So...whats for dinner?

susan - now I want spanikopita and baklava!!!

moon - they not only screwed up the delivery location (we did the graveside before the chapel) they left out the red roses and both arrangements were all white when they were supposed to be a mix, this gentleman's school colors.  I was mighty pissed and they will hear from me tomorrow - I am wondering what they will offer to placate me.  By leaving out the red roses I was actually shorted by half the amount of roses in the standard arrangement - so incorrect and overcharged - not good, and they only had one chance to get it right.  The good news is that very few others knew what the flowers were supposed to look like.

Lacey, I think all that travelingI  tests anyone's stamina. I love traveling but I'm always glad to get home. Of course it doesn't take long until I'm ready to go again lol!

Sk, I'd be damned mad  too about the flowers. Keep us posted.

You go girl! The new thinner Special is not to be trifled with. After all, she has access to a caddie and a posse of breast challenged friends!

Seriously, I know that you are disappointed that the careful plans that you had made were not fulfilled, and that you cared deeply that the service and all the arrangements were done to your level. It is good, however, that the real stuff, like being together during this time of both mourning and a celebration of life was accomplished with grace.

*susan*

Nance, your stuffed peppers sound really good.

Deb, such a cute baby! 

Susan, I'm sure all that good food was worth the standing and chopping.  Now let's see if you can stand by that "no cooking for 24 hrs!"

Sorry for the disappointment In the flowers, SK, but it sounds like the service was a comfort to those who cared about your elderly friend. 

Lacey, take a deep breath and enjoy all that family time.  When is the Italy trip?

Eric, I never know what to say to console people, either.  Words just don't seem adequate.

Brats tonight for dinner.  Will steam them in a skillet with beer.  Then dh will brown them on a hot grill.  More fresh green beans and new potatoes for a side.  Wish we had some of Nance's fresh tomatoes for a salad.  Sigh.....

susan - you are absolutely correct - the flowers are not what all will remember about the day, it will be that we came together and supported each other and honored our friend in word and deed. And yes, I'm a skinnier badass with some awesome ladies who prop me up in good times and not so good ones! I'm very lucky.

Thanks all for the votes of confidence in my flower snafu fixing! 

Deb - I have to agree - the baby is so adorable, I'm so happy for you.

Tonight we're going to Foxy's Bar & Grill for the first time.  It's actually close enough that we could walk there.  It's on my regular walking route.  Or we could take the pontoon boat there and tie up at the dock.  I think Tues. night is Taco night, and I'm not expecting anything really good.  Just hoping for something not bad! 

I'm tired enough to like the idea of not cooking.  DH and I played golf this morning at a par 64 (short) course, which is hilly.  We walked with our push carts so got some exercise.  Then this afternoon I did a little kayaking up and down the creek that leads to the lake.  I exited from the kayak in thrashing fashion by toppling into the creek!  The cool water felt good. 

Lol Carole, I like the idea of kayaking but envision myself in a perpetual dunked state. I'm unsteady enough in a canoe!

Today instead canning tomatoes, I ended up visiting a friend who  just went to raised bed gardening. I'm seriously leaning toward moving and redoing ours with brand new top soil so I was interested in seeing how she did hers.  Her DH and mine are both amateur woodworkers, so when they get together it's hours in the workshop. I intended to just stay a short time, sigh!  Therefore, tomorrow I have my work cut out for me. Oh well, time spent with friends is never wasted, right? It's been in the 70's here, just perfectly beautiful weather!

Tonight is sort of a multinational night. We're having Spicy Thai grilled (flank) steak, a Lebanese green bean dish braised with fresh tomatoes and garlic and Greek lemon roasted new potatoes. All of the vegies are from either my or my friend's garden. She sent me home with several cloves of garlic and about 6 pounds of onions the size of softballs!

Tonight's dinner was sparse. The kid had raided the leftover kebobs, leaving four tiny pieces of lamb for her parents. So, I reheated those with the spinach pies. Husband got a farm tomato with garlic, basil oil, and I had some gazpacho made with commercial tomatoes. Would have been better with those lovely, expensive farm tomatoes. Soon enough, I sigh. Our plants will be producing tons of fruit.

*susan*

Our DD.  ****ALWAYS****   raids the left overs...

Today was treatment day, so we ate out. Went to a local Irish pub and had their fabulous fish and chips. Ordered the special, mojito, which was strong enough to topple a linebacker. The waitress called the drink "potent" and brought me extra soda water so I could water it down regularly. I never have a drink this early in the day.... might be an early night!

*susan*

Fish and chips at the Irish pub sounds good to me, Susan. 

Chuckled to myself yesterday as I made turkey meatballs.  Never has anyone worked so hard to make a bland ground meat tasty!  I sauted fresh spinach, drained and chopped it.  Diced green onions, garlic, and ground up mushrooms in the mini processor.  Sautéed the onions, garlic, and mushrooms in a bit of EVOO.  Added spinach and sautéed veggies to ground turkey with s & p and Italian bread crumbs.  Formed the meatballs and cooked until firm in convection oven.  Added to home-made red sauce (onions, colored bell peppers, Cento crushed tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes). 

So dinner was mostly ready when we got back from a SLOW round of golf yesterday afternoon.  (Waited on every hole and blamed any bad shots on the wait!)  I cooked some wheat linguine and made a salad of sliced seedless cucumber from farmers' mkt, tomato, perfect avocado, purple bell pepper.  Fresh-grated asiago on the pasta.  We were hungry and dinner tasted good.  Lots of leftovers.

Susan & Special - or a margarita if you can't find a mojito.

Today is bread making day -- cinnamon, English muffin and rye. Trying to get ahead of guests coming next weekend. I'll also make sandwich rolls later in the week.

Tonight's dinner will be grilled country style ribs and grilled corn with a Greek salad.

Carole, I hope the turkey meatballs were worth the effort! It amazes me what you can whip up in your kitchen on wheels!

Special, have fun celebrating DD's HB! 

Carole, I am also amazed at your culinary ability in your mobile kitchen! The meatballs sound delicious. You certainly disguised any association to ground turkey! I have never worked with it...and may never. When I consider buying it, I always end up opting to go vegetarian mode, e.g., turkey chili idea ends up being veggie chili. Nice that you had lots of leftovers after all that effort, and they will probably even taste better after a day or two!

Okay.... A very long travelogue follows....feel free to skip!

We had quite the eat fest on the Vineyard! My friend there loves good food and loves to cook and eat out. She is now a widow with an empty nest, so mostly does cooking for her church social functions and friends, however...... inexplicably, she has no other friends who are foodies, so she was dying for us to show up this week, and made reservations at two of our favorite dinner spots well over a week ago.

A lovely ferry ride in perfect weather on Tuesday morning was followed by lunch at my friend's home : delicious cold salmon salad with capers and red onion (forget what else, but have the recipe saved somewhere), white gazpacho soup, and the wheat sprout bread we brought down from NH. All good...yum!

DH and I took a long walk before venturing out that evening for fish dinner at The Homeport restaurant. OMG, the options! We shared three starters....smoked bluefish pate with crackers (oh so delish), a citrus tuna chunk tartare (not my favorite, but interesting and tasty), and an interesting local greens salad with feta. My entree was mahi mahi over wild rice with asparagus, my friend had swordfish, and DH scallops, which came late, netting us a free dessert of key lime pie. Adding to our meal was a beautiful sunset over Menemsha beach which we got to view from our table's window.

Wednesday we enjoyed a pretty day at South Beach in Katama. While DH and friend set up on the beach, I took a very long brisk (much needed)  walk. I am committed to this fitness thing, and could easily see the scales turn upward, and joints hurt without my daily exercise. After the beach, we picked up some raw oysters, (DH loves the shucking challenge) and returned home to have them and then a tuna linguini medley (artichokes, kalamata olives, scallions and I forget what else, tho I always used to make the recipe after learning it from this friend). I will unearth it from my archives......so delicious, especially with the fresh local greens and tomato salad we had with dijon vinaigrette. 

We saw a play that night, Search: Paul Clayton. It was about Bob Dylan's mentor and their complicated relationship...lots of old folk songs well performed in a lovely small rehabbed theatre. Stopped for an ice cream in Edgartown afterwards, and tried some cranberry fudge which was really yummy.

Hit the beach again on Thursday....and I did my long pre-beach walk before intrepidly fighting the crashing waves to get out in the deeper water to have a relaxing swim. It was hysterical at first, since DH and I were knocked on our keesters (sp?) twice and ground into the sand as we tried to enter the rough surf. The high waves were crashing right at the shore line....a true challenge for entry. Reminded me of my summers at the NJ shore where I loved to struggle against the waves.....but I was not 69 years old then! LOL! I was happy to have validated that my fitness work really helped me be strong enough to exit the water without any more falls. What a fun and exhilarating challenge for both of us, and I am sure, amusing for my friend to watch from her beach chair! I am still wearing sand abrasions on my knee, and had over a pint of sand in my bathing suit after this little surf swim. I was glad the house had an outdoor shower, so we didn't fill my friend's septic with sand.

That evening we had dinner at the Sweet Life Cafe, a pretty spot in Oak Bluffs where my friend loves to go since she and her DH used to celebrate their anniversaries there. The food is inventive, delicious, and beautiful. We had a lovely porch table and shared three appetizers: a pork belly crusted something (can't recall the name, and since they change their menu nightly, I can't retrieve it like DH suggested) that was wonderful; hand-rolled garganelli, with pine nuts and spring pea puree....yum; and their North Tabor greens salad...so fresh and tasty. For entree I had something called beef duo: a small tenderloin, along with little pockets stuffed with short rib meat over sautéed kale (!) and sided with burrata. It was wonderful, except that the kale a bit tough. Who would guess I'd ever complain about that!! I'm also discovering that eating so much red meat is pretty hard on my system....note to self. But it tasted great! DH had rack of lamb which was delightful, and our friend had the entree portion of their appetizer Martha's Vineyard Bouillabaisse, which she continually raved about while eating. Believe it or not, we had dessert too! I opted for the blueberry compote with lemon sorbet and some sweet crumbly grain (?) DH had an unusual rice pudding. I cannot recall friend's dessert...but I remember her plate was spotless by the end.

There you have it.....our food frenzy on MV with our friend! We had a beautiful ferry ride back to Falmouth yesterday afternoon, and a quick ride home....on the way stopped at a local place to have  BLTs which served as early dinner, and had popcorn later. Back to reality....better plan dinner for tonight....and hit the grocery store!

This morning, I felt obliged to think about the gross expense of that little foodie excursion, and DH discovered that his charge receipt for the Sweet Life seemed lower than he remembered. It became apparent to us that the tip he wrote on the bill never got entered into the system. When we called to rectify the situation, the manager was beside himself with joy, telling DH, "Thank you! You made my day!" (at the Sweet Life Cafe;).....

Sorry for yet another long post....never had a moment by myself to write while on the island.

Have a lovely weekend everyone. We are happily foregoing a trip to the lake to stay here and catch up on things.......yay! Then to NJ on Friday for DGD's BD party weekend.

Good question, Eric!

And what is in a mojito, Susan? Totally unaware of muxed drinks.....