Misc. Block Island / Shelter Island Eating (Part 1)

Friday, June 30th

Lauren, her dad (Diego, Dick for short), Pablo the dog and I headed up to Westerly, RI Friday morning to catch an 11:30 flight to the Block. We were running late (totally my fault - sorry Bootsie!) and made it just in time for the flight. Fortunately, the planes were running late as well, which was NOT my fault. Phew. We arrived safely on the Block around 12:10, so I was able to catch most of the second half of the Germany vs. Argentina match, the two fifteen minute OT periods and the stupid penalty shootout (bring back the Golden Goal!). Deutschland uber alles! Well, at least that's what I thought at the time. By the end of the game, Lauren's mother Joyce had arrived, so we all hopped into the car and went to the Oar for lunch. The Oar is a great spot, right on the water with a wonderful view of Block Island's New Harbor. I had a delicious bowl of clam chowder (By the way, does anyone know the difference between Rhode Island clam chowder and New England clam chowder? I've been contemplating this for years, but admittedly, have not actually done any serious research on the matter. Both are equally delicious and taste exactly the same to me. Maybe one is made with quahogs and the other is made with just regular old clams?) followed by a huge Mediterranean salad made of all the usual suspects - mixed greens, thinly sliced red onion, cukes, kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese. Very tasty and not too heavy. My heart really wanted chicken fingers and french fries though... Stupid, stupid heart!

For dinner, Joyce grilled two delicious little chickens and prepared a lentil and brown rice salad. I grilled some zucchini with olive oil, a couple shakes of sea salt and many twists of the old pepper mill. Lauren made a wonderful salad with fresh mint and yellow peppers. Grilling is truly a superior method of cooking.

Saturday, July 1st

Joyce, Dick, Lauren, Pablo and I all hopped into a puddle jumper (I keep saying 'hop' - sorry) to East Hampton for a big 4th of July party on Shelter Island. We were greeted at the airport by our hostess, Aunt Marylou (Mary-Lou? Mary Lou? Bootsie, give me an assist on this one!), who drove us to her place and then proceeded to feed us some sopressata, super yummy and sharp provolone, roasted peppers, olives - you know, your basic heavenly cold antipasto platter - along with some of the sweetest and tastiest raw clams on the half shell I've ever had! Oh, and there was BEER too - thanks Uncle Joe! I really DO love beer. After some napping and France vs. Brazil action (Allez! Allez!), we headed over to Susan's (daughter of Marylou and Joe, niece of Joyce) for the big party. I'll give a comprehensive recap of the party's deliciousness in my next entry. Until then, just mull this over for a bit - there were TWO spit roasted pigs and honestly, that's not even scratching the surface of all the savory goodness that awaited me that night.