My beach vacation was over two months ago, but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming about the coastal adventures I could have if it weren’t for all those pesky obligations like work, bill-paying and gardening.

If I could be anywhere in the United States right now, I believe I’d opt for the coast of New England, somewhere way up there where the weather is perhaps a few degrees cooler and you can feel the breeze off the ocean.

I’ve never been farther north than New York before, so I haven’t experienced authentic clam shacks or chowder houses or lobster pounds. Until I can hit the road and head north, I guess I’ll have to make do with one of my favorite new cookbooks, “The New England Clam Shack Cookbook” by Brooke Dojny.

I consider myself a complete chowderhead and I love seafood, so flipping through Dojny’s book made me salivate almost instantly. Not only does the book contain an awful lot of interesting history about these prized eateries (did you know the “pound” is short for “impoundment,” or the gated coves where lobsters were trapped?), but it also has cooking tips and pages upon pages of delicious recipes.

I’ll save a few of the good-looking chowder recipes for this fall or winter. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this recipe for fresh clams roasted over a charcoal grill. And get ready to drool.

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Feast your eyes on this beautiful rare, grilled tuna.

This photo was submitted by blog reader Sean for my new feature, the Friday photo of the week!

Since I started soliciting your food photos, I’ve received nearly 20 tantalizing pics. They range from Rich’s bacon-wrapped wild turkey breast to Nona’s famous banana pudding to Carrie’s colorful beef cacciatore.

Because I can’t feature them all on the blog, I’ve decided to start a group on the photo sharing Web site Flickr.

If you want to see all the photos, all you have to do is go here.

If you’d like to join in the fun and add your own photos to the group, all you have to do is create a Flickr account and follow the directions from there. If you need any help, please feel free to let me know!

Those of you who would rather not mess with creating a new account but still want to send food photos are welcome to e-mail them directly to me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com.

Of course, if you can also submit your recipe to the blog, that would make this feature even better!

Sometimes you just have to feast your eyes on a tantalizing piece of food porn. This is a Smoked Paprika Chicken prepared by one of my dad’s co-workers. He has joined the ranks of the Smoked Paprika Chicken fan club. In case you’ve missed this recipe, check it out here.