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Summer Time!

We’ve assembled a guide to all that awaits, inside and (mostly) out, at the beach and in town, and whether your wallet’s feeling thin or thick. The sun is shining. The living is easy. Go have fun.

Photography by Chris Vaccaro

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Drop $50

Bike B.I.

You don’t need pricey hotel rooms to experience the best of Block Island. Grab your beach cruiser and go daytrippin’.

7:30 a.m. Arrive Point Judith early enough to find street parking, avoiding $10 a day parking lots.
8 a.m. Stretch out on uncrowded early ferry with boat bagel and cream cheese.
9 a.m. Arrive Old Harbor. Snag free guide (with map) from Visitor’s Center opposite docks. Head for Corn Neck Road.
9:10 a.m. Congratulations: The beach is on your right. Dip feet in ocean.
10 a.m. Bike four miles to the North Light, tour historic rooms and check out windmill powering the building.
11:30 a.m. A curve or two back there’s a stile over the stone wall on the right. Beyond, a walking labyrinth, perfect for contemplating your next step in life.
12:30 p.m. At Yellow Kittens Mexican on the Deck in town, the clam strip burrito is a don’t-miss Tex-Mex take on the New England classic.
1:30 p.m. Head south along Spring Street. Pass the Southeast Light — one lighthouse is enough. A quarter mile further are the Mohegan Bluffs stairs. Climb down to exploit spectacular sand and surf.
5 p.m. Head back into town, enjoy cone at Aldo’s before catching the 6 p.m. to America. You’ve earned it.

Ferry $18.25; bike $6.10. Bagel and coffee $3.75. Burrito and iced tea $9.72. Small cone $4. Total: $41.82. Legs like jelly included.

Moveable Feasts

This summer, don’t settle for cold cut sandwiches and warm Cokes. We asked Emily Wigutow of Max’s Market in Newport (469 Thames St., 662-9099, maxsmarket.com) to whip us up picnic menus for four — one for kitchen lovers, another for people on the run. Add a bottle of wine without breaking $50, and achieve picnic nirvana on the jetties at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown.

Ultimate Picnic

Lemon Rosemary Chicken Breast
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
½ teaspoon rosemary, crushed
½ teaspoon oregano
1 lemon, zest and juice
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound chicken breast tenders

Mix garlic, rosemary, oregano, lemon, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mixture should taste very lemony and a bit too salty. Trim fat from chicken tenders, place in a Ziploc bag with marinade and refrigerate for up to an hour. Grill or broil chicken until cooked through. Refrigerate overnight before packing. Tastes delicious cold.

Roasted Corn Salad
1 pound fresh corn kernels (also works great with frozen corn)
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
½ pint heirloom cherry tomatoes
½ red onion
4 sprigs fresh basil, leaves removed from stems

Dressing
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½  to ¾ cup olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375°.

To make the salad:
Place corn kernels on an edged cookie sheet and toss with canola oil. Roast for 12-15 minutes, until a little bit of brown shows on a few kernels. Remove from oven and cool. For frozen corn, toss with a little oil while still frozen and add 5 minutes roasting time. While corn is cooking and cooling, cut cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size, and dice red onion. Cut basil into chiffonade. (Stack a few leaves on top of each other, roll into a cigar shape and cut into thin strips. Repeat with all of the basil leaves.)

To make the dressing:
Mix vinegar, honey and mustard in a bowl. Using a whisk, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Whisk continuously; mixture should be thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Toss all ingredients together and chill.

Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad
¾ pound farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
¾ cup fresh or frozen peas (or blanched
string beans)
¼ cup diced roasted pepper

¼ cup pesto
1/3 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Cook pasta, drain and cool. (If short on time, cool by running under cold water. Just don’t tell any Italian cooks; they’ll throw pasta at you!) Add fresh peas to a pot of boiling water for one minute. Remove peas and run under cold water or shock in an ice bath. (Frozen peas can be added directly to pasta and peppers.) Toss peas, roasted peppers and pasta. Mix pesto and mayo in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss dressing with pasta mix and chill. Keep cold before serving.

Watermelon Lemonade
This lemonade is always a hit at the
Aquidneck Growers’ Market. (Grown-ups
can mix with vodka for a great summer cocktail!)
6 juiced lemons 
1/3 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 quart water
¼ watermelon cut into chunks

Blend ingredients. (For a shortcut, use a can of frozen lemonade and mix according to directions, then add watermelon.)
 
Packing Tips
Make sure that food is cold prior to packing. A cooler will keep things cold, but it won’t cool them down. If you don’t have a cooler, most supermarkets sell insulated, reusable shopping bags for less than $2. Or just line a basket with a cloth napkin, lay down some ice packs and cover with another cloth napkin before packing food.

The no-cook picnic

Veggies
Wigutow likes trying out fresh finds from the local farmers’ market. Some of her favorites:
Jicama: Peel and cut into matchsticks. “Refreshing and crunchy, a bit like an apple,” says Wigutow.
Asparagus: Break off the ends, cook for about two minutes in boiling water and run under cold water. (Well, almost no cooking.)
Radicchio: Trim the root, leaving it intact. Cut into wedges.
Watermelon radish: Cut into chunky wedges or slender sticks. “Slightly milder than red radish, these are gorgeous,” Wigutow says. “Green on the outside and bright pink inside.”

Easy Dips
“You can mix just about anything with sour cream and it will taste great,” says Wigutow. Add sour cream to taste with any of the following: cucumber, dill and lemon; mango chutney; pesto; or peanut sauce. Or, mix Dijon mustard with anchovy paste and top with good olive oil for a Max’s Market favorite.

Meat or Fish
Italian or Spanish tuna: Found in most specialty stores — make sure it’s packed in olive oil with a pull-top can. “It doesn’t take much to make a meal,” says Wigutow. Eat it straight out of the can or make an antipasto sandwich with olives and roasted peppers.

Italian cured meats: Ask the deli for prosciutto sliced very thin — two or three slices per person is plenty. Or try a small amount of sopresatta or toscano salami.

Cheese
A great thing about cheese shops, says Wigutow, is they are happy to let you buy a small taste. Try a mini-wedge of something indulgent, such as black truffle Gouda or Saint Andre.

Dessert
Wigutow’s all-time favorites are brownies or lemon squares — homemade or from a store — but sour cream is handy at the end of the meal, too. Add fresh berries or fruit with a pinch of brown sugar for a delicious summer dessert.