marvelous may!

So, it's mid-June, and I'm just now coming off of May's sugar high...

May flew by and we ate quite a few store-bought treats - the world's biggest flan, crullers from our local hole-in-the-wall bakery, the new JUMBO MARSHMALLOWS (roasted both over our fire pit at home and over a bonfire on the beach). Have you seen JUMBO MARSHMALLOWS at your local grocery store? If you do see them, I recommend running the other way as fast as possible, unless you're trying to contract diabetes.

I've also been pigging out on strawberries. Every year I'm shocked by how quickly the strawberry season seems to fly by, so I'm trying to stuff my face with as many berries as possible before the end of June. They were awesome in Strawberry Shortcake Cookies (which are more like a breakfast cookie or scone) and on top of Smitten Kitchen's German Pancakes.

Oh and guess who else loves strawberries? Gravy. Sneaky beast has been raiding my strawberry patch. Here's how many homegrown strawberries we've eaten: Me - 1. Gravy - all the rest.

We took our annual trip to the Outer Banks over Memorial Day (see photos of White Peach Sangria, Duck Donuts, and hot dogs for lunch!) which has become rather competitive at meal times over the past few years. We go with a big group of friends and alternate cooking each night and each year the recipes we try get more and more difficult and the meals more elaborate and delicious. Unfortunately, I didn't photograph any of these fabulous dinners, but our friends made things such as pork tenderloin with cherry-jalapeno salsa, roasted corn soup, shrimp & guacamole appetizers, several types of fancy quesadillas stuffed with goat cheese and chorizo, and white chocolate cherry mousse pie.

On our night to cook, Larry and I totally copped out and made our favorite Grilled Turkey Burgers with Cheddar and Smoky Aioli. But Larry was also dying to try a new wing recipe, so he made Spicy Apricot Wings and they were killer. (In fact, they were so good, that as soon as we got back from the beach we made them again for ourselves and scarfed down 20 wings between the two of us.) I also made Blueberry Boy Bait for dessert which I loved. I'll definitely be making it again this summer.

What we were eating and cooking this month: sweets, strawberries, beach food, and a Spanish feast for our international meal of the month. Oh, and donuts. Have I mentioned I love donuts?