Edelweiss?

I have no idea what that means. It's the only thing that sounds German to me. I love German food....or my idea of German food. Who really knows. I would like to go to Germany someday and try it out! Other than the beer, I think I could fare rather well in Germany. Afterall, I did in Ireland and one could barely get a glass of water instead of Guinness there!

To satisfy my cravings, I boiled and then slowly browned some bratwurst and made some German potato salad. The potato salad was just ok. I'll try a different recipe next time.

Margarita's Anyone?

Well not for a while anyway. But Mark planted a Key Lime Tree. Hopefully we'll get limes next season.

Did That Just Happen?

Did the Seminoles forget that this was a REAL GAME, with a REAL TEAM? You're kidding me, right? Oh and Wake Forest -- don't go around celebrating and patting each other on the butt...I would be embarrassed if I were you! Puh-lease.

This is how I got through it.

Seminole Saturday

Mark has had a hankering for Oysters Rockefeller. I keep putting it off. First you have to go to a special store to get the oysters. (yes, truly, I am *that* lazy). Then you have to keep them on ice (or simply put them in the fridge...again...excuses, excuses). Then you have to make the creamed spinach and grate the cheese -- ok see the recipe below. Then you have your husband ask 1) do you know how to open these things? and then 2) what is THAT??? (looking at my oyster knife that I stole years ago from my parents house).

I've been shucking oysters since I was a wee girl and really challenge anyone (maybe not my brother) to do it faster or better than I. My knife (you can't use those wimpy looking things they sell these days) is a relic and is the only tool I'll use. The end result - clean, fresh oysters cooked nicely on the grill to start off the Seminoles game Saturday night.

Let me tell you -- this are OH MY GOD good. Do yourself a favor (and if you don't it won't be my fault because I warned you) get two dozen oysters and double the recipe.

Creamed Spinach


1 pkg Green Giant Frozen Creamed Spinach - Cooked
3 TB Heavy Cream
3 TB (maybe more...I'm not sure) Parmesan Cheese
A couple of heavy dashes of Cayenne Pepper


Oysters Rockefeller


12 Oysters - Shucked, rinsed and detached (I'm sure there's another term for that)


Pile the spinach mixture on each oyster in the shell. Top with additional parmesan cheese. Place on outside grill (set on high) until the mixture is bubbly and you can kind of see the oyster curling up a bit (it's done then). CAREFULLY - remove with tongs avoiding losing one (rolling my eyes) in between the grates of the grill.

My Butt was Smoking!

For almost 13 hours but worth it! I've had a pork butt in the freezer for a few months now. I knew it was going to be a production to cook and we needed to wait for an 'easy' weekend that we could dedicate to the smoking process. So - at 7:00 a.m. we got up and started to prepare the smoker. The butt was rubbed (gawd...I love saying that) and ready to cook low and slow! End result was a tender piece of moist meat - half that I pulled for sandwiches; the other half I sliced for later in the week.

My Rub

1/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Paprika

1/4 cup Pepper

1/4 cup Kosher Salt

2 TB Cayenne

2 TB Garlic Powder

2 TB Onion Powder

2 TB Chili Powder

My Mop

1 Bottle of Beer

1/2 cup Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Oil

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

He's No MIKE LOWRY.... But He's My Mike

Things I love about Mike. My special child and Megan's twin. He lives in Orlando and although I don't see him as often as I like, I talk to him (several times) every day.



1. When he was little he would hide in the racks of clothes while I shopped. He didn't make a mess or anything, he would just sit in the middle of it all.

2. He is very passionate. Sometimes it's with the wrong things, but, nonetheless, he's a passionate person.

3. He's clean and sober. And he's just as passionate about that as he was when he wasn't clean and sober.

4. He's thankful for his family and his life and his job. All the things we all take for granted every day but he takes the time to communicate to people.

5. He cuts his own hair better than he could ever pay someone else to do. Seriously.

6. He spends more time getting ready to go somewhere than anyone I've ever known.

7. He loves coffee.

8. He can't tolerate a mess for long. He will for a while and then all of a sudden (usually at 3am) he'll break out the cleaning supplies and won't stop until it's done.

9. He loves really good food. He would make a good restaurant critic.


10. He reads the Wall Street Journal and enjoys it.


11. When he's talking to me on the phone, I hear him say 'excuse me,' 'thank you,' 'please,' and 'hey...how are you doing?' to people on the street and that makes me smile.


12. He makes sure he calls his Grandmother every couple of days to see what she's up to.


13. He is very GAP-ish. He look like he stepped out from the pages of a GAP ad.


14. He pretends he knows nothing about picking out clothes so the sales girls will help him. In actuality he's critiquing their clothing choices in his head at the same time.


15. When he was in High School his Algebra teacher had him be the substitute teacher when she had meetings.


16. His laugh is cool. Not as cool as Megan's (sorry Mike) but it's genuine and fun.


17. He likes all kinds of music. Once when he was little, he came home from hearing an orchestra play at school and said he could feel it in his heart.


18. He finally likes himself.


19. He never once was embarrassed by me like some teenagers were....ya know the ones who wouldn't even walk near their parents at the mall -- acting like they didn't know them.


20. Was afraid of a german shepherd in our neighborhood and was so startled that when he ran into the house he forgot to close the door and the dog followed him into clear into my bedroom. This is really a very funny story - much funnier than it sounds here - but he and Meg know!



I love you Mikey! You've turned into lovely, kind person who will do good work in this world someday. I truly believe that.

Don't Know What Got Into Me --

but...I took lunch in for my co-workers last week. My intent was to make Miss Leslie's (via Rachael Ray) Ham Salad. The outcome was the only part of that recipe I used was the biscuit idea. Which, by the way, when I served some to Mark for dinner the night before...he did NOT appreciate. The man just wanted a bun or a couple of slices of bread!

Ham Salad

1 lb of deli ham (I had them cut it thick) - pulsed in the food processor

1/2 onion - pulsed in food processor

2 celery - pulsed in food processor

1/3 cut of mayo

2 TB mustard

dash of garlic powder

3 TB brown sugar

1 TB cayenne pepper

3 TB sweet pickle relish

Mix and let the flavors combine for a couple of hours. Placed on large size biscuits (8 to a tin).

There's Something About Megan --

This has nothing to do with food. Well sorta because I love this girl more than a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs!! And everyone knows how much I love spaghetti and meatballs!

I'm really proud of my daughter. She's a good person and has a big heart. Even though she can be a bit (ahem) opinionated and hard-headed, here's (just a partial) list of things I love about her--

1. She is really good with children.

2. Which is good because she's a 3rd Grade Teacher!!

3. She has some weird way to do math... but it worked and you could say what's 338 x 476?? And she would contort her face and her eyes would roll in the back of her head and she'd give you the damn answer!

4. She likes shoes. Has ever since she was a baby. She would get dressed to go out to play and pick out a pair of pajamas and black patent leather shoes.

5. She makes really good baked asparagus.

6. And grilled chicken (she claims...I've not had it).

7. And beer-cheese dip.

8. She knows everything about football, I swear! Every rule, every player, every team, division, etc.

9. She can't drive without talking on the phone.

10. She will only have one drink per hour when out with friends.

11. She's the Beer-Pong Champ of Tallahassee! That's my girl!

12. She's an expert at driving round-abouts.

13. She's good even driving round-abouts the wrong way (don't freak out....in Ireland, I mean).

14. She's is very shy and people don't realize that about her. They instead mistake it for being a snob.

15. She makes a point to talk to her best friend from high school and college every Tuesday.

16. She recently made a plan to rescue Mike from a potential hurricane evacuation because she thought no one would remember to.

17. She cheats at Monopoly. Actually she cheats at any game she isn't winning at the time.

18. She will only camp in a tent. However, she does come in to our trailer when she needs to use the bathroom or heat something up in the microwave! Go figure.

19. She is very loyal to her friends but has learned to play work-place politics, too.

20. Is probably screaming at the tv right now since the Bucs just intercepted the ball!

Love you Megan!!

Philly Cheesesteak Eggrolls

This was very good. I'm going to try with some other fillings. I got this recipe from Robin Miller on Foodnetwork.com. I hope I'm not breaking any laws by posting it here. Trust me I'm giving her full credit!!

Cheese Steak Egg Rolls
, 2006, Robin Miller, All rights reserved

Cooking spray

1 cup sliced onions

2 cooked fillet or rib-eye steaks, cut into thin slices (please...I used roast beef from the deli)

8 spring roll wrappers (I had enough meat for 6)

6 to 8 ounces provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.
Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook 3 minutes, until soft. Transfer spring roll wrapper to a flat surface. Top with steak, onions and provolone cheese in bottom third of wrapper. Roll wrapper one time, fold in ends, and roll up. Place on prepared baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.

Roast cheese steak egg rolls and peppers 15 minutes, until wrappers are golden brown.

More Poppers

Made more poppers for the Bucs game today. Today I used chive and onion cream cheese and baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes.

And this time I remembered to take a picture!

Football is in the air....

Ahhh......football season. Our favorite season of all. Most people get to look forward to spring, fall and even winter. The only season we have is football! For us that means endless text messaging back and forth with the kids (complaining or celebrating), snack foods instead of meals, and cocktails in the jacuzzi while watching the game on the outside tv. Chores are schedule around game time both for the 'Noles and the Bucs!

Today was chicken wings. I marinade for a bit in olive oil, salt, pepper and Crystal's Hot Sauce. Then I throw them on the grill and cook them on medium with the lid down until their done. Lift the lid, crank up the heat a bit and let them crisp up.

When I take them off the grill, I toss them in medium Hooters Sauce. Oh, I know....there are a zillion wing sauces out there and I'm always saying to homemade is best but this stuff can't be beat. Add some crispy celery and bleu cheese dressing and we're ready to watch Florida State beat Chattanooga!! Go Noles!

Cocktail Hour

My normal at-home cocktail is cranberry juice mixed with pineapple juice with a tad (or so...) of vodka. The other day though my mom said she was mixing cranberry juice with lemonade so I gave it a go --

1 can of frozen cranberry juice

1 can of frozen lemonade

5 cans of water

Fill your glass with some crushed ice. Add a couple of glugs of vodka and then fill with the juice.

I need to come up with a name for this.... Buc's Brew; Seminole Slush; Football Juice....

You Say Tom-ay-to, I Say Who Cares...Bring Me More!

Do you know what this is?? This, my friend, is a REAL TOMATO! I know...you're saying, of course it's a tomato - it's red, round and probably has some little seeds inside.

The difference, you see, is it actually HAS SOME TASTE!! I've lived in Florida all my life. Tomatoes are red and wet -- but they don't really taste like anything. If ya wanna taste them you get yourself a glass of tomato juice...seriously. These jewels made a 1,200 mile trip from Illinois so I thought it only appropriate to celebrate their arrival by frying a pound of bacon and toasting some bread. No L for this BLT?? Nope -- didn't want the distraction!