The original Tailgate Ham and Cheese Sliders feature Slider Buns (like Hawaiian or Potato), with a spread of cream cheese inside and topped with a melted butter mixture, which has minced or dried onion, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan or Dijon in it, depending on the recipe. Since I wanted to “Cuban” it up, I made my sammies with Sliced Smoked Ham, Roast Pork Slices, Swiss Cheese, Pickles and Mustard. To keep it more authentic, my topping was just melted, salted butter. I did add Everything Seasoning to the top of the buns, which isn’t authentic, but tastes good and adds some crunch.

I think they turned out great, but with the sweet Hawaiian rolls, it gave it more of a Media Noche vibe. If you wanted to stick with more of a traditional Cuban Sandwich theme, use regular slider rolls. I also found a Mini Cuban Buns, which would be perfect, but I’m not sure how easy they are to find.

I went the extra step and roasted a Pork Loin that had been marinated in homemade Mojo. This ensured a moist and flavorful sliced pork for the sandwiches. Marinate the pork tenderloin overnight in a mixture of 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup orange juice, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 3 garlic cloves (minced), 1 teaspoon oregano and 1/2 teaspoon cumin. If you want to use Mojo (like Badia or Goya) from the grocery store, skip this step. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes, or until internal temp is 145 degrees. Let cool and thinly slice for sandwiches. *Note: I should have sliced mine a little thinner.

The beauty of these sammies is you can assemble them ahead and bake when you’re ready to serve. I made them in a disposable aluminum tray so clean-up was easy at the Tailgate. These sandwiches are delectable; the melty cheese, loads of ham and pork, toasted buttery tops and the acidic kick of the mustard and pickles makes for a delicious bitefull.

I would serve these Mini Cuban Sliders with an avocado and tomato salad and Plantain Chips. Croquettas or Empanadas could be easy appetizers, but I served veggies with Whipped Ricotta Dip. A cold, local Miami Craft Beer, Cuba Libre (Rum and Coke with lime) or Mojito would be perfect drinks to go with and make it a “Mucho” Miami experience. Shout out to the 305!

Super Cuban Tailgate Sandwiches

Recipe by SergioCourse: MainCuisine: TailgateDifficulty: Easy

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

9

minutes

Cooking time

19

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Ingredients

• 1 package of Mini Sliders, sliced open

• 1/4 cup melted butter

• 1/2 pound thinly sliced Smoked Ham (like Boars Head)

• 1 roasted pork tenderloin, thinly sliced

• 1 pound thinly sliced Swiss Cheese

• Yellow Mustard

• Hamburger Pickles

• 1/4 stick salted Butter, melted

• Everything Bagel Seasoning, optional

Directions

• Cut rolls in half. Place bottoms in a 9 x 13 inch aluminum foil tray.
• Place one slice of Swiss cheese on bottom of roll. Top with Smoked Ham Slices.
• Top with slices of Roast Pork and then another layer of Swiss cheese.
• Add hamburger pickles, trying to get in the sandwich circle area.
• Spread yellow mustard on the top of the slider buns and put on top of the sandwich.
• Brush melted butter on top of sandwich tops, making sure it goes into every nook and cranny. Add Everything Seasoning, if desired.
• Place sandwiches in a preheated 350 degree oven and cook for 20 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
• Remove from oven and either slice or pull apart to enjoy.

Notes

• You can make these ahead the night before and put in the oven right before serving.

Up Next: The Eating House is Back!

I used Trader Joe’s Shrimp Goyza and for this dish and steamed them. I also used Trader Joe’s frozen edamame and, to make it even easier to whip together, I used Trader Joe’s Spicy Peanut Vinagrette. Pea tendrils and chopped cilantro would be welcome additions to this yummy salad.

This recipe serves 4, so I cut it down accordingly since my husband isn’t a big salad eater. I also added some chopped cabbage to it, for more crunch, as well as some black sesame seeds and chopped Thai Basil. The Trader Joe’s Shrimp Gyoza are 180 calories for three. I put five on my salad.

Peanutty Dumpling Salad

Recipe by Real Simple MagazineCourse: Garden, Healthy, RecipeCuisine: AsianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

14

minutes

Ingredients

• 14 oz. frozen dumplings

• 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil

• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

• 2 tsp granulated sugar, divided

• 3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

• 3 scallions

• 1 5-oz package mixed salad greens

• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick slices

• 1 cup shelled frozen edamame, thawed

• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts

• Toasted sesame seeds for serving (optional)

Directions

• Cook dumpling according to package directions, preferably pan-frying.
• Whisk oil, soy sauce, vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small bowl or measuring cup. Pour half into a separate small bowl. Add peanut butter, 2 Tablespoons cold water, and remaining 1 teaspoon sugar to first bowl of oil mixture, stirring to combine.
• Chop scallions, reserving 1/4 cup of green part for serving. Place salad greens, carrots, edamame and remaining scallions in a large bowl. Add oil mixture and toss to combine. Transfer to a platter or plates.
• Top salad with dumplings, chopped peanuts and sesame seeds; garnish with reserved scallion greens. Serve with peanut butter mixture for drizzling.

Notes

• If you use Trader Joe’s Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette, skip step 2 and just drizzle over assembled salad.

Up Next: My Last State!

Last week, I lost two pairs of sunglasses. A pair of aviators, that were a Christmas present from my husband, and a pair of Wayfare-esque ones. I’m not sure where they came from. I could blame it on age, but honestly, I’ve always been somewhat forgetful and tend to lose things.

When they used a quote in the yearbook from my Cheerleading Squad to represent me, it was “Gina- did you forget anything?” because I was always forgetting something- pop-poms, my athletic letter, saddle shoes. I think I even forgot my bloomers once!

The Canes and the Dolphins lost last week, not a good week for Miami Football. Our tailgate for the UM game was successful, however. We had sausages and hot dogs with sauteed onions and Cole Slaw. Emma and Gui brought Argentinian Sausages, I brought Bratwurst and Kelley brought Hebrew National Hot Dogs. It was a “bring your own sausage” tailgate, or, as I called it, a Sausage Party.

Orange and green veggies (get my theme?) were appetizers with Three Layer Hummus and Pita Crackers. Pumpkin Cupcakes with orange frosting and green sprinkles were our dessert. Wyatt helped me make them when I picked him up from school Friday. I just used Yellow cake mix, but substituted some of the oil for pumpkin puree and added about a tablespoon of Pumpkin Spice. They were good! We decorated some for Halloween as well.

I like Tailgating, but it’s quite an effort to get the tent up, table and chairs out and set up, food spread out and drinks poured. Then, grilling the food, serving it, letting the grill cool down and packing it all up. By that time, it’s time to head into the stadium. Do I sound old?

We should’ve gotten their earlier, because I missed the team coming out of the smoke at the beginning- one of my favorite parts of the game. And, depending on the game, it’s sometimes absolutely my favorite part of the game. Not this game- it was exciting, but we just couldn’t pull it out in the end.

Going to UM football games always reminds me of my Dad, Butch Rice, who loved UM Football. He was a Dolphins season ticket holder, but gave up his tickets when they moved to Joe Robbie (now Hard Rock) stadium and transferred his football passion onto the University of Miami. He attended games at the old Orange Bowl, now they’re at Hard Rock. He died 20 years ago last week. While I knew October sixth rang a bell, I’d forgotten why until my sister Kelley reminded me.

We met for lunch at Amal, a Modern Lebanese restaurant in Coconut Grove. I’ve been dying to try it and had heard good things about it from friends and on Instagram. We toasted my Dad at lunch (we had fancy drinks, my Dad would’ve had a Coors Light) and had a lovely, Middle Eastern Mezze lunch. *Amal restaurant review coming in future Foodie in Miami.

Winner, winner Chicken Dinner

Last Tuesday was National Taco Day, but I actually had a craving for Roast Chicken, so that’s what we had. I served it with Stovetop Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. I guess I was feeling Thanksgiving vibes. Sometimes, you just crave something and Publix Rotisserie Chicken saved the day; it’s an Empty Nester’s best friend. I used the leftovers to make my favorite Chicken Noodle Soup later in the week.

I went to Trader Joe’s this week for Tailgate supplies. While many people complain of not being able to find parking, I’ve never had an issue with it. The place was packed, however (don’t go at lunchtime) and they had an issue with their freezer sections, so there were whole sections missing food items. They didn’t have my little Hold the Cone Ice Cream treats. I did get my Mini San Marzano tomatoes; they are $2.99 at Trader Joe’s vs. $4 at Publix. I also got Pumpkin Ravioli, which I love!

For lunch on Tuesday I made a delicious salad with Trader Joe’s Dill Pickle (trending) Falafels, pickled red onion, pickled beets, lettuce, sliced avocado, shaved carrots and feta cheese. I whipped up a quick tahini dressing with tahini, lemon & beet juice (made it pink) and olive oil. It was delicious and the Falafels took the place of croutons, for crunch.

Zeke had brought a favorite bartender fresh tamales from Homestead and, in return, his Mom made us Cheese and Pork Tamales. She said to serve them with sour cream and Queso Fresca, which is what we did Friday night for dinner. I used my new Always Pan to steam them, which was super easy. They were delicious.

Sunday was a rainy all day, but the highlight was getting to see the grandkids- Wyatt and Phoenix. I went with their family to Spirit in Sunset Place (now a Ghost Town) to look for costumes. Unfortunately, they were out of Spiderman for Wyatt. Justin bought a Mullet wig and I got a red skirt for my costume. I watched the kids, while Justin and A.J. looked for a new couch in Restoration Hardware and Z Gallerie, but Z Gallerie is now gone.

Zeke used his electric smoker to smoke a fat Rib Eye Steak, Chicken Thighs, Argentinian Sausage and Baked Beans. I made Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Copycat Coleslaw (from Parade magazine) and Corn on the Cob (Wyatt’s favorite) as sides. Whipped Ricotta Herb Spread with Grilled Bread and veggies was our appetizer.

It was all good- the smoked sausage and baked beans were my favorites- but after all that cooking (outside in the rain, no less), we sat down to eat at 6 and by 6:15, we were all done. It kind of felt like Thanksgiving! A.J. decided suddenly, they needed to leave to go buy a couch before the store closed at 7. So, a short but sweet visit. I was left with a quiet, empty house… and the dishes.

I’m going to visit Chris and Courtney for Halloween in Tallahassee, later this month. Last year, the theme was Peter Pan (with Liam as Hook), this year its Scooby Doo, with Liam as Scooby. I’m Velma (very controversial). I have my wig, glasses, red skirt, now all I need is the orange turtleneck.

Hungry Post, a Foodie blog, went in search of the Best Croquettas in Miami. These are where they found the top three: 1) Tinta Y Cafe (Coral Gables) 2) Islas Canarias 3) Versailles. I’ve tried Versailles croquettas (delicious!), attempted to make Islas Canarias’s croqettas (complicated). I guess that means I need to try Tinta Y Cafe’s croquettas, since they were voted #1. A Book Club friend also recently recommended Tinta Y Cafe on Ponce de Leon, calling it a “hidden gem.” Foodie in Miami is all about Hidden Gems, so count me in!

Nothing to report on watching shows. I’m still plowing through Parks and Rec on Peacock Plus. My sister Elise recommended Blonde and Emma recommended Dahmer on Netflix. I started watching Dahmer, but when Zeke left me to go upstairs, I turned it off. A series about notorious, cannibalistic, serial killer Jeffery Dahmer is not something I want to watch alone.

I recently ended a relationship that wasn’t working for me. While I can’t say it felt particularly good– I don’t like confrontation- it did feel right, if you know what I mean. Speaking my truth, sticking up for myself and all that jazz. It’s only taken sixty-something years to get to this point.

People give the worst advice about lost things. Retrace your steps. Pray to St. Anthony. Think about where you last saw it. But that doesn’t apply to the things that matter. Those are right in front of you, except they can’t be found by looking for them. Only by looking at everything else.

Kristin Lepionka, The Last Place You Look

Wishing you a good week, with lots of delicious eating and not too many spooky surprises.

Up Next: The Best Chicken Noodle Soup

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey…

Here in Miami, all the leaves aren’t brown, but the sky is grey and rainy, due to incoming Hurricane Ian. Yes, while the rest of the country begins to bundle up for the Fall nip in the air, we here in South Florida are still in the midst of Hurricane season, dodging bullets and crossing fingers the latest “tropical depression turned hurricane” doesn’t come our way.

But, good news! It actually is officially Fall.

The first day of Autumn was September 22nd- last Thursday. I usually take photos of my garden the first day of each season, but this year my little herb and vegetable garden is empty and covered with black plastic. I’m waiting until it cools down a bit to start planting.

Still, my starfruit are plentiful and avocados keep falling from two trees. I also have a beautiful butterfly pea plant with brilliant purple flowers and white, fragrant jasmine blooming, which give me a reason to go outside in this hot, humid weather.

Fall means all things PUMPKIN!

You’re either a pumpkin lover or a pumpkin hater. I fall into the first category, loving Pumpkin Lattes, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Bundt Cake and Pumpkin Ice Cream. My favorite (and easy!) way to enjoy pumpkin, is to sprinkle a little Pumpkin Pie Spice into my morning coffee because (spoiler alert) most “pumpkin flavored” items, are actually just” pumpkin spice” flavored.

A couple weeks ago, when it was still Summer, I had leftover lobster and corn, so I turned it into one of my favorite ways to use leftovers and made a summery Lobster and Corn Pizza. For some reason, Monday’s became Pizza Day in our house (I think it was when we watched The Bachelor together in the Pandemic), where we would order a pizza from Miami’s Best and chow down, while watching “the most dramatic season ever”.

When making your own pizza, you have different choices for the crust. The easiest is to buy a pre-made crust, like Boboli. The middle option, is getting the pizza dough from the Bakery section of your grocery store. They also have a pizza dough in the can (Pillsbury), but I’m not a fan of this method. The most labor intensive option is making pizza dough from scratch. This is what I did for this pizza. It was a Bobby Flay recipe and, while good and not that hard, I feel the one from Publix Bakery tastes just as good. Just remember it needs to sit in the bag an hour before baking.

For my Lobster and Corn Pizza, I used Pesto as the sauce on the bottom, added cherry tomatoes, the lobster and corn and topped it with mozzarella cheese and chopped chives. Can you say Summer on a pie? It turned out great, as did the tomato sauce with basil and fresh mozzarella one I made, since the recipe made two balls of dough. Emma and Guillermo ate with us. While they stayed for Jeopardy, they did abandon us before The Bachelorette started.

Tuesday, I made an easy dinner of Marinated Chicken Thighs in Teriyaki sauce. They sell frozen ones at Trader Joe’s, already de-boned and de-skinned, which makes preparing them a breeze. Just marinate in your favorite marinade for a couple hours, then grill or bake.

I was excited to try my new Our Place Always Pan, which I purchased through Katie Couric’s newsletter during a Labor Day sale. Apparently Katie loves this pan, which comes in many pretty colors, and it’s supposed to take the place of 8 pieces of cookware. I sauteed red bell pepper, onions and carrots in the pan and they turned out great. It’s non-stick, so the vegetables slid right out.

Having said that, there are some rules with this beautiful (and expensive) pan. You can’t heat it over medium heat and never, ever use metal utensils in it, or it will ruin the non-stickiness of the pan. Also, it can’t go into the oven. I was trying to figure out how it replaces 8 pans, but it actually says 8 utensils. It comes with a steamer basket, lid, wooden utensil and a natural sponge to clean it.

While I like my Always Pan, for me- Cast Iron Skillets that can be heated to scorching, put in the oven and scraped with a metal spatula- offer the most bang for the buck. They are pretty much indestructible! But, the Always Pan is good for eggs and other delicate items you don’t want to stick and I like the idea of the steamer basket. So, there’s room in my kitchen for both Kumbaya pans. One’s a Mac Truck, the other a Maserati.

Inspired by a Cooks Illustrated Instagram post, I made Soba Noodles with Chicken (leftover from the night before), veggies (also leftover) and edamame in a peanut sauce. Trader Joe’s sells a tasty, Spicy Peanut Sauce should you not want to make your own. Soba noodles, a tradition Japanese noodle, are made from buckwheat flour, so are healthier than noodles made with white flour. They need to be soaked before cooking, They are low glycemic, high in B vitamins, antioxidants and minerals and contain all 8 amino acids.

Friday I had my first Miami Spice of the Season at TUR Kitchen (see previous post) and Saturday, out on the boat, enjoyed a Publix Italian Sub. Delicious! We were going to meet friends Doug and Heidi at Lorelie, but rain and lightening threatened, so we headed the other way to Gilberts, for a stiff drink and to listen to the band- Cutler Stew.

Sunday, I watched Wyatt and Phoenix for A.J., who is now the new Event Planner and Wedding Coordinator for Patch of Heaven Sanctuary in the Redlands. Dinner was Spaghetti Sunday with pasta, sausage, meatballs, sauteed peas, salad, garlic bread and Eggplant Parm that Emma made. I was planning on making Lemon Sorbet, but with watching the kids, Phoenix bonking his head, etc…, it didn’t happen.

Good news for Miami and Coral Gables!

Bon Appetit has a list of Best New Restaurants and three South Florida Restaurants- Los Felix, Paradis Book + Bread and Sunny’s Steakhouse– made the list. The New York Times Food Section announced their Restaurant List 2022 and two Coral Gables restaurants- Zitz Sum and Mamey– made the list. I’ve been to (and enjoyed) both these restaurants. Congrats to Chefs Pablo Zitzmann and Nivel Patel on this honor!

Did you watch The Emmys? I was so surprised to see Abbot Elementary’s Sheryl Lee Ralph in the audience. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, she was much more glammed-up (and younger looking), than the maternal character she plays on the show, which I love. She won and wow! She belted out a song (Endangered Species) acapella that captivated the audience; her speech following, was equally inspirational.

To anyone who has ever had a dream … and thought your dream wouldn’t come true. This is what believing looks like.

Sheryl Lee Ralph

The Emmys gave me a whole new list of things to add to my “Must See” TV (or streaming) list, starting with White Lotus, which won a lot of awards. Also- Succession, Ozark, Ted Lasso, Only Murders in the Building, Killing Eve, The Morning Show, Yellowjackets, Hacks, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Dopesick, The Staircase, Pam and Tommy and Maid. Some of these I had heard of, some I’d started watching, but others, I had not.

I also read a good suggestion regarding streaming services in a AARP newsletter. They suggested to subscribe to just one or two streaming services, binge-watch the series you’re interested in, and then cancel. Right now I have six services and that’s just crazy.

Equally crazy, I’m bookmarking yummy-looking Fall Dishes like Chicken Enchiladas, Baked Vidalia Onions, Hasselback Sausages, Butter Pecan Cookies and S’more Donuts from Instagram to sample soon, in this “Fall” Season. Fall also calls to mind anything Apple– crisp, cold apples, Apple Martinis, Apple Cider, Apple-Glazed Donuts, Apple Strudel, Apple Fritters and Apple Crumble. I love apples!

It may be 88 degrees outside, with 90% humidity here in Miami but I want my Fall, darnit! Just like Sheryl Lee Ralph, if I can believe it, it can happen. Even Fall in Miami.

Up Next: Overnight Oats

Sometimes I want to cook elaborate meals and sometimes I just need to get dinner on the table. The elaborate meals normally are cooked on the weekends and even those, are much less elaborate than they used to be in my “Bon Appetit” days. This shrimp recipe is for those days that you just want to get dinner on the table, but it also could be used for a dinner party as it tastes more special than the minimum effort required.

Most proteins- be it beef, poultry or seafood- basically taste like they taste, once you account for Prime vs. Choice, Organic vs. non or Wild Caught vs. Farmed. The only way to add flavor is with a marinade, seasoning or rub and a sauce to serve it with. This shrimp recipe uses all three of these techniques to really amp up the flavor! I would serve this shrimp with rice pilaf or couscous and a green vegetable, like asparagus. This shrimp has SO much flavor, you really don’t need much else!

I used the Trader Joe’s Large Argentinian Shrimp in the freezer section for this recipe, but any frozen shrimp will do. These shrimp are red in color, come 20-25 per pound and cost $11.99. The Trader Joe’s Honey Aleppo Sauce ($3.99) is a “sweet, savory, tangy and slightly spicy” sauce, with a base of olive oil and honey. It’s delicious on a lot of things and to keep it simple, I use it to make the Bang Bang Sauce to dip the shrimp in. I call this recipe Yum Yum shrimp, because it is really yummy!

By the way, this photo isn’t of the shrimp in this recipe (note the dill), but was the best I could do! This is a four ingredient recipe and you can get it on the table (after marinating) in 10 minutes. As Ina would say, How Easy is That?

Yum Yum Shrimp

Recipe by Gina GuilfordCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

58

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 jar Honey Aleppo Sauce

• Lemon Pepper Seasoning

• 1 Bag of Frozen Shrimp (20-25 per pound)

• Bang Bang Sauce

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/4 cup Honey Aleppo Sauce

Directions

• If you get the Large Argentine Shrimp from Trader Joe’s, they are already peeled and deveined. If not, peel and devein shrimp. Lay the shrimp in a large, non-reactive flat bowl or pan and cover with Honey Aleppo Sauce.
• Let the shrimp marinate from 1 hour to up to 8 hours. There isn’t acid in this sauce, so it will not “cook” or degrade the texture of the shrimp. Remove shrimp from marinade and thread on skewers. If you use wooden skewers, you will need to soak them in water at least an hour so they don’t burn on the grill.
• Preheat your grill to medium heat (between 350 and 450 degrees).
• Generously sprinkle Lemon Pepper Seasoning all over shrimp skewers.
• Make your Bang Bang sauce by combining mayonnaise with Honey Aleppo Sauce with a whisk until smooth.
• Spray grill with Pam! Important or shrimp will stick. Grill shrimp skewers 5 to 7 minutes, flipping over half way.
  
• Remove shrimp from grill when the flesh inside is white and opaque. Serve immediately with Bang Bang sauce and desired sides.

Notes

• You can also buy Bang Bang sauce at the grocery store if you don’t want to make your own.
• You could also make this recipe by broiling the shrimp, instead of on the grill.

Up Next: Wyatt’s World

I almost always read the book and, when it comes time to pick the book for hosting, I have thoroughly vetted the choices. I scour the New York Times Bestseller list, read Oprah’s and Reese Witherspoon’s picks and talk to friends in other book clubs to find out what books they have loved. In our Book Club, if you host the book club meeting, you get to pick the book.

This year I choose The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. I had sent one of our Book Club books (The Elegance of the Hedgehog) to my friend Katy in Orlando and she loved it. I went to visit her in February 2020 and when we visited Epcot, the Japan pavilion had a beautiful rock garden. I took photos because I’ve wanted to make a rock garden for a while and Katy said:

I think your Book Club would like this book The Samurai’s Garden. It’s similar to the one you gave me- simple and elegantly written.

Katy

Shortly after my visit to Katy and our trip around the world (via Epcot), the world as we knew it shut down. My Book Club, however, never stopped. We kept meeting, sometimes outside, sometime inside. This year, we hoped, everything would be different than 2020. Not quite, but we did keep on keeping on with our meetings. Katy sent me The Samurai’s Garden soon after my visit to her. I read it, loved it and picked it for my Book Club Meeting.

I realize why the book occurred to Katy while we were in the rock garden of Japan. While the main character maintains a beautiful garden in Japan at a beach house, his love interest in the book, has a rock garden, just as beautiful, but completely different. When I finished the book, I was determined to make my rock garden a reality by the time I hosted the Book Club.

It wasn’t easy.

First, I had to eradicate all the weeds, next, level out the dirt so it was a flat playing field. After that, I secured black weed blocker material to the dirt with giant metal staples, cutting holes around my two rose bushes and a sprinkler head. The final detail was ordering gravel for the rock garden. For this, I went to Bernie’s Rock and Garden in Homestead. The saleswoman recommended getting a gravel called Zen confetti (black and white), which the Fort Lauderdale Bonsai Garden used for their Zen garden.

The night before my gravel was to arrive, I was like a kid the night before Christmas. So excited to finally complete this project I’d dreamed about for years! Two huge bags of gravel were delivered in the morning and I immediately started spreading it over the black fabric. It looked good! After all the rocks were distributed, a feat accomplished by my sweet husband as I was at a Girl’s Weekend in the Keys, we lugged three huge boulders over to the rock garden in the back of our house. The boulders are supposed to represent the mountains in the landscape and the gravel is supposed to represent the water.

I ordered (for $70!) a wooden rake that rakes the gravel into rows resembling waves. Around the boulders, I raked graduating circles to look like the ripples in the water . I already had a yellow garden stool, and some metal bells hanging in my mango tree for a Zen feel; rattan fencing I hung hid the ugly chain link fence lining the garden. I wanted a bench to meditate on, but lacking a Zen-looking one, I spray-painted one I already had black. Finally, my rock garden was complete! My thoughts turned to what to serve for dinner for my Book Club Meeting.

Food was mentioned a lot in the book, which takes place in Japan. There was a lot of rice, soup, fish and mochi. For appetizers, I made Summer Rolls. These are rice paper discs, soaked in warm water to make them pliable and stuffed with vermicelli noodles, fresh veggies and herbs. I served them with a creamy peanut sauce. Summer rolls were a refreshing and interesting start to our meal and Sumita, who started the club, is vegetarian so I always try to have something she can eat.

Since the dining rule is to follow a cold course by a hot one, I served Miso Soup for the first course when we sat down at the table. I’d set the table with a red tablecloth, aqua napkins and chopstick, with orange zinnias in clear vases as the centerpiece. I bought the Miso Soup at Matsuri, one of my favorite sushi restaurants. For the main course, I decided to have “Make Your Own Poke Bowl“. Jasmine Rice and/or Spring Greens were the base and then I had Ahi Tuna Chunks, Chopped Chicken Breasts and Tofu for protein choices. There were lots of toppings to choose from to accompany the bowls- chopped green onion, cilantro, edamame, fried onions, sliced jalapeno, ginger, chopped cashews and sesame seeds. I offered a variety of sauces- Bang Bang, Ginger Dressing and Siracha- to complete the bowls.

I think everyone liked the Poke bowls. It makes it easy for everyone when they can tailor their meal exactly as they like it. For dessert, I went easy on myself and got Mochi from Trader Joe’s in Green Tea, Vanilla and Mango flavors, served on a banana leaf. I also served sliced orange, as they do in sushi restaurants. Guta brought a coffee cake and I made Hot Lemongrass (from my garden) and Jasmine Tea to go with dessert.

When you make a signature cocktail, even people who have sworn not to drink usually can’t turn it down. The Signature Cocktail I made was called a Sparkling Elderflower Sake Cocktail by Cake & Knife. It had sake, lemon juice, Elderflower liqueur, Pomegranate Juice and was topped with Prosecco and a lemon peel. It was a light and refreshing drink, perfect for a hot night and was also, pretty to look at. It had been raining off and on all day, but luckily stopped just before the first guest arrived. When everyone arrived I led them, signature cocktail in hand, into my new Rock Garden.

We get it almost every night When the Moon is big and bright It’s a supernatural delight Everybody’s dancing in the moonlight

King Harvest

Up Next: Sparkling Elderflower Sake Cocktail

Skip the cilantro if you’re a cilantro-hater (I’m not!) and while it advised serving it with Tortilla Chips, I love the crunchy corn kernels (canchita) Jaguar restaurant in the Grove serves with their ceviche, as it’s the perfect, salty foil for the cold and refreshing ceviche. You can order them online, but chopped Corn Kernels from Trader Joe’s work as well. I also added a starfruit garnish, from my tree, to make it look pretty.

Easy Shrimp Ceviche

Recipe by SergioCourse: Uncategorized

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking timeminutes

Calories

150

kcal

Ingredients

• 1 lb shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined

• 6 Tbl freshly squeezed lime juice

• 6 Tbl freshly squeezed lemon juice

• 6 Tbl freshly squeezed orange juice

• 1 small red onion, diced

• 4 oz cherry tomatoes, chopped

• 1 to 2 jalapeno or serrano peppers, seeded and minced

• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste

• 2 avocados, pitted, peeled and diced (or 1 large mango, diced)

• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions

• Chop shrimp into bite-size pieces.
• In a non-reactive bowl, combine juices, onion, tomatoes, pepper, salt and shrimp. Cover and let sit at least 1 hour in fridge to let flavors mingle.
• Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
• Serve with Tortilla Chips or Corn Nuts.

Notes

• Omit cilantro if cilantro averse.

Up Next: Travel Necessities and Emergency Kit Essentials.

So, when asked what he liked to eat on an airplane while traveling to Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain said he doesn’t eat on planes because he likes to arrive hungry. While I appreciate the sentiment, I have low blood sugar and if I waited till I arrived to eat (keeping in mind you have to be at the airport two hours early, there’s the flight itself and then getting your bags, transportation etc…) I would arrive D.O.A. Not just hungry, but hangry, dizzy and ready to kill someone, so that advice just doesn’t work for me.

I ALWAYS pack a snack, or meal when I travel because you never know what’s going to happen on your flight. You could be stuck on the runway for hours or, as recently happened to me, wait around the airport for eight hours only to find out your flight’s been cancelled. While there are restaurants in airports, they’re not always desirable (or you may not have time) and buying snacks at the airport shop is a very expensive (and hit or miss) way to go. Like a Girl Scout, I tried to be prepared when traveling.

My Go-To Snack is a Mediterranean Mezze Platter. Let’s start with olives, shall we? You know how you see olives in giant barrels at your local Mediterranean Market? These preserved fruits in the drupe group (related to mangoes, cherries and peaches) are filled with flavor and healthy fats. They are a rather indestructible carry-on food item; I recently got a bag at Trader Joe’s, but you could also pick and pack your own.

Next up, nuts. I love almonds and especially Trader Joe’s Truffle Marcona Almonds, but any type of nut- pistachios, cashews, walnuts- will do as a crunchy, healthy snack. They go perfectly with dried fruit such as apricots or dates, but I also like to take fresh fruit on my flights. My favorite go-to is an apple, as it travels well and doesn’t easily damage. I either cut it up ahead, or make sure to take a knife (plastic) to slice it.

If you plan ahead and pack a little cooler, your range of options increases. Cheese and crackers, sliced vegetables and hummus and even a preserved meat, like prosciutto or salami are welcome options to your Mezze platter. I bring a napkin, wet wipe, plate or little cutting board to arrange my charcuterie on, as well. Of course, what goes best with this arrangement of food is a nice glass of vino. Red or white will do.

However, on my recent American flight, when I asked for a glass of wine, they told me they’re not serving alchohol “yet”. And I had to wonder, what in the hell does the Pandemic and COVID-19 have to do with serving wine? They served us a plastic bag with water, pretzels and a Clorox disinfecting wipe (whoopee!), so we had to remove our mask to eat and drink anyway.

I feel the Pandemic has been used as a catch-all excuse for sheer laziness for many people. Now that workers have had a taste of working from home, with no getting made-up, dressed or being stuck in traffic for hours, they don’t want to go back to the old grind. And “I’m working from home”, instead of an embarrassing admission is now proclaimed as a badge of honor and considered a legitimate disclaimer for all things not delivered. (Sorry for the rant!)

Flight attendants duties on-board flights were drastically reduced post 9-11 and, post-Pandemic have been reduced even further. As a former flight attendant, I used to have to take drink orders, serve drinks, deliver a meal, pour coffee and tea and then pick it all up for 137 people, on a three hour flight to New York. We were sometimes still picking up as we landed! Now, you’re lucky if you see a flight attendant at all during your flight. I realize flight attendants are there primarily for our health and well being, but a little venture into the service side of the job, now and then, would be greatly appreciated.

At any rate, if you’re traveling on a plane this summer, I hope I’ve given you some ideas on an easy snack to pack. Now, if I could just get a glass of wine to go with my moveable feast…

This recipe actually calls for a little preparation (1 hour) and a cedar plank; it works great if you’re already planning on grilling something for dinner. Since I didn’t plan ahead and hadn’t soaked the said plank, I just served the log of goat cheese with the honey and pepper (make sure you use lots, otherwise it just looks like a sad log of goat cheese). I cracked my black peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have one, put them in a plastic bag and whack them with a kitchen mallet or rolling pin to crush.

Other alternatives to the honey and pepper goat cheese (and taking a page from Trader Joe’s) is to spread the goat cheese log with leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, or a heated jelly (such as fig), or to cover it in ground spices (like thyme, rosemary, sage) of your liking. Any way you dress it up, adding a little festivity to your goat cheese doesn’t take much time and adds a lot to the presentation.

Honey-Pepper Grilled Goat Cheese

Prep: 1 hour Grill: 5 minutes

• 1 large cedar plank
• 1 (11 ounce) goat cheese log
• 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Flatbread crackers, or water crackers or grilled French bread.

1. Soak plank in water at least 1 hour. Roll goat cheese in pepper.
2. Preheat grill to medium-high heat (350 to 400). Grill wood plank on one side, 4 to 5 minutes or until well marked. Turn plank over and top with goat cheese.
3. Grill cheese, covered with grill lid, 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is hot and edges are slightly melted. Remove from grill and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately with crackers.

Serves 10.

Up Next: Week in Review

Mercury retrograde, when the planet of communication reverses course, can cause disruptions to communications of all kinds. This includes verbal or written communications- e-mail, snail mail, phones, computers, etc… Sometimes it’s effects are minor, other times catostrophic. This one, which officially started October 13th, has been a doozy for me!

We were set to get our boat Friday morning at 11 a.m. Zeke woke up early, more excited than a kid on Christmas morning. In truth, the excitement was mixed with some degree of anxiety. Zeke’s last experience captaining a boat had been in the ’80’s, when the extent of his boating prowess involved taking his Dad’s boat (The Tenacious) to and from Sundays on the Bay. And he always had problems docking.

I grew up in Gables by The Sea, on a canal and my Dad had a boat from the time we moved there in 1967. I never had any interest in driving the boat- was either water skiing behind it or, in the cabin sleeping or reading. I do have fond memories of going to gas up the boat with my Dad at Matheson Hammock and never felt as free as when I was standing on the deck, flying through the water with the wind in my hair. Still, at this point, I wished I ‘d paid more attention to operating the boat, instead of just being a passenger.

As we drove down to the Keys, something happened with my cell phone, where I wasn’t able to send or receive phone calls when out of range of the house. Nevermind, we were getting our boat!

You’re finally living up to your bumper sticker.

I said to Zeke on the ride down.

I’d gotten him a “Salt Life” bumper sticker that he put on his car; the girls had given him s**t about. Now, we were about to fufill our dream of actually becoming Salt Life people and we couldn’t wait!

Around 11, Nick from Unique Marine arrived.

“There’s our boat!” Zeke said, seeing it being pulled in on the trailer to the launching dock, from our unit.

He hurried down to the dock as I scurried to put together a boat bag with sunscreen, a hat, drinks and lip balm. I videoed our boat being splashed for the first time and my childhood friend, Mike Brill, who’d helped us get the boat at Unique Marine, joined us on our maiden voyage.

“Never go faster than you want to hit something,” was Nick’s first piece of advice.

Mike, who used to be an actual ship captain for a cruise line, talked about the pivot point of the boat and how it changes when you reverse the boat. I feverishly made notes in my little notebook as Nick went through all the features of the boat and we practiced anchoring. Zeke was nervous about docking, but when he brought us into the Sanctuary dock, he did just fine. He did have two guys there giving him advice on how to do it- “Use your outside engines.”

We dropped Nick off and went out with Mike to get some more sea time and go to lunch at the O.V. On the way back, Zeke drove and Mike and I talked about my Dad and growing up in Gables by the Sea, where he was our next door neighbor and would just walk in our front door without knocking, like one of us Rice kids. He told me about how my Dad came to visit him when he was captaining a cruise ship in the islands; my Dad Butch and his Dad Larry went on the cruise, with Mike as Captain, for a week. My Dad had just gotten diagnosed with lung cancer and he’d gotten his ear pierced, as a big FU to cancer.

“After all the shit he gave me for getting my ear pierced in High School!” Mike lamented.

He showed me a photo of my Dad from that trip- he was wearing a t-shirt, knotted in the front, exposing a beer belly, with his ear sporting a gold hoop and a shit-eating grin on his face, looking like some kind of deranged pirate.

The next day, Zeke and I took the boat out ourselves. We drove to his friend Doug’s house, anxious to show off our new baby. Doug, however, was watching “Game Day” on TV, so we made the trip to John and Kelley’s home at Venetian Shores. It’s not that easy finding things from the water, as it is from the land. There are no Mile Markers and everything looks different from that perspective. We did find their house, however, and docked but no one was home. Disappointed that there was no one around to see our new boat, we went to lunch at Bayside Grille, near our condo. I cheered myself up with a “Lime in the Coconut” rum drink and a tuna tower appetizer.

Zeke did a good job docking, this time alone. According to Todd at Unique Marine, the only time you need to look good on a boat is leaving the dock and arriving at the dock. Emma must have heard this bit of info, as she showed up for her boat ride the next day in Leopard Shorts, a fancy black top, a little strappy purse and mirrored Aviator sunglasses. We took her and Gui out on the boat to go get some lunch. While I’d been Zeke’s first mate, keeping an eye on the depth finder the past two days, on this day, I was upfront talking to Emma and Guillermo.

We went into a waterway off the intercoastal and some guy in a flats boat gave Zeke a “What in the hell are you doing?” arm gesture. As I looked behind us, we were churning up mud.

“Zeke! We’re in shallow water!”

I said.

He stopped the boat, which immediately caused us to sink further into the mud. When we started up again, there was an awful sound of metal on rock. We finally got out of there, when the Coast Guard, and its orange and white boat appeared, aiming right for us. Did we do irrepairable damage to a protected Coral Reef? Were we in trouble? Were we going to be arrested and thrown into the Coast Guard pokey? I was worried.

“Have you ever been boarded by the Coast Guard?” the young, cute Coast Guard officer asked.

“No, this is a brand new boat,” Zeke said.

“It looks brand new,” one of the six guys on the Coast Guard boat said. None of them had masks on. The guy explained this was a routine stop.

“Before I board, do you have any weapons on board?” the main guy asked.

“No,” I said.

“Yes,” Zeke said.

He asked the question again, with the same response from both of us. I was beginning to wonder what weapons Zeke had that I didn’t know about, but Zeke thought he’d said fenders– the rubber things to buffer the boat.

“No, I don’t have any weapons. Do you think I have a bunch of guns on the boat?” Zeke asked, thinking he was making a joke. Which I’m pretty sure the Coast Guard didn’t find amusing, kind of like saying “bomb” at the airport. But the guy was nice about it and two of them boarded.

We had all our safety equipment, but not our registration, which we’d left with the mound of paperwork in the condo. We got a warning, which the guy said meant nothing, and we’re good for six months.

“Did you notice all those guys were my age?” Emma asked, after they left. “I feel like we just got pulled over by a Fraternity Party.”

Lunch at Lorelei was good, docking a little trickier, as we had to reverse out of the narrow canal. That was Sunday and Emma and Guillermo left for Miami. As we pulled the boat out of the water and onto the trailer, I could see the skeg was pretty chewed up from our encounter with shallow water and the bottom. Luckily, the prop was unharmed. We were both tired, so spent the night in the Keys. I made ravioli with an arugula salad and garlic bread and was asleep by 9:30.

Back at home, our Miami Herald had stopped coming. The subscription had expired, but I still could read the New York Times on my phone, so felt I could at least keep up with current events. Monday morning I was at Pinecrest Gardens, handing out boxes for our Garden Club’s succulent Zoom workshop on Tuesday, which my daughter A.J. conducted. Kelley looked at my phone and couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Neither could Emma and they are my technology whizzes, so I figured it must be something really bad.

I finally broke down and took it to AT&T on Thursday, after a fun tennis match. After checking everything out, updating my settings and replacing my Sim card (and two hours later) the affable guy at AT&T told me it still didn’t work. He said it might be that my antenna was broken, since it couldn’t get any signal. I didn’t even know cell phones had an antenna- it must be very small! I imagined this miniature antenna, like the pistol of a tiny flower, slumped over and dead inside my phone, unable to send or receive signals. I called Apple and they set me up with an appointment for Saturday morning.

I decided to spend the night in Miami Friday, since I had the appointment Saturday morning. Zeke went down to the Keys without me. In the meantime, my phone now wasn’t getting any reception- no texts, news or updates- so I felt really incommunicado. Then, just as I was getting ready to make dinner, a violent storm came through our neighborhood, knocking out the power. Before, I’d figured even if I didn’t have my phone or the paper to get the news, I at least had the computer, but now the internet was out as well. No T.V., not even our land line (yes I still have one!) worked, so I couldn’t call Zeke and tell him what happened. Alone and in the dark, I ate my cold spaghetti squash noodles with pork in peanut sauce dinner, by candlelight.

The Apple store in Dadeland opened last Thursday, but there was still a line and Security people directing traffic. When I finally got up to the window (the rest of the store has been blocked off) the woman took my phone, ran tests and declared it D.O.A. Luckily, it was under warranty, so I got a brand new phone.

“What was wrong with it?” I asked.

“We may never know,” the Apple girl answered.

What was my week of being utterly out of touch trying to tell me? Maybe a message from my Dad, whose motto was “Shit Happens”, to get off the phone and onto the boat? A May Day from the Great Beyond to stop Doomscrolling and letting these constant political shenanigans and dire predictions by both sides, drive me crazy? A celestial S.O.S. to stay in the moment and enjoy life to the fullest? I may never know, as well.

Unfortunately, Mercury Retrograde lasts through election season (early voting and vote by mail) and the Presidential Election on November 3rd. This probably means the winner won’t be decided right away (something we kinda already figured). The last time Mercury was retrograde during an election was the Bush-Gore fiasco of 2000. Oy vey!

On Monday, I made a Moroccan Butternut Squash soup with Garbanzo beans, which sounded good but was just ok. Tuesday I made Trader Joe’s Butternut Squash Pasta (I’m on a butternut squash kick) with their Autumnal Harvest Sauce into a Baked Pasta dish with Mozzarella on top. Not really successful, a little dry and not enough flavor. The pumpkin shaped pasta fell apart upon boiling, so they looked like deflated pumpkins, the Harvest Sauce tasted more tomatoey than pumpkiny. Not a repeat.

The meal of the week was definitely Wednesday night’s Pork Tenderloin with Salsa Verde (Food Network Recipe). Pork tenderloin is pork tenderloin, but the sauce took it to a new level and luckily, I had most of the herbs in my garden. I used the leftovers in scrambled eggs and they would also be excellent on roasted chicken or fish. The recipe suggests serving it with crusty bread, but I served it with carrots and an asparagus, mushroom salad with roasted red pepper. Quite delicious!

Here’s the recipe:

Pork Tenderloin with Salsa Verde Food Network Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• One 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 1/4 cup fresh tarragon leaves
• 3 shallots, slices
• 2 garlic cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle the pork generously all over with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat until very hot and then add the tenderloin. Cook the pork, flipping occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the pork until just cooked through, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 150 degrees, about 15 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes.
2. While the pork roasts, put the parsley, cilantro, vinegar, chives, tarragon, shallots and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the herbs are minced. Slowly drizzle in the remaining 2/3 cup oil with the motor running until you have a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Slice the pork tenderloin and spoon the salsa verde over top. Serve with crusty bread for soaking up all the juices.

Up Next: How Shopping Has Changed in the Pandemic and Orange Crush Cocktail