On Friday night Jeff and I packed up the car, Gunner jumped in the backseat, and we all headed down to the Cape for the weekend. We drove to my aunt and uncle's house in East Falmouth, where we met up with my mom, who had arrived a little while before us. We grabbed a late dinner at Bobby Byrne's in Mashpee, watched The Muppets (so disappointing), and went to bed.
The next morning we had a bunch of errands to run because most of Jeff's family was coming up to meet most of my family for the first time and we had planned a little cookout. We started by going to Centerville Pie Co. for breakfast and pies.
We shared grilled blueberry and cranberry muffins slathered with butter.
And I tried the breakfast sandwich on a sweet roll. I was a little nervous about the sweet roll, but there was only a tiny hint of sweetness and the fresh roll was the perfect holder for the fried egg, cheddar cheese, and crispy bacon.
Then we went grocery shopping and picked up an assortment of cupcakes from Cupcake Charlie's.
Jeff's family and my dad and brother came up later that afternoon, and we had a nice day (in spite of some gray weather) and tons of food to eat. We did fajitas (since it was Cinco de Mayo) and hot dogs and hamburgers. And Jeff's family brought Chinese chicken salad, bruschetta, and fruit. It was quite a spread.
Everyone spent the day getting to know each other, and I realized that the first time Jeff met my family was also at this same house on the Cape. And just like that first time, Gunner made a beeline for the lake the moment we let him out the back door. (He and my family's two Jack Russells were the only ones to brave the cold water, though Jeff's nephews took the canoe out for a little bit.)
When it was time for dessert, we set out the pies we had picked up at Centerville Pie Co., the cupcakes from Cupcake Charlie's, and cream puffs and eclairs that my mom had brought from a bakery back home in Connecticut.
The cupcakes were incredibly moist and a big hit. Almost all of them had been eaten before the night was over. (One was even gone before I managed to get a picture.)
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| Chocolate Raspberry Surprise , Grammy's Carrot Cup, Charlie's Chocolate Chip, Vanilla luvs Vanilla, Chocolate Overload, Peanut Butter Pleasure, and Hostess with the Mostess cupcakes from Cupcake Charlie's |
The pies we got from Centerville Pie Co. also went over really well. I thought it would be a good idea to do something chocolatey and something fruit based, so we tried the Cape Cod Crunch Pie (chocolate cream pie with buttery toffee) and a cherry pie.
I had so many other desserts that I didn't have room for the Cape Cod Crunch Pie, but others made a serious dent in it.
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| Cape Cod Crunch Pie from Centerville Pie Co. |
We baked the cherry pie at the house (as opposed to buying a prebaked one) and ate it warm from the oven with some vanilla ice cream. It was sweet and tart with a buttery, flaky crust.
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| Cherry Pie from Centerville Pie Co. |
And I loved the eclairs and cream puffs. Both were fresh and full of flavorful cream filling.
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| Eclairs from Edible Dreams |
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| Cream Puffs from Edible Dreams |
After dessert, most of Jeff's family headed home, but his brother and sister-in-law and their kids stayed a bit longer, so my parents started a fire in the fire pit out back, and we all sat around the fire, making s'mores and chatting until it got dark and late, and then they too headed home.
It was nice being able to get most of our family members together to meet and get to know each other before the wedding and rehearsal dinner... which are only five months away!
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunshine-filled day.
We headed out early to meet my parents' friends for breakfast at The Red Cottage Restaurant in Dennis. The restaurant is known for its cottage fries, home fries tossed with mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and ham and topped with hollandaise. I shared a plate of them with my mom and also tried some of her cranberry-blueberry pancake and maple applewood bacon.
But it was really the Irish eggs Benedict that was calling my name: English muffin halves topped with homemade corned beef hash, runny-yolk poached eggs, and lemony hollandaise. This combo is easily one of my favorites.
The caramelized onion omelette, which I tried a bite of, was also delicious... it's packed full of apple maple sausage, caramelized onions, and Vermont cheddar cheese.
The guys mostly got traditional breakfasts of eggs, bacon, and toast, but Jeff got the cinnamon French toast, which we all smelled the moment the chef started cooking it. The cinnamon permeated the air.
After breakfast, we went off in search of a beach and ended up in Chatham. Before we got to the beach, we stopped at Marion's Pie Shop for some cookies (we love the hermits there).
Then we went into town and strolled down the main street, popping in and out of little shops. After, we went further down the road to Chatham Light and found our beach.
It was too chilly to stay for long, but I loved hearing the ocean, running through the sand, and soaking in a little sun.
The weekend was jam-packed, and I can't believe how much we did in so little time. But I'm so glad we did it. It was the perfect mini getaway.
How was your weekend?