Vacation Day 1, Food Prep and Farm Visits

Yesterday was my first day of vacation, and just like the rest of my life it was filled with tons of food, this time in the form of prep for a big party today and a visit to a gorgeous Long Island farm.

I consider myself super lucky to be right at the beginning of my summer vacation; a week-plus off with trips to Southampton, Long Island and Provincetown on Cape Cod, time hopefully spent with lots relaxation, beach bumming, and of course food. My first full day, yesterday, was already certainly filled with the latter, with preparation for a yearly tradition of my uncle Mick’s “beach party,” now really more of a pool party, where he always cooks up an incredible feast. The evening entailed a trip to a farm run by one of my step mom Nicole’s close friends, a gorgeous piece of land filled with row upon row of beautiful fresh produce.

We spent the early afternoon dicing onions, slicing peppers, and mincing garlic in anticipation of forty hungry guests for our party today. Dishes include a few of Mick’s longtime specialties like his mini turkey meatballs and pasta with broccoli rabe and garlic, and of course no Italian party would be complete without a tray of sautéd peppers to go along with tons of deeply browned sausages. I will have more photos coming up soon of the dishes in their completed forms, but for now here are a few shots of our prep.

 

 

 

 

After our afternoon of food prep, we enjoyed some relaxation on the farm. When my dad and Nicole asked me a few weeks back if I would be on board for a trip to a farm out in East Hampton, I was immediately super excited. The trip certainly lived up to my excitement, with our super gracious hosts urging us to pick all the fresh produce we wanted, an offer that we more than happily took them. I was also grateful to receive a few tips and tricks for my own home garden: planting marigold flowers along with zucchini plants and citronella plants along with tomatoes to keep bugs and pests from eating the leaves. But instead of going on about the incredible freshness and beauty of every plant we came upon, I’ll let you take a look at a few shots of this awesome farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for my next food and fun filled day of vacation!