August Celebration at TPC Sawgrass

Despite my personal agreement with Richardson Wright's view of August....

Were I running things

I would simply cut August

out of the calendar.

I'm stuck with August and it has held one big day for celebration.....

Happy Birthday, R.H.!!!!

And celebrate we did!

Our daughter Christy (above with R.H. overlooking the 18th hole) and son-in-law Bryan took us out for dinner at the TPC Sawgrass dining room, a short walk from their house.

That's a stock photo of the golf club above but I think the one below that I took with my phone out on the terrace is not bad at all.

The TPC (The Players Championship) is owned by the PGA Tour players. Our new town is home and headquarters of the PGA--and also headquarters of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). 

I guess we'll always miss Nashville but we're discovering that Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is a pretty cool place too. And it was a genuine treat to celebrate R.H.'s birthday in this beautiful place.

Our meal was scrumptious.

For the birthday boy this watermelon salad was almost too pretty to eat.

Then he had a New York strip steak. He couldn't decide between the bearnaise sauce or the demi-glace, so ordered both as a birthday prerogative. 

Christy wanted steak too and chose a filet, potatoes and the vegetable du jour.

Bryan ordered the special, a pork tenderloin served with two beautiful porcini mushroom ravioli.

And I had grouper with yucca gnocchi and slaw. Yum!

R.H. loved his chocolate ganache birthday cake but I reminded him that I had a homemade coconut cream pie waiting for him at home. Then he let Bryan and Christy have a few bites.

Who could blame him for tearing into this chocolate delight, right?

I forgot to get a photo of the dining room, but here's another stock photo of it.

Very golf-club atmosphere, don't you think?

After dinner Bryan told us about the history of this golf club that is a crown jewel of pro golf and we viewed some of the memorabilia.

Jerome and Paul Fletcher sold the land for this 'Stadium Course' golf club for $1.00.

There are photographs of so many of golf's greats in these halls but here's one of a beloved celebrity.

On the far right, can you recognize this "thanks for the memories" entertainer to the troops?

The evening was such a treat for this couple from TN whose normal dinners out back home used to be at a little meat 'n three in the hills outside Nashville.

Thank you, Bryan and Christy! You scored a hole-in-one with this birthday dinner!

Then it was home for R.H. to cut into my coconut cream pie. Maybe in another post I'll tell you how I made sure that I wasn't tempted to break my diet and have a slice.

No, I didn't spit in it.

Here We Go Again

It all began when I tore this page out of last November's UK Homes & Gardens. Isn't that pretty?

(Ignore my scribbles on the left.)

It looked like more of a summer dessert than a November one and also looked simple to construct if I did not go to the trouble of actually making the ice cream sandwich, so I made this a couple of weeks ago.

I bought Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches because I could not find Klondike Ice Cream sandwiches anywhere here.

This was to be a trial run for an easy company summer dessert when I would use non-skinny Klondike sandwiches, if I could find them.

The caramel corn part was easy too; I was not going to go to the trouble to make that.

The strawberries were easy, even if they didn't look as pretty as what was in the picture--nothing ended up looking as pretty as in the picture.


Strawberry Sauce: 1 lb. organic strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, juice from 1/2 a lemon. Heat to boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes. (And with my gas range, don't turn your back on it.)

I drew the line at whipped cream from a can and whipped my own--almost to the point of it becoming butter. (Note to self: don't turn my back on my mixer either.)

Is this not pitiful?

I pictured this ironstone platter holding enough ice cream sandwiches, strawberries, caramel corn and whipped cream to serve to 4 people, but my trial run dissuaded me. 

I thought I would achieve the effect in the magazine picture by just casually tossing the caramel corn on it, but I understand now why food stylists use tweezers and have lots of talent.

Mine looks like I intentionally tried to make a smiley face of the caramel corn. Not.

Why am I posting this "recipe" that I will not repeat?

Some of my blog friends--and my family--know that I went from Christmas week until the end of April this year without eating desserts.

And I brought my A1c (for those of you who are familiar with this diabetes term) down from 7.1 to 6.5 in 4 months and lost 12 lbs., which made my doctor smile.

I've fallen off the wagon some these past few months and while my recent lab results showed my A1c was still the same, my triglycerides were a different story.

So back to no desserts and other dietary changes to work on that. But a lifetime of no more baking? Impossible, as I love baking! Can I do it for others and resist it myself? We'll see.

My dear husband is lactose intolerant and he couldn't even eat a Skinny Cow (it tasted terrible anyway) or the whipped cream. Breyers lactose-free ice cream for him and berries with caramel corn on the top.

I know some of you are trying to avoid sugar too. How's it going for you?

When I did it for 4 months this past winter it took 6 weeks for the cravings to stop. 

How about you? Or are you one of those who follows the rule of two bites only, and you keep to it? Or is a juicy peach your favorite dessert? 

And yes, I know that many of you don't have a problem with this, either from genes and metabolism or lots of exercise and balanced eating.

And my other goal is not to hate you.

Ads That Sold -- Thermador

1960

I never thought I would be cooking with gas,

and I never thought I would be using

Thermador appliances.

But I am, if only temporarily.

Refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave

and convection oven are all Thermador.

But it is the 6-burner gas range that has been my...

my nemesis.

I have burned 80% of all I've cooked

on these burners.

After all, below is the stove I've been used to...

Cozy, friendly, known.

But I am learning to tame this monster.

How?

Unless I'm boiling water,

this is the only setting I use...

And even then I don't dare turn my back on it.

My green Le Cruset sits on top of it all the time,

it's too heavy to try to store.

I use it for pot roasts and Bolognese sauce,

but mostly I use it for soups.

Leftover chicken and broths turn into one of

many favorite chicken soup recipes,

enriched with a box of my favorite broth.

This time it was a Congee, 

an Asian porridge that is pure comfort food.

Recipes abound online but be sure to

allow plenty of time for the rice to cook

almost to a gruel.

Soups are my favorite meals and I love soup pots.

I use this smaller All-Clad soup pot too.

This large pot doesn't get as much use

now that we've moved, no son living right next door to share pots of soup with.

But its pasta inserts came in handy for many

pasta-based meals in past years.

Good tools last forever and this Thermador

range will last long after we've moved

to the small house we're looking for.

As long as I keep it on simmer.

Next to tackle the oven.

I've only used it three times.

Those whoosh noises emitting from its depths

make me jump every time.

I'll get used to this Thermador range--

I even smiled when I spotted

the Thermador ad in this fabulous1960

House & Garden the other day.

It's kind of nice getting to use these

Thermador appliances.

But about the time I catch on,

we'll be moving to a small house,

small kitchen.

I'm already studying ideas for small kitchens.

But where will I store all these big soup pots?

He'd never messed with gas stoves. While chefs were commonly known to prefer cooking with gas, he'd always feared it might blow his head off. Dangerous stuff, gas, he could smell it in here more strongly than in the rest of the house. If he lit a match they could be spending their honeymoon in Quebec.

Father Tim in Jan Karon's
A Common Life 

A Reading Nook for Nora

She was read to in her crib

when only a few days old.

Taken to Story Hour at the library,

when a few months old.

Bedtime reading has always been a

part of her routine.

But sometimes a girl just needs a nook,

a small reading nook of her own.

Family--Just What the Doctor Ordered

Thank you so much, dear friends, for all of your comments on my last post.

I believe they were the most heartfelt and thoughtful comments I've ever received and I have read them over and over, trying to fully absorb all the wisdom in them. 

Last weekend R.H. and I had just what the doctor ordered -- visits from dear family. 

Two of my sisters and their husbands, Floridians themselves, came to spend the weekend with us and with our daughter and son-in-law. 

My sister Deb and her husband were our house guests, along with their darling Carly, a beautiful Havanese.

She and Don and R.H. and I met the rest of the party at Aqua Grill, Christy and Bryan's favorite where-everyone-knows-your-name place.

I wasn't able to capture the water coming down like rain in this large wall inside but it was lovely.

Here's Deb and Don.....

We four had good late night talks before bed.

Sometimes a heart-to-heart talk with a sister does wonders.

Here's my sister Jenn with my brother-in-law Jeff, who were house guests of Christy and Bryan for the weekend......

That's our son-in-law Bryan across the table from them, and these two men--Bryan and Jeff--flew to Nashville when we moved, helped load the trucks and drove them to Florida for us--my knights in shining armor, along with Zack who drove me and Otis and Milo, our dachshunds, in my car. 

I never told you about our convoy, did I? We could not have made it safely here without their help.

Back to the Aqua Grill, Christy was hidden behind Bryan in the above picture so I got her to pose for the camera, which left Bryan in one of those weird poses. (He doesn't read my blog anyway so will never see this!)

Here's a few of our dinner plates....

Boneless short ribs for a few of the men.

Scallops and crab for Deb.

Wild sockeye salmon and orzo for me.

And I guess I have to include a picture of me and R.H. even though I definitely look like I imbibed too much of the champagne that Zack and Courtney had there as a surprise for all of us.

On to Saturday...there were bike rides for some of the men early and the ladies, minus me, did two miles on the beach early.

Then there was a pool party at Christy and Bryan's...

Recognize any of us? I think that's R.H. in the blue one-piece suit.

Christy grilled filets out that evening and a simple but delicious meal was had by all, including Bryan's mother and father, Barbara and Don, who joined us.

They're the couple squeezed in on the patio sofa at Christy and Bryan's, between R.H. and Don, and they are two fascinating people. And Don, Bryan's father, carved the large tenderloin into the filets for Christy to grill. That impressed me as I'd never seen anyone do it.

That's all the pictures I have even though the whole gang gathered at our house the next morning for a waffle, bacon, pork chops, eggs and fruit salad breakfast.

We ladies went shopping afterwards and came home to a clean kitchen, courtesy of R.H.

And then it was time for our weekend to end, our house guests went home, carrying big pots of lavender with them from the Ace Hardware here, which is one cool store.

A generous dose of family--just what the doctor ordered. 

Another World

"I go to Florida sometimes for vacation.

I actually really like Florida.

It's a weird place, it's surreal.

It's so close, but you feel like you're

in another world or on an island."

Jemima Kirke

I've been hiding out from you, my blog friends...

From myself too.

The reality set in. 

I'm in another world--Florida.

I like it, guess I'll love it, with time.

But it's not home yet. 

I'm working on it.