It's Wine-Thirty!

More on the vacation

One of the things we do on vacation is share the cooking responsibilities.  My brother Luke, my oldest brother Greg and I each pick 2 nights to cook.  In year's past, we've made it a cooking contest to see who could make the best meal, and you weren't allowed to repeat anything you had cooked in previous years.  This year I decided I wasn't going to make myself crazy, and stuck with easier meals, like making Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole.  I did make up for the easier meal by having some gourmet cheeses like Leyden with Cumin, a rosemary Manchego, and a goose live pate as appetizers. 

I lucked out due to having additional family members come down on Thursday night, we had enough leftovers so that I didn't have to cook on Friday night.  Not that I would have minded, because I was going to make Taco Pie, but hey, any day you can spend on the beach past 6 p.m. is a good day!

The kids eating leftover lasagna on Friday night.

Standing on the dunes looking south to Avalon.  Due to the way the sand has been depositing along the south Jersey shore for thousands of years, Avalon actually sticks out into the ocean 1 mile farther than Sea Isle.  Avalon likes to say it is "Cooler by a Mile".

This is a mandevilla which we passed each day on our way to the beach.

If you look closely at this photo, you'll see what looks like white blocks floating out in the ocean.  It is actually Atlantic City 20 miles to the northeast of us.  At night, the sight is even more spectacular as the buildings are all lit up and the Borgota has what they call waterfall effects which makes the building change colors all the time.

I love photographing the sandpipers!  I need a better camera so that I can get close ups on them.

Megan, Zack, Boo and Calvin on the lifeguard stand.

Springer's Ice Cream in Stone Harbor.  Possibly the best ice cream I've ever tasted!

The family waiting in line at Springers on Friday night.  Usually I go down to Springer's several times during the week with the rest of my family, but this year, because I was an early bird each morning waking up at 5 a.m., the 10 p.m. trips to get ice cream were too late for me, so I stayed home with Calvin and Dale.  We made it for Friday night, which was a lot of fun (and only a 20 minute wait to get inside to order our cones!).

On the way back to my uncle's house from the shore on Saturday morning, we stopped at Bellview Winery in Landisville, NJ.   I have to say that this is my favorite winery in the northeast.  Their Niagara wine tastes just like fresh concord grapes.  The Raspberry wine smells and tastes just like you are eating fresh ripe red raspberries so it is perfect in the middle of winter when you need reminding that there is something besides snow and cold weather.  ;-)   So of course I brought home 2 Raspberry wines, 2 Niagaras and 1 of Nana's Wine, which is a light, crisp white wine.

I even tried their after-dinner Port this time, and found it was very good too.  I didn't buy any because I plan to head back down to NJ in November and when I do, I'm going back down to the winery where I will buy some of the port and some of their Cabernet Franc which will go perfectly with my spaghetti.

We really had a wonderful time down in Sea Isle this year and we already have the house booked for next year.  I can hardly wait!   

Back home and well rested

I'm finally home from my vacation to the NJ shore.

I had planned to blog while there, but the house we rent has encrypted wireless and the owner was out of town on business so we had to suffer through dial up.  With the cost of dial up, I kept my internet usage to as little as possible, which meant no blogging.  But I have lots of photos to share which I'll do over the next few days!

The first drink of vacation (a Washington Apple).

My brother Luke enjoying his WA.

My SIL Debbie and Luke enjoying the first cocktails of the week.

I'm hamming it up for the camera.  Isn't that a pretty sunset behind me?

This sign says "I HATE Steve Singer!".  At first I thought someone was spending a whole lot of money to trash someone, but my brother explained that this guy is a jeweler who undercuts the competition, and this is his way of advertising himself.  I also noticed that we only saw this sign being towed on Sunday, and that Steve Singer doesn't advertise during the week.  Whereas the local bars like the Ocean Drive and The La Costa advertise their bands and drink specials all week long.

This is Boo and my brother's partner Joe.  I didn't know Joe very well until this past week, but I got to know him better and found out that he is such a great guy.  I was very happy that he was finally able to join us this year on vacation.

Part of our trip was spent visiting some of the vineyards in South Jersey.  On Monday,  Luke, Joe and I went to Natali Vineyards first, sampling 4 wines.  I purchased two bottles of their Court House Blush which is a rose wine.

Our second stop on Monday was to Turdo Vineyards down near the bottom of Cape May.  This picture to the left is of their tasting room.  I can honestly say that they have some amazing wines, including a full bodied Merlot and a Rubino (Ruby Port) which is to die for.  I have tried Port before and not liked it.  The Turdo's make theirs using grappa and it is heavenly!  I liked it so much that I went back 2 days later with Joe and bought a second bottle of it because I couldn't stand the thought of only having one bottle until I go back next summer.   

See that large bush to the left of the door?  That is a rosemary plant! 

The Turdo vineyards.

They also had at least 5 fig trees.  Too bad the figs weren't ripe when we were there.

Beach roses next to the path down to the beach.

Calvin next to the sand castle that he and my husband built.

Isnt' that calming to look at? 

Our weather on vacation was the best we've ever had in 20 years of renting down in Sea Isle.  We didn't have one rainy or cloudy day, the water warmed up while we were there, and I've come back very, very tan. 

I wish I were still there!

More tomorrow.

Snow Day

So it isn't the blizzard as predicted the past two days, but it has been a combination of sleet and snow.  Mostly sleet, which is really strange since the temps are in the teens.  Brrrrr!

I thought I would include a picture that I took yesterday while on my travels for work.  This is the Quabbin, by the main entrance (or what used to be the main entrance before 9/11;  you can't drive over the dikes anymore, which is a shame).  The whole Quabbin is iced over.

After I came home, I worked a bit, and then did some grocery shopping.  Since I found shrimp and scallops on sale (must have been for Valentines Day), I decided to splurge and make a version of a soup I had seen in a magazine.  Since I didn't have all the ingredients called for, and changed things around, I think I can safely say that this is my version.

Mexican Shrimp and Scallop soup

1 lb. scallops (if you used sea scallops, cut them in half)

1 lb. raw shrimp, deveined and cleaned.

8 oz. Paul Newman's Tequila Lime salsa

3 bottles (8 oz. each) clam juice

1 large onion

3 tbs. chopped garlic

rind of 1 lime (not the white pith, just the green)

1 tbs. olive oil

1/2 box of orzo pasta

Boil the orzo until tender.  Set aside.  Put the olive oil in a pot, and add the onion.  Fry the onion about 5 minutes, or until tender but not limp.  Add the garlic and fry an additional 30 seconds, making sure the garlic doesn't brown.  Add the clam juice, the salsa, lime rind and the orzo.  Simmer for 5 minutes.   Add the shrimp and scallops; cook until opaque inside.    Serve.

I have to say that this was one of the best soups I've ever made.  My husband loved it (and he doesn't like onions), and my youngest son Nathaniel loved it.  We have enough left over for 4 servings, and got 6 servings from it last night.

Today I've been working, and putting together my tax information (oh joy).  But we are warm and safe inside, and I'll be putting a roast beef in the oven in a few minutes, so we'll have a nice hearty supper tonight too.

Wishing you all a wonderful Valentines day!

What have you done this vacation weekend?

I spent most of Wednesday cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving on Thursday.  I made stuffing, cranberry/cherry sauce, a cranberry-orange tart, and brownies (for the boys since I knew they wouldn't eat the tart).  Thursday was spent cooking the turkey, making mashed potatoes and a green bean casserole (new for us).  We had a wonderful dinner, and spent the rest of the day lounging around.  That tryptophan had DH and I napping.  Too bad it didn't work that way for the boys too; I think it actually gave them more energy!   

Here is the recipe for the Cranberry Cherry Sauce.  It is my favorite!

Cranberry Cherry Sauce

2 bags of cranberries (sorted)

1 2/3 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of cranberry juice

1/2 cup of orange juice

1 8oz bag of tart cherries

Combine all ingreadients in a sause pan, boil until all the cranberries have popped (15 min).  Cool.

Yesterday, I had some work to do up in the Hilltowns, but that gave us the perfect excuse to take the boys hiking after I was done.  We went up to Windsor State Forest to the Windsor Jambs .  This is not a hike for the faint of heart.  The hike down in steep, and can be treatchreous, especially if you don't have hiking boots on (I had open backed sneakers, a really bad choice of footwear).   And the hike back up, well, it is actually easier, although it will wind a person who isn't in the best of shape.  The boys thought this hike was great!  I wish I had their energy, as they can run down and then back to you, actually doubling the length of the hike.

Anyway, we saw some incredible scenery, and enjoyed being outside.  Here are a few pictures of what we saw:

I call this one "our Rock".  DH and I had our engagement picture taken there 11 years ago.

And finally, our boys.  Aren't they cute?

After our hike there, we went on to Chesterfield Gorge, in Chesterfield, MA.  This property is now owned by The Trustees of the Reservation, and very worthy cause (please join them and help support the preservation of land and historic places).  I started on this hike with DH and the boys, but quickly decided that I wasn't going to continue.  I do not like heights, and while Windsor Jambs has a nice chain link fence between the trail and that gorge, the Chesterfield Gorge just has a wire guard rail.  I stayed in the car, while they continued the hike.  :)

We've had a wonderful couple of days, and I'm spending part of today working to make up for Thursday and yesterday.  But that is o.k., since I love my job.

Tomorrow I will bake a cake, as I have my "final" in my cake decorating cake.  I'll be making icing flowers for part of the decoration, to be added in class on Tuesday night.  I'll post pictures of my finished cake on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is a busy day

Here is our boy Milo.  I just couldn't resist taking a picture of him lounging on the shelf in our office.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.   I'm on the local parade committee and the people on this committee have worked really hard to make this an enjoyable and successful annual event.  My spot for the last 5 years (we are celebrating our 5th year) has been the reviewing stand.  My husband and I work to set it up, decorate it, and then I make sure all of our VIP's have bottled water and a good spot from which to view the parade.   I also make sure that our announcer has all the correct information, and I deal with spot changes as they take place.

But, because staging for the parade starts around 1 p.m., I'm down at the reviewing stand at 12:30.  Which means I get 2 1/2 hours to sit there and do nothing until our guests show up.  I think I'm going to bring some knitting and my Ashford Joy with me to entertain myself.  The town is usually rather quiet in the early afternoon, so I have a lot of time to myself on the stand.   It is a good time to do fiber work, which is what I've done for the last 4 years.

To everyone that celebrates July 4th, have a wonderful, safe holiday!

What does one make for a baby?

My cousin Angela is expecting her first child.  Ann and I have been close our entire lives.  She is just 7 months younger than I, and we've been through the whole "boy crazy" teen years together, dating and break ups as adults, marriage, and now children.  I'm thrilled that she is expecting; it isn't something I ever thought I'd see and I know she'll be a fabulous mom.

But I've never really knit any baby items before.  I know; confession time.  I didn't knit anything for my kids except a hat for my oldest to wear home from the hospital (it was too big and it was also too hot when we brought him home).  So what does one knit for a baby?  Booties?  A small sweater?  Blanket?  Nursing shawl?  I need some help here.  Any suggestions (and pattern ideas!) will be greatly appreciated.   The baby is due at the end of November, and Ann lives in southern NJ, so it isn't as cold there as it is here in Western MA.