Cape Cod

Here are some snaps (mostly food pictures) from a roadtrip to Cape Cod, MA.

One of the stops was East Syracuse, NY at the Bull & Bear Roadhouse, where we discovered salt potatoes and locally brewed hard apple cider.

1911 Original Hard Cider and Mango Mojito.

Fiesta Salad and Cubano sandwich with loaded salt potatoes

We were staying in West Yarmouth, which had lots of great spots to grab some grub. Most of the places had some high-end prices for things like lobster rolls and scallops but had a casual feel with picnic benches and paper plates.

On the Waterfront

Local Cape Cod breakfast joint

First lobster roll of the trip at Moby Dick's Seafood Restaurant

Highland Lighthouse, Truro, MA.

Kennedy House as seen from the harbor tour

  One of my favorite knickknacks at the Edward Gorey House.

Lobster roll platter at Sesuit Harbor Cafe. The best one of the trip!

We drove through NYC on the way home. 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

I wonder if someone in the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia company has Celiac Disease or another gluten intolerance because the few gluten-free recipes I've tried from the website have been pretty good. They actually taste like baked goods and not some no-flour concoction. This recipe was baked in a springform pan, which was exciting since I don't use that tool often enough. 

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

As I've posted before, I'm usually a fan of free-form scones, but these were made with the same recipe as the last post. I used fresh raspberries and white chocolate chips for a nice sweet-tart combination. 

Bunny Cake 2014

I know these posts are very belated, but I thought last Easter's bunny cake was especially cute so I'm posting it. Ditto for the future July 4th flag cake post.

Gluten-Free Fudgy Pecan Brownies

I was looking for a gluten-free dessert for a party and found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website. Although I love Martha Stewart and her omnimedia empire, I've had a bad brownie recipe from her cookbook before so I was a little hesitant to try these.

I'm happy to report that these did not disappoint. The name says it all! These were fudgy but moist and still tasted and felt like traditional brownies. Some brownie recipes that call for nuts don't work without them, but this recipe holds up even without the pecans - I made half with and half without nuts.

Required Reading

Two of these were on my eldest nephew's summer reading list... two of these I really did not like.Three are from book clubs and the rest were just my picks. 

1: The Road
  Cormac McCarthy

2: The Sandcastle Girls
  Chris Bohjalian

3: Station Eleven
  Emily St. John Mandel

4:  Ready Player One
  Ernest Cline

5: Go Set a Watchman
  Harper Lee

6: To Have and Have Not
  Ernest Hemingway

7: The Bishop's Wife
  Mette Ivie Harrison

8: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
  Susanna Clarke

9: Neverwhere
  Neil Gaiman

10: The Lightning Thief
  Rick Riordan

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

These cookies were suggested by a patron at a bake sale although she called them by their common name, Oatmeal Scotchies. I used the recipe on the bag of chips (using butter and vanilla not margarine and orange peel.) I made bar cookies because I was too lazy to work with sticky oatmeal cookie dough. I've since made them as drop cookies, which I liked much better. More crunch per cookie.

They were very vanilla-y and surprisingly not as sweet as I expected them to be - about the same as oatmeal cookies with raisins in them.