Happy Easter!

Florida "Easter Basket"

Mamaws, Manatees and More

If The Colonel's grandmother (aka Mamaw) were still alive she would have celebrated her 100th birthday this year on April 4th. In honor of her birthday, The Colonel and I drove to the cemetery (about an hour's drive north) and placed some flowers on her grave.

Everyone should have a grandma (and great-grandma) like Mamaw in their lives. She was smart as a whip, funny, witty, kind, generous and thoughtful. I am glad I had Mamaw in my life and the lives of my children.

Since we were going to be up Mamaw's way we decided to visit a few other places while in that neck of the woods. 

We drove to Anna Maria Island to have lunch at one of our favorite places...The Rod and Reel Pier.

There were a lot of people on the pier, some were fishing but most were waiting to be called in to a table (the place only seats 50). The Colonel and I walked up the stairs expecting to have a long wait ahead of us when we put our name on the list. As soon as we made it to the top of the stairs a young man waiting there asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside and The Colonel said, "First available" and the young man then immediately pointed us to an outside table not five feet from where we were standing. We couldn't believe our good fortune. I ordered grilled shrimp and The Colonel, fried. Delicious!

 After lunch I had to use the bathroom (cleverly or cheesily labeled "Outboards" and "Inboards", you decide), so I left The Colonel to pay the bill. Once done, I walked around the restaurant's lower deck taking pictures when I heard someone shout, "Manatees!" I quickly made my way down the pier through the crowd of onlookers. I could see the Manatees slowly swimming from one side of the pier to the other. I reached a viewing and photo taking spot shortly after the three Manatees emerged from under the pier.

I met up with The Colonel and took one more parting shot of the Rod and Reel Pier.

We made a short stop at a little research library so that The Colonel could look up some information for the museum we volunteer for. Next stop on our little day trip was Manatee Village Historical Park. In this park were several restored historical buildings from Manatee County's past. On our self-guided tour we saw some pretty, old buildings.

General Store (1903)

 Stephens House (1912)

Courthouse (1860)

1887 church

It was a nice little step back in time. We had one more place to visit before we headed back south for home; the ruins of Braden Castle.

In 1850, Dr. Joseph Braden, using slave labor, built his plantation house on 900 acres along the Manatee River. He operated a sugar and grist mill there. The "castle" was two-stories and its tabby (lime, sand and crushed shells) walls were 20 inches thick. There were four rooms on each floor and each room was about 20 sq. ft. Dr. Braden's castle had eight fireplaces and four chimneys.

In 1856 the castle was unsuccessfully attacked by Seminole Indians. Later it was abandoned and destroyed by a woods fire in 1903. In 1924 the ruins were purchased by the Camping Tourists of America.

The ruins today look nothing like the old postcard picture above. A chain link fence surrounds the much more weathered and dilapidated ruins. These are some of the pictures I snapped of what remains of Dr. Braden's castle.

The Braden Castle ruins are located within the grounds of a "55 and over" community. The streets are narrow, winding and sloping. Along the streets are some of the cutest and smallest houses we have ever seen. Many of these houses were built in the 1920's and 1930's.

Our little day trip was coming to an end and it was time to head back south for home. It had been a most excellent day.

Making Jewels for Toast

There is a pretty plant that grows around here and it is usually found near the water's edge. This plant is called the sea grape. It is native to the Caribbean.

                                    

The first time we saw sea grapes, The Colonel and I wondered if they were edible. It turns out they are and one of the best ways to eat them is to make jelly out of them (sea grape wine is also very tasty. Our friend Abe makes the best). In Yucatan, Mexico sea grape juice is used as a tonic to treat diarrhea, dysentery and digestive problems.

A couple of years ago my friend Louise made some sea grape jelly and gave us a couple of jars of it. The flavor of sea grape jelly is unlike anything you have ever tasted before. It is nothing like the grape jellies you've eaten in the past. Its flavor is unique; I can't liken its flavor to anything. It is distinctive and slightly tart. The Colonel says he tastes an underlying hint of plum and blackberry.

I mailed my little sister a jar of Louise's jelly and she said it was like having "jewels on toast".

Sea grapes ripen in August/September. The grapes do not ripen all at once. The same clump has many grapes on it in various stages of ripeness. A number of trips have to be made when harvesting the grapes in order to gather enough to make jelly. The Colonel and I visited the parks around town and eventually harvested about four quarts of the fruit which I washed and then put in the freezer.

I had two quarts left in my freezer (I had given the other two to Louise earlier), just waiting for the time when Louise could teach me how to make sea grape jelly.

Louise and I set a day and time (3/26/2012 @ 10 AM), but before I was to go to her house, she said I needed to boil my sea grapes in water until they were soft and then strain off the juice. The Colonel and I did just that.

I was to bring my juice, sugar, jelly jars and Sure-Jell with me when I came over. When I arrived at Louise's house and showed her how much juice I had gotten from my sea grapes she wondered if that was going to be enough to make jelly with. The recipe Louise was teaching me called for 5 cups of juice. I measured out my juice and had exactly 4-3/4 cups. The recipe allowed for no more than 1/2 a cup of water to be added to bring the juice level to 5 cups if needed...I needed...just a 1/4 cup...but I needed.

Disaster avoided, we moved onto the next step. Louise was boiling the jars and lids as I measured out 7 cups of granulated sugar and set it aside. Next I added one box of Sure-Jell to my juice and placed the pot on the stove and brought the mixture to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly (which made it difficult to also take pictures and Louise was not comfortable enough with my camera to do so).

Once the Sure-Jell/juice mixture was boiling it was time to quickly add the sugar (I had Louise add it so that I could get a picture of this step) and return to a full rolling boil again. The sugar mixture boiled for at least five minutes as I stirred constantly.

Once Louise determined that the mixture was done boiling (she did this by having me lift the spoon out and observe how quickly the drops off the spoon jelled), she announced it was time to start filling the newly boiled jars, but only after the foam was removed from the jelly mixture (the recipe we were following said you could add some butter before boiling to help keep the foaming action down, but Louise said she never does this, she always skims the foam off with a spoon).

I fished the jars and lids out of the extremely hot water with a pair of tongs and placed them on a dish towel. I then took a glass measuring cup and quickly dipped it into the jelly mixture, scooped the newly made jelly up and poured it into the waiting jars. This all had to be done before the jelly mixture set up. I had enough jelly to fill ten jars.

Thanks to Louise, I can now make sea grape jelly on my own, but I don't believe it will be as much fun without her.

Wordless Wednesday

That Darn Cat (Wasn't that a Disney movie?)

Our newest cat, Luna, has been with us for just over seven months now. She is feisty, independent, very curious and a dare-devil.

The other evening, after dinner, The Colonel and I were outside watering our garden.

"What the...Luna!" The Colonel yelled.

The Colonel then pointed towards the garage where we could see Luna up on the metal roof, walking in the gutters.

She had jumped up on the outside shower wall and then made the small leap onto the roof.

The Colonel and I were calling for Luna to come down. She was having none of it. She was having fun exploring the gutters and roof top.

I continued calling Luna's name (and snapping pictures) as The Colonel went to get a ladder. He initially set the ladder up at the corner of the garage's roof where Luna was. Luna was not cooperating with the rescue effort. She just stood there looking at The Colonel. Me thinks she was enjoying this entirely too much.

Luna ignored our calls for what seemed an eternity. Finally, the newness of her roof top adventure was wearing off and she ran to The Colonel who had by then moved the ladder to the shower wall (the area of ingress that started her shingle-less shenanigans).

Safely back on the ground, Luna walked away from the garage as if nothing had even happened.

Wordless Wednesday

Third Generation

In August 2010, Yam and Spud brought home the pineapple pictured above. Our octogenarian friend John had given it to them (after Spud harvested it) as payment for helping him with his VCR. John had grown the pineapple from one he purchased at the grocery store.

We had the pineapple for dessert that evening. We all agreed it was THE BEST pineapple we had ever eaten. It was sweet and juicy...like eating candy.

John had told me to cut the top off of the pineapple and plant it (like he had done with the grocery store one) and in two years I would have another pineapple. So, I did.



It has been almost two years since I planted the pineapple's top. In those two years we've had some colder than normal temperatures and last month we had a surprise cold snap that severely affected all of my plants. The pineapple top I planted was large, lovely and healthy until the freeze came. The Colonel and I trimmed away all of the damaged parts of the plants (most are making a valiant effort at a comeback). 

The poor pineapple plant looked miserable after the "freezer-burnt" parts were cut away. I thought for sure we'd lost it.

The Colonel was watering the plants the other day and he called me over to see something.

Tucked away, down in the center of the pineapple plant was the start of a little pineapple. Our friend John had been correct when he told me that we'd have a pineapple in two years.

Our good friend John passed away last year in April and as we watch the pineapple grow we will fondly remember him.

When it is time to harvest this fruit and we eat it (I hope it will be as sweet as its predecessor), I will plant its top and grow a fourth generation pineapple in memory of John.