Last night our awesome neighbors invited us over for dessert with their family. I had already planned on making pumpkin pie for us and made that the day before. I had a extra pie shell on hand and a lemon so I put them to good use and made a lemon chess pie. The pie was new to me and turned out really well.  It reminds me a lot of a more sweet than tart lemon bar with its light top sugar crust and creamy custard filling. Darrell even made whipped cream for the pies!
Our community is having a cookie exchange tomorrow so I made sugar cookies, cut them out with Santa head cutters and frosted them with buttercream and chocolate. I am pretty sure these cookies will go over well because of their  generous amount of frosting.
We are in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Darrell has lots of frequent flyer miles and has earned an elite status so now he is usually upgraded to first class. On the way from Atlanta to Cancun the flight was pretty empty, including the seat next to Darrell so he asked if I could join him in first class so he wouldn’t be lonely and I was upgraded for free.
When we landed at the airport in Cancun the lines through customs was short and we got the green light so no additional checks were needed. We took our usual $9 bus ride into Playa del Carmen and checked into Playa Maya where we have stayed at for the past four years. After all of this traveling we were pretty hungry and went to La Caprichoza for dinner where we had yummy kebabs. We ended the night early after wandering to the churro cart for dessert. That’s Darrell ordering us some churros in the above photo.
Our beach front hotel is clean and simple. It is also pretty quiet except every once in a while I hear a noise that reminds me of the smoke monster from Lost. We decided to try out the hotel for breakfast. I had the “American” which came with toast, scrambled eggs and ham,which I had requested be placed on the side but arrived mixed in with my eggs.  Since I don’t eat ham Darrell had a lot to eat. Luckily, I found a yogurt shop near bank.
We walked to the grocery store called Mega where we bought several tasty and cheap pastries, shampoo, band aids, rubbing alcohol, water and vanilla for $10. We decided to spend the rest of our afternoon on beach drinking Sol and eating shrimp tacos but after lunch it started to pour so here we are, inside.
 
I clearly have too much time on my hands because a month or so ago I arranged my cookbooks into rainbow order.
Today I ran errands and turned my out of control cilantro plants into pesto (recipe from “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” by Mark Bittman, second shelf, second from left, bright green).
Today I made a kitchensink unique quiche with my new bounty of garden goodies and farm fresh eggs. I started by sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil then adding some sliced yellow squash. I folded that into my custard and cheese mixture and added some fresh basil and cilantro.
I also spent most of the day cleaning parts of the house, it feels good to have that out of the way but I still have a bit more to do, and I have to *ugh* vacuum. It feels like housekeeping is never done, especially since moving from the apartment into a house!
Lazboy called me on Friday to let me know that they might actually deliver my chair (the one I had ordered back in June) next week! I asked them if they were joking. I guess we will see!
Today after meeting up with my friend Tracy (who is by far the nicest and kindest person on this planet) I went to pick up a small preview share of my weekly CSA from KYV Farms; the first of many I am hoping. KYV Farms is small CSA close to where I live. The farmer is very passionate about growing good quality produce. He has a day job so this is purely a labor of love, he mentioned today that if he gets 200 members next season he would love to farm full time. So if you are in Jacksonville and are interested in joining a wonderful CSA please contact them!
Seasonally, it’s funny for me to think of being able to pick up cucumbers and bok choy in mid October but I guess Florida has two growing seasons. Who am I to argue! I also purchased a dozen fresh eggs and hurried home to make garlic ginger bok choy!
Darrell’s co-workers take pretty good care of him so I am always happy to fulfill their special requests for treats. I found out yesterday that Key Lime Bars would be appreciated so I made my first batch today.  I have never had a Key Lime Bar before but these taste pretty good, kinda sweet and tart little square Key Lime pies!
We went to Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival yesterday and bummed around the park for most of the day. The weather was nice and the food we sampled was tasty but I was hoping for some chefy events and to learn from the pros. We actually could not find any competitions or anything food related scheduled for the day we were there. After Epcot we went to Lush and then headed home. I hope that we can spend more time in Orlando and visit some friends and some of the other parks!
Last night I made a chocolate ganache yellow cake filled with cheesecake pudding and topped with home made whipped cream. I had never made ganache or whipped cream before and was surprised by how well they both turned out. No more store bought whipped cream for me and I can’t wait to fill Ritz crackers with peanut butter, dunk them in a rich ganache and let them set. Mmm!
Anyway, this cake was inspired by an incredibly talented blogger at “How To Eat A Cupcake“. The cake I made consisted of items I already had in my pantry: yellow cake mix, cheesecake pudding mix, ganache (chocolate chips + heavy cream) and some heavy cream whipped into a tasty swirl. I have been very bored at home so I thought I’d give this cake a go. I think that it turned out quite well, reminds me of chocolate covered donuts and makes pretty slices.
I recently bought my first gas grill and have been grilling steadily since. Besides it is still hot here and I don’t want to turn on the oven unless I have to. I have grilled shrimp, scallops, cedar planked salmon, chicken, corn, sweet potatoes and now pizza!
About a month ago my friend JimK grilled some pizza. This sounded like a yummy and good idea so I made a simple pizza dough from the new “America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking book” which I recently purchased at Costco and then prepared my toppings (mozzarella, tomatoes & fresh basil for mine and a mixture of bbq sauce, chicken & shredded mozzarella for my husband’s pizza). The key to successfully make grilled pizza is to be organized. I found that once I placed the thin dough directly on the grill it needed to be turned over about 30 seconds later and topped. This was so tasty and easy we are having grilled pizza again tonight!
When we lived on the other side of the river in Orange Park I had a bad habit of visiting a nearby restaurant for a mint brownie way too often. Sometimes they would have them other times they would be out or them for weeks. They were expensive too at $3.50 each. Today I finally found a recipe that sounded similar to the ones I have craved and made the above which are even better than what I was buying. If you want to make them too you can click here. These puppies are going with Darrell tomorrow to celebrate his first day back to work!
Recently we had some conflicting feline leukemia test results for our cat. One test said she had tested positive and the other said that she was negative. The vet explained this by saying that, while this is very rare, it is possible that she is a carrier for the virus. She is acting perfectly fine and healthy so we are going to have her retested in a month or so to see if the result is positive or not. I was heartbroken when they told me she tested positive last week and have felt like we have been on a roller coaster recently about it.
