Food, Fun and Fall

 

     I'm still sorting through my vacation pictures and I thought I'd share a few more of the highlights with you. I think you might recognize Cinderella's coach. We attended Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party whle we were in Orlando. It is a Halloween party held in the Magic Kingdom several evenings before Halloween. They close the park at 7:00 p.m. to the general public and the only people allowed in are those who purchase a special ticket. It is a bit costly and not something I would do every year, but it is fun. Many people are in full costume (including the characters), the fireworks take on a "spooky" theme and the lines for the rides are very short. There is also a special parade led by The Headless Horseman.

     Several places throughout the Magic Kingdom they have trick-or-treat locations (see above) and they give out a massive amount of candy. We each ended up with 2 bags full of "the good stuff". There are a few pictures of the castle/fireworks at the end of this post.

     I've written before about my favorite restaurant when we go to visit my dad on Siesta Key. Owens Fish Camp is located in the "artsy" area of Sarasota. It isn't easy to find and the parking is lousy, but it is so worth it! We always try to sit out on the porch to eat, but there is also quite a bit of indoor seating.

We started the meal with a jar of their Smoked Fish Spread.

     My dad, daughter and I shared the Low Country Boil for 2 and we had plenty of food. We also had the smaller sized Fried Green Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese and Smoked Ham.

My husband had the Fish Tacos with Green Salsa and Baja Sauce.

     We even had dessert because it is so good. We shared the Blackberry Fried Pies and the Bourbon Pecan Pie with Cream. We could barely walk, but we enjoyed every bite!

     It may look as if we do nothing but eat on vacation. There is a bit of truth to that, but since I'm not going to post pictures of us at the swimming pool...you get food pictures!

     Another favorite for us is Sharkey's on the Pier in Venice, FL. The restaurant is right on the water and so casual there are people on the beach, in bathing suits walking around the restaurant. When I'm in a location with water, if I can eat near the beach it is a bonus for me!

We had a little visitor while we waited for our food.

Once again, we had a great meal. My daughter had the Fish Tacos.

     I always get the same thing. It is actually an appetizer. The Brie and Apple Pizza is a crispy flatbread with Granny Smith Apples, Brie, Mango Glaze and Almonds. I've tried to duplicate it at home and I just can't get it quite right.

My husband had the fried shrimp.

My dad had the day's special of Mac and Cheese with Andouille Sausage (excellent).

Until my next round of calorie laden foods...I leave you with Cinderella's Castle.

I am joining Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays.

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Roastfish & Cornbread...Zoe Update

     Well, Zoe the pup has taken over our entire lives. She was 8 weeks old yesterday and she is sweet, lovable and exhausting. We don't seem to remember it quite this way from when our old Nike was this age, over 15 years ago. She goes out every 2 hours, which means I have been out in the rain more in the past week than I have been in the past 5 years. She is too little to "hold it" at night, so around 2:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., my husband is cleaning out the crate/kennel and walking around outside in his bathrobe. He is very much a person who requires/expects/demands his sleep, so he is looking at me like "why did I let you do this"! She chews on everything, so I'm picking up shoes, power cords and everything else that isn't glued down-all day long. She wants so badly for our old dog to play, that she chases her through the house, nipping at her ankles until she gets a warning snarl and then she does it all over again. If Nike could talk, she would be asking when this d*** puppy was going home.

     However, she snuggles up and sleeps in your lap for long periods of time. She looks at you with big, brown eyes that seem to say that she loves you more than anything in the world. She plays with her toys, rolling and jumping like a frog. She chases sunbeams (when we have them) on the carpet and she has certainly taken a home with 2 middle-aged boring people with a boring dog and turned us upside-down. We love her. We have no regrets at all, but we will certainly be glad when the accidents stop and she can sleep through the night!

     Now, on to other things...food! While vacationing on Hilton Head Island in October, we had wonderful southern food in a few very interesting places. Our first night, we went to a restaurant called Roastfish & Cornbread. It was the only restaurant that I had circled in the guidebook before leaving home and it was recommended to us by 2 different staff people at the hotel. 

      

     The restaurant isn't large, so I highly recommend going early. The mood was casual, funky and fun. Chef David Vincent Young has created a menu with so many wonderful choices, we didn't know what to do. He also has a delicious selection of vegetarian dishes which sounded wonderful. You can watch him stroll through the restaurant, keeping an eye on things. The staff was superb, the food was perfect.

     It was difficult to get interior pictures. You can see the artwork on the walls. You are looking at the back of a large church pew, which is the seating for a semi-private dining table.

We didn't have to wait for a table because we went early,

but when we left...people were waiting for tables.

     We started our meal with a delicious house salad. That is a yellow tomato, not an egg yolk on the plate. The house dressing was wonderful.

     I selected one of the evening's specials, Fried Softshell Crab (one of my favorites) with hushpuppies and a side of their special Sweet Potato Cornbread. The crab was cooked perfectly. The cornbread was interesting. It had the crumbly texture of cornbread, but tasted more like carrot cake.

     My husband loves Conch Fritters. He often orders them as an appetizer when we are in a southern state. This was the first time we have ever seen them served as a main dish. He said they were perfect, along with hushpuppies and fries. This was not a lowfat meal for us!

     I forgot to take a picture of our dessert. We shared a mini-tart. It was a Blueberry Key Lime Pie. I thought that it would be a tiny pie with blueberries on top, but actually they placed blueberries on the crust before pouring in the filling. So, each bite had blueberry in it as well as a few fresh berries on top with the whipped cream.

     This was a really interesting and fun place to visit and the food could not have been better. It would certainly be on my list to visit again when I'm back on Hilton Head.

Quick & Easy Chicken Soup

     I have been reading Joanne Fluke novels for several years. They are light, fun mysteries that are food related. The recipes are always included in the books and I was anxious to try this very simple chicken soup recipe from the latest book, Devil's Food Cake Murder. 

     I made my own chicken broth with two large chicken breasts boiled in water with salt, pepper and a couple of bay leaves. You could certainly buy the broth and use a rotissere chicken for the meat. This made a thick, creamy soup that we both really enjoyed. The second day, it thickened and needed a bit of water/broth to "turn it back into soup".

Ingredient

8 cups chicken broth (you may want a little more to thin down the soup)

3 cups cubed cooked chicken

6 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

black pepper

Boil broth and add noodles, cook until tender. Add two cans of soup to the broth. Stir in the chicken and sour cream (I added a little extra broth to thin the soup a little). Sprinkle with pepper if desired. Enjoy!

I am joining Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday

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Hilton Head, Disney Style

The view from our balcony.

     Last month my husband and I spent 5 nights on Hilton Head Island on our way home from Florida. It was our first trip to Hilton Head and we decided to stay at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. The reviews were all wonderful and it was supposed to be very quiet and peaceful. It lived up to our expectations. Sadly, the weather didn't. We had a perfect first week in Florida, but it rained every day on Hilton Head.

     The resort has a fishing lodge theme. Our view was perfect, looking out over the marsh. It may be a Disney property, but there was no sign of Mickey Mouse. It couldn't feel more different than the Orlando Disney resorts.

     We had a one bedroom villa. Do you see the octopus made of towels on our bed? I loved the huge porch off our unit. You could go out off the bedroom or the living room. It had 2 rocking chairs and a picnic table overlooking the marsh. It was nice during the cool, rainy week. If it had been warm and sunny, we might have spent all 5 days out there!

     We had a full kitchen, although we only had breakfast in the room. You can see my birthday balloons. My silly Disney daughter called them and told them about my October birthday, so I got balloons and a birthday pin.

You can see the old fishing photos on the wall and

the colors and furniture really fit the theme.

     The bath was two rooms, one with the shower, sink and toilet and the other large room with a sink and huge hot tub. We also had a washer and dryer in the room.

The pool area looked like a lot of fun.

     Walking around the grounds, you didn't feel at all as if you were on an island. It seemed much more as if we were in the woods.

     Of course Hilton Head is has a great beach! The Disney Resort sits on the marsh, but they own their own beach house just a mile from the resort. It was really impressive.

The beach house has a beautiful heated pool, snack bar and cocktail bar.

It has this water area for small kids and various game areas.

     Keeping with the lodge theme, it also has an air-conditioned sitting area where you can read, or gather with family and friends. Best of all, it has miles of beach to enjoy!

     We did have one clear day to sit on the beach and then go back and enjoy the pier at the resort. We actually had mixed feelings about Hilton Head. We had wonderful food (another later blog post) and great shopping. The beach was very nice and our resort was lovely. It is hard to form an opinion considering the weather wasn't good and the rainy days literally brought on headaches for both of us. We both left feeling glad we had visited, but not anxious to go back anytime soon. It was almost a little "too quiet" for us and a bit dark. Hilton Head has no signage that isn't at ground level. Everything is located on side roads back through the trees. At night, without a GPS it would be very easy to get lost. It was interesting and beautiful, but not on our short list of favorite places.

I am joining Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday and

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays.

Please visit our hostesses!