Driving on the Beach

We took a ride over to Port St. Joe today to get a permit to drive on the beach in Gulf County. It was a gorgeous day for a ride and for spending time at the beach!

at Cape San Blas

the permit (good for one year)

This picture below shows (in green) the beaches you can drive on. The dotted line between the two sections is closed during turtle nesting season (May 1- October 31) but open the rest of the year. Note on the map all the sections in white are water. (It feels to me like they should be blue not white! The land is pink.)

from the Gulf County forms page

We drove first on the southern beach at Indian Pass (at the bottom of the map). We went straight down CR 30 from St. Joe to the first beach access point and headed right (west) with the idea that we might be able to drive around to Cape San Blas (on the west side of the peninsula).

This part of the beach is not developed - very few houses even. There are more houses if you head to the left. We saw a few other Jeeps, a few people out walking their dogs, and some people riding horses. 

Here's my view from the back seat:

We drove into the turtle nesting area but right after rounding the bend at the tip, the path was obstructed by big pieces of driftwood (some of them looked like whole trees). We turned around and headed over to Cape San Blas to check out that side. We drove down the beach a couple miles and then stopped to take a walk and have our picnic. We pretty much had the beach to ourselves:

We could not have asked for nicer weather - it was 71 and sunny! Crazy for December 30th. The sand was warm enough to go barefoot (which of course I did). After our picnic (turkey sandwiches, hardboiled eggs and pirate booty), we packed up and headed home. Here's the view from the driver's seat:

We're looking forward to more adventures driving on the beach this year!

Veggies This Week

French breakfast radishes, butternut squash, baby beet greens, Romaine lettuce, spinach and sweet potatoes

The butternuts are from McClellan Organics which is a farm just outside Cairo, GA. Learn more about them here. We have two different varieties of sweet potatoes again this time - the lighter ones are yellow inside instead of the traditional orange.

Fun Times in the Madison Area - Laurello Winery

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Hubs and I had a chance to visit Laurello Vineyards and Winery while we were in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Mom recommended it after she and some friends went to visit while planning a lunch-time party for next summer on their outdoor patio. It was too dark to see the outside space but we did take advantage of their wood-fired pizza oven for a nice snack!

When you first arrive at this old apple and cider mill, it's a little unclear what you are meant to do but soon you realize that you order wine and food at the counter and seat yourself.

here's the side counter where you can also order

There are two main rooms indoors. The first, where the counter is located, has a beautiful stone fireplace and a variety of seating options - large and small tables as well as couches. The second room is smaller and offers less ambiance but was warm and cozy. It was busy when we were there, probably because the wines are pretty tasty. Here's the wine list:

Because it was Friday night and they were busy, we weren't able to taste too many of the wines but I did enjoy the Naso Bianco.

Here's the pizza I mentioned earlier. They have two sizes, and the woman at the counter was quick to point out that the larger size was a better deal, but we wanted to try two different flavors. We ordered the Seafood Pizza with tomato sauce (Basil pesto, shrimp, onions and Feta cheese) and the Special which is a white pizza with spinach and bacon. They were small but super tasty from the wood oven!

Laurello Vineyards & Winery

4573 State Route 307 East

Harpersfield Township, Ohio

Mussels at Home

Hubs and I like to eat mussels in restaurants but we have never made them at home... until now! We followed Ina Garten's instructions from Barefoot Contessa for Mussels in White Wine. It was easy and inexpensive. Who knew?

Step 1 - buy the mussels. I got Prince Edward Island mussels at Southern Seafood; a two-pound bag cost $5.50.

Step 2 - prep the mussels: soak them in water with a little flour in it so they'll spit out any sand they're carrying around. Ina says 1/3 cup flour to 2 quarts of cold water for 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly several times. Then debeard them (that means pull off the little strings with your fingers. Throw away any that aren't fully closed. 

Step 3 - prep the broth:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots (5 to 7 shallots)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
1/2 cup chopped canned plum tomatoes, drained (4 ounces)
1/2 ounce saffron threads (found these at Fresh Market)
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup good white wine
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large non-aluminum stockpot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes; then add the garlic and cook for 3 more minutes, or until the shallots are translucent. Add the tomatoes, saffron, parsley, thyme, wine, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.

Step 4 - cook the mussels. This is the easy part. Toss the well-drained mussels into the broth, stir well and let steam for 8-10 minutes. Discard any mussels that don't open while cooking, then pour the mussels and broth into a big bowl and serve. We enjoyed ours with a nice bagette from local bakery Au Peche Mignon.

They were delicious. Even Thomas loved them!

Solstice 2011 Recap

Solstice Moon from Syracuse Cultural Workers

Celebrating the winter solstice is one of our favorite family traditions. We have a huge fire with the Yule log, eat home made pizza and sleep in front of the fire with mattresses dragged out from the bedrooms. The actual Solstice this year happened at 5am on December 22nd so we had our festivities that evening, partly because Thomas had school on the 21st. The weather almost did not cooperate - at lunch time Thursday it was 77 degrees! Luckily, it cooled off when it got dark out (or at least fell into the 60s which is cool enough for us!). 

In the morning, T and I drove out to Monticello to Johnston's Meat Locker. We picked up some of their house-smoked sausage and a natural pork butt to smoke on Sunday. At 2:30 T and I made pizza dough (recipe here), then went to visit the chickens we help take care of. Back at home, we prepped our pizza toppings (fresh pineapple, mushrooms, and ham) and got the oven ready for pizza baking. 

To make pizza baking more exciting, I bought us a pizza peel. T loves to do things "Big Bite" style (the way his Food Network chef Idol Guy Fieri does) and this is one of Guy's go-to tools. The way it works is you keep the pizza stone in the oven while it preheats, then slide the pizza off the peel onto the stone to bake it. Easier said than done! For the first pizza, I didn't get enough cornmeal on the peel and couldn't get the pizza to slide off. I took the stone out of the oven, set it on the stove top and from there I was able to move the pizza on to the stone and put it in the oven. Taking it out when it was done was a snap! The crust turned out nice and crisp too. 

I decided not to give up and the second pizza went onto the stone much more easily. Hurray! 

While the pizza was baking, C & T built the big, beautiful fire! We had a lovely evening together in front of it.

Here's to longer days and shorter nights ahead!

Merry Christmas

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Tis the Season

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