The Rest of Summer

One more MIA post and then on to more exciting things. All I can say about the remainder of summer is that it flew by way too fast. I had SO much fun, ate so much delicious food, and made a ton of fantastic memories. July consisted of two particularly special events: a reunion with friends in Portland, ME and one of my best friend's weddings (in Franconia, NH). 

I cannot say much about the food that we made during our reunion weekend, because the food we ate out was just so superior to anything we made ourselves. We ate delectable lobstah rolls at the Portland Lobster Co, gorged ourselves with delicacies from Nosh, and of course, drank lots of wonderful Maine beers. 

Enjoying our Saturday night lobster roll dinner 

Then there was the wedding. A weekend of laughing, dancing, drinking, eating, and being in the presence of so much love it almost makes you cry. Admittedly I was not expecting the wedding food to be anything out of the ordinary--my previous experiences with wedding food consisted of really bad or too much to handle. But I was shocked by how delicious all of the wedding food was, particularly the cake. Kate and Kevin have set a VERY HIGH bar for all future weddings, and not just because their food was so damn good. The only word to describe their wedding: epic.

The newlyweds cut their cake

The first weekend of August was special (as always) because of Brendan's birthday. This year we spent the weekend on Cape Cod and celebrated with a New England style feast: homemade lobster rolls, corn on the cob, cucumber salad, potato salad, and Brendan's favorite birthday dessert combo: chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting, and mint chocolate chip ice cream (only Breyer's will do). A very delicious and successful 25th birthday.

Brendan's 25th Birthday Meal

For the rest of the summer we spent basically every weekend on the Cape, where we ate endless amounts of food prepared by my dad, mom, uncles, aunts, and the occasional meal out. Delicious food, but unfortunately I don't have any photos. However, I do have photos from two wonderful meals that Brendan and I made together, toward the end of August. The first was our end-of-summer grill meal: salmon (nothing on it except some black pepper and salt), shrimp (marinated in olive oil, pepper, salt, and lots of garlic), sweet potato fries, and cucumber salad. The second meal was a super quick dinner that I highly recommend to anyone looking for a low-hassle recipe--it's a quinoa salad that highlights some of summer's best produce, but can easily be modified to include fruits and veggies from whatever season we're in. 

Grilled salmon, grilled shrimp, grilled sweet potatoes

Quinoa Salad with Peaches, Arugula, and Quick-Pickled Onions

I was really terrible about documenting the meals I made this summer, just as I was awful at writing blog posts. But I promise to be better! I just started a graduate program in nutrition, which means cheap, healthy, and quick recipes are on their way...look out, because Brunch for Bitches is back in action!

MIA in June

I know I am being rather slow with posting the events of summer...but nonetheless: June! June was a very exciting month for me. It started off with a trip to DC to visit some of my high school dance friends, and attend an annual work conference. Sadly I have no pictures or tales of delectable food, since I was living out of a hotel and my diet was comprised of whatever the hotel had to offer. In stark contrast, the following weekend Brendan and I went to my co-worker's (Michelle) house for one of the most orgasmic, gastronomic experiences I have ever had. Michelle is an amazingly talented chef and her boyfriend, Steve, is a spirits guru. We ate a six-course meal, complete with drink pairings for each course. The theme: New Orleans in the North End. Enough said. We started the meal with some mint juleps and the evening only went upward from there. 

The menu was as follows: 
1. Salad of greens with homemade pumpkin brittle and blue cheese
2. Casamento's Charbroiled Oysters
3. Oysters Rockefeller 
4. Shrimp Beignets
5. Mr. B's Gumbo Ya-Ya
6. Chocolate Yummy 

Yes, I was obnoxious and took pictures of everything we ate...but wouldn't you, if your meal looked this damn good? Needless to say, our New Orleans night in the North End was one of the highlights of the entire summer. Thanks, Michelle and Steve! 

The end of June was the 3Day Breast Cancer Walk...60 miles in 3 days. It was an exhilarating and draining--emotionally and physically--experience, and I am so happy to have gone through it all with my mom. The food during the walking event was nothing to write home about. We ate a lot of salty snacks (like pretzels), eggs every morning, and some mass-produced food for dinner each night. The third night, however, was our victory dinner. We crossed the finish line in San Francisco during midday, attended the closing ceremonies, took long showers at our hotel, and then booked it over to a delectable sushi dinner. I have never been so happy to eat sushi--seaweed salad, raw salmon, eel roll, and spicy yellowtail roll. Not to mention a new dish: fried baby octopus! It tastes very similar to calamari, but a little bit weirder, since you can see the whole animal as you chomp down. 

Unfortunately I don't have any personal cooking stories from June. I am sure I made something yummy; but between the New Orleans meal and our celebratory sushi dinner, I can't remember anything else I ate. I promise I have recipes in store for my tales of July and August!