Half of the Weekend Goal

You are probably wondering where the heck is my review and photo of the Carrot and Red Pepper Soup I vowed I'd make this past weekend.

Uh, well, um...............mostly still in the cookbook.

But hold on!  I did (for the first time ever) roast the red peppers in the broiler!  Hey now, that's a biggie for me.  (Rub skins with canola oil, place in broiler, turning until skins are blackened, put into glass bowl and cover tightly with foil to "steam" and after 20 minutes, peel off skins and scrape out seeds.)

That's as far as I got.  Because you see, I need to go get soy milk.  And I hate going to the grocery store.

So the red peppers are wrapped in the fridge, waiting for me to do that.

Then I'll make the soup.

Seaside and Watercolor

Warning:  Be prepared for the reaction you might have reading this post, given that it occurs just chronologically after the post about the Haiti Earthquake rescue efforts.  What a world.  Such poverty and such wealth existing together.

My new friend (and also a retired English teacher from the snowbird group, who just happens to live down the same street in the resort where I'm renting this winter) and I took our bikes down to Seaside, Florida, which sits along #30A and the beach.  You can bike along #30A for miles and miles, although we only clocked in about 45 minutes before stopping at the Great Southern Cafe, where she ordered:  

Gritsà YaYa

Smoked Gouda cheese grits smothered with a sauté of applewood-smoked bacon, spinach, shallots, garlic, portobello mushrooms,and cream, finished with spiced shrimp and sweet potato hay,

and I ordered the:

Vegetable Plate 

which was cheddar mashed potatoes, fried green tomatoes, sauteed green beans and a choice of several other veggies that I didn't want, so I doubled the green beans choice.

Both were yummy, though I've resolved to order her choice next time I'm there.  It's what the cafe is reknown for and I can see why (she generously offered me a taste....smoked gouda cheese grits?!  Heaven!)

Seaside is an absolutely charming beach town.  Watercolor is an equally beautiful beach town development up the road from Seaside.  Both are fairly new (checked real estate listings and seems much of both was built within the last 5-10 years).  These towns are reminiscent of old beach towns, with cobblestoned and white picket-fenced streets lined with cottages, all with front porches holding lemonade tables and wicker furniture, separated by sandy paths leading through the neighborhoods down to the beach.

With one big exception:  Real estate in this town is rare below $1M and goes up past $3M.  For a "cottage"!

But wait until you see these cottages.  (Who are all of these people who can afford multi-million dollar beach cottages?  No one I know!  On top of that, it was absolutely rare that we saw any cottage looking inhabited!  Deserted, at least in winter.)

(Most can be enlarged by clicking on them)