Happy Anniversary to Us!

Paul and I celebrated our 32nd Anniversary last Thursday. Many years, we would say "Happy Anniversary" to each other as we headed out the door to work and that would be it for another year! You know how it is, one's job consumes the day. Now, we've decided to have an "Exploration Day" as our retirement tradition.

Early Thursday morning we set out for Tarpon Springs.

Tarpon Springs, incorporated mainly by Greek immigrants, was once famous for its sponge diving industry. Now, the sponge dock area is mostly gift shops, museums and restaurants.

Fishing boats are now much more predominate than sponge boats, but there are still a few along the water as tourist attractions. We had fun poking around.

We asked a local for a restaurant recommendation and we were glad we did!

He sent us to Rusty Bellies, which is located right on the water. In fact, the restaurant even has its own boats! We sat at our table and watched them unload the shrimp. It doesn't get any fresher than that!!!

We definitely enjoyed our anniversary lunch! Crab cakes and fritters, calamari and shrimp. I never tasted the onion straws on our plate. Why???

After lunch, we headed to Ybor City. This Tampa neighborhood has been designated as a National Historic Landmark District. It was founded by cigar manufacturers in the 1880's.  

Paul and I visit Ybor City during the day, while 99.99% of their clientele visit at night, judging on how many of the buildings are now occupied by nightclubs and tattoo parlors! There even is a store where you can buy a personally tailored pirate suit!  Dandy!!!

We go there for the food and the cigar shops even though we were obviously too full to eat there this trip. Paul likes to pick up a bundle or two of hand rolled stogies for his evening smoke out under Betsy's awning. 

It was a great day! It's been a great 32 years!! Love you, Paul.  Let's go to the beach!!!

Time just slips away!

We have been enjoying life in Florida, Paul, Bauxite Betsy and I.

We added a screen house to our set up, so we have a defined outdoor dining area. We are finding our new cabin on wheels to be a very comfortable place to live. Of course, the country club set doesn't comprehend our happiness, but oh, well.

The routine seems to be pretty well established.  In the morning, we are around the camper. I do my computer work. The rest of the day is usually centered around Caspersen Beach. The beautiful weather makes us, we can't help it.

I can usually be found under "my" personal palm tree,

while Paul is off down the beach, looking for whatever washes up on the shore.

When the sun gets to us, we head back and pick up something at the local market that looks good. Last week we were in a salsa state of mind. Good deals on tomatoes and peppers were too good to pass up!

Tonight will be the fourth straight evening we'll have seafood for dinner.

That is all. Simple. Sweet.

But, I miss my kids. Can't have everything, I guess!!!!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

This one is for our family.

As you know, yesterday was Jim's birthday. The Florida family, minus Kent who is in Los Angeles this week, met at a local Mexican restaurant. Someone at the table alerted the strolling Mariachi band it was his big day.

Dance to the music, take a swing at the piñata and wear the sombrero. It's your birthday!!!

This guy would NEVER have smiled through this attention in his younger days. He even refused a graduation party!

Happy Birthday, Jim. We love you. I'm glad we were able to be here to celebrate with you.

2012 New Beginnings

Hello again!

I've been absent from this spot for awhile.

We were busy. You know, the holidays, family events and traveling across the country.

And now, we are in Florida. We arrived in Venice on New Year's Day. We're getting "moved in" to our little spot at Camp Venice Retreat.

We're tired. Last night, Paul read and I worked on my knitting while we listened to music.

It was great.

We plan to start our container "garden" soon. So far, all I've started are the two mushroom gardens Suzanne gave me for my birthday. They grow in recycled coffee grounds.

I'll bet people are SO looking forward to visiting us. We are such an exciting couple!!!!

It's not much, but we're back, sharing our action packed lives!

I'll talk to you soon. Hopefully, the mushrooms will grow so I have something to report.

Julia Child Night 2011

Our 3rd Annual Julia Child Night 2011 has come and gone. I think Lisa and I have created a fun tradition.  Lisa captured the evening and posted it on her blog earlier today. You can read it by clicking here.

Our menu this year was inspired from a Julia cookbook I've had in my library for 25 years. Appropriately, she titled her menu

CASSOULET FOR A CROWD

A Menu Inspired By Julia Child

Assorted Cheese and Olives

Olive Tapenade and Crackers

French 75

Consommé Parisienne

Bread Sticks

Honey-Roasted Pear Salad with Thyme Verjus Dressing

Cassoulet

Pickled Red Cabbage Slaw

Dinner Rolls

Apple Crisp

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Coffee

The living room became a dining room for the evening. It was a "bring your own chair" event.

We had lots of good help. Nick and Ellen enjoyed a quiet moment before the crowd arrived. Ellen is already wearing the required apron...it's a tradition!!!

Another tradition is enjoyed by our youngest generation. They know right where we store some of Suzanne and Nick's old toys. Remind me next year to hide that "construct your own musical instrument" toy before the event. Seriously, these grand nephews are the best kids ever!

While the kids played in the laundry room, the adults mixed it up before dinner in the family room. It was standing room only!

Lisa and I are ready to start our meal. Is everyone seated?

The apron Lisa gave me is the most feminine clothing item I own! 

Enough with the explaining, Barb and Lisa, let's eat!!!

The beef consommé was worth all of the effort and time to prepare. Thanks, Julia, for your wonderful directions!

I really did make "cassoulet for a crowd." We served twenty-one, but I made enough for thirty. I am Val's daughter, you know!

Matthew enjoyed the homemade ice cream his mom, Julie, brought. And, the apple and pear crisp his Aunt Lisa and Grandma Marlys made. It baked in our oven while we ate the main course. Yum!!!

Can you tell we had a fun evening? 

We already have ideas for next year. We're thinking everyone should consider French stripes and berets!

I'll talk to you again sooner or later!

Barn Burner BBQ

Paul and I traveled last weekend with our cabin on wheels to Libertyville, Illinois,

to work with our nephew Chad as he competed in

a KCBS sanctioned contest. Chad arrived at Lamb's Farm on Friday morning to set up and get organized and we got there in the early afternoon. We were challenged with a brisk, cold and blustery wind all weekend. We had to batten down the hatches so things didn't blow across Lake Michigan!!!! Paul and I returned to the warmth of our camper Friday night while poor Chad stayed at the contest site and braved the cold to tend the smokers.

When we returned on Saturday morning, there was a smoky haze over the contest cooking area.

The place was hopping. There were 57 teams from across the United States in the competition.

My favorite part of the event was spending time bonding with my nephew.

He is a master chef, let me tell you. He cooked six racks of ribs, two briskets and two pork shoulders for the contest.

He also did chicken thighs

and chicken breasts.

Once the turn in times started, we were all busy preparing the boxes. First turn in was chicken. Wow, believe me, it was so good!!!!

He placed tenth in chicken, which is fantastic in a contest with that many teams!!!

Next turn in was ribs. He used Berkshire for the first time and they were fantastic. I thought they were perfect. I am NOT being biased, either. We are certified judges, you know!!!!

Next turn in was pork shoulder. Again, extremely good, I must say. So moist.

And last was brisket. Chad understands how to smoke a brisket. His tasted fantastic on Saturday.

I can only imagine your mouth is watering as you look at these pictures. Everything tasted as good as it looks. There was lots left for us to sample!

Yum!

And, just to make it an even greater weekend, I was able to hold our new great-niece, Anna Grace.

She was born to Chad and Emily a little over a month ago! She melted my heart. She is Marlys and Paul's first granddaughter. Quite a beautiful addition to their five grandsons!

Thanks to Chad for letting us join in the competition. Next year, nephew Kevin will hopefully be able to join us again.  Team DGQ, what a fine tradition!!!! Have I said today I'm glad we're retired?

We did some meandering on our way home from Chicago with Bauxite Betsy and just arrived home yesterday. I'll add an update soon.

Bear Head Lake State Park and Ely-September 13-20, 2011

We moved from Temperance River to Bear Head Lake State Park for another week of fall camping. We had a choice campsite right by the lake. Making reservations far in advance is a good thing!

After the warm temperatures we experienced during our stay on the North Shore, we noticed a bit of a change. That's alright, though. It is supposed to be fall.

We tested our furnace and it works well. We even spent a cozy day inside, playing Scrabble, watching movies and reading while it rained. No problems, except my Scrabble scores.

In fact, we even experienced our first snow of the season while we were at the International Wolf Center in Ely. Shortly after Paul took this picture, huge snowflakes started to fall.

Isn't he handsome?

The nice thing about spending a full week in one location is that a day or two of cold, rainy weather doesn't spoil the whole experience. We still had plenty of great weather to get out and do some hiking and canoeing.

We drove northeast of Ely on Fernberg Road and hiked the Blackstone/Secret/Ennis Lakes loop trail.

What an incredible hike.

It makes one wonder how many lakes like this there are to hike around in this great state.

We saw several beaver swimming in these lakes.

And very few people.

I'd love to go back. It was a "grand" day!

We toured the Dorothy Molter Museum, located on the outskirts of Ely. She was known as "The Root Beer Lady." Notice the root beer extract under her signature sign.

She lived by herself on an island in the Boundary Waters for years and made root beer to sell to the canoeists who passed by her place. After she died, they moved her main cabin and belongings to the present museum site.

Another day, we drove up the Echo Trail and hiked the Bass Lake/Dry Lake loop. The BWCA fire continued to be a presence in our days. However, we were on the other side of the smoke now, as opposed to our hazy days on the North Shore. We obviously avoided this spur of the hike.

If you are ever in this area, we recommend this hike. This lake has an interesting history. I'm not going to tell you what its story is, but encourage you to make the trip! No spoiler alerts here!

Of course, we had to spend time out on Bear Head Lake. We were camped right by it!

It's a good thing we weren't depending on a meal of fish to fill out our menu plans.

But, it didn't stop us from enjoying the better part of two days out in our canoe.

I told Paul that out of the 52 weeks in a year, I hope to be able to continue to spend at least two of them camping in northern Minnesota.

It is where we have shared some of our happiest memories.

And, I'm telling you, this Air Stream deal is the best! Next? We take the tin pickle north of Chicago for a BBQ weekend.

I'll talk to you soon.