Panama City Beach

I can't finish up our Florida 2012-2013 trip without pictures from a stop in Panama City Beach.  We tried a different campground this year and even though it was spring break, there were no kids on spring break there...a wonderful relief from last year's experience.

The campground is called Pineglen and it is so beautiful with it's loblolly pines and reflecting ponds.
 

Even though there was a nice dog run, Curly didn't like it here very much.

As for me, I was beginning to lose my Florida glow in the cold.

So ended our experiment of seeing if we could live together in a camper for 4-1/2 months.  It was great!

Mazzaro Italian Market

We heard so much about Mazzaro's Italian Market we knew we had to go there.  It's just a little bit "cheesy" but a fun experience.  There are plenty of props outside for pictures.

This is the front door where, as soon as you enter, you are surrounded by everything Italian and more.

Mazzaro's front door

 

No Spaghettio's Here

No Miller Lite Here

So you don't miss the wine and cheese ROOMS!

A few canned goods

Homemade pasta

If you like figs, there's fig gelato.

There's so much more including pastries, a deli and a coffee bar.  If you can find a parking place, you can easily spend an hour or two there.

We bought our favorite aged cheese from Quebec and I bought a container of chocolate tea which was surprisingly good.  We became big fans of soppressata, one of the best sausages we found.

Soon it was time for us to be "Off On Another Adventure!"

Party, Party, Party

There are two main reasons to go to Roberts RV Resort from the northern territories:  (1) The weather and (2) the social life.  It's almost mid-March and we're back in Tennessee already looking forward to October.

Here we are, ready to go to the Christmas dinner.  The park owners supplied the meats for the dinner and the rest was a fabulous potluck.  We thought it weird at first that when you get your tickets for the dinners and dances a week or so before the event, you also need to get "assigned" to a table.  It's actually a very good system and makes things go a lot smoother the day of the event.

Here's what part of the rec hall looked like at the Christmas dinner, walkers and all!  Sometimes I feel like I'm in an old-folks home but in a way, I guess I am.

And here we are getting ready to go to the New Year's Eve dance.  Dances are twice a month and they arrange for different live bands to come in.

This about sums it up for us:

Toe, Curly, Jewelry, Haircut

Toe

Lest you think everything in Florida was fun and games, it wasn't.  I hit the edge of the hassock and broke my toe.  I don't remember if this was before or after our 3 weeks of being sick with bronchitis (both of us!).  We had some miserable days and gave up bowling, Euchre, Bridge, dances and seeing our friends during this time.  I think we deserve another month down there for that!

Curly

Curly is never happy in Florida.  There are no moles to dig, no place to chase squirrels, and it's always, "That damn leash!"  He does, however, revel in the amount of attention he gets.  He's still a "chick magnet" and the favorite of many of our friends.

Jewelry

In addition to my quilting and 8 weeks of guitar lessons, I did find time to hone my jewelry-making skills.  I made some mother-daughter bracelets for Wendy and Stella.  I thought they worked out pretty good.

Haircut

You're going to have to feel sorry for me on this one but one of the hardest parts of being gone so long (to me) is figuring out what to do with my hair!  I have a stylist in Nashville who I just love.  I can't afford his plane fare to come down and help me out every couple of months so I had to find a stylist in Florida.  I found one but don't you think that a half of a haircut should be half price?  :-)

Plant City

For several years now we've heard about Plant City, Florida, and the Strawberry Festival.  Some of the people from the park go there a couple times a week just to get their strawberry shortcakes.  Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!

Plant City is about 45 miles from our RV Park.  We went there in early February, well before the Strawberry Festival started the end of February.

As it was, we had to wait in line but they are so organized that the line moved very fast.

We all got some variation of strawberries with ice cream, shortcake and whipped cream.

 Rudy was ready to enjoy his!

The atmosphere was very joyful with the colorful tablecloths and plants everywhere.

As we were getting ready to leave, we spotted an added bonus...props for pictures!

What a great time we had that day!

Polish Delights

I really miss the variety of international foods available in the St. Petersburg area.  I was determined that this year we would try some Polish pierogi, having spotted two Polish deli's last year.  There were a couple customers in the first deli we went to and they spoke mostly Polish to the cashier/clerk who was speaking ALL Polish.  I was a little bit nervous about ordering as I really didn't know what to cook or how to cook it, much less how or what to order!  With a little patience from the clerk we came home with some fresh kielbasa (AWESOME!!!), some meat pierogi and some sauerkraut pierogi (our favorite).  

We first boiled the kielbasa in beer and onions. Then we grilled it over charcoal.  I sauteed the pierogi (yes, that's plural) in butter and onions.  We enjoyed it so much, we decided to invite our other Canadian neighbors over for a meal of kielbasa and pierogi.

The day they were going to come over for supper is the day we went back to the deli for supplies.  We got there, went up to the door and discovered they were closed! We looked at each other with that stunned look and Rudy said to me, "Now what are you going to do?"  "

Me?", I exclaimed!  As we were sorting through that, the previous clerk came through the darkness and unlocked the front door.  She said she was closed but she was back counting money.  She recognized us and invited us in.  (I must learn some Polish.)  Anyway, we got what we needed for supper that night and even bought some Polish treats which were as good as they looked.

Here's Jeanine looking over the pierogi.  Can you believe she's 74!!!  

The Kielbasa

For dessert we had Chrusciki, a Polish cookie.  (I love all the natural ingredients with no preservatives added, no matter what nationality.)  These fragile pastries are a Polish pre-Lenten treat, otherwise known as Angel Wings.

Our local Publix store in St. Petersburg also had some Paczki.  Paczki are Polish doughnuts, sort of like bismarks.  They are eaten on Fat Thursday in Poland and Fat Tuesday in the United States but don't ask me why.  I said that I'd be fat by Tuesday if I ate too many of them!

Pudding Shots and Party Time

It's always fun to discover something new and this winter I discovered pudding shots. I've probably made a dozen batches this year.  I take them to dances, suppers and parties.  I've made Raspberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Mud Slide, White Russian, Pstachio, Buttery Nipple and Oatmeal Cookie.  They're really easy to make and they're as popular as jello shots.  I think I get the most compliments on pstachio. Here's one of my favorite websites for recipes:  

http://www.kegworks.com/company/pudding-shots

Raspberry Cheesecake

Pstachio

Buttery Nipple

And here's the inside of our camper freezer with the 160 pudding shots I made for our going-away party:

Speaking of party, this is the invitation for the going-away party we had at the park pavilion.  Forty-six people showed up to wish us well on our way home to Tennessee.

Bowling

Bowling

One of our favorite pasttimes, as we've recently discovered, is bowling.  We both got new fingertip balls this year.  There are two informal "leagues" from the park so we bowled on Thursday and Sunday mornings.  There are some really good bowlers at the park  and they've taken us under their wings to teach us a little more.  For some reason, we started out really hot.  

We are the couple that does EVERYTHING together!

While Rudy has pretty much maintained a 170-190 average per 3 games, I've really dropped down.  I have no idea what my problem is but I think I'm getting TOO MUCH advice and it's confusing me.  One person will tell me something and another will tell me something much different.  We hope to go practice this summer and maybe even join a league in Clarksville.

Here's another picture from THE COUPLE THAT DOES EVERYTHING TOGETHER!  How funny is that!

Smokin'

Back home in Tennessee, one of our new favorite things to do is smoke some meat. We've mostly done ribs and chicken on our $35-smoker and it works great.  We missed the smoker in Florida so we decided, at that price, we could get one down there.  And we didn't even have to haul it home to Tennessee this March!  Our friends in the park that have a mobile home, offered to keep it and a few other things for us so we'd have less to bring back and forth.  

The smoker's recipe book has a WONDERFUL marinade recipe for Jamaican Chicken.

Marinating the (rather) large chicken breasts

Jamaican Chicken Marinade

1/2 c. chili sauce (I used Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce available at most grocery stores)
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt (I always use less)
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced 
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil.

Marinate for 3-4 hours.  I think we may have even done ours overnight.

On to the grill

The cook

Very moist and delicious!

One of the first things we do when we get to Florida is go to our favorite fish market, I C Sharks, to pick up some fresh seafood.  This year we tried rock shrimp and stone crab claws.  The crab claws are expensive but so delicious.  When we went back to get some more a couple weeks later, there were none because the water temperature had gotten colder and the octopuses were eating them.  Yes, octopuses is an acceptable pluralization.

Anyway, the rock shrimp is about half the price of regular shrimp and is good, too. They use them a lot in pasta dishes but they're good cooked just like regular shrimp, too.

Stone crab claws and rock shrimp 

Not to be discouraged, we looked for other foods to smoke.  Again at I C Sharks, we bought a piece of salmon, a piece of mahi-mahi, and a piece of amberjack.  The amberjack is the bigger lighter piece below.  We soaked the mahi-mahi and the amberjack overnight in vinegar and water.  We wished we had soaked the salmon also. 

My favorite is the beautiful white amberjack although they all were delicious!

We always stay 2 nights in Panama City Beach on the way home so I can visit my favorite quilt store and we can stock up at our favorite fish market there.  We bought a 2-pound fish called scamp that they recommended, to bring home and smoke.  Can't wait to try it!

Scamp at Buddy Gandy's Seafood in Panama City Beach