A Week of Beach Food: Rehoboth & Dewey Beach Edition

I got so many recommendations of places to eat during my week at the beach, but I ended up grilling out at the house for the most part. Just hanging out on the back deck with my dog, my friends and some amazing ingredients was hard to leave.

Pretty much what I did all week...

But when I did, here were a few of my favorite bites in Rehoboth & Dewey Beach:

Date Night Dinner at Stingray: Rehoboth
Saturday night, we biked into Rehoboth Beach for a cocktails and sushi at Stingray Sushi Bar + Asian Latino Grill. I loved the cute Victorian house and front porch setting at Stingray, but when you enter, prepare for trendy decor and music. We sat at the bar, had too many cocktails, and split sushi rolls and ceviche. My fave: the black grouper ceviche! From there, we biked back to the boardwalk where we took in an epic Journey cover band... if that doesn't get you in beach vacation mode, I'm not sure what will!

Healthy Lunch at Fifer Orchards Farm & Market: Dewey
Fifer's was like having a farmers market a block and a half from my house. Fresh, local ingredients + snacks + a fantastic deli. After overindulging on those bacon-butter burgers, I was craving lots of fresh vegetables, and this Veggie Sandwich with hummus, cheese and a massive amount of greens hit the spot. Plus, it was served with a crunchy pickle and a refreshing side of watermelon:

Market Vegetable Sandwich at Fifer Orchard Farm & Market in Dewey Beach

Hangover Acquisition at The Starboard: Dewey
Maybe all of those veggies made me crave something bad for me? I mean, Orange Crushes aren't terrible  for you on their own... perhaps it was that I had more than I recall. They do go down easy and The Starboard serves more oranges (and grapefruit) than any other establishment in Delaware. It involved a cover band. Possibly shots. And making fun of a guy that couldn't stop saying that he had a Lamborghini. And, lots of fun with Mary & McCealaig.

Starboard. So amused.

Hangover Recovery at Nalu Hawaiian Surf Bar & Grill: Dewey
Let's put it this way - the nachos served three grown adults who are big eaters... and we were too full to order lunch. Add it to your list if you just need a mound of cheesy goodness.

Birthday Dinner at Ristorante Zebra: Rehoboth
For the big day, we decided to return to Stingray for drinks and then walk across the street to Zebra for some Italian. Of course, I tasted everyone's plates, so I can confirm that my favorites were the carpaccio, the grilled avocado with mango, and the summer risotto.

Grilled Avocado Salad with Mango from Ristorante Zebra

Summer Risotto with Lemon and Shrimp at Ristorante Zebra

Birthday Custard at Kohr Brothers Custard on the Boardwalk: Rehoboth
We resisted dessert at Zebra because we had our eyes on the prize. More boardwalk custard. My favorite (I'm not sure if it's taste or location) is the Kohr Brothers Custard right at the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. I get straight vanilla usually, but since it was a celebration, I opted for chocolate dipped with rainbow birthday sprinkles:

Cheers to Boardwalk Custard!

Coffee and Baked Goods at The Coffee Mill
With the week over, it was time to turn in the keys (*tear*). Luckily, right next to my realtor was my favorite coffee shop - I picked up a spinach and cheese stuffed croissant, an iced latte and got ready to fight the traffic back home to DC. I like to think the Coffee Mill makes entry and exit to Rehoboth and Dewey (it's at the apex) a little bit nicer.

[BONUS farmers market and the house realtor links after the jump...]

Bacon Butter Burgers at the Beach

Alejandra (aka @frijolita) came to the beach this weekend and brought pure evil along with her in the form of advice from our friend Nevin Martell, "to get the perfect burger, sandwich a pat of butter in the middle of the patty."

Evil happening here...

To add insult to injury, we topped it with slices of cheddar and slabs of applewood smoked bacon from the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers Market (where I stopped on the way to the beach and went totally overboard.)

Bacon Butter Burgers

You can't serve something that egregious with more fat, so I whipped up a tomato, cucumber, olive and feta salad. Try it sometime. Then try to stay awake.

Lazy Tuesday at the Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market

So far so good over here on vacation. Highlights have mostly included sleeping in, watching Ike roam the backyard freely, reading at the beach and generally not being in the office. But, I did have one thing on my agenda: the farmers market.

Fine, I'm a little addicted to farmers markets, but isn't that better than many alternatives? The Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market operates year round on Tuesdays, rain or shine, from noon til 4pm.

I'm staying in Dewey, but this was just a short bike ride past Silver Lake and then up to Lighthouse Circle. It's not huge but there were about twenty to twenty five vendors there today selling everything from fresh baked goods to Eastern Shore cheese to Delaware peaches. I forgot to bring my camera (and I'm trying to live in the moment over here and not tweet my every breath), but I snapped this photo of my haul:

Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market in July

I picked out sunflowers to put on the table for tonight's grilling festivities, some peaches, tomatoes and feta to make a salad, some locally baked honey wheat bread which will ended up sandwiching tomatoes and mayo and/or grilled peaches and cheese, apple cider donuts and a tub of feta made on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

I also picked up some cheddar and peanut butter dog biscuits for Ike who's been enjoying his sun deck this week:

Ike soaking in the sunshine and beach breezes

Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market is located at Grove Park (right at Lighthouse Circle). They offer seasonal updates, recipes and photos on Facebook and Twitter.

PS. Is it really a lazy Sunday if you've already worked... and you've biked to the market? Actually, it's been a busy Tuesday... for the beach and all.

Best Places to Eat at the Delaware Shore?

My birthday's coming up next week and I'm planning to have my toes in the sand, my dog at my side and of course, great food and drink in my belly. The Delaware shore is better known for boardwalk fast food than local source and seasonal, so I'm adjusting accordingly.

I've asked my friends what their favorites are when they visit Dewey, Bethany, Rehoboth and Lewes beaches and culled them into this fine Delaware Beaches Food Map. Take a look and let me know in the comments if I missed one of your favorites.

View DE Beaches Food Map in a larger map

Must Get: Grilled Apricots at Dino PLUS their 7th Anniversary Specials

All of the foodie types had been buzzing about what Dino was doing with apricots last week so I had to sneak up there after the rain Sunday and try them out. The photo doesn't do it justice. Wrap your brain around this: grilled apricots, wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with mascarpone cheese.

Dino's Grilled Apricots

That was supposed to be the last of them for the season (usually there's only a two week window for locally grown apricots), but Dean just told me that he scored another flat that will be delivered today - so get there fast!

While you're there, congratulate Dean & Kay on the 7th anniversary of Dino and you'll be treated to a free glass of wine. I hear Dean's planning to open his 1999 Cerbaiona Brunello on Wednesday and the 1999 Pertimali on Friday. They've also got an amazing tasting menu celebrating their favorite regions of Italy.

A few pics from my latest dinner at Dino after the jump...

Summer Vegetable Hash with Slow Fried Duck Egg, Crispy Pig & Goat Cheese

You know when you stare at your refrigerator thinking "I know what's in there, but I just don't want to make anything with it." Well, that's when I like to turn to Twitter.  For those of you who don't yet tweet, I follow a ton of people who are really creative and smart, especially when it comes to food. So, when I tweet the ingredients I have on hand, I am always inspired by what I get in return.

Last night, I tweeted the following:

Within 15 minutes, I had 17 new ideas in my inbox. I didn't want to do an omelet (it just seemed to obvious) and since I had passed on an appointment with my trainer Monday night, I didn't want something involving pasta. This @BonnieBenwick and @ChezWu-inspired take is both delicious and Paleo-diet friendly. Recipe after the jump!

Summer Vegetable Hash with Fried Duck Egg, Crispy Pig & Goat Cheese

The Legacy of Geraldine Ferraro

This week, back in 1984, Walter Mondale made history selecting Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential partner. Twenty-eight years ago this week, I was eleven and I don't recall that having much impact on my life. By then, I was into politics already and I think I had an inkling that while that was neat, they didn't have a shot in hell.

Twenty-eight years later, I work for Kevin Donnellan at AARP who was there for that moment as part of Geraldine Ferraro's team. I've worked for him for nearly seven years and at every step of the way, he's thrown me in the deep end professionally and celebrated my success with more responsibility.  I still remember how in my first few months here, he let me jump in and work on rapid response during the State of the Union. He recognized when I was outgrowing my role in media relations and gave me the opportunity to craft all of the communications strategy for Create The Good. And, when I approached him about starting a social media team, he supported it from day one. He's always had my back. And, I hope I've always had his.

I don't think a lot about the impact Geraldine Ferraro had on him. But, this morning, before work, we were tweeting about the anniversary. I told him I appreciated what he'd done for my career. I think she'd be proud of him. He wrote me back, "It was an incredible night and we all realized that our wives, sisters, mothers could now do anything they wanted."

Much like when I was eleven, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about how the industries I've chosen to work in - politics and technology - are male dominated. Whether it's hard work or dumb luck, I have always gotten to do anything I wanted. I just love what I do and hope I kick ass.  For whatever role Gerry had along the way, I thank her.

A Seasonal Summer Lunch at Graffiato in Penn Quarter

I had a great summer lunch the other day at Graffiato with Beth and Kim. It's a crazy week at work, so I'll present these photos, sans story, to whet your palate. Pop by and try out the Chef Mike Isabella flagship while these are still in season:

Watermelon Lemongrass Housemade Soda

Short Ribs with Citrus and Radish

Sweet Corn Agnolotti

The Papa Smurf Pizza: proscuitto, potato, caramelized onions and speck

Fettuccine with #TrueBlueMD crab, summer squash and zucchini

PS. One of my favorite things about Graffiato is it's use of seasonal ingredients. The menu is always sourced - even down to the farms listed on the chalkboard for patrons to peruse. That's how I learned that the crab in my fettuccine came from J.M. Clayton & Co, which was the crab house I visited in Cambridge, MD. So neat! (If you haven't already, check out my post about Clayton & Co and crabbing on the Choptank River.)

Graffiato is located at 707 6th Street NW in Washington, DC (near the Gallery Place metro stop.)

Ripple's Grilled Cheese Bar

Jen and I made plans to meet at Ripple for happy hour, which was great because I'd been dying to try the grilled cheese bar. The hours aren't so friendly to Washington workaholics because you have to get there before 6:30 (or after 10). But if you do, you'll be rewarded with a ooey gooey crispy set up pre-selected combos or you can get all DIY and make your own.

As with all things Ripple, you must start off with one of Josh's custom cocktails. I asked for gin and refreshing. I got a house infused gin with grapefruit soda combo that was perfect to combat the day's heat.

Gin & Grapefruit Soda

I ordered the Krusty Krab grilled cheese which is made with Cowgirl Creamery Mount Tam cheese, Maryland crab and sugar snap peas. Everything in this gorgeous sandwich comes from nearby!

The Krusty Krab:Mount Tam, Maryland Crab and Sugar Snap Peas

We also tried the Lotsa Mozza which is made with proscuitto, mozzarella and arugula.

Lotsa Mozza

So, make plans to sneak out of work early and try your hand at making the best grilled cheese combo.

Ripple is located in Cleveland Park at 3417 Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC.