We were ready for a little activity in our third weekend in the Hamptons. We kicked it off with an early dinner of fajitas, courtesy of Jessica. Yum! Clearly I am no longer the only house chef. And who am I to turn down a delicious dinner made by someone else! We had so much fun with the moonlight kayaking last year, we just had to do it again. Same surf shop (Main Beach Surf and Sport), only this time we were on Georgica Pond, right around the corner from Camp Fern. And like last year, we finished the night with a visit to an old fave - Murf’s in Sag Harbor!

Peppers and onions

Steak

The goods

Shrimp fajita for me!

Chef Jess knows how to rock a life vest

Angela and Heather

Jess and Amy

Emily

Click on the photo to see the deer

And a fox!

Stalking the swan (this was my view)

Angela and me

We made it!

Jeff and Nicki

Heather on a SUP (stand-up paddleboard)

This week’s Ferners: Emily, Angela, me, Heather, Jess, Amy

Clamming and crabbing

Full moon rising

Bonfire and s’mores!

Em likes her marshmallows burnt to a crisp

Designated driver, drinking responsibly

Dave was an old friend we met at Murf’s last summer

Group hug

Midnight snack - shrimp and taco sauce on a chip. Classy!

Rainy Sundays are a good excuse for wine and cheese. Really though, who needs an excuse?

We had such a great time last summer at our beloved Camp Fern, we couldn’t wait to do it again. Life events have brought a couple of changes in the Ferner line-up - Paige took some time off to travel around SE Asia and is now spending the summer with her family in Nebraska, and Nicki fell in love and got engaged. She and her fiance, Jeff, are hanging out nearby in East Hampton, so we still get to spend the summer with them. Our new Ferners are Angela and Jessica, perfect additions to the Camp Fern family. Our first week back at our sweet little house brought lovely weather, good eats (of course!) and some very accurate predictions by the Magic 8 Ball.

Angela and I spent the entire first week together at Camp Fern. We relaxed, read books, had lots of girl talk, and watched more than our share of crime drama on TV. Turns out we are excellent roommates. On Monday, I made grilled tilapia with mango avocado salsa, and a quinoa salad chock full of fresh veggies from the farm stand.

What’s vacation without happy hour! This was our first cheeseboard - aged gouda, extra sharp cheddar,  blue cheese, crackers, apricots, and grapes. And of course there was wine.

On Wednesday, we had fish tacos, with grilled halibut, spicy red cabbage slaw and avocado. Yummy!

On Thursday we took a field trip to Sag Harbor. The day started off cool and overcast, but turned out to be quite a lovely day to wander around this quaint little town.

More cheese!

Breakfast tacos

We found this awesome CD in the cabinet - perfect for when the rest of the Ferners arrive!

Friday night brought all the Ferners together for family dinner. We did turkey burgers, hot dogs, chicken sausage, seafood sausage, and corn, all on the grill.

I also made a farro salad with spinach, tomatoes and feta. This was also good for lunching by the pool the next day.

My plate

Breakfast - yogurt with peaches, blueberries and granola

Saturday was girls night out! We started off at Cyril’s in Montauk, then had a lovely dinner at the Grill on Pantigo in Amagansett. We ended the night laughing at crazy antics, making new friends, and dancing at the Talkhouse. What a fantastic first week at Camp Fern!

Fresh off our successful kayaking adventure, the ladies of Camp Fern decided to try surfing. Our friend Lars at Main Beach & Surf were tasked with teaching us wanna-be surfers. The waves were really flat this day, which in some ways made it less intimidating for the three of us who had never done this before. Just call me Gidget!

Angela and Heather

Einat and Nicki

Paige and me

The waves from our local beach flow into Georgica Pond

Our surf lesson started with how to put on a wet suit.

Surfer girls Nicki, Paige, Heather and Einat

Surf’s up! (barely)

Look ma! I’m surfing!

I caught another wave!

Which quickly flattened out, so I stood on top of the water. (Lars is saying “What happened?”)

Einat surprised herself with how much fun she was having.

Angela was really good at this surfing thing.

One last wave for me

Surfing Ferners: Heather, Nicki, Paige, Einat, Angela and me

We did it!

Thanks again to Lars at Main Beach Surf & Sport for another fantastic adventure!

You might be wondering what our beloved Camp Fern actually looks like, so here are a few pics. As you can see, we had all the amenities six city girls could want in a summer beach house - a deck with a grill, a pool, an herb garden, and a gorgeous beach only a mile and a half away. In short, paradise!

Our last weekend in the Hamptons brought another new Ferner into the mix, and what better way to welcome our friend Angela than with one of our infamous family dinners. I arrived Friday morning and immediately started planning with the girls. Special requests were made, and a shopping list was created. On the menu: chicken shish kebabs, salmon, quinoa salad, and some sort of veggie salad I planned to make up from whatever I found at the farm stand. I love cooking for my friends!

Chef Jen in the kitchen

Kebabs on the grill - chicken marinated in a soy-lime sauce, skewered with onions and zucchini

Salmon marinated in the same soy-lime sauce

Quinoa salad with grilled eggplant, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash, red bell pepper and onion

Grilled corn salad, with cherry tomatoes, basil (from our herb garden), lime juice, salt and pepper

The kebabs

Dinner’s ready!

My kinda dinner!