Lazy Day & Coffee Cake

John went out fishing today so I had the day to myself. I was reading a good book..."Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins. It's the second book of 3 ,of the Hunger Games. I enjoy reading YA books in between other books I'm reading for a couple of reasons. One...because they're kind of fun and usually a quick read; and the other reason is then I can recommend titles to teens who are trying to figure out what to read. The first book "The Hunger Games" was a teen favorite, so was #3 "Mockingjay"...so I decided to see what they were about. I made the mistake of reading "Mockingjay" first...and spent a good part of the book trying to figure out what the heck was going on and who the people were...haha. It is a little different than what I normally read...sort of SiFi...but also exciting and a love story too. (terrible description...but...for now that's all I've got) Anyway Book #3 intrigued me enough to make me go back and read 1 & 2. I finished the "Hunger Games" last week and lucked out and got "Catching Fire" on Thursday. (That's one good thing about finding out about books after they have become popular...you don't have to wait for the next one to be written!) anyway...I was reading away all morning...finished it and I will have to go back and see Book 3 again...to have it all make sense! SOOOOO.....after I finished the book and walked the dog...I decided to bake something.I recently got some new mixing bowls from Pampered Chef. They are great! My old Tupperware bowls kept getting used for holding FISH!...when I complainednicely asked John to use something else for the fish...he told me if I wanted to order some new mixing bowls...that would be fine...since my current ones were perfect for holding his fish.
I was going to try to find some more Tupperware...but when I had a PC party...I kind of fell in love with the mixing bowl set. Each stainless steel bowl has measurements inside, a thumb grip and a non-slip bottom...and a lid! Nice!
I was making Streusel Coffee Cake (from Nov.2011) Southern Living magazine.The streusel topping is made from
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/4 cup softened butter. Mix the first three together and then add the butter and mix together until crumbly. Set aside.
Mix 8 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter( at room temperature) together.
Beat until creamy. Gradually add sugar.

Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.

Sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt. Add flour mixture alternating with 1/2 cup milk to the butter mixture.
Begin and end with the flour mixture, Beat just until blended after each addition.
Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp almond extract.(yum...I love the almond smell!)
Pour batter into 13 x 9 inch pan. You can grease and flour the pan..or just use PAM.
Top with streusel mixture and put in (preheated) 350 oven.
Make yourself a cup of coffee.
And have a piece of warm coffee cake!

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

Yesterday the local paper had this cartoon by Jeff Parker on the Editorial/Opinions page
Now you all know the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words...and my family and friends will happy to hear that instead of having to listen me tell everyone how I FEEL about the bill in question...I will simply say...Jeff Parker has managed to say with his cartoon...exactly what I THINK! so I'll spare everyone from listening to me rant and rave...haha!

First Big catch!

Saturday...John, Ron, Reid and Chandler went offshore looking for tuna. This time they found some! They caught their limit. No other fish out there(mahi, that is) but they were thrilled to finally find some big yellow fin tuna. John's not trying to look tough...he's having trouble holding the two fish while I was trying to take his picture. haha
cooler full of fish...haven't seen that sight since two springs ago.
Ra and the girls had to come check out the fish. We tried to get them to stand next to the big ones to compare their sizes...but they got shy. This is the closest we could get them to the fish. well...after a few minutes Olivia decided to touch one. :) As you can see John was putting on the goofy face for the photo.
C and the fish bag...ready to start cleaning.
Cleaning table full of tuna!
When the word got out about the big catch...everyone had to come see for themselves. And as usual...John invited people over for a cookout and sushi rolling party. The weather was perfect!
Pat volunteered to make the rice and roll some sushi. Mike R. was in charge of the grill...a slice of seared teriyaki tuna...tastes just like fillet Mignon! Ben also grilled some fish.
Once Pat started rolling the sushi...she had a few volunteers. Eddie, Amy, John M., Pat G. gave it a try...they rolled...we all ate. We had cucumbers, carrots, avocados and as the evening progressed...we got creative. Theresa had brought cream cheese with Spicy Pineapple Rum sauce from Pampered Chef. It was good on crackers....and then Ron suggested we add it to the sushi...Eddie complied and it was tasty. I think we are all going to be ordering Pampered Chef 's Spicy Pineapple Rum sauce!
we all enjoyed the afternoon/evening, the great fresh food and assorted salads ( that Denise and Theresa brought) and the dessert...of course! Fruit salad and lemon-coconut pound cake.
We were inside (March Madness on TV) and outside...talking, laughing, listening to the music. I think about 25 people came by in all...some came and went quickly...others stayed all evening. We all had fun!

The sweet smell of Spring

I was taking a quick bike ride around town this morning before work. There was a steady onshore breeze blowing. I was heading down Paradise Blvd towards the beach...when I got about 1 block from A1A... and there it was...... .that sweet smell of Spring....SUNSCREEN! and salty air. Funny thing is there weren't really that many cars in the parking lot...but whoever was there was fully protected from the sun!

The visit , a party and the big moon

Wednesday I had a furlough day and lots of different plans. First I had plans to go to a monthly luncheon...then I made an appt. and the only time available was 2:15pm...so I had to cancel on the lunch plans. I then canceled the appt.; and it just so happened that later that evening(Tuesday) my nephew called to say he and some friends were in Orlando and were going to drive over the next day. So...I had a new plan for lunch after all.
I thought that the plan for them to arrive around noon sounded ambitious...but you never know.... However I was right...they arrived closer to 2:00pm. haha
We said hello to David and met his girlfriend Jessica and another friend, Nesa (sp?). We visited for awhile, then drove over to "Uncle" David's house...where Paul and David were getting ready for this weekend's art show in Winter Park, Fl. The girls, David and I ran over to the beach while we waited for the guys to get back to the house. It was a beautiful afternoon in Indialantic! Nesa especially was ready to just stay!(the girls were down on Spring Break from SUNY Cortland) We took some pictures, put our toes in the water and the headed back across A1A to David's. The house was a wreck as usual but I think the girls were intrigued by the art they did see.
After our visit there...we headed to meet John at Longdoggers...aka the local tourist spot...haha.
As luck would have it...it was Steel Drum Night...somehow whenever David B. is in town...if we go to LD...the steel drum guy is there...playing the same old tunes. We just laughed!
After a tasty dinner...we walked over to Moo's...the other required stop for visitors.


The day ended with a nice sunset. I headed off to do a couple of errands...the kids headed back to the beach and the surf shop before heading back to Orlando. We had a nice, short visit.
Saturday from 2-7pm was our friend Brittany's fundraiser party for her mission trip to Africa. Her dad, Mike, cleaned out the freezer and cooked up a bunch of fish and lobster. He made a least 4 batches of his lobster casserole, grilled fresh cobia caught during the past week, fried flounder and various other fresh fish dips and salads.There were hotdogs and hamburgers, people brought salads and fruit, cheese and crackers, etc.I baked up some cookies and pound cake and the party was on! Halfway through the afternoon the pizza place right up the road sent someone over with two large pizzas....they were Good!
Many area businesses and friends donated prizes to be raffled off. Someone gave her handmade necklaces to sell. Add soda, lemonade, beer and water...and it was a party!

It was another picture perfect day and we went a little past the 7pm end time.
Several of us walked across A1A to the beach to watch the big full moon come up. It did not disappoint! You could see cameras flashing from balconies at the condos and hotels all along the beach...haha. We were snapping away too.
The kids had a blast.
I couldn't really capture the picture I wanted...but the moon was full and orange/red and pretty as it came up over the ocean.
We watched awhile and then headed back to the party that was winding down.
Denise has to get up to work EARLY Sunday....so we were trying our best to clear out before it got too late...but it was hard to leave!
As I was saying goodbye...Brittany came into the kitchen to tell her mom she had added up the $ she had taken in from the party and it totaled over $2000.00! She has already met her goal...so any money she makes from here on out...will be above and beyond what she needs.
I am so happy it was a success!

St. Patrick's Day party

It's been an interesting last few days...or more. One of the highlights was this party we went to last Saturday night at our neighbor's house. I did not feel well last Tuesday-Friday...don't know if it was the flu?, allergies?, migraine...or all of the above...but I felt like $*&%! (insert word of choice here)Finally felt about 90% on Sat and was up to going over to have some good Irish Stew. And cake of course! John had lots of Shepherd's Pie and boiled potatoes.

Matthew and Xiao Yan posing for me. Ra bought the holiday outfits for all her grandchildren...hoping to get a group photo of them all decked out.

While the bagpiper was warming up in the garage...the little girls were peeking in on him.
It was a nice night. Clear sky with moon shining brightly and lots of stars. It was a bit cool...but felt good. The bagpiper and drummer were outside. Ra's cousin Monica, dressed in her Irsh Dance costume led the little girls in a dance.
It was nice to hear the music and fun to watch the little dancers.
The day after the party little Matthew was baptised. We went to the service and then joined everyone for a brunch at Matt & Xiao Yan's. Later we ate leftovers...lots of leftovers!
Those were the highlights....there were unfortunately some lows last week. One old friend called to tell us her mother had died. Her mother was 83,,,but a sudden illness is what caused her death. Too bad. I heard from another friend that a person we used to spend some time with is battling breast cancer, and then another family has been in an ongoing battle to keep their son on the right track....and right now they are at their wit's end. All that and the earthquake in Japan....and it's kind of hard to stay positive....but I'm trying! I'm going to focus on the fact that the weather here is great even if it's giving me lots of headaches,
Some good friends are having a big fish fry Saturday to help their daughter raise money for a mission trip to Africa...so we will be eating well and enjoying time with friends this weekend and it's for a good cause. I'm feeling better....for the most part...I got to fill in for Dianne yesterday and do Laptime and Toddler Time instead of working at the front desk. (Yeah!)My nephew is in town (Orlando)and driving over to meet us for lunch tomorrow...so that will be nice, just so happens I am off. So.... I'm going to focus on the positive and have a good week!

We've had our share of wacky winter weather...cold temperatures, warm temperatures...a week ago it felt like summer already. The last few days it's been warm and very windy
but Spring is in the air! And there are little hints of "spring green" all around.(you know the Crayola color)



you should click on this one...cool! (if I do say so myself...haha)

If you click on this to see it up close you can see the green turning pink...so pretty.
Flowers waiting to bloom again...although I tend to buy plants that are pretty hardy and bloom often...because I do not exactly have a green thumb!Seeing the oaks trees with their new leaves makes me get stuffed up happy....and I know that spring is on the way.