to see two big art exhibits in Maine. The first show was by an artist who painted by the sea, the second show was in a building physically located by the sea.

First we drove up to Bowdoin College to see the Maurice Prendergast exhibit, which blew my socks off! I was always a fan of MBP's work, but after seeing his watercolor and oils in person I am absolutely smitten. (Click here for more information, and here for a story written by my favorite art critic, Sebastian Smee of the Boston Globe). The colorful canvases and sketch books were wildly painted and almost manic in style, but they were also calming in their continuity, and ultimately were somewhat mesmerizing. It was a big show, with room after room filled with joyful and enchanting works. My heart raced with excitement the entire time I was in the museum, and for about the next 24 hours afterwards. Yup, Prendergast stole my heart.

Next, we drove down to Portland, Maine, to see the Paley Collection at the Portland Museum of Art. The museum is located near enough to the Atlantic coastline that outside we could hear the seagulls squawking overhead, even amid the urban pulse of the city. The Paley Collection was colorful and beautifully varied. Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse, Monet, Bonnard, Picasso — all were represented in the show. Read a review of the exhibit by Sebastian Smee here. And the rest of the museum has some spectacular artwork, including some gorgeous Wyeth and Homer paintings. And speaking of Homer...

If we could have acquired tickets to the Winslow Homer Studio exhibit on Prout's Neck in Maine, it would have been quite a day—the Triple Crown of museum hopping. Alas, the tickets are hard to come by.

Still ... what a day! If you live anywhere in New England, I urge you to pack a cooler and go on a road trip to these museums. You won't regret the chance to see these paintings.

Paul Gauguin's mystical The Seed of the Areoi

Winslow Homer's moody Weatherbeaten

Pesto pasta salad

The basil is coming in like mad! Time to make and freeze batches of pesto to have this winter. For now though, pesto pasta salads are on the menu. I admit that I'm a bit of a purist when I make my pesto—no walnuts for me, only pine nuts. I use just  5 ingredients; fresh basil, a good Pecorino Romano cheese, toasted pignoli nuts, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. Okay, salt and pepper too. Here is a pasta salad with curly cellantani pasta dressed with pesto, then tossed with arugula leaves, white cannellini beans, and halved grape tomatoes. 

Color inspiration—beach rocks

Not just any old beach rocks... These greenish rocks were recently collected on a beach on the shores of Provincetown, MA by my neighbor Mark. How many shades of green and blue do you see? And it's a whole new palette of colors when the stones get wet, as you can see below.

To see more colors, click on the "color inspiration" label below.

Grilled peaches + burrata

This salad screams summer in Tuscany! Juicy ripe peaches that have been quickly grilled for a bit of char are a sweet punch to creamy pillows of burrata cheese. I placed crumbles of crispy pancetta and placed the lot over arugula and frisée greens. For the dressing I made a classic vinaigrette, to which I added a spoonful of Stonewall Kitchen's Bellini (peach + prosecco) jam. Get thee some burrata cheese and give this one a whirl. It's molto eccellentissimo with a glass of bubbly Italian prosecco.

Ode to a summer's day

photos by Dan Ryan & Diane Carnevale 

Here are various critters from our back yard. Love them all—the dragonflies, hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, snakes, pheasants, bunny rabbits, chipmunks, and yes, even the woodchucks. Enjoy this poem by Anni Morris which truly captures how I feel when I am in my garden.

Ode to a Summer's Day

I go outside to enter my Utopia

My wonderland where I can be Alice.

Soft blue towers of delphiniums

Are my lofty spires on which I can dream.

Was that a white tail I saw amongst the lavender?

A mouse behind the willow pot?

I doze some more.

Spiders, high construction workers

Relentless and skilled with such delicacy

Of touch, they weave and contort.

Their silkwork

The finest that can be wrought.

The late afternoon sun so warm and full now

Cradles me as I sit on my garden throne.

The orchestra of crickets and bees

Make music with the strings of sunshine

That fall from branches of lilac

Heavy with bloom.

All the dogs are quiet now

They doze…

Sleeping stone statues

Seeking shade and cool,

They wait for fresh air to kiss their noses.

Hot feathered birds full of dust

Perch on the lichen etched bird bath

Like pegs.

They splash and flick diamonds over

The emerald lawn below

Unaware of watchers

Soon the sun will rest

Dip over distant hills,

A sunset of lemon sorbet and tangerine

Will refresh the sky

A late evening cocktail before

The last blackbird sings

And the earth sighs

Into its soft pillow of night.

— Anni Morris

Gorgeous portrait—Meryl Streep

Meryl, Meryl, Meryl. So fresh, so bright, so elegant. She is a phenomenal actress and the absolute queen of accents. She's done a Polish accent in Sophie's Choice, a Danish accent as Isak Dinesen in Out of Africa, a British accent as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, high pitched perfection as Julia Child in Julie and Julia, an Italian-American accent in The Bridges of Madison County, an Australian accent in A Cry in the Dark. (A dingo ate my baby!), and who can forget her as the nasty boss in The Devil Wears Prada? The list goes on and on! Click here to listen to the many voices and accents of Meryl Streep. Long may she reign.

Click on the gorgeous portraits label below for more gorgeousness!

The Barnabus Collins

Here is another in a series 

of our weekly Saturday Sippers! posts.

Can't beat a bloody Mary on a summer day! Our Saturday Sipper this week is an homage to Barnabus Collins from the 70s soap Dark Shadows. He'd love a good Bloody Mary, to be sure. This drink is more like a meal with garnishes like yellow pear tomatoes and celery stalks—spicy, and savory, it's almost like a quick gazpacho. I like to use enough horseradish that it makes my nostrils flair (!). It's imperative, and I cannot stress this enough, that these should be imbibed before noon. 

THE BARNABUS COLLINS

1 mini can of V8 juice (low sodium)
1 mini can of Campbell's tomato juice
2 ounces of Kettle One or Absolut lemon vodka
2 tsp. prepared horseradish sauce
couple dashes of Tobasco sauce
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ of a small clove of garlic, crushed in a garlic press
½ tsp celery seed (not celery salt!)
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper

Makes 2 biting drinks.

Combine all ingredients, shake in metal bar mixer. Pour into a glass with ice and garnish with celery stalk, lemon wedge (and a long chili pepper and a mini tomato, if you have them). And remember... before noon. Barnabus is watching from the dark shadows...

Color inspiration—Plums

To see more colors, click on the "color inspiration" label below.

The first day in August

Have a listen to this beautiful song 

by Carole King by clicking here.

The First Day in August

—by Carole King & Charles Larkey

On the first day in August

I want to wake up by your side

After sleeping with you

on the last night in July

In the morning

We'll catch the sun rising

And we'll chase it from the mountains

to the bottom of the sea

When the day is over

And the night air comes to chill us

You'll build a fire

And we'll watch the flames dancing

You'll fall asleep

With your arm around my shoulder

And nothing will come between us

On the first night in August

The first day in August