The hottest day of the year = SCALLOP dinner!

As most of you may know, this past weekend in New England was quite the scorcher! As indicated in the picture below, it became quite steamy and unbearable.

Temperature Friday night

 So, once I was home from work on Friday night, I decided I was NOT leaving the sweet modern convenience of air conditioning again! I decided instead to make some scallops with pasta for dinner :)

Scallops in oil with garlic powder

 As this was an impromptu dinner, I did not have any garlic cloves to cook with, so I settled for using some garlic powder (which I typically reserve for lasagna). It wasn't as good, but it was decent for a last second substitution.

I boiled some whole wheat pasta....

Then added some spinach to cook with the almost ready scallops....

Stay Frosty

One has to have a sense of humor, so I used my winter cookie plate for my dinner. I was trying to think cool thoughts :)

Ta-da!

Zen Place

I don't know where it started. Perhaps it's zodiac sign (Pisces). Perhaps it was the luck of living near the coast. However, one of my favorite places to go to unwind and just breathe is the beach.

Ever since I was a little kid, my mom would take me Castle Island in South Boston. We would stop at Sullivan's (better known by the locals as Sully's), order hot dogs and fries, and sit on the hood of my mom's 1989 navy blue Caprice Classic watching the planes land at nearby Logan Airport.

Planes landing over Castle Island circa 2006 (photo by LD)

This long standing tradition and love of the ocean waves and breeze continue to this day. After having a particularly rough day at work last week, I decided to take a drive down to the beach nearest my house (just south of the city). Even after being in one of the worst moods I have even had the displeasure of experiencing, just 10 minutes on the beach wall left me feeling footloose and fancy free :)

                                                             The beach is my Zen Place.

Beach view (Boston skyline in distance)