Scallop Skillet inspired by Chef Staffan Terje and Coastal Living Magazine!

Scallop Skillet with Bacon, Endamame, Basil and Creamy Grits (we skipped the grits!) 

So... since I have had all of this time  (ha ha ha) to be creative,  I am teaching myself to cook all over again.  And, you all will be happy to know that I am not half bad at it either!
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I saved the March Issue of Coastal Living, just for the scallop recipes.  I have not really ever cooked anything with scallops, thought I would give it a whirl, as we are trying to eat healthy and eat more seafood.  If this turns out bad, oh well, lesson learned!  Thank goodness Tom is not a picky eater.....

Step one: Rip the recipe out of the magazine and head over to the local Safeway seafood counter for some advice.
Step two: Refer to the recipe at least 20 times before leaving the store and still forget stuff...

What you will need: 
5 slices of bacon (I used thick sliced)
2 lbs of sea scallops (the big ones)
3/4 tsp salt - divided
1/4 tsp black pepper - divided
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped sweet onion
2 garlic cloves
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup frozen edamame (soybean)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup grape tomatoes (I sliced mine in half, but you don't have to)
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

P.S. this recipe serves 8, I cut it in half for just us.  Still too much food, but I didn't want to ruin anything by trying to cut it even more.

Here's my best advice - follow the recipe exactly. Especially when cooking the scallops, they can easily be overcooked and become little rubber balls if you are not careful. I don't recommend a non-stick pan, it doesn't seem to work right. Also, have everything chopped, diced, measured and within reach so that you don't accidentally overcook any of this delish dish.

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving the drippings in the pan. Crumble bacon and set aside.

2. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Heat bacon drippings over medium heat until hot. Add scallops, 3 minutes on each side, then remove from the pan.

3. Add butter to the pan. Add onion and garlic, saute', stirring often, 2 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and edamame; cook 2 minutes or until crisp-tender, Add wine, and cook 30 seconds, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet.  Add bacon, salt, pepper and the grape tomatoes; cook stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until tomatoes soften.

4. Return scallops to the pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh basil.

Coastal Living served this with creamy grits, we simply made some nice linguine (saving calories) and arranged the linguine with the scallops on top.  I think it would be wonderful with couscous too.  We served it with some sugar snaps and mushrooms from our local farmer's market....

(sorry-difficult to get the photo just right!)

And while I am on the subject... we have a lot of pretty "scallop" merchandise on our site! Don't forget to check out all of the wonderful serving pieces - 

New on the site today!

Recycled Alabaster Scallop Shell Serving Bowl - 100% recycled with a swirling white water pattern

More food safe recycled glass - I love these small scallop bowls for collecting treasures too! 

How about this elegant serving piece? Scallop chip and dip all in one! Beautiful and manufactured by another one of my favorite companies concerned about sustainability - 

Big, bold bright - and absolutely perfect for this spring! Our Lime Green and Caribbean Blue Scallop pillow...

Thanks again for stopping by - have a great week and I will see you soon at the beach!

Earth Day at Caron's Beach House - Part 2

I have good news to report!  My big project of going to the beach at  Half Moon Bay to scoop up plastic and debris from the sand netted very little to pick up, only some tiny pieces, a knife handle, one rusty tin can bottom, and a magnetic plastic blue letter "R".   Here's my dad, my mom and Tom leading the way down the shore in front of the Ritz Carlton (isn't it beautiful??!!!) -

Fabulous sunny day for a beach walk and to look for tiny washed worn pieces of sea glass and pocketfuls of tiny periwinkle shells and delicate olive shells.

My mom and dad have been down visiting all this week, and staying at an RV resort right next to the Ritz. There is a great path that wanders down to the beach through the golf course, cement walkway and cement stairs down to the sand.  BTW, I am not a golfer, but could definitely learn how to be one on this incredible course that meanders all along the cliff and in front of the hotel. (or better yet, Tom could golf, and I could drink beer and drive the golf cart?)  You do not need to be a guest of the hotel, or a guest at the RV park to enjoy the beach, there is a free public parking lot at the top of the path for anyone to use.

If you go at low tide, or near low tide, there are tidepools galore to explore! Full of starfish, sea anemones, hermit crabs, live periwinkles, mussels and shells.

Big Green Anenome - they are all covered in gritty sand, it was hard to find one that was not!

Tons of Periwinkles (Black Turban Shells)!  These shells make great little houses for hermit crabs too!

 We managed to find some pretty (empty) shells lying in the tide line that did not have any live animals inside, and slipped them into our pockets.... 

Big orange starfish crunched into a crevice in the rocks - he's (she's?) probably feasting 

on anemones, mussels or the periwinkles.

Such a glorious dark shade of purple on this leather starfish.... we had such a great time scrambling all over the rocks to scout out the best pictures!

A sample of my stash! 

I think this describes perfectly our day on the beach!  I found this 18" diameter flat bamboo bowl at Ikea last week, it is a perfect display piece on my new dining room table for my favorite beach treasures......

Enjoy your Sunday - we are off on another adventure to take a walk in the sun 

on the Great Highway near the Cliff House in San Francisco! 

(PS  I found the "Happiness" rock in a cute boutique in Half Moon Bay... more on that later!)

Earth Day at Caron's Beach House - Part 1

When I started writing the business plan last spring (2009) for Caron's Beach House, it became so clear to me that I had to make Supporting our Future a critical part of my mission statement.  It's funny how this has really changed my outlook on simple every day life.  I have become a better recycler at home, a smarter cook with less processed foods/packaging,  a better garbage picker upper, I try very very hard not to drink bottled water and if I do, we re-use the bottles. The simplest change that I have made is that  I always take an extra bag with me to the beach to pick up plastic and other debris - nothing needs to end up in the swirling garbage dump in the middle of the Pacific.

So, here's what I did and what I wrote for the "Caron's Causes Page": http://www.caronsbeachhouse.com/servlet/the-template/charitablecauses/Page  (the entire page)

Supporting our Future:

Caron’s Beach House has made a commitment to support various charitable organizations through your generous purchase of our products. This is a very significant part of our mission statement as a company; giving back to our communities, protecting our environment and supporting important humanitarian efforts for education, health care and well being. We are inviting our customers to join us. To further those efforts, Caron’s will be featuring a variety of beach house style décor products in which a potion of the proceeds will be donated to support our favorite organizations.

And this is how I ended that page after highlighting several of my favorite organizations - 

"Because living on the coast is our passion, we believe in thoroughly researching our products, striving to find sustainable home décor items, and to also work with manufacturers that also share our vision whenever possible. We also support beach cottage industry artists, and their artistry in our “Beach Finds” collection (check here often for new items!)

As part of the commitment to support our earth’s future and oceans’ health, Caron’s Beach House will also recycle, re-purpose, and re-use as much of our packaging material as we can (bubble-wrap, peanuts, cardboard) – don’t be surprised to find that your shipments might not be packed in a brand new box!"

And, I do stick to this philosophy. Some days it's a lot more work, but I feel so much better when I ship a box out to a customer and know that in some small way, I am helping the oceans.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day and as a way to support Ocean Conservancy.Org here's what we are doing:  The best part is that up until May 7 - all donations to Ocean Conservancy's Science program will be doubled! 

This year we will be donating 25% of the sale proceeds from your generous purchase of the hand-crafted iridescent glass reminders of the sea! 

Two colors available; purchase either the Sea Green, or the Marine Blue Starfish before May 2, 2010 and Caron's Beach House will donate 25% to Ocean Conservancy.Org - one of our favorite causes to support! 

This organization works tirelessly to bring awareness of our Oceans' plight  - they also have been the instigators of the largest volunteer effort, EVER.  Last September, 498,818 volunteers in over 100 countries picked up 7,446,130 pounds of trash.  

That's what I call amazing work!!  Please join me in supporting the continued effort of this great organization - take a look at their website, they can actually help you organize your own beach clean-up day!

www.OceanConservancy.Org

I have some shipping to do - and then I am headed to Half Moon Bay with my extra bag to pick up plastic...Have a fabulous Earth Day!  Here's a few photos from HMB, last week's walk before the surf got me!