Hurricane Chili

As New York awaited the arrival of Hurricane Irene, weary and anxious for the unknown fury of mother nature, I made chili. I had competed in a chili competition in the Spring, and figured a day stuck inside will all stores closed would be an excellent opportunity to tweak my recipe a bit.

Fried Chicken and Fireworks!

Every summer on Martha's Vineyard, the fire department puts on a spectacular fireworks show in August. People from all over the island, tourists and locals, all gather on the big lawn in Oak Bluffs with beach chairs, blankets, and picnics, and wait for the sky to get dark and the fireworks to begin. I hadn't been to the fireworks in a number of years, so this year, while my girlfriend and I went to visit my parents for the weekend on MV, we decided to attend. A summer tradition deserves a delicious summer meal, so I wanted to a make a fried chicken and slaw dinner to be eaten in beach chairs.

Pretzels, Mustard, and Salmon

Earlier this summer, my roommate was in Alaska, visiting his sister. While he was there, he went salmon fishing and caught 6 salmon! He had the fish filleted and frozen and sent home to NYC. I am fortunate enough that he is very generous and offered up some of the fish for me to use. The salmon was a beautiful red color. Much darker than any fish you would buy in the supermarket.

Is that watermelon in a sandwich??

It sure is! I love the flavor of watermelon in the summer. It's a melon with such a sweet flavor and interesting mouthfeel. Whenever I have some watermelon, I'm instantly transported to somewhere near the beach (figuratively, otherwise I would be eating watermelon non-stop...) Watermelon is normally eaten in wedges or cut up pieces. For this meal, I wanted to use it in an unconventional way. I decided to pair the sweet watermelon with the salty, meatiness of sausages in a sandwich. To go alongside this unconventional sandwich pairing, I decided to make some fried zucchini to make a sandwich and some chips a truly unexpected meal.