Weekend at the Beach

I am a bit behind in my blog updating. We took a mini vacation and met a few (18 in total) members of my family in Wrightsville Beach, NC where my brother and his wife were celebrating their 50th Birthday. They rented a house for us all to stay. It was fun. Happy Birthday to Van, Paula and Cindy. I won't tell whether we are older or younger.

Of course you want to know the menu:


For Friday night we had a Mediterranean feat of sort, mainly Greek. We had Souvlaki, Spanikopita, Pita, Hummus, Babaganoush, Tzatziki, olive tapenade, dolmas and a Greek salad, all of which was made in advance, except the Souvlaki which was marinated in advance but cooked on site, the spanikopita was assembled and cooked on site and the salad.


For breakfast Saturday AM we had toast, jelly, bacon and eggs, OJ, coffee and bloody Mary's and Mimosas. For lunch crab and corn chowder, chicken noodle soup, country ham sandwiches, Texas Tortellini, and potato salad, with all but the sandwiches made in advance also. Saturday afternoon we went out on their boat and on the way back in stopped at a water front seafood market and bought dinner.

What we ended up with: crab cakes cooked two ways in an Iron Chef like crab competition , grouper cooked 2 ways: a quick pan sear and breaded nuggets, scallops cooked 2 ways, a quick pan sear and bacon wrapped and grilled, barely grilled tuna au poivre, grilled shrimp and steamed snow crab claws (the only seafood not caught fresh that day). For sides we had marinated cole slaw, another Greek-like salad, veggies and the previously mentioned salads. I didn't get pictures but my nephew did and when he send them, I'll add them. Eleven year old Addie made a giant pound cake that was a huge success. Sunday morning was pancakes, maple syrup and butter, sausages (pork, chicken chipotle and chicken with Thai spices), bacon, toast and homemade jellies from my Mom. For lunch we cooked 2 whole beef tenderloins, fresh Parker House Rolls, baked Potatoes with butter, sour cream, chives and bacon and a salad, tomatoes and a veggie platter. Oh, and I forgot the other cake, a spice
cake with chocolate. Not to mention the wine.........

Did I mention that it was in the seventies all weekend with nights dipping in the fifties? There is wonderful three mile circular walk lined with live oaks and of coarse the beach. Who has time to blog?

We are back and we thought we might have a frost and frantically went out and picked everything. Next, you'll see what we got and what we are doing with it!

If you want to check out recipes, be sure to go to our website at Swank Recipes Until next time, eat well and laugh often, even at the beach!