A Trip to Hilton Head & A Recipe

The very first weekend I was here, when I was in the midst of moving anxiety and my wonderful mother agreed to stay a few extra days with me, we decided to take a day trip to our favorite vacation spot: Hilton Head Island.  It's only 2 hours from Charleston and seriously one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  

We saw all of the sites: golf courses, all of the shops, we even climbed to the top of the lighthouse.  Basically, we did everything I remember doing on our vacations when I was "baby Meg Meg."

 Of course, as was always important with a Doherty vacation, food played a major role in our day.  We went to two of our favorite restaurants and even got sno-cones and ice cream.

Lunch: steamed shrimp and shrimp salad at The Crazy Crab; 
Sno-cone at the beach club
Sweet tea while listening to live music; 
Dinner: shrimp toast and hush puppies at The Salty Dog

My absolutely favorite thing to eat in Hilton Head is the shrimp toast [pictured above] from The Salty Dog Cafe.  It's so delicious and while I love being closer to Hilton Head, a 2-hour drive each way for shrimp toast every time I have a craving didn't quite seem like a possibility.  That's why, last weekend, I decided to cook up my own recipe.  The Salty Dog is pretty top secret with their recipe, but I like to think I actually got it pretty close!

Ingredients: - boiled shrimp - grinder roll - 1 Tablespoon olive oil - 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning - 1 Tablespoon butter - 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder - 1/4 teaspoon parsley - salt - pepper - 3/4 cup Monterey Jack and Cheddar shredded cheese blend
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Peel 8-10 shrimp and slice into 1/2 inch pieces 3. Toss shrimp with olive oil, Old Bay, and dashes of salt and pepper 4. Slice roll in half lengthwise 5. Melt butter and mix garlic powder, parsley, and dashes of salt and pepper with it 6. Spread butter mixture onto sliced roll and add shrimp mixture 7. Top with grated cheese 8. Bake in oven for 8-9 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is toasted 9. Slice in half diagonally and enjoy!