Beach Time!

Mr. E. and I are enjoying some R & R here at the Jersey Shore. As the saying goes "Life's a Beach" and that is truly the case when we find the time to drive the 9 hours to NJ to relax with the sun, surf, family, friends and fresh fish. His family has been coming here for almost 90 years and so this place is truly a place of comfort where life is slow and not much changes from day to day or year to year.
Yesterday while Mr. E's grandmother and I were enjoying some time on the porch leisurely reading our books and enjoying our second cups of coffee, we noticed a wee bit of smoke funneling out of car in the parking lot across the street. The smoke quickly dissipated but not before the police and fireman came out in full effect. Sigh, just another slow day at the beach.
For dinner last evening we enjoyed fresh local scallops in a chive butter sauce with my own special creation comprised of gifts from a friends organic farm and the bounties of our local CSA. I decided to try something different and came up with my own creation comprised of what we had in the fridge--vegetarian zucchini boats.

INGREDIENTS:
2 large zucchinis
2 onions
1 large garlic clove
3 pieces of stale or toasted bread
2 T olive oil
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley.
3/4 disc of Boursin garlic herb cheese or 1/2 c. of any cheese on hand (cream cheese would also be lovely)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 and grease the bottom of a glass dish large enough to hold the four boat halves.
2. Cut the zucchini in half length-wise and hollow out the insides to make a boat. Keep the hollowed out zucchini as it will be used for the insides of the boat.
3. Slice the onions and mince the garlic.
4. Heat the olive oil in a pan over med-high heat. Add the garlic and saute for 1 min. until fragrant.
5. Add the onions and the zucchini innards to the pan and saute for 7 minutes or until soft and cooked through.
6. Add the cheese and parsley to the onion/zucchini mixture.
7. Fill the boats with the vegetable/cheese melange and fill up the four boats.
8. Bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes until the zucchini has softened.

Gardens

Mr. E. cleared out a small area of dirt next to our apartment and planted our first vegetable garden. The plants smell wonderful and we are so excited to reap the rewards of his hard work in a few weeks... The first photo is of peppers and brussel sprouts, the second photo is eggplant and the third photo is of our killer tomatoes!

Lemon Meringue Pie

A few months ago we were all obsessed with March Madness, including me and Mr. E. We both filled out a bracket and whoever lost had to do something for the loser... If I won I wanted a hand and foot massage from Mr. E and if he won, he wanted me to bake him a lemon meringue pie. For those of you who don't already know this, I am not a big fan of lemons and limes other than as a spritz or slice in a beverage (refreshing!). I think that the worst desserts out there are ones than involve these two fruits i.e. Lemon Meringue Pie and Key Lime Pie-yuck! I know that I am definitely in the minority here but what this means is that Mr. E NEVER gets to eat these desserts because I will not make them, nor will I share them if he orders one at a restaurant. Therefore this was a pretty big bet for the two of us... well, unfortunately I choose Memphis to win it all so I was eliminated pretty early on in the tournament and so today's post is on Lemon Meringue Pie...my first and only time making these sweet treat.

PS. I would be happy to make this for my love for his birthday but he loves fresh fruit pies homemade by his wonderful mother each year...Oh, and if you really want the recipe, let me know.