Great Summer Day

Today was my first day off in a week, and while I didn't have much time to lounge around the house, the out and about activities were quite worthwhile! We had lunch at Bali Hai on Shelter Island to celebrate Aunt Barbara's birthday. It was the best restauraunt meal I've had in a long time! I had a grilled tofu wrap that was pretty delicious, but the atmosphere is what made it great. We chose to sit outside, and that made all the difference. It was pleasantly warm, and we were blocked from the breeze off the bay by the four foot tall plexiglass railing around the whole terrace. Sitting outdoors was significantly quieter than inside the restauraunt, which meant we could actually carry on a conversation! Bali Hai has a spectacular view of the San Diego bay, and we watched two navy ships come through; the USNS Yukon and USS Bonhomme Richard. By the time we got home from lunch it was nearly 5:00, so dinner was certainly going to be late...

After spending a couple of hours reading and relaxing, I finally hauled myself off the couch to find some dinner. We've been buying corn while it's in season, but not doing the best job of eating it. Knowing that there were three ears in the fridge I was about to lose to the damages of time, I threw together some very quick and simple corn cakes. Seriously simple. This is all it takes:
Kernels from 4 ears of corn
1/4 cup flour
1 egg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
butter for the pan

You could glitz things up a bit by adding chives or spices of some sort, but I was going for fast and easy. I stirred everything until the flour was well incorporated, squishing the corn just a little bit to add some extra binding liquid. Then melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat, and scoop the corn mixture into your pan by 1/4 cup scoops. Use a spatula to press corn into a patty shape, and cook for about 5 minutes per side.

There was a bit of debate in our house as to what kind of topping these corn cakes required--I had mine with sour cream, but the other two ladies went with butter and syrup, which I think most people would prefer. Overall, this turned out to be one of the simplest (and easiest cleanup!) meals I've made in a long time, and it was tasty and satisfying!