'Make your Own Sunshine' Omelette

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'Make your Own Sunshine' Omelette

Hello from Newport, RI!

Do you ever feel like Fridays should just have mandatory sunshine?! It’s the end of the week for most of us and it feels like Friday is the finish line and I want that finish line to be complete with rays of golden light! Right??! So, in reality, we woke up to a gray Newport morning with rain forecasted for the next 2 days. Double Blah! However, I needed to shake things up real quick before I pulled the covers over my head and wait for the grayness to go away…enter the ‘Make your Own Sunshine’ Omelette.

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Butterscotch Pot de Crème

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Butterscotch Pot de Crème

I made these Butterscotch Pot de Crème yesterday for my family because I had all the ingredients and I just really needed a dessert fix after bleaching down our kitchen and reorganizing our home and the recipe picture was gorgeous. I set out all my ingredients before I got started and headed into our galley kitchen alone to get creating. Some people meditate, I bake. This could be seen as a problem. ;)

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Hummus with Butcher's Blend Roasted Chickpeas

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Hummus with Butcher's Blend Roasted Chickpeas

I am sure you have noticed through our social media posts, Instagram stories and ‘From the Reef’ recipe blog, that we like to cook, bake, prepare, and enjoy food. Growing up, Matt would ask his mom first thing in the morning, “What’s for dinner?” That hasn’t changed in our home, although, it has changed to, “What do you want to eat tonight?”. :) With 2 growing boys, we were preparing lots of calorie-dense meals to keep up with their appetites..and well, the weight scale did the same for us…the numbers grew for Matt and I (and not our kids)!

SO this hummus is in an effort to brighten our weekdays and lend a positive light on the weight scale with our increased gym routine and ahem, more water not wine. ;)

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Moules Frites - My Favorite Summer Meal

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Who am I kidding…this is my ALL-time, all-season favorite meal! Mussels, white wine, onions, garlic, shoestring french fries, and a baguette to soak up all that lovely, super flavorful broth - HECK YEAH!!!

Recently, we had been on a crazy juggling exercise of business and family schedules and throw in our 12 year-old Connor’s all-star game travel series for good measure. ;) We were so looking forward to relaxing at his Sunday early evening baseball game at the picturesque Marine Field overlooking the Newport Harbor when the gray ominous clouds rolled in and the skies opened up to a deluge of torrential rain. Well, there went that game. In place, we set up our newly acquired and freshly painted mini picnic table (Thank you, Sass) with a mussel spread that would make a nostalgic New Englander proud! I seriously cannot get enough of these beautiful navy blue bivalve mollusks with a pearly blue shelled interior….and they are so inexpensive to buy. For a couple pounds that can feed our family of 4 - they come in at $10! So think twice when you order them at a restaurant as they are so easy to make at home and serve al fresco on a porch like we did. Enjoy the summer friends!


Moules Frites a la Mullins

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb. mussels, de-bearded and scrubbed

  • 1/4 cup of Olive Oil

  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

  • 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed

  • Sliced garlic - 2 cloves

  • Chopped Parsley

  • Cherry tomatoes (gave a pop of color!) - handful or 2

  • 1 medium sliced shallot

  • A splash of seafood broth

  • Crusty baguette!!

  • Shoestring Fries

  • Rosemary and Thyme Newport Sea Salt Co.

How-To:

Well, our how-to as there are so many many ways to ‘Moules-Frites’….

  • Shortcut: Take freezer shoestring fries and pop them into a pre-heated oven…meanwhile have all your ingredients ready to go.

  • First, heat olive oil and butter in a 12” high-sided skillet over low heat.

  • Take chopped shallots and throw it into the skillet, the aroma will envelop your kitchen…

  • After approx. 6 minutes, add sliced garlic and lightly sea salted tomatoes to skillet…

  • Let “marry” for a few minutes, then add white wine (that you enjoy) to the skillet, take a sip of your own and chat for a minute, and then add a splash of seafood broth…still with me???

  • Add scrubbed and de-bearded mussels, season with a sprinkle of sea salt, bring up to medium-high and COVER your skillet…

  • Cook, occasionally shaking skillet, until all mussels are opened, about 5 minutes.

  • Open the lid….and smell the DIVINE aroma waft out of the mussel heaven pan…..Divide mussels, only if you want to share between 2 large bowls or if you want to save some dishes just serve from the pan and throw those fries in, baby! I sprinkle our shoestring fries with our Rosemary and Thyme Sea Salt and serve with a mustard aioli…let me know if you would like that recipe…;)

  • Add friends and family around your picnic table and enjoy! OH>>>>>and serve chilled white wine or beer…it completes this meal!

    CHEERS!