Wildlife of Wadmalaw

A great egret

Grasshopper

Orange Dragonfly

Black Dragonfly

This tree frog invited itself inside the house

Spiders were abundent

A close-up

And one more

A snake - the white part is his mouth wide opened

Space aliens

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar (from Jacqui)

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can blackeyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can shoepeg corn, drained

1 cup each:
celery, onion chopped
red, green and yellow peppers chopped

heat all
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c lt olive oil
Cool

Mix all ingredients

Basil-Cheese Torta

Basil-Cheese Torta (from jacqui)

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (4-ounce) package feta cheese
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
Lucinda's Garden Pesto
2 (6-ounce) packages provolone cheese slices
Roasted Red Pepper Salsa, divided
1/4 cup chopped pine nuts, toasted
Garnishes: chopped fresh basil, fresh basil sprigs, pine nuts
Preparation
Process first 3 ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Stir in Lucinda's Garden Pesto, blending well.

Line an 8- x 4-inch loafpan with plastic wrap, allowing 1 inch to hang over on each side.

Arrange one-third of cheese slices on bottom and up sides of pan. Layer evenly with half of pesto mixture, 1/3 cup Roasted Red Pepper Salsa, 2 tablespoons pine nuts, and half of remaining cheese slices. Repeat layers, ending with cheese slices, gently pressing each layer. Fold cheese slices toward center. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Invert torta onto a serving platter. Top with 1/3 cup salsa; garnish, if desired. Serve with remaining salsa and toasted French baguette slices.
Yield

12 servings


Lucinda's Garden Pesto

Ingredients

3 cups fresh basil leaves
4 to 6 garlic cloves
1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 to 3 tablespoons shredded Romano cheese
2/3 cup olive oil
Preparation
Process basil and garlic in a food processor until chopped. Add pine nuts and cheeses, and process until blended, stopping to scrape down sides. With processor running, pour oil through food chute in a slow, steady stream; process until smooth. Chill up to 5 days, if desired.
Yield

1 cup

Roasted Red Pepper Salsa

Ingredients

4 red bell peppers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup dried tomatoes*
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Preparation
Bake peppers on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet at 500° for 12 minutes or until peppers look blistered, turning once.

Place peppers in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; seal and let stand 10 minutes to loosen skins. Peel peppers; remove and discard seeds. Coarsely chop peppers. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil; set aside.

Pour boiling water to cover over dried tomatoes. Let stand 3 minutes; drain and coarsely chop.

Stir together bell pepper, tomato, basil, and remaining ingredients. Cover and chill salsa up to 2 days, if desired.

* 1/3 cup dried tomatoes in oil may be substituted for dried tomatoes. Drain tomatoes well, pressing between layers of paper towels.
Yield

2 cups

Jacqui's Cole Slaw

Jacqui's ColeSlaw

Chopped Cabbage

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

caraway seeds

whatever else you like

Calypso Steak Salad

Calypso Steak Salad (from Jacqui)

Prep: 20 min., Grill: 10 min., Stand: 10 min. To make the salsa mixture ahead, just cover and chill up to 8 hours. Let stand at room temperature about 20 minutes, while steaks marinate in lime juice mixture.

1 1/2 pounds beef strip steaks

1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime rind, divided

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided

1 (8-oz.) can pineapple tidbits, drained

1/2 cup peach-mango salsa*

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/3 cup diced green bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Jamaican jerk seasoning

1 head romaine lettuce

Garnish: chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place strip steaks in a shallow dish, and add 1 tsp. grated lime rind and 1 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice, turning to coat.

2. Stir together pineapple, next 5 ingredients, remaining 1/2 tsp. grated lime rind, and remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. lime juice until blended.

3. Remove steaks from lime juice mixture, discarding juice. Sprinkle steaks evenly with 1 tsp. Jamaican jerk seasoning.

4. Grill steaks, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350° to 400°) 4 to 5 minutes on each side or to desired degree of doneness. Let steaks stand 10 minutes, and cut into thin strips.

5. Arrange lettuce leaves on a serving platter, and top with sliced steak and salsa mixture. Garnish, if desired.

*1/2 cup salsa may be substituted.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Jiffy Corn Casserole

Jiffy Corn Casserole (from Jacqui)

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can creamed corn

1 8 oz container sour cream (1 cup)

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

1 egg

2 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients in casserole dish

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Bake 350 1 hr or until golden brown

I like this version too from Southern Plate

Mama’s Corn Casserole

    * 15 oz. can cream style corn
    * 11oz. can whole kernel corn
    * 2 eggs
    * 1 cup sour cream
    * 8.5 oz. package Jiffy corn muffin mix (can use other muffin mix)
    * 1/2 cup butter, melted
    * 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8×12 inch casserole dish. In a mixing bowl, combine cream corn, whole kernel corn, eggs, sour cream, muffin mix, and butter. Pour into prepared casserole dish. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle cheese over the top. Return to the oven for 15 minutes or until the center is firm.

Note:  Without the cheese the corn flavor is more pronounced.

Nadine and Gerry Get Married - 8/27/09

What a surprise, at least for Larry and I. Gerry & Jacqui already guessed it before we came but everyone was keeping it a secret. Why should I question that they had to go to Charleston to go to a Post Office when the main purpose was to get a marriage license?

So when we saw Margo and her husband walking up to the pool house with Nadine we couldn't figure out who they were. I thought they had wandered over because they got lost. But how do you get lost on Wadmalaw? How would you even wind up in Wadmalaw unless you had a destination.

Nadine walked in and said "this is Margo" and she had a quizzical expression on her face like she didn't know who Margo was either.

Then Margo said that she was here to marry some people and my mind went to work.

1) Well it wasn't Larry and I, we're already married

2) It wasn't going to be Gerry & Jacqui, the talk there revolves more around ending theirs

3) BRAINSTORM - it must be Nadine and Gerry ! !

Margo and her husband

Nadine and Gerry before the wedding

Getting ready outside the pool house - a perfect setting

The vows

"You may kiss the bride"

Dinner at Jasmine Porch on Kiawah at The Sanctuary

The wedding cake

The view in back of the restaurant

The traditional sibs pose

Lazy Days & Nights Too

Most of the days we were completely lazy which we all enjoyed. A true rest vacation. We didn't sightsee or go anywhere although Nadine and Gerry Z. had some errands to run and Gerry Z. did go to Parris Island on Friday to relive some not so fond memories.

We hung out at the pool most days when it wasn't raining. It was either under the umbrella or in the water.

Most nights we watched movies.

The ones we saw were:

• National Treasure 2 with Nicolas Cage
• The International with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts
• Crossworlds with Rutger Hauer - one to miss
• Knowing with Nicolas Cage
• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day with Frances McDormand & Amy Adams (just Larry, Jacqui & I watched that the night before we left)

Photo Book for Myles

This is the book I spent many hours making while enjoying time with my family at Wadmalaw.

Click here to view this photo book larger

A Night at the Airport

Our flight was scheduled for 1:10 PM and we were to arrive in Charleston at 5:00 PM.
I went online about 10:30 to check the status of our flight and found that it was not going to leave until 3:45 which meant we would miss our connection in Philadelphia.
I called USAirways and was rebooked on a later flight to Charleston out of Philadelphia. The reason the plane was delayed was because the crew was late. The reason they were late is they needed enough time to get their 8 hours off after late flights prior to ours.
We got our later flight out of Rochester and arrived in Philadelphia only to find that our flight was further delayed. It kept getting delayed and getting delayed and finally at 9:30 it was cancelled. About six other flights in our terminal were cancelled then too.
Why couldn't they just cancel it from the get go when you might have had other options for the evening. True, the weather was awful in Philadelphia for a good 2 1/2 hours, but then other flights were leaving. Our crew was probably still late. Fortunately we had the foresight to go charging to the Service area as soon as the flight was cancelled so we could get rebooked. There was a 9:30 AM flight direct to Charleston the next morning but of course it was booked. Our gracious US Airways agent suggested the 5:30 PM flight the next day - I DON"T THINK SO!!!! I asked her if there wasn't something a little earlier going some other way and lo and behold there was. We could leave at 6:30 and get a flight to Charlotte, NC and then go to Charleston and get in around 11:00. Much better!!
So, we got food vouchers for $10 each and had a romantic 10:00 PM Chinese dinner at the food court and then went to the gate where we were going to depart from the next day.

Was I happy to leave the concourse where we were waiting for our original flight, it was freezing. The new concourse was very comfortable. And were we lucky, no arm rests in between seats. It didn't pay to get a hotel for $$$ when we would have to be at the airport by 5:30 AM so we figured we would just have an airport adventure.

The only good thing about being stranded in the Philadelphia airport was free internet. I set up my office and started working on a photo book for Myles for his birthday.

Thanks to some other people sharing our accommodations we found out we could get pillows and mylar blankets. It was sort of like staying in intensive care with the bright lights and television on all night. Larry's never had it so good since he met me. Nothing but the best experiences.

We did get to sleep for a couple of hours and everyone pretty much woke up about 4:30. The restaurants were starting to open and pretty soon we had a delicious breakfast of bagel and coffee.

We shouldn't complain though, because there were people waiting for our flight who came from Europe the night before and hadn't slept for over 24 hours.

Fortunately our planes were on time and we arrived in Charleston as scheduled. Gerry was there to meet us but our bags weren't there so we kept calling him at the cell phone lot to give him updates as we were waiting to see the baggage people. Finally Gerry just parked and came into the airport and we waited for out bags which were on the next flight due to arrive shortly. Once we had out bags and were in the car we were ready for our vacation. We arrived at the house, picked out our alternate sleeping accomadations since we lost the room I wanted by being late and Nadine and Gerry Z. took the best room since they arrived the day before us. We weren't going to unpack right away but I had something to give Jacqui so I opened the suitcases and found that all our clothes were soaked. They must have spent the night out in the rain. And to make matters worse, some red and black ran onto some of the clothes, But, a little laundry and then the vacation could begin.

Myles and Greta go home

Myles packed his new NY Yankees back pack that he got for school for his trip home this morning.

Bowling, Miniature golf and more

What a busy day we had today.

We never got out of the house until almost noon but we packed so much into it.

Greta, Myles and I went bowling and we each won a game, but not with any fantastic scores and we were using bumpers. But we had fun.
We went to the Apple store at the mall. I had to get a new power cord for my MacBook and Greta needed some help with her iPod touch. Then we went to Staples and Myles got a new backpack for school. After that we went to Wickham Farms and played miniature golf - Myles got a hole in one on the hardest hole.


There was also a sandtrap in the back of the hole besides the water on the sides.

We went on the jumping pillow which is like a giant trampoline on the ground.

Trip to the zoo

Myles and I went to the zoo yesterday and he was part of the zoo show.

We went to Burger King for lunch
Before going to the pool at home, Myles learned to tie a bow.Now he can tie his own shoes.

Myles and Greta Visit- August 16-22, 2009

Monday Greta had to work and I went shopping with Myles and we got the new punching toy among other things when we went to Target. We also went to Wegmans where Myles got to scan and bag what we bought.

In the afternoon Myles, Larry and I went to the movies and saw G-force which was really cute.
Larry and I had to go to a function at SJFC so Myles and Greta went over by Seabreeze and played miniature golf.


On Tuesday I didn't feel well in the morning so Larry took Myles over to Penfield to hit golf balls at the driving range and gave him some pointers as well. In the afternoon we went to play miniature golf in Webster.
Myles also got to hit balls at the batting cage and then we got ice cream cones at Bruester's.
We checked on our boat at the boat dock, to make sure it had been picked up for repair and then Myles and I played tennis and then we all went to the pool.

The next morning before work, Greta and Myles played tennis and then Myles and I played.




In the afternoon we went to the pool at Penfield which has a diving board

and Greta got to see Tracy. She also had to do a conference call for work so she sat in my car. When she was done, she was so hot and she hadn't brought her bathing suit so I got dressed and she wore mine to go in the pool. Greta went out to dinner with Betsy and Shay that night so we stayed home with Myles and watched half of a Harry Potter movie, but Larry and I fell asleep.

Flowers and Birds

Even though all of our flowers on the deck got water logged and we replaced them this week, our hibiscus is starting to bloom and has zillions of buds.

Even the hisbiscus in the house has a bloom.
The birds seem to be redecorating their nests.