Stuffed Zucchini Again

I'm sorry. I have been terribly lazy lately. Perhaps it's the hot weather or that I've been "busy" (most likely not).  I did cook something on Sunday, but sadly it's a bit of a re-run.

We had these gigantic zucchini from the garden waiting for us when we got back from LBI so we just had to do something with them.

I give you re-vamped stuffed zucchini!

Stuffed with corn, broccoli, zucchini, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, and parsley and topped with pepper-jack cheese.

I promise I will be baking something wonderful this weekend so don't be too discouraged.

Everything I Ate in Long Beach Island

I just came back from a fantastic vacation in Long Beach Island, NJ and am excited to share with you where and what I ate while I was there.

First up, the "goshdarnwich" from the Chicken or the Egg.  We were so satisfied with our breakfasts here we came back a few days later to have dinner.

A fried egg, cheese, and bacon sandwiched between two massive pieces of french toast with maple syrup for dunking and home fries. This was exactly what I needed to start my vacation off right.

For our dinner the first night we went to Buckalews. They had a vegetarian and gluten free menu which was quite nice.

Yards Brawler battered flounder and chips with spicy chipotle dipping sauce.

Breakfasts and lunches were eaten on our fabulous terrace over looking the ocean in our hotel room.

MmmmMmm Crunchy Nut O's

Next, dinner at the Terrace Tavern.  We took a 2 mile stroll to get to this place and it was definitely worth it (minus the possible food poisoning that one vacation member may have gotten).

Terrace patty melt: burger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions on Texas toast with mac and cheese.

We made a pit stop on the 2 mile walk back to eat like monsters at Dairy King. My sundae was served in a boat! A boat!

Jimmy Carter Blast: 3 scoops of chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, peanut butter cups, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.  That Jimmy Carter just became my favorite president.

Now my friends I take you to our Long Beach Island staple, Barry's Do Me Flavor.  No trip to LBI is complete without at least one meal eaten here.

Fish tacos: battered cod, cabbage, pico de gallo, and a squirt of lime.

I could have eaten 3 more of these easily.

We went back to Barry's for ice cream.  Sadly, I lost pretty badly in mini-golf so I had to pay.  

Cappuccino crunch in a sugar cone

And now we find ourselves back at the Chicken or the Egg for another glorious feast.  They have an extensive hot sauce menu (15 flavors) and Man V. Food was actually here to eat 12 of their "ludacris" wings. 

Alotta shrimp (12) with french fries, cole slaw, cocktail sauce, and a squirt of lemon

For our final meal we ate at our hotel's outdoor bar.  They had live music every day from 3-7pm so we were able to take in some tunes and some remaining sunshine at our last meal.

Roasted turkey, avocado, bacon, Swiss cheese, and ranch dressing

I had an excellent time eating and laying on the beach.  If you ever take a trip to Long Beach Island I will tell you 2 things. 1. Stay that the Engleside Inn 2. Eat at Barry's and the Chicken or the Egg.

"Homemade Chipwiches"

I could go on a 20 minute rant about how much I hate the A&P , more specifically the piece of shit A&P in Harrison (they don't sell Chips, Ahoy cookies!!??), and about how I need cashier Mike to take care of me not that douche Dominic with all that bling in his ears who doesn't know what artichokes are!!, and about how godforsaken hot it was on Tuesday (it had to have been at least 700 degrees out), but I shall refrain from those details and focus on the positive.

I encountered this "recipe" upon my endless nights of surfing food websites and since it was going to be a scorcher and we are a house without air conditioning I thought it was the perfect birthday treat to whip up for my brother.

This recipe was pretty close to being a failure, (don't try to work with ice cream when its 100 degrees out and you don't have air conditioning) but in the end it got some good reviews.  "That is serious" and after eating 2 of them: "I need to leave the house before I eat anymore."

I used Ben and Jerrys Everything but the... ice cream to fill them.  I would suggest if you decide to make your own chipwiches that you go with a flavor that doesn't have massive chunks of things in it, it just makes them harder to eat and put together. Then I dipped them in chocolate and chopped peanuts.

I really want to make these again with those massive Archway cookies (dutch cocoa of course) and a smoother ice cream flavor, so look out!

4th of July Burger Bash

This year for the 4th of July, technically the 2nd of July, I threw a hamburger party. The idea was to cook a ridiculous amount of sliders and have tons of toppings to go atop them.

The toppings:

bbq sauce, salsa, ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, fried onions, sun dried tomatoes, banana peppers, guacamole, pesto, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, bacon, swiss, cheddar, blue, and provolone cheese

The side dishes:

broccoli slaw

tortellini salad that I wish I could have taken credit for, thanks Nicole!

roasted sweet potato and green bean salad

The desserts:

cupcake-brownie burgers, too cute! thanks Larry and Jules!

My patriotic contribution:

"red," white, and blue cake

mixing the icings for the decorations

hamburger cake! so proud of my cake decorating skills

inside shot of the red, white, and blue hamburger cake

Thanks to everyone who came, helped out, and brought tasty treats! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did  B )