MARTHA'S VINEYARD - The greatest place in the world!

I just got back from my happy place.

And I was sad to leave my happy place because I had a wonderful time. Especially because my happy place is a beautiful island with friendly people, gorgeous scenery, and 41 farms within 90 square miles. My family and I have been vacationing in Martha's Vineyard since before I can remember. It's our family tradition to go every summer, with our car stuffed full with beach toys and flip flops and bathing suits.  Which is why my whole family was so upset when we realized that we couldn't go this summer because of our pre-planned trip to España. So, we decided to go over spring break to make up for the summer trip loss. And even though the weather was a bit chilly and we didn't get to go swimming in the sound, we had an excellent time, and I will tell you all about it through the story of our meals.

Day 1 - March 30th 1:00 PM
We drive off the ferry and the vacation officially starts. I roll down my window to try to sniff out the

Art Cliff!

smell of fresh fish coming off fishing boats. Our first destination is Art Cliff, our absolute favorite breakfast restaurant located in Vineyard Haven. The reason for it's #1 spot? Their decadent, sweet and incredibly chocolatey chocolate pancakes. They are the best chocolate pancakes I have ever eaten. And we're not their only fans. The place is usually hopping by 9:00, so you have to get there early if you want to be seated. But when we pulled into deserted parking lot, we discovered that our favorite breakfast place was closed for the season and that we would have to forego our dreams of oozing chocolatey pancakes. Disappointment was to become a recurring theme as we found out that many restaurants were not open year round. Martha's Vineyard gets most of it's business from summer vacationers; with a winter population of 15, 000 and a summer population of 115, 000. Which explains why many restaurants and downtown businesses weren't open.

Lunch - Linda Jean's
So it was off to Oak Bluffs to Linda Jean's for lunch. We had never been to Linda Jeans, a modest American-style diner, and we were pleasantly surprised. I got a strawberry spinach salad with nuts and feta cheese. It was a fine salad. Enough to fill me up, but not enough to fill the gaping hope left by chocolate pancake cravings! :(

Dinner - Martha's Vineyard Chowder Co. 

I was very excited for dinner because the last time we dined at Martha's Vineyard Chowder Co., everything (including the chowder!) was delicious. I ordered the lobster roll and a side of asparagus and my brother and I shared the lava cake for dessert. My lobster roll was insanely good. It was the best lobster roll I have ever had. The roll was toasted and buttery, substantial and not sagging under the weight of the lobster - which is a very important quality! The lobster was obviously fresh, bright red and buttery and chewy and SO YUMMY! Of course I Instagrammed it (see right) so that all of you could share in my seafood euphoria. The asparagus was also obviously fresh, probably picked that morning from one of many island farms harvesting the spring vegetable, and roasted to perfection. And the lava cake, let's just say the plate was cleaned verrry quickly. ;)

Day 2 - March 31st
Breakfast - Nat's Nook
My brother takes the credit of finding the next morning's breakfast destination. He is a bit obsessed with Yelp, and loves to find new restaurants for us to go to. This gets slightly annoying when he gets fixated on going to a certain restaurant, but I can forgive him for his annoyingness because he found this great little place. Nat's Nook is exactly what it's called - a little nook within walking distance of our hotel (bonus points!!) To our delight we found out that they serve crêpes, really good ones too, and they serve coffee in mason jars! So hipster! The ambiance was really nice too - there were quotes from famous writers all over the walls and book shelves right next to our table containing a myriad of books! I guess it was what you call a "Writer's Café" so, a place that I would really like! I got a yummy crêpe filled with yogurt, strawberries, and bananas and drizzled with honey.

Lunch - The Scottish Bakehouse
The Scottish Bakehouse is by far my favorite place to eat on the vineyard. It is a small take-out or take-out-to-the-picnic-tables-in-the-front place where they have many healthy options for every meal diet - vegetarian, paleo, vegan, etc.!  One of my family's must-haves is their Curry Chicken Salad which we shared, and I ordered noodles with veggies covered in peanut sauce. It was SO GOOD! Their food nicely complements their ambiance - a very laid-back hipster feel; i.e. the cashier always is wearing a headscarf or has more than three piercings. I also love "Scottish" as we call it, because I associate it with the beach. Our usual summer routine consists of hitting Scottish for some take-out sandwiches and dips and salads to eat for lunch on the beach. All of this to say: This place is amazing and if you are a first-time Vineyarder, you definitely need to go here.

Dinner - The Newes from America
I am going to summarize this eating experience by this piece of advice: don't order a veggie burger from a place that looks like a cross between a pub and the captains quarters on a pirate ship.

Day 3 - April 1st
Dinner - Lucky Hank's
We spent the whole day bike riding all over the island, so the only real and noteworthy meal that we

Farm Share dinner <3

had was dinner. And boy was it good. Kudos to my brother again for his Yelp-searching skills because he found another awesome place that we had never been to. If you are fortunate enough to go to Lucky Hank's in the evening, the crushed-shell path is lined with lovely twinkly lights that leads you right to the front door. The whole place oozes Vineyard. Once we sat down, our drinks (yes, even my parent's wine) were poured into mason jars (It's a trend! Mason jar madness!!!) and our appetizers were served on blue ceramic plates from our friend Geoffrey's pottery business Chilmark Pottery. There were paintings by local artists for sale on the walls, and the booth side of the restaurant was decked out in cozy patterned pillows. I got the Farm Share, which consisted of sautéed carrots and collard greens (yum) mashed sweet potatoes with toasted pecans (yummy) and beet risotto topped with crumbled feta cheese (yummiest!). It was reminiscent of a Dan Barber concoction I read about in his book The Third Plate - a carrot steak drizzled with meat sauce. Why let meat have all the fun? Vegetables can be just as charismatic - if not more - if prepared properly. And this dish was executed perfectly.

Matcha tea and hot grain cereal

Day 4 - April 2nd Last Day! :(
Breakfast - Little House Café
Another find by my brother, Little House Café was another success. I tried matcha green tea for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised by its grassy taste and vibrant color. It was a little much on its own, but with the amazing hot grain cereal I ordered, it counteracted the sweetness of the honey perfectly! The cereal was a mix of three grains: amaranth, red quinoa, and brown rice and topped with banana slices it was phenomenal! I want to recreate it so I can eat it for breakfast everyday!

Lunch - Slice of Life
On the last meal of our trip I got a whole wheat wrap with shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, and other vegetables. It was a yummy end to a delicious vacation!

It seems that I learn something new every time I interact with food - whether its at the farmers market, supermarket, or restaurant - and on this trip I relearned something that Girl Scouts taught me many years ago (Friends being restaurants): "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold."

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Gourmanda

Overnight Oats: the solution to your breakfast quandaries

What is the most important meal of the day?

This is a question that causes serious debate in my house, so I would like to know, what meal do you value most?

Of course there is the old saying "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" which I think is great marketing by the breakfast people. But is breakfast all it's cracked up to be? According to the "Breakfast of Champions" podcast from my fav Gastropod, breakfast isn't really "the most important," although that doesn't mean you should skip it. Instead, opt for a quick, portable breakfast that you can make ahead for an easy breezy morning. My absolute favorite recipe for this is Overnight Oats. I love it because it is super quick, easy, healthy, and very customizable! See a quick little recipe below:

Overnight Oats

A drawing I did of my oat jar :)

1/2 cup of rolled oats

Almond milk (or any kind of milk you prefer)

Fruit (this can be dried, frozen, or fresh)

Nuts: peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax, pecans, etc. 

Honey or agave nectar (optional, I usually leave it out. Remember: all sugar is processed the same way!)

Almond butter (or any nut butter) 

1. Layer all dry ingredients into a jar. I prefer this order: oats, nuts, fruit, almond butter. 

2. Drizzle honey over the top (again, optional). 

3. Pour in the milk so that it covers the oats on the bottom of the jar. I estimate this step, usually I pour until it looks like all the oats are covered. You dont want too much milk or not enough. 

4. Refrigerate overnight and enjoy the next morning with a spoon! The oats will have absorbed the milk and become soft and creamy. 

I'm telling you this only takes 5 minutes. I make it right after I eat dinner every night so I don't forget, and it saves so much time in the morning. Because when you're trying to make the bus, every minute counts!

If you guys try this recipe, which I urge you to do, then let me know how it turns out! Comment below or post your delicious creation on Instagram and tag my account @gourmanda_ and I just might repost it!!

Oh, I almost forgot, HAPPY MARCH!!

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Gourmanda