Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Reading, watching, cooking and unpacking

Goodbye to Seminole State park and hello to Havana Florida. What I will miss is the lake, the birds and the lack of traffic noise. It was mostly peaceful chatting with like minded people who like to camp and RV.


Loki found these enormous shells near the water.  He had a great time and was fascinated by the fox squirrels.  We didn't see a single gray squirrel the entire 6 weeks.



Reading / I very much enjoyed News of the World by Paulette Jiles. Planning to get more by this author, once I catch up on books around the house. I'm trying to catch up on series so I finished The Moth Catcher,  a Vera Stanhope mystery, by Ann Cleeves. 

Watching/ We just picked up two PBS videos.  Looking for Life on Mars and biography on Hemingway.  Ken Burns produced the Hemingway video so it ought to be good.


Food /  Something we enjoyed from Donalsonville Georgia was the abundance of fresh tomatoes and field peas. I can’t find field peas in the Tallahassee area and the grocery store tomatoes are fairly flavorless so.... this was a treat. 



A few posts back I mentioned Doug was getting good use of the Blackstone griddle.  The  breakfasts are great but so are the grilled sandwiches. The crust was toasted and delicate for this ham and cheese with mustard.  Now that we are home the griddle is set up on the porch.  Guess we will buy another one for camping and storing in the RV.



Upcoming I will share photos of the kitchen remodel as it was a complete transformation.  Still uploading photos :-)  

Sharing with
 Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sunday
Marg at the Intrepid Reader for Weekend Cooking series
Deb at ReaderBuzz for Sunday Salon









 

24 comments:

  1. Good luck with getting settled! When we first moved back home it was so quiet it actually woke me up! We live in a neighborhood that outside of the city and on "estate lots" which means an acre or so so there isn't much noise at night. We had gotten used to living in a building with people coming and going at all hours and the LOUDEST air condition unit known to man. Jason swore he could hear himself blink it was so quiet. I love the Loki picture and I'm curious about the Hemingway bio. I don't know that much about him but I find him fascinating! The grilled sandwiches look delicious. I wouldn't have thought to make sandwiches on a griddle. I mostly use mine for pancakes.

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    1. Katherine, I imagine the changes from noisy Memphis was something to get used to! You were up there so long. It’s alway good to get home.
      The griddle is great for sandwiches & steaks too. Coming up Doug is going to use it for General Tsos chicken.

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  2. Welcome back! I think it will be fun settling back in and arranging your new kitchen. News of the World is on my tbr list and I hope you enjoy the Hemingway documentary. We Watched it a couple of months ago... the first episode is the best, then it gets progressively more depressing. I did learn a lot more about Hemingway though.

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    1. JoAnn, we just watched the Mars video & it was very interesting. Looking forward to Hemingway. It’s great getting back in the kitchen!

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  3. You must be ecstatic to be back in your own full-sized home. Good luck returning to life in a real new kitchen!

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you, Mae. It’s been fun putting things away, unpacking, figuring out what we don’t need....

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  4. I've never heard of a fox squirrel, so I looked it up and it looks very much like our Douglas squirrels (in Oregon). We also have chipmunks, which I like more simply because they're pretty cute.

    I love farm fresh tomatoes. I wanted to stop at a couple of produce stands on our recent leg of our trip through central CA, but they were always on the wrong side of the road and slowing down quickly (in an RV) isn't always possible, especially with a bunch of cars behind me. Maybe further on up the road, I'll be able to find some. I sure wish we had one of the Blackstone grills right now. It's going to be 111 tomorrow and it's far too hot to cook anything inside the RV. Of course, it's too hot to stand outside and cook, too. We may be eating cereal for a few nights. Or cheese, crackers and apples.

    Have fun getting settled in your new kitchen. That room was always my favorite to set up whenever we moved!

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    1. Les, they are impressive creatures, the fox squirrel. They look like something out of Star Wars! We have the same issue if I see a vegetable stand as, you know, can't stop an RV on a dime or even find parking.
      111 degrees?!!!!! Yikes.

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  5. Finally I got local field tomatoes in two different grocery stores this week that tasted good!!! Otherwise I buy the cherry tomatoes.
    I saw News of the World and enjoyed it.
    My kitchen is my favourite room. Originally when we were looking I thought I would like an open concept, now I am so glad I have two doors to close so that I can watch stuff on my laptop when I am doing things!

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    1. Jackie, I remember you said you would stay in the kitchen and enjoy a show on your laptop. I love this new kitchen!

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  6. Loki is so cute!

    I have News of the World waiting for me at the library but they're closed until Tuesday :(

    I LOVE field peas and fresh tomatoes, and now I want to add them to my grocery list :)

    That sandwich looks so good!

    I'm looking forward to seeing your new kitchen!

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    1. Thanks Vicki. I am still far down o the list for News of the World on DVD at the library but I sure enjoyed the book.

      Field peas are great. I never had them until I lived in the south.

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  7. Tina, I've had iNaturalist identify two squirrels I saw this year as fox squirrels. I would have sworn we had nothing but gray squirrels here.

    Our book group loved News of the World. I read an interview with the author (was it in Texas Monthly?) and she came across as being difficult. I have to admit that changed my thoughts about reading more of that author.

    My husband and I thought the Hemingway series was very well done. I'm afraid his life is quite sad.

    We've been delighting in home-grown tomatoes all of May and June and ours are starting to play out.

    I'm eager to see your kitchen remodel. We redid ours a couple of years ago after living in our house for thirty-five years, and, looking at it right now, from where I sit, I feel happy.

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    1. Deb, I didn't know about iNaturalist and will check that out. The fox squirrels we saw were quite large and mostly wite or cream colored.
      That's ashame about the author Jiles beng difficult. That put me off of Mark Bittman for awhile too.

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  8. We liked NEWS OF THE WORLD also. We watched the movie not long ago and thought it was very good, too. Tom Hanks is the star. It is a little different than the book so I am glad you read the book first. My Sunday Salon post

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    1. Ann, the movoes are usually different but if it sticks to the book, even remotely, I am happy! Tom Hanks is one of my favorites.

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  9. Loki is so cute, enjoying himself at the beach.

    I enjoyed the Hemingway series and want to tour all the places. One house is not far from me here in Arkansas.

    That ham & cheese looks sooooooooo good! I've never had field peas.

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    1. Thanks, Jinger. Loki loves to go anywhere with us. I had to send Hemingway back but re-requested it again. Bummer.

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  10. I love finding food in stores away from my stationary home, it always seems fresh and different. It looks lovely where you have been on your journey.

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    1. Thank you, Melynda. It's always nice to g=find food items unavailable locally. When we go back we will stock up.

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  11. Glad you are settling back in. News of the World was a favorite of mine although I still have yet to see the movie. I read Simon the Fiddler from her too and enjoyed it--although not as much as NOTW.

    Thanks for sharing your sandwich with Souper Sundays this week!

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    1. Deb, I was thinking of requesting Sion the Fiddler since he was a character in NOTW. She has quite a few books out.

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  12. I still have to watch the movie of News of the World!

    That toasted sandwich looks totally epic! I want one now.

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  13. Yay for settling in. I agree with Marg -- those sandwiches look awesome. We checked out the blackstone the other day -- will like buy one for next summer.

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