St. George Island

I think we celebrated our anniversary a week late. Yesterday we drove down the coast to Eastpointe and met a work acquaintance of Bill's for lunch at That Place on 98. It was a delicious lunch. We had Peel & Eat Shrimp for an appetizer. Bill had Oysters Rockefeller and a salad and I ordered a cup of Gumbo and their Greek Salad. Tallahassee and the coast here seems to have quite a Greek influence in it's food and the Greek Salad was scrumptious. I need to try the Greek peppers. They look like Jalapeno peppers, which are too hot for me. I didn't try them yesterday, but I will next time I order a Greek Salad. And while I'm not a big fan of oysters, the Oysters Rockefeller was very good.

After our lunch, Bill's acquaintance headed back to Pensacola and we went on to St. George Island to walk off all that food. It was a nice day, not too hot and a very strong breeze, strong enough that you needed to walk down where the sand was wet. The dry sand hurts when the wind whips it against your bare legs! Here's some pictures of the beach at St. George Island State Park.

Anniversary Update

So, did we do anything special for our anniversary? Yes and no. We got Chinese take-out for supper, not the cheap buffet places, but take-out from an expensive, sit-down restaurant, the Ming-Tree Chinese Restaurant on East Lafayette Street. That was where we went to eat our very first night in our apartment here. David likes it because they have lamb dishes. Spicy lamb dishes! Anyway, we brought our take-out home and watched the Daytona 400. What an ending to that race! Bill's brother was supposed to have been in the grandstands watching and it certainly would have been a good one to see live! But it was equally as nice watching it at home sitting next to my hubby of twenty-eight years.

Twenty-eight Years!

Hard to believe that twenty-eight years ago today we were in the midst of our wedding celebrations. It was a day much like today, blue sky, fluffy white clouds, although not quite as hot, thank goodness! It was a perfect July New York summer day. I wish I had a picture to post of our wedding day, but they are all still packed away.

How are we celebrating today, you ask? Well, so far we have watched a race (the rain-delayed Busch race) and walked the dog a couple of times, Bill has worked on a computer and I have done several loads of laundry … it's an exciting life we lead! And since the Daytona race events begin around 5 p.m., I doubt we will even go out to dinner today. Maybe we will do something more exciting tomorrow, if Bill gets done with the computer he's working on!

The day after the day after …

So, what did we do to celebrate our anniversary? About the same as usual, went out to dinner. Neither Bill nor I felt very energetic yesterday. I'm not sure if it was the weather or just Saturday or jet lag from the short week following the July 4th holiday. In any case, I didn't feel like a movie and neither of us really even had any clear idea of where we wanted to eat. We did agree that neither of us wanted seafood. All I could think about on Friday was seafood, but by Saturday it was about the last thing I wanted to eat. David was no help. I asked him where we should go and his only comment was, "where there's take-out," presumably to bring food home to him! So we went to the local steakhouse, had a nice rib-eye and stuffed mushrooms, and came home and watched a Disney movie on TV until it was time to go pick up Charles from karate. Do we know how to live it up or what?!

I did make some nice muffins yesterday. Honey Peach Muffins. Almost as tasty as peach pie and probably a lot better for us. Of course, I modified it just a wee bit. Here's the original recipe from Pillsbury's Fast and Healthy Magazine, "good-for-you muffins!" article:

Honey Peach Muffins

• 3/4 cup Pillsbury BEST All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup reduced-calorie margarine, softened
• 1 (8-oz.) container low-fat peach yogurt
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped drained canned peaches in light syrup.

1. Heat oven to 375. Spray bottoms only of 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
3. In medium bowl, combine margarine, honey and yogurt; beat at low speed until well blended. Add egg white; beat well. Add to flour mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Gently stir in peaches. Spoon batter evenly into sprayed muffin cups.
4. Bake at 375 for 17 to 23 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan. Serve warm. 12 muffins. Okay, now for my recipe. It's for double the amount, 24 muffins (if I'm going to heat my oven up this time of year, it's going to be for more than 12 muffins!):

• 1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 (8 oz.) container organic peach yogurt
• 8 oz. organic plain yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fresh peaches, peeled, and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
• other fruits as desired, such as dried cherries, fresh cherries, raisins, etc.

I use coconut oil for the muffin cups, coating the whole cup, not just the bottom. I don't use a blender to mix, using a wire whisk and wooden spoon instead (uses more calories on my part!). Otherwise, follow above directions.

I made twenty-four muffins yesterday afternoon and there were only ten left this morning when Bill and I got up. We each had two yesterday, so Charles and David ate five each yesterday. I've got some fresh cherries that need using up today, so I think I'll pit them and add them to the next batch of muffins. And I also have a lot of zucchini that needs using. I tried a zucchini muffin recipe last week that I found online, but wasn't extremely happy with it. If anyone has a favorite zucchini muffin recipe, I'd sure appreciate receiving a copy of it!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Twenty-seven years ago today Bill and I tied the knot. Twenty-seven years! Wow. I'm not sure whether I'm amazed that we've made it this far or amazed at how quickly the years have flown by.

July 7, 1979 was a picture perfect day; sunny with a brilliant blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. You couldn't have asked for a more lovely July day. The day went smoothly, no major hitches in all the proceedings, and all the various branches of the families got along well for the day. Or at least, I never heard of any problems afterwards!

So, what will we do today to celebrate? Let's see … hubby went to work. I stayed home and ran my IRC homeschool chat all morning, played with Miss Munchkin, washed some dishes, boned out some chicken, the usual stuff. And tonight we will do our regular Friday night square dancing. Maybe we'll do something special tomorrow night to celebrate, like go to a movie or dinner out, or maybe we won't. The company Bill works for is having their annual summer "do" at the local water park, which includes a bar-be-que dinner and water rides. Somehow I'm underwhelmed at the thought!

Now's the time to plan something big for our 30th! If I begin saving now, a dollar a day, let's see ... that would come to $1095.00 in three years. Wow! That would certainly cover more than a movie and dinner out! Think big! We could travel to the coast and have seafood, although the south coast is a bit warm this time of year. Maybe Maine and lobster!

Miss Munchkin is 4 months old today. I took a lot of pictures of her and Kat and Shawn yesterday. Now to find the time to sort through them and get some actually printed for family members. I've not had any printed since she was a week old. She sure has changed since then!