Our First Beach Adventure-Singing Sands

Sunday Morning we embarked on our first beach visit to Singing Sands at Manchester by the Sea (Take the Newbuyport commuter rail from North Station to Manchester)

For once we actually brought enough food and bevy to sustain us all for the long haul. Some items included:

• Port Salut & Baguette- absolute staple for picnics and beach excursions


• Pasta salad with fennel- for Vbar to post


• Barley Salad- unfortunately on this trip got a bit water-logged from melted ice


• Geary's Summer/ PBR


• Saussy Sangria

Saussy Sangria

There are numerous variations on the beverage but this is a version i enjoy

Dice up whatever fruit you have on hand (apples, kiwis, strawberries, pears, oranges, etc)

Add fruit to a pitcher and cover with a half cup of booze (brandy works nice but i've even done this with tequila!)

Add a bottle of vino verde and a bottle of red table wine

Top of the mixture with San Pellagrino or if you have it Trader Joe's Sparkiling Grapefuit Juice

Let Sit overnight- or for as long as you can hold out.

Barley Salad

I got the idea of this salad from a food and wine recipe- but I switched up the ingredients to fit my palate, feel free to try either version

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/barley-salad-with-parsley-and-walnuts

Cook one cup of pearl barley in boiling water for 15-20 minutes

In a large bowl whisk together 1/2 tsp honey, 1/2 tsp grainy dijon mustard, juice of one large lemon, quarter cup of olive oil, 1 large minced garlic clove, salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes

Add 1/4 C finely diced red onion, 1 diced tomato, diced feta cheese, 1 diced carrot, chopped basil, and a handful of baby spinach to mixture and let marinate while barley continues to cook

When barley is tender, strain under cold water add to the mixture.