With the weather getting warmer and so much more pleasant, our time outside is critical. The sunshine and fresh air are everything right now. It’s always exciting as the weather switches over to more like summertime but now? It’s an even bigger deal. With nothing open and very little normalcy to routine, being outside is where it’s at for us.
While I do hope at some point this summer that we are able to go to my aunt’s house at the beach per usual, right now my son and I decided our weekly destination (well, that’s our goal) will be to head out east in the coming weeks. It gives him a chance to drive and me a chance to enjoy the scenery. The stores aren’t open (yet) but it’s still nice to walk around. And I totally sound old when I say this, but the air out east (as in the Hamptons and Montauk) is just so incredibly fresh. You can smell the difference.
Our plan is to pick a different food destination each week as our goal point. There are so many delicious spots out east that are open for takeout in the Hamptons and Montauk. Maybe we will venture to the North Fork as well for spots in Greenport, Southhold, and Orient Point too.
Long Island beaches are in fact supposed to open this coming weekend (with a whole bunch of restrictions I believe) but last weekend, we were able to get over to the beach in Montauk for a bit. Not for swimming or lounging, just for standing on the boardwalk and experiencing on our own. Can you smell the beauty?
We had pizza from Pizza Village while in Montauk and ate it outside. Some people go for the lobster rolls, I obviously choose pizza.
I really liked the sauce on my grandma slice.
On the way back from Montauk, we made a detour to Biermere Farms. My son wanted to pick out some goodies, one being this blueberry cream pie. I let him do the selecting while I waited in the car. He came out with this blueberry pie, preserves, cookies, and blueberry muffins.
This coming weekend, we are loosely planning to get cookies at the Levain Bakery in Wainscott. A lot of city restaurants and foodie spots have locations out east too. I will keep you posted as it will depend upon the weather.
In other food news, I haven’t been as bored with food as usual. Maybe it has to do with getting outside more often in other areas than just my neighborhood or maybe it has to do with simply working through a phase. I’ve had a salad like this several times in the last week. The salad base is an organic greek salad mix to which I added chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, and avocado.
I had this bowl a couple of times too recently. It’s a base of cauliflower rice with a blend of frozen vegetables, chickpeas, and then I topped it with guacamole.
For the first time in quite a while, I walked into Mario’s to order and pick up instead of calling ahead for curbside. They installed a big plexiglass barrier at the register which is there to make everyone more comfortable. The whole wheat margarita slice is still my favorite.
So this salad barely resembles what the vegan cobb salad usually looks like at The Cheesecake Factory. When you dine in, it’s all neatly arranged but take out is different. The salad is still good though all mixed up in the bowl.
I’m kidding, I suddenly got a little bit bored again with food. But then really quickly, I recovered with a craving for french fries last night for dinner. I wanted the shoestring french fries from Whole Foods so it was great that I still had a bag in the freezer. With my plate of french fries was, of course, a salad.
What are you craving lately? Sometimes I can’t even figure out what I am craving but I just know I’m craving something but can’t determine what that something actually is.
The Cookie ChRUNicles 