Aunt Catfish's

My sister (who we are visiting in Florida) went to a John Mayer concert yesterday evening so Brian and I went to Seville and Port Orange to visit his family. Seville is a very small town which Brian always jokes about it's size by saying that if you are driving through and blink you will miss it. On our way to Port Orange from Seville Brian was understanding enough to entertain my Martha Stewart obsession by driving me to visit the KB Homes Martha Stewart development in Ormond Beach. The houses were so beautiful and there were plenty of them under construction.

Here is one of the Lily Pond models.


And here is a Katonah model.


After we were done driving through and oogling at the designs we headed to Port Orange and to the local landmark that is known as Aunt Catfish's. The food is so delicious with fresh seafood and delicious desserts. If you are ever in the area I would strongly recommend visiting Aunt Catfish's. You can expect a wait, one time Brian and I went and we had a 2 and 1/2 hour wait!
The parking lot was so full of customers that we had to park in a sand lot across the busy street


Once we put our name on the waiting list we headed outside to chat and wait. One of the many menu items that Aunt Catfish's is famous for is their sangria. It is a must have if you are at Aunt Catfish's!


Aunt Catfish's is so busy that they have the buzzers to let you know when your table is ready. Theirs are lobster shaped!


Directly behind the restaurant there is a long pier. You can buy food to feed the fish on the pier.


I thought it was neat that there are parking spots for boats!


At the end of the pier their is a replica of the largest catfish caught in the area!



Here is a rear view of the restaurant. you can see that more than half of the restaurant is over the water.


Greeting you at the door is a a lucky charm...


So since I am a vegetarian I do not eat any of the fish or other meat so I filled up on the salad bar and CHEESE GRITS!!!


After we were done eating we went for a nigh time walk on the beach. Here is the picture that I took!

UPDATE: I USED MY IPHONE'S GPS TO LOCATE EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE ON THE BEACH WE ARE THE BLUE DOT!


So since it was way too dark for that picture to come out, here is a picture I took during our last daytime visit to Daytona Beach...


It makes me want to go for a swim...Oh yeah and also dread that we have to go back home tomorrow morning...

Long Weekend in Florida, Post #1

We left for Florida on Friday morning and the flight was nice. The plane was not too crowded so we got to stretch out and relax.


Yesterday we did some shopping at the Florida Mall which was WAYYYY TOO PACKED! I was going to have a panic anxiety attack because there were so many people running around. But we found some good deals and other interesting ideas for Halloween.

Before we went to the mall we went to eat at a Mongolian Grill called HuHot it was so good.

Brian did not eat much because he is a picky eater but here are some photos to explain the process.

You first start off by choosing which type of noodle that you would like to eat, they had soba noodles, pad thai noodles, and some other type that I can not recall. After that you choose which type of meat that you would like to have. They have a large variety from frozen chicken, beef, seafood, pork, and a few others. I skipped right past this section since I am a vegetarian.


After you choose your noodles and meat you then get to choose from a large variety of vegetables and other toppings including tofu, bamboo shoots, carrots, broccoli, onions, the combinations are endless!


After you have loaded your bowl full of veggies and noodles you then are faced with another decision of which sauce combination to choose. The sauces are placed in descending order from hot to mild, and flavors ranging from garlicky to mustardy to gingery, and so much more!


And yet more decisions! There is another large variety of flavor enhancements. There were different broths and oils including ginger, chili, and garlic. The sign says to add at least 7 ladles of sauce and broth to your food which result in a more flavorful dish.


When you are done composing your dish you take it to the friendly cook who pours it onto a large super hot circular grill. He was so nice and fast working his way around the grill and flipping spatulas to quickly finish all of the customers creations.


When your dish is returned to you fully cooked you are faced with yet more decisions. There are a few finishing toppings which included coconut, chili flakes, crunchy noodles. I decided on sesame seeds and chopped peanuts.


Here is my finished dish. It was so good with tofu, broccoli, and more than seven ladles of sauce!

You Might as Well...

So you may want to get use to the fact that that my next few hundred posts are going to be about tomatoes. This morning while taking the pups out I spied quite a few and rather large red spots and oh my god the things I found!

This picture does absolutely no justice to the tomatoes. The size of them! I would say a few of them could easily weigh in at about 2-3 lbs!


As I have previously blogged about I do not have small hands but look at this tomato in my palm!


And another! I wish these big tomatoes were ripe when I was entered stuff in the garden show!


Here is another one, there were three total huge ones this morning. I packed them into a box and brought them to work to share.


Here is the quarter comparison picture that every proud tomato grower usually has on their blog...



We are going to Orlando this weekend so when I get back I should have even more ripe tomatoes!

And we have TOMATOES!

After weeks and weeks of patiently (and impatiently) waiting I have ripe tomatoes. Last weekend I had a few to enter in the Men's Garden Show but this morning I went and picked some more out of the garden. I love tomatoes, I had a box of them to take to work and share but I forgot it at home. I decided that the tomatoes were too pretty to not take pictures of, have a look....

These are Super Sweet 100s. They are so delicious and sweet, once they start to ripen they don't stop!


Here are some more angles, (I have to take plenty of photos so when it is cold and snowy outside I can come back and reminisce about sun warmed tomatoes!)






Some other delicious BIG tomatoes...


A mix of heirlooms, look at those purple calabashes!!!


This big tomato was one that I blogged about a few posts ago. Here it is on the beautiful Martha Stewart Collection cutting board that my friend Claudine K. over at Good Things: Life of a Martha Stewart Wannabe gave to me!


And here is my first tomato sandwich of the summer! It was on honey wheat bread with provolone, dijon mustard, and salt. Simplicity is best!

And the Competition was Fierce!!!

Yesterday I dropped off my entries to the Men's Garden Club at Mill Creek Park. I have never entered any any of my vegetables into any type of competition so I did not know what I was in for.

When I arrived at Mill Creek Park yesterday I was very casual and thought I would drop my veggies off and be on my way. That was not the case at all!

This is the Davis Education Center where the show was located. It is such a beautiful building that fits right into the park. It is surrounded by Fellows Riverside Garden which is equally beautiful!


This is how I transported my veggies to the show. I was very casual and actually picked some things out of the garden a few minutes before leaving. As I previously said it was my first show!


When I went inside I was motioned over to a table where I had to provide them with all of my information and I was assigned an entry number. After that I had to go into an area in the back to prep my vegetables for the show!
This was my work area and all of my entries. I was very overwhelmed!


Everyone involved was very, very serious about the show. The mood in the back was that of seriousness and precision while setting up their entries for display. It was apparent that some of these people have been gardening for years... Probably longer than I have been alive!


More contestants...


Some contestants came up with ingenious ways to display the bounties of their gardens. There were cornucopias, baskets, bottles, and styrofoam that had been carved to delicately display the fruit. You can see my cherry tomatoes on the top left on a paper plate.....


Being a novice I was unaware that there are a few rules to entering. Such as for tomatoes you need to enter in at least 3, I only had two of my Hawaiian Pineapple and Hazel Mae tomatoes that were ripe so those tomatoes were automatically disqualified. I asked the gentleman who was helping me if I should even bother leaving them and he said sure! He complimented how they looked and reminded me that it is a learning process. I will do better next year!

Here are my Hazel Mae and Hawaiian Pineapple tomatoes that ended up not being in the running...



I also decided to enter some Zephyr Squash. I love this squash it has a delicious buttery flavor (especially when cooked in butter!) and should be picked and eaten when it is young.


Here are my squash next to the other entries. As far as I could tell no one else entered any Zephyrs...


I had to go to a picnic so I could not stay for the judging. This morning I went to pick up my veggies and see the results of the judging and this is what I found.



I was quite pleased and delighted that I won a third place ribbon in the squash category!

A few tables down I also saw this...


I also won a third place ribbon for my Super Sweet 100 tomatoes!

It is such an honor to even place in this competition and I will take third place any day especially since I am a novice competitor and had never entered any type of gardening competition before. I am excited to pick up my ribbons this afternoon and collect the bounty from my garden. I will most likely enter again next year and hopefully do even better!

Contender & Samples....

So my tomato with a bit of catface on the bottom has turned out to be quite large and beautiful. I am going to drop it off this afternoon at Fellows Riverside Garden in Mill Creek Park to be displayed in their flower show. I also have a squash and some cherry tomatoes that I can enter too, oh yeah and another tomato is on the verge of ripeness! Here are some pictures of the contender.

This picture does not show exactly how large it is.


Now this is more like it, my hands are not small and these pictures make them look small in comparison the size of the tomato.


The other side...


So as some of you may know I am an official One-Stroke Certified Instructor. Every month I get an email that shows me what samples I need to turn into the Jo-Ann Fabrics I teach at so they can display at the front of the store to advertise my upcoming classes. I decided to get my September samples painted early so I painted them yesterday.

This is a beginner class showing how to do some basic strokes and rosebuds. It is easy to do, just takes a little practice...


This one is a beginner class on how to paint grapes and daisies. At first I was not a fan of this one but after I painted it I quickly became a fan. For one reason it was quick to paint and another it was easy!


Here is the top of the canister...


One last angle, leave a comment and let me know what you think!!!

Almost Rosey...

This morning I was happy to see that the two green tomatoes that had begun their transformation from green to red had become even more red. There are quite a few tomatoes that are taunting me with the thought of turning red, but will not turn red for quite a while. Have a look!

I was thinking that if this big tomato was ripe by this Saturday. I may enter him in the Mill Creek Park FLOWER SHOW
Public entries must be received on Saturday by 10:30 a.m. Call Fellows Riverside Gardens for additional information.
Men's Garden Club Horticulture Show & Mum Sale
August 23 - 24
Saturday, Noon - 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Admire summer's bounty of flowers and vegetables at this show.
It does have catface on the bottom but other than that it is a beautiful big tomato!


Here are a few items that have come out of my garden. The cherry tomatoes (which I didn't plant) were delicious on a salad which I had for lunch at work today. If the Zephyr squash is still good by Saturday I may enter it in that show as well.


And just to whet your appetite here is a picture of the peanut butter cookies I made with chocolate chips and honey roasted peanuts! YUM! I told Brian that they should be called "Next Day Peanut Butter Cookies" because the first day they were very dry and crumbly and the next day they were tender and soft and just delicious!

SEEING RED!$&%!@#$@

(As most of my blog posts begin) This morning while taking the pups out I decided to pick the 3 cherry tomatoes that have actually turned red. I was overjoyed to see that some of the other tomatoes are starting to turn red too!

The geraniums on the deck have rebloomed and turned a brilliant hue of red and there are also some pink ones too.


I am always excited when something that we didn't plant pops up in the yard (well something that pops up that is not a weed). I saw this morning glory intertwined in our azalea.


Here is a semi-red Zapotec Pleated tomato!


Here is a semi-red Hawaiian Pineapple tomato.


These are the tomatoes that drew me into the garden this morning causing me to have my exciting (to me at least) discovery.


Sofia INSISTS on having a few cherry tomatoes every year. I read online to see if tomatoes are bad for dogs and some websites say that they "may" be bad for dogs but she has been eating just a few every year and she is very persuasive with those pretty eyes.

I've decided to post pictures of Sofia trying to persuade me to give her a tomato from the two previous years.

Here she is in 2006.


And here she is again in 2007 almost lost among the tangled jungle that was my garden last year.


And this was her today feasting on a cherry tomato.

Dessert last night & Red tomato....

Last night after dinner Brian and I were both craving something sweet. I don't know why but this recipe for chocolate molten cakes stuck out in my head. This recipe was soooo easy and took about 10 minutes of prep time. I think that I should have cooked the cakes for probably about 1 more minute because when I turned them out of the cupcake tin the centers stuck. The cakes were given a generous dusting of powdered sugar and served with vanilla ice cream.

The cupcake tin is buttered and then coated with granulated sugar. The granulated sugar gave the cakes a crunchy exterior that was absolutely delicious!


Here are the finished cakes, they were so decadent and rich!


This morning while taking the pups out I noticed that my predicted 1st red tomato turned out to be correct. Here are two cherry tomatoes (that I really do not remember planting). I brought them to work for a snack!


On the deck I also noticed that my Split Rock (Pleiospilos nelli) has bloomed and has a brilliant orange flower in the middle (I love orange!)



I can not wait for the other tomatoes in my garden to turn red!

Dinner Tonight....

Today was a slow day for me (Brian weeded and I fell asleep). I did clean the house though! I can not believe that this weekend went by so quickly. We watched a movie, went to a few stores, and cleaned up the house.

Brian had some left over pizza for dinner, I had a panini from a Barefoot Contessa recipe. It featured locally grown tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and some homemade pesto!

Here are all of the ingredients ready to for assembly and to go into the press.


After the ciabatta was drizzled on the outside with olive oil it was brushed with homemade pesto and then some mozzarella.


Locally grown tomatoes were then placed on top and a sprinkling of salt and then topped with the other piece of ciabatta.


So we don't have an official panini press so I use our George Foreman grill. It works like a charm, I used the lid of my Martha Stewart cast iron enamel pot to press the top down.


Here is the finished panini and I tell you it was delicious served with pomegranate green tea!


I decided to streamline the countertop in my kitchen. I found these spice crocks on clearance at Macy's of course they were Martha Stewart collection and they are working out well! I love the tray that holds them all.

Green Again.....

It always seems as though gardening is a waiting game. I plant my seeds in the spring and wait for them to sprout, I wait for the weather to get warm enough to plant the seedlings outside, after planting the seedlings out I wait for them to grow into plants, now I am waiting for the tomatoes on those plants to turn from bright green to various shades of reds, purples, and yellows.

I remember posting a post about the very same thing last year. Yesterday morning I had a stroll through the garden and saw 99.9% green tomatoes.

I made this little photo collage of a few of my green tomatoes. There are Zapotec Pleated, Hawaiian Pineapple, and Super Sweet 100s (which I don't remember planting)


I believe that this is going to be my first red ripe tomato. It still has a while to go but it is exciting to see it turn from green to a nice hue of red.


Lucy was sticking close by to make sure not to miss out on any of the action...


Charlie is standing by wondering when we will go back inside so he can go back to sleep...


We had one coneflower pop up that I don't remember planting. I purchased some quite a few years ago when we lived in Lordstown but I have not seen it since. I may have transplanted some...

Zucchini and squash....

Brian's uncle Roger gave us some yellow squash and a hunk of zucchini that was about 2 lbs. I cut up the yellow squash for squash casserole (I will post the recipe later) and made some zucchini~banana bread have a look.

Here are some Zephyr squash that I picked from my garden this morning while taking the pups out.


The squash that Uncle Roger gave me was really big, I cut it in half and scooped the seeds out. You can see it to the left of my little cutting board.


I cut the zucchini into pieces that are the same size and put them in zip-loc freezer bags. I then store them in the freezer until I am ready for casserole!


With the big hunk of zucchini I made zucchini~banana bread. We had some very ripe bananas that needed to be used, so as far as I am concerned it was my duty to make this....


And of course while performing this necessary duty I had to guild the lily with some milk chocolate ganache....



Doesn't it look delicious!!!

One-Stroke Open House

Yesterday was my 2nd One-Stroke open house at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I had two hours to paint an apron with basic daisies. I also decided to paint a bag because I knew that it would not take me two hours to paint an apron.

Here is my work area. I was located right in the front of the store to greet customers as they walked in.


Here is a canvas bag that I painted. I did not choose the design, basically I am told what to paint. I can choose the surface but not the design.


The last thing I painted was the apron, again I did not choose the design but I think that it came out cute!


Here is my display shelf that is located at the front of the store. In Jo-Ann they have all of the classes and samples displayed in the front of the store. Here are my classes/samples.

Slow day....

Today was a nice slow day. I stayed at home and hung out with the pups. Even though it was a slow day I was productive, the first thing on my to do list was to get rid of all of our recycling that has been piling up in the garage. Our recycling program is great but they only come once every other week and we are only allowed to fill a bin the size of a laundry basket. Brian and I try to recycle everything that we can so that tends to be more than the laundry basket size bin can accommodate. After dropping off the recycling I went to the grocery store for dinner.

I told Brian that I would make him a steak and while he had the grill fired up I decided to have some Boca Italian sausages.

Brian also requested what we have come to call "oven potatoes." Oven potatoes are simply potatoes that have chopped herbs, garlic, paprika, and then baked in the oven until tender and crispy.

Here is a pile of fresh snipped herbs which include thyme, oregano, and parsley. Of course there is garlic involved.


The potatoes get a dressing of olive oil, pepper, and then the herbs.

Here are the finished potatoes, they turned out to be quite delicious...


Tomorrow at Jo-Ann I have a painting demonstration open house. I will be painting two aprons and I will be there for two hours. I don't know how I am going to stretch that out to two hours! I remembered that I forgot to paint the sample for my August class so I figured that I better get that done soon. The class is painting sunflowers, here is a picture of my sample.