Pearls In The Sand

Foraging for oysters with my daughter yielded a treasure trove of good food and good times.

- Paula Wetzel

Where we live in the country, you can survive most of the warm months without ever entering a chain supermarket. Farm stands and family-owned seasonal stores are abundant. Since the corner shop sells organic milk, I went to a supermarket twice this past summer—to buy essentials like garbage bags and toothpaste. To eat well on the eastern tip of the south fork of Long Island, New York, otherwise known as the Hamptons, you basically need a trip to town hall and $1o to buy a year-long shellfish license. The total time spent to become a legal scrounger like me is 20 minutes.