Scottcakes (Provincetown, MA)

In recent years, a pink phenomenon has sprung up in Provincetown. Refreshingly, they have nothing to do with the pinkwashing that now defines marketing in the month of October. Scottcakes are simply this: vanilla cupcakes with a pink buttercream frosting, made by a guy named Scott. They’re pink because they’re pink.

On a recent visit to his store on Commercial Street, Scott explained how he’d gotten his start: “I used to make them for these kids I nannied for, and then friends demanded them, and, well, it’s a whole long story!” (See more here.)

Indeed. Apparently, Scott used to sell his wares on the street each summer, until permitting and popularity forced him into a storefront. And now he’s all the rage. Tasting a cupcake, it was easy to tell why. The vanilla cake is moist and flavorful, and the frosting is creamy, light, and just sweet enough. They taste like my memory of cupcakes from my childhood.

Well worth the $3 price tag (or buy 5 and get one free– you’ll find people to eat them). Highly recommended!

Oyster Festival (Wellfleet, MA)

It was a beautiful day in Wellfleet on Saturday, and I was incredibly excited to attend their annual Oyster Festival. What I thought would be a small, local food fair turned out to be a pretty huge deal (which we discovered when we hit traffic about seven miles from downtown Wellfleet). Tons of people everywhere, most of them happily gorging themselves on plates of freshly shucked oysters (average price was about $1.50/each).

In addition to oysters, there was beer (including the Sam Adams Oyster Stout, made with actual oysters), clams, chowder, stew, and the occasional hot dog. But mostly, there were oysters. And since that is what I came for, I was extremely content.