The Four "F"s--A Great Combo!

FRIENDS (AND FOOD!)

Last Friday night we had a lovely outing with our friends, Gary and Rebecca. It had rained during the afternoon, but cleared up and it turned out to be a really beautiful evening. We headed for the BIG metropolis of Zulu, Indiana.

Now, pretty much all that Zulu really has is "Billy's", a Mexican restaurant. I was very amused at the sign in the restaurant (above) because I was thinking that Billy's was the entire downtown Zulu!

I forgot to take pictures until after our food was gone--hence, no photos of our flauta's and burrito and Combo plate. It was all very good, except my hubby thought the combo plate was a little extra spicy.

On our way home, we stopped at Janelle's place (Lynn's daughter), and visited her pony, Star. You may remember a post about the birthday party we had for Star some time ago. Don't Gary and Rebecca look right at home on the farm?

FAMILY (AND FOOD!)

For many years now (maybe 14 or 15?) the girl cousins on my dad's side have gotten together for a reunion in the summer. This year we went to Archbold, Ohio to the Heritage Inn. We all grew up in Archbold and/or the surrounding communities.

There are actually 12 girl 1st cousins, and we also now include the girl cousins-in-law. We have not been including the male 1st cousins (we did have 4 but two have passed away); but this year we decided to include the remaining 2 male cousins. So there would be a total of 17. But as you can see only one of the male cousins was able to come and enjoy the festivities. My brother and his wife were unable to come, and 2 of the girl cousins were unable to come, so this was our group of 13.

FOOD is a big part of what we do when we get together. Tuesday evening we enjoyed a great meal at Stella Blue, a restaurant in downtown Archbold.

On Wednesday we took a drive to the little town of Grand Rapids, Ohio, which is right on the Maumee River. We ate at a delightful restaurant there, LaRoe's. Most of us had a sandwich and soup lunch, with 4 different kinds of soup--all of them delicious.

I put this next picture here for 2 reasons; it goes with the "Food" category; and also you may see a trend in my picture taking. I seem to be getting the best side of everyone in these pics!

We stopped on the way home from Grand Rapids in Ridgeville for an ice cream cone.

Most of us are farm girls and used to the country smells; but as we were sitting there attempting to enjoy our ice cream there was suddenly a very strong, fragrant odor from the very common fertilizer used in the country! Sadly, we had to go to our cars to finish our cones!

Later on Wednesday evening, we had a wonderful birthday dinner, in which we celebrated ALL of our birthdays. (It was the actual birthday of my cousin Carol--so we had celebrated with her all day, including a free dessert at LaRue's. I failed to get a picture of the feast we had, which was prepared by a few of the cousins that still live in Archbold. But my sister, Brenda took this photo of the two wonderful dishes prepared by the real birthday cousin, Carol.


And these were our cupcakes, which besides being very nicely decorated, were also displayed in the shape of a "G" for Gisel.

FUN, FUN, FUN! It would be hard to describe the dynamics of our group, but whenever we get together, we absolutely have so much fun. We end up laughing until we cry--which is actually very healthy for us, as it increases our store of endorphins.

One of the fun things we did, was to take a Canal Boat ride while we were in Grand Rapids. Our guide on the boat did a great job of explaining all the history. But basically these boats ran up and down this river during the late 1800's and early 1900's. They were pulled by mules who walked along the edge of the river and were attached to the boat by a rope. In it's prime this canal route had several locks to go through, but we actually went through the only lock that is still functional at this time. It was a great history lesson and a fun ride.

(May I just say that once again, I have captured the better side of some of our group in this picture!) What was I thinking? I could have at least asked them to turn around for the photo!

AHA! Finally, a picture with all of us facing the right direction! This was taken just before our canal ride, and one of our guides graciously agreed to take the picture for us.

This girl is a student and does this as a summer job. She did a great job of not only giving us a thorough history of the canal boats, etc, but also helped with the working of the boat at times. What a hot, summer job, but she seemed very enthusiastic.

I couldn't get a good picture of the mules while they wer pulling the boat. This is Molly and Mabel (actually, I'm sure it's not Mabel, but I forgot the name of the second one!

This is one of the gals who helped with the boat. The had to unhook the mules from the boat when they went through the locks, and she was helping to steer with the rope. She's actually walking on the wall along the lock, and they often walked on top of the boat to maneuver it at different times.

This just shows them opening the gates to the lock in order for us to go through.

Before we left that area, we stopped to see the Providence Dam. I'm always impressed with the amount of force and power the water has going over the dam.

Now that I've written a book, I will bore you no further. I just wanted to share some of the fun activities I've had recently involving, Friends, Family, Food, and Fun!

A Surprise Date

We had a nice day yesterday. Lynn worked on finishing a project at Janelle's, and then after an afternoon nap, he worked on an equipment rack he is sending to Haiti. I weeded some garden, did some laundry, and also had a little afternoon nap--why not?

We went to the A & W in Antwerp for supper, something we do sort of frequently in the summer, and had cheeseburgers and root beer floats; he had chili cheese fries and I had onion rings.

In the evening we both read for a little while, and then watched an episode of JAG, that we get from Netflix. At about 9:45 pm, Lynn said, "Why don't we go for a little ride?" I said "Sure, if you're serious." He said "get your shoes on". So off we went in Black Beauty (his truck). I wasn't sure where we were headed, and I'm not sure he was either. But we drove up to the shopping area on Maysville Road. He then asked me what restaurant might be open at that hour. We looked around, and were just going to go to Wendy's, when we saw that Vince's was open. We had never been there, so decided to try it.

It turns out they did have a dessert menu, and so we each ordered coffee, and we decided to share a piece of Praline Turtle Pie. It turns out it was very yummy and very rich; we were both glad we had coffee to go with it. We also had each gotten a large glass of water. He was particularly thirsty, so he poured some of my water into his glass. The waitress apparently noticed, and brought him another glass of water. That one wasn't as cold so he poured the ice from the first glass into that one. Then it was almost too full of ice to drink, so I spooned some of his ice back into the first glass. Why am I telling you all this? Because, first of all the waitress was watching our exchange of pouring water, and dipping out ice, etc. and she probably thought we were crazy. She finally said, looks like you're having fun! Secondly, we got so tickled about it all that we were just laughing and having a good time.

My husband is an engineer, and prior to marrying me, I don't think he ever did much of anything spontaneous. But since I sometimes fly by the seat of my pants, I guess a little of it has rubbed off. I was very surprised he suggested a late night date, but it was really fun! Did I mention, this was the day I was going to seriously get back to my diet?! There's always another day for that.

He says, now, that we may just have to do a spontaneous weekend get-away sometime. Sounds like fun, but I don't think I'll hold my breath. Since our surprise date last night, though, I'm sure it could possibly happen.

Sun, Seafood, Sweets,Swimming, Sunsets

(Disclaimer: This is a little lengthy, so if you don't have time to read it, I certainly understand!)
As the temperatures in Indiana began to plummet to below O levels, I was fortunate enough to fly to sunny Florida to spend some time in the sun! I had the flu a few days before we left, so this was a very welcome respite.

My cousin, Nadine, has a condo in Bradenton, and so sister Lou and I were invited to spend this time with her. Her sister Carol was with us for a few days. Above is the courtyard for the condos; Nadine's condo was second from the end in the right hand corner of this picture. The pool was just to the left of the picture.

We arrived late on Sunday evening (the 6th); the next few days were cool (for Florida!) but still mostly in the high 50's and low to mid 60's during the day. Monday evening we went to the Oyster Bar for dinner with some friends in the condo next to ours--Byron and Beaetta, and Darlene (who was a neighbor of mine when we were growing up). Then we went to visit some friends who have a trailer there, Lana and her husband. Lana also grew up in Archbold.

Lou, Me, Betti, Carol, Nadine, Darlene

Tuesday we had supper at "Betti's Cafe"--a sister of Carol and Nadine; she and her husband John have a beautiful condo in Sun City Center. We had a great meal and a fun visit there.

We had supper Wednesday night at a very unique little restaurant. It is called "Jose's Real Cuban Food". It has only a few tables and some stools along the bar. We wanted to check this one out because it is going to be featured on "Deli's, Dives and Diners" on TV. They were going to be taping the program on Feb. 17th, the day we left. It was really good food and a unique atmosphere.

By now you have probably figured out that our main entertainment was food! This was called "Sonny's Real Pit BBQ". I had sliced brisket that was really good. Even better, we went for the "early bird" meal and got a great senior discount.

We had breakfast at this really cute Breakfast House Friday morning. It's in an actual house, and they have a real chef that does the cooking. Everything was not only delicious but presented beautifully.

These were called Tropical Pancakes (I think); I don't know if you can tell from the picture but they had a ring of pineapple baked into them like a wheel in the center. It also had macadamia nuts. Nadine allowed us all to taste them--yummy!

I had never had Eggs Benedict so that was my entree. It has hollandaise sauce on top and some very good home fried potatoes on the side.

This was our breakfast group. On the right is another cousin (by marriage), Carolyn. After breakfast we drove through downtown Sarasota and stopped at the Whole Food Store. It was HUGE! It even had it's own parking garage, and had every food imaginable.

Saturday for lunch we went to "Peaches". There were 7 or us cousins that were there in that same area, and we all got together for lunch. Then we went to cousin Ruth's trailer, as I had never seen it, and we had dessert there.

Sunday was probably the most interesting day for me. We went to church Sunday morning on the "Chapel on a Boat". It was a very pretty chapel inside. The pastor was kind of young, but had a good message. After the service we had time to go out on the deck and enjoy the sunshine.

(An inside view of the chapel)

There were eight of us that went to church together--the 4 from our condo, our 3 neighbors, and Carolyn.

We went to the Oyster Bar for lunch. Lou had her Valentine's dinner, as she had the special--lobster stuffed with crab meat and even some fried shrimp as well. They have an appetizer called "onion straws" which are very, very thin fried onions. We all shared some!

Sunday evening we went to the church that Carolyn normally attends. They had a special singing group, The Sarasota area Mennonite Men's Choir. We got there 30 minutes before it started and just barely got seats. I think there were probably about 1200 people there. There was also a string quartet made up of 4 sisters; they played before the concert started, during the offertory, and accompanied a couple of the men's songs. They were so good! Two of them were twins who are juniors in high school. They were amazing. The men's choir was also excellent.

Monday evening we went to a buffet at "Sweet Tomato". They have all kinds of salad, soups, potatoes and desserts. Once again, I ate just a little more than I should have.

Tuesday night we went to Anna Maria Island and ate at the "Sandbar" restaurant. This is a view of the restaurant from the beach. We got there before our reservation so went to the beach.

After our dinner we went back out to the beach and watched the sunset. Pictures never seem to really capture the beauty of things like this.

Wednesday night we again went to the Island (Holmes Beach) and ate at this little "shack" called "Skinny's". It's not real big and we ate outside. But they had wonderful hamburgers, and after having seafood several times, it was a welcome treat.

Of course, after our burgers, we went out to the beach and again watched the sunset. It was a beautiful evening, with very little breeze and was very relaxing.

NOW, what did we do besides eat? Went for walks, laid out by the pool and swam, read books, watched some TV, visited a lot, pretty much just rested and relaxed. After the first few days, and one sort of rainy day, it cleared up and was beautiful weather the rest of the time--mostly low 70's.

I would not be telling the whole story, if I didn't mention "Sweetberries". It is a frozen custard place that has soft ice cream and concretes, and I think we were there at least 3 times. I know one time we made it our supper stop and also had a sandwich.

What I can't seem to figure out is, why wasn't I able to stay on my diet and lose a little weight? What a mystery!

Too Much Chocolate?

Can you get too much of a good thing? I believe that we came close to going over the line on this one!

We were invited to a fund-raiser for a Christian Youth Center in Hicksville, Ohio. One of the men in our church is a regional Youth For Christ leader in that area. I thought it sounded REALLY interesting, so I talked my hubby into going with me.


It was advertised as a "sit-down meal" of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate and they called it "A Chocolate Chalet". I couldn't quite imagine a whole meal with chocolate in every course--thus my interest in going.(you can enlarge the invitation on the right to see that it does say sit-down meal.)


When we arrived they greeted us, had us sign up for a grand prize drawing, and actually had a coat-check for our coats. It started with hors-d'oeuvres; there were chocolate candies, what looked like a cheese ball but was frosting with mini chocolate chips to put on graham crackers, chocolate-covered pretzels,etc.


Of course, there was also a chocolate fountain with all kinds of things to dip--strawberries, pineapple, angel food cake pieces, etc.


THEN it was time for the sit-down meal. The tables (and chairs) were beautifully decorated. We were served by some of the boys who go to the youth center--with some adult supervision of course. But they did a great job, and looked great in their chef hats.


The first course was the two pieces of candy on the plate. I also wanted you to see how pretty the place settings were.


The second course was a little piece of what I think was chocolate cheese cake and this little mouse. He was very cute. I'm sorry I didn't get a good picture of him. I shared Lynn's and brought mine home, but the pictures I took here were blurry.


The third course was from "dairi-d-lite" and I thought at first it was ice cream, with a long crispy cookie. I think maybe it was like a sherbert or chocolate ice.


The last course was a beautiful (and delicious) chocolate cake. They brought a cake to each table and we cut our own pieces. Surprisingly, one of the men actually did the honors of cutting the cake.

Now, let me say, it was all very wonderful. But was it a meal? It certainly wasn't what I was anticipating. What was I thinking? I guess my first clue should have been that it started at 7:30pm but then I know sometimes people eat late. I love chocolate, and enjoyed it all. My hubby got a "chocolate headache" and ate a sandwich when we got home.

I kept thinking that there is a Bible verse that says something about doing all things in moderation, and not to excess. (I couldn't figure out where it is so maybe I have it wrong). However, I believe this was just a LITTLE bit on the side of excess when it comes to chocolate. Oh yes! As a final touch, they sent us each home with a piece of "Debrand's" chocolate in a cute little box!

Have I had my chocolate fix to last me for a while? Probably not!

Tea And Crumpets

Several days ago, a friend and I decided to go out for lunch. We sort of wanted to go to someplace a little different. She said she knew about this tea house downtown. She didn't know exactly where it was, but was sure we could find it.

After driving Miss Daisy (AKA Judy) all around downtown, she finally called another friend who told us where it was. When we got there, we noticed that there was another teahouse across the street, which is really the one she was thinking about! But we decided to try this one, called "The Peony House" . It was a very relaxing and fun experience. It was started by two ladies a few years ago, and they wanted to keep it true to English traditions. They make everything themselves from scratch. And they have many kinds of tea. My tea was called "very berry" or something like that. It was very good.

We first had a salad--several to choose from; then sandwiches on a croissant--also 5+ to choose from. (I had a broccoli slaw salad, and she had a bacon, lettuce tomato salad; I had chicken salad sandwich and she had turkey walnut; we both tried a little of each other's choices) They were very good. Then they brought us each a "pastry plate" that had five different little pastries, including an English scone, a shortbread, a cookie, a little tart with chocolate filling and a cookie. She also brought 3 different toppings to try with the scone and shortbread--lemon curd, a strawberry topping and an english cream.

It was quiet and small with lots of atmosphere. They also sold paintings, hats, tea cozy's, etc. and had lots of art work on the walls.

It was a little pricey (we thought) but for a one-of-a-kind place, it was worth it. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I would love to go again and try some of the other salads and sandwiches. Anyone for tea and crumpets?

Food, Glorious Food

I was going to try to make up some clever words to the song from Oliver, but just couldn't get that creative. Doing this collage took most of my creative juices. (Actually, I just had to figure out the program, and after a trial and error period, I think I finally got it.)

All of this to say, we ate at some really great places on our trip. Some of them we sort of found accidentally; a couple of them were reccomended by local people. The food "presentation" was really wonderful at some of them, and it was also delicious--what a combination. If you are ever in New Hampshire, we can recommend Peg's and Texas Toast for breakfast. I highly recommend Fox's Lobster House if you visit the Nubble Light. And then there were the food vendors at the Highland Games! You can get an idea of the huge and wonderful strawberry shortcake from the top middle and center middle pics.

The lower left and middle were served at Texas Toast for breakfast; Brenda had French Toast with strawberries, and I had an omelet and hash browns that were beautifully presented and super good.

The lower right picture on the bottom was served at the Lobster House; it was Lobster Mac N' Cheese. The mac n' cheese was superb and had pieces of lobster in it. The top right was a fried lobster that I had--I forget the specific name for it. Bob also had a lobster dish (middle left) and Rog had scallops, I think. (middle right)

As you may have guessed, the old "eating healthy" routine was sort of abandoned for that week. But then, after all, it was vacation! As Julia would have said, "Bon Appetit!"