Shiny Copper & Quick Veggie Dishes

Hey Guys! 

I’m so glad you guys want to win that “Summer in a Box” giveaway!  Pretty sweet right?  We’re all suckers for free desserts and products!!  You still have until Wednesday to enter!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! Mine was pretty busy, but also really fun.

I’m still working my way through our garden full of zucchini and now also this PILE of feta cheese! (I weight it too, almost 9lbs total!!)

I’ve never seen so much feta cheese in one place before, not even when I was in Greece!  I can’t complain though, I love the stuff and so far have really been enjoying coming up with recipes.  I’ll be sharing those with you in the near future :)

This feta comes to you from the same people who brought you Chobani Greek yogurt, so you know it’s good!  Real good.  

One easy way to use up is obviously on salad.  I was invited to a Pig Roast at Tina and Mal’s house yesterday and so I made my favorite party salad, but substituted feta for the Romano cheese!

I also brought a dessert, but I’ll get to that later.

Another fun weekend surprise was a FANTASTIC deal my mom found for me at an estate sale!

See, my grandmother (the most), and my aunts…LOVE garage/yard/estate sales.   I usually lack the patience to try and find something great at those things, but I’m always grateful when someone ELSE finds something for me ;)

Like this beauty:

Oh yes.  My mom snagged me a GORGEOUS Ruffoni copper casserole!   I  drool over those acorn handled pieces of art every time I go into William Sonoma. 

This must be an older model as I can’t find it online anymore, but I’d be willing to guess it would cost around $300-$400 brand new. 

She paid $5!!!  FIVE DOLLARS!! 

Seriously!  Thank you mom!!!!  She also found some other great items for me at this sale…it was one of the better sales they have been to in a while, and somehow I made out like a bandit :) 

And you want to know how she polished it up?  Ketchup!  Yup, just rub some regular old Heinz ketchup all over your copper for a few minutes, wash off and it’s shiny and beautiful.

($5!!!!)

Now I just need to figure out a nice spot to showcase it.

Ok onto the veggies!

The first was a tasty green bean side dish I enjoyed while I was on Nantucket.  My aunt made it, and it was so simple I re-created it when I got home. 

Vinegar Green Beans (you’ve got to like vinegar for this one)

Now this is more of a recipe by description, not exact measurements.

• Simply steam up some green beans (she boiled them, but I went with steaming) 
• I had the steamer basket full.

 

• While your beans cook.  In a shallow serving dish/bowl combine:
• Red wine vinegar (2 parts)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• olive oil (1 part)
• salt & pepper
• As you can see, I definitely used more vinegar than oil, but feel free to adjust.  You just want enough to dress the beans, and using a shallow bowl is great because you want the beans to sit in the vinegar.

 

• Once the beans are cooked to your desired level of doneness, immediately transfer the hot beans to the vinegar mixture

• Toss the beans, and let them sit for 5-10 min.   Or let them marinate overnight! 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed them the next day, cold, after they have marinated in the vinegar :)

Next…

BBQ Broccoli Slaw

This was one of those random snacks I made myself that I kept going back for more and more, and in turn at almost an entire bag of broccoli slaw!

It was all this hot weather making me crave cool foods, and I had a bag of Trader Joe’s broccoli slaw in the fridge.

This is pretty much a typical slaw, topped with BBQ sauce.

• approx 8 – 10 oz broccoli slaw
• 1 T olive oil mayo
• 1 T plain yogurt
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (more or less to taste)
• 1/4 tsp celery seed (or few shakes)

So I whisk up the dressing, add in my broccoli slaw until I achieve my desired slaw to dressing ratio and serve myself a bowl. 

Then it hits me!!

One day in Nantucket (yes a lot of good food ideas came out of my 3 days there with family), one of my cousins was making herself some coleslaw for lunch.  I wasn’t really paying attention, but I do recall her adding some Sweet Baby Rays to her mixture.

Didn’t think twice about it, until I made mine!

GENIOUS! 

Obviously BBQ + Coleslaw go hand it hand, but I’ve never thought to add BBQ sauce TO my slaw!

So so so good! 

Super fast and healthy snack!  I literally ate what you see above X3!   Almost an entire bag of Broccoli Slaw! 

Ok that is all!!

This girl needs some sleep…  First day of work tomorrow!

Yes I got a new job :)  I’ve actually also had some time off lately which has been really REALLY nice, and making it real hard for me to want to go back.  Yet all good things must come to an end…oh and those pesky things like bills and mortgages need paying. 

The FUN part is that I am now working in downtown Boston!  I’ve always wanted to have my chance to work right in the city, so I’m excited it’s finally happening.

Wish me luck…I feel like it’s the first day of school.  What to wear, what to wear ;)

Island Hopping

What can I say, I’m a lucky girl this summer!  First I was able to spend a week on Martha’s Vineyard with my bff and her family, and just recently Brian and I returned from 3 days on Nantucket!  This time we were able to stay with my aunt/uncle/cousins who rented a house for a few weeks :)

My aunt & uncle used to have year-round house on the island when I was growing up and I was able to go much more frequently.  However, up until last year when Brian and I visited Nantucket for our first anniversary, I hadn’t been in over 10 years!! 

With only 3 days on island, we were always doing something fun and there was never a shortage of delicious food.  I know I’ve told you that I come from a family of great cooks!  That includes on vacation :)
I LOVED the house!  It was Nantucket meets French Countryside as far as decor goes.  I snapped some photos but you’ll have to excuse the mess…we were rolling 12-13 people deep at any given time!

 
LOVE LOVE the countertops…

That little wooden “shed” out there is actually the outdoor shower.  A MUST on a Nantucket vacation.  There is nothing like taking a nice hot shower out in the fresh air!  Wish I had one at home!!
 
Food!
Fresh bluefish we cooked for dinner with grilled veggies


The remains of clams “casino”…actually it’s clams “(my aunt/uncles’s last name)” as they are their version made with prosciutto!

Famous tomato basil eggs

The gist of this dish is: 

• Heat some olive oil in a pan with a little garlic/herbs/salt+pepper
• Add fresh sliced tomatoes, cook for a few min
• Crack fresh eggs on top, cook to desired doneness
• top with fresh basil
• serve with toast

Wow.  This is Brian and my new favorite breakfast.

It reminded me of bruscetta + eggs.   SO good!


Monster-sized sandwich at the beach, from Something Natural

Brian and I split that, it was roast beef on six-grain bread with all the fixin’s.  They make all their own bread…delicious. 
Salad on the ferry ride home

Sadie and my cousin!  Sadie made Bromley seem huge when we got home!

Brian

Rolling 10-deep in the Suburban

Beach

The water was actually REALLY nice!  Usually too cold for me, but I went in :)

And last but not least…The Brewery!  You can read my full recap about Cisco from our trip last September.  One of the best spots on island!


That was their Pechish Woods!  The newest member of their “Woods” series.  Like the Cherry Woods, it’s also a sour ale, but the peach wasn’t as prominent as the cherry is.   Still loved it.
Also fell in love with their Triple 8 Distillery’s Blueberry Vodka.  This is unlike any “blueberry” vodka you’ve ever had.  It tastes like fresh blueberries, and that color is all natural.

Perfect with club soda and a splash of lemonade.  Definitely bought a bottle to bring home. 

 
BYOFood.

Well I think that about sums it up!  Fun, family, food, beach, beer…am I missing anything? 

Till next time…

Nantucket: Cisco Brewery

Before this trip, the last time I had visited Nantucket I was barely a teen so I really had no clue about the nightlife or any of the great bars on the island, not to mention a brewery/winery/distillery!

That’s right…Brewery + Winery + Distillery = one of my new favorite places ever!

If you go to Nantucket you must MUST visit Cisco.

I have tried a couple of their beers before, most recently the Cherry Woods that I was obsessed with after enjoying this sour refreshment at Armsby Abbey back in July. 

The brewery isn’t a bar downtown, it’s a bit off the beaten path and you probably wouldn’t randomly drive by if you were just visiting for a weekend.  We knew about it because my cousins love it (they know the island well) and Brian loves trying new beer and visiting breweries. 

We actually visited Cisco, twice in 3 days :)  The first was Sunday for a tour.  Through a combination of the public shuttle + walking down a fairly pedestrian un-friendly road…we made it.  On a Sunday at 2pm it was already pretty crowded, but we found our tour guy, Stu.  We were lucky that it was just us and one other couple. 

We started with the brewery, and while we toured our little sample cup was never empty for more than a few minutes…we sipped on Grey Lady and I’m pretty sure this is my new favorite beer.


The beer production is all done by hand still, even the labeling of the bottles!  They have recently enlisted the help of two off-island breweries (1 in Ipswich, MA and one in NY) to assist in the production of some of their popular beers as the Nantucket brewery can’t handle the demand; they are maxed out! 

The Labeling “station”:

They recently released a series of oak barrel aged beers called The Woods series.  This is where my beloved Cherry Woods comes from.  There is also Dark Woods, Lady of the Woods (the Grey Lady in oak barrels…we bought a bottle but haven’t opened it yet), and White Woods.  The barrels are recycled from their wine production; when they are no longer suitable for wine, they are used to produce these beers!  White woods won a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup…unfortunately there was not much of this beer produced and therefore was never released to the public.   

Can you believe each French Oak barrel costs about $1000!!!!

We didn’t try all the beers during the tour (but not to worry, we came back Tuesday and had a sampler)

Next was the winery…again a small production. 

They actually get their grapes from the west coast, either in whole grape or juice form.  Nantucket just is not a great place to grow grapes for wine.  The first sample was the Chardonnay.  This is probably my most favorite Chardonnay now…I’m usually not a huge fan, I find them too sharp and dry, but this was buttery and smooth.  I really liked it.

We also tried a Pinot Noir and a sparkling Pinot Grigio infused with cranberry.  So refreshing!

And then there was the booze…

They make a regular vodka, blueberry, cranberry, orange and vanilla vodka.  All naturally colored from the fruit. 

We had a few small samples

And then tried a few of their new liquors…my favorite was the coffee liquor…mmmmm, delicious!  This would make an amazing brunch cocktail.

And not that we got to sample it, but they also produce a single malt scotch, called Notch (you can’t call it “Scotch” unless it’s made in Scotland).  It’s been aged for 8 years and sells for a mere $888.00 a bottle!!  Apparently its amazing, very highly rated, and yes they do have plenty of people who buy it…we asked ;)

Check out this sweet copper still!!  So cool in person.              

The Notch ages in these barrels for 8 years, and there’s still no guarantee each barrel will be good enough.
The beer, the wine, and the vodka are all delicious…but the BEST part of visiting Cisco is the atmosphere… live music…

It’s basically just a big open, outdoor, chill bar.  Bring a lunch, your dog, and your friends and spend an afternoon in the sun…

It was PACKED on a beautiful Sunday afternoon

And I had fun taking photos of all the adorable dogs :)

Oh and enjoyed a refreshing Cherry Woods.  Brian had their 15th Anniversary brew…it was an American style Tripel, and very strong.

Seriously go here.

Did I mention we went twice in 3 days??

Brian really wanted to do a sampling of all the beers and they don’t do samplers when its busy (as it was Sunday).

So Tuesday we rode bikes down, brought lunch and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon…there was barely anyone there and it was awesome.

 

We picked up a few items from Bartlett Farm Market down the road… There need to be more BYOFood Bars.

Raw Vegetable Salad…sooo good.

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad

And a delicious tomato, fresh mozzarella, and prosciutto sandwich on fresh bread.

Some friendly bar games.

Amazing how empty the place was compared to Sunday

 

After the sampler I walked over and got a cocktail

Peach and Pineapple infused vodka with OJ, cranberry, and club soda…yeah think that was it.

It was delicious, not too sweet and not too strong…I don’t like a strong vodka taste in my drinks

  Can you tell we liked it here??