Summer Garden

I thought this week I would share some pictures from our 29 South garden.  The heat is obscene here.  After a sweltering lunch on the restaurant porch last week the thermostat in my car read 112 degrees, and dropped to a cool 105 as I cruised home.  That is with almost 100% humidity mind you.  It is disgusting. Unbearable. Maddening heat.


In this excruciating weather there is a woman who has kept our garden flourishing.  Her name is Shannon and she has been a life saver.  I want to share some of her work here...I give her full credit for taking my sprouts and nurturing them to fruit.  It is by her hand that this garden survived this season.

Like a pepper plant, Shannon is petite but has a bounty of energy.  She is a yoga teacher, volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club to help tend their garden, as well as the garden co-ordinator for the 9th Street Community Garden.  I don't know how she manages to do it all.

I put my trust in her to care for our lovely little green space, and from the Red Velvet Okra....

to the blackberry bushes which barely fruited last year, but this year are dripping with berries...the garden is gorgeous.

I took this picture last week, and now the berries are ripe and a gallon was harvested today.  It is extraordinary how quickly fruits and vegetables peak in this heat.  You have to catch them fast, before the bugs do...and luckily I have a wonderful lady who has her eye on the ball for me.  Thank you for working your magic Shannon!

                                       

To Life

The Sprout turned 3 months this week.  Unbelievable.  This is reason to celebrate.  She made it through "the fourth trimester."  Humans come out not quite fully cooked, so to speak.  As a species we are not even able to hold our own heads up for months after birth, while other mammals...like horses...are strolling around with their mothers in a matter of hours.


To watch the first 3 months of human life for a second time has been extraordinary.  With Li' Bit I was just so overwhelmed with the insanity brought on by sleep deprivation combined with the pressure of keeping her alive that I did not have the peace of mind to observe what was really happening.  No longer a rookie at newbie handling, I am exhausted, but much more relaxed with The Sprout, so I am able to enjoy the beautiful filthy dawning of a human life.

The soul begins awakes from a deep sleep during the first and second months...it is a slow and somewhat painful process as it starts the body's engine.  The body's systems are set in motion...the nervous system with spastic flailing, the digestive system with lets just say...a good cleaning of the pipes from both ends and the other systems of the body jerk into drive. By the third month it seems like the soul has the clutch down, but is still learning the gears. 


While that first true smile melted my heart in month 2, it was when The Sprout found her hand and recognized it as her own in month 3 that really struck me.  About three weeks ago she raised her tiny fist three inches from her face and stared at it cross eyed.  She held it there for about ten minutes, studying it intently.  I was afraid her eyes were going to be stuck crossed she was looking so hard at her hand.  She did this off and on through out the day, for about a week until one day she slowly brought it to her mouth. 


The Sprout began sucking on her fist with such vigor that it made a terrible slurping sound.  It was almost disturbing to watch.  The first time I thought maybe she was hungry, but then she did it after nursing.  Slurping, sucking, and gulping at her hands in a frenzy.  I just looked at her and thought, "Newborns are so weird."

The movement of bringing hand to mouth is probably the one of the most important motion in a hand's repetoire don't you think?  There are so many sensations involved with the hand in the mouth.  The taste of salt for the first time in sweat being one of them.


Recent studies show that this movement is actually embedded in the general list of spastic reflexes that make newborns so squirmy. But the moment they recognize that hand as something they can control, when it is no longer a spastic reflex but a tool...that is when you see the lightbulb ignite behind your child's eyes.  She sees her body for the first time as her own, and it is a powerful moment.


A tiny fist raised high in the air... I think "Power to the people."  But really, it is an image that can be summed up in two words, L' Chiam!  To life.  

Drool Puddle

This week at 29 South we debuted a new menu...our classics are still there, but thought you might like to know what Chef and his crew have up their sleeves this summer season...just giving you fair warning before you read this post that you might want to grab a hankie to mop up the drool.

A Simple Crust of Bread : This is brilliant.  A crostini with whatever Chef deems a worthy spread on any given evening. This particular evening the crusty bread was topped with creamed brussels sprouts and Benton Country Ham.

Pan Roasted Scallops:  This pretty little dish includes two perfectly pan roasted scallops sitting on either side of a sweet corn flan that is good enough to slap your grandma with a carrot and a pea coulis...flavor and color totally spot on.

Classic Frisse Salad:  I love frisse.  Love it.  And let me tell you, I would not normally think to eat a poached egg on salad, but the yolk drizzle with the herb dressing is fantastic.  The house cured lardon...chunks of chewy salty pork heaven...way better than croutons.

Chef's Foie Burger:  A half pound of Waygu Beef/Foie Gras Blend on a buttered kaiser roll topped with summer truffle brie, Benton's Country Ham, and a Conner Farm egg sunny-side up...it is worth the heart attack...I promise.

Thai Bouillabaisse:  This tastes as beautiful as it looks.  A bouquet of sea life swimming in Forbidden Rice (Chinese black rice) and a curried nage, topped with lotus root and cilantro salad.  In other words, gorgeous.

Smoked Painted Hills Short Rib:  This piece of meat is not for the peckish eater.  Lacquered in blackstrap molasses it is a rib to be reckoned with to say the least.  I love that it comes with a side of homemade pickles.

Wild Salmon:  The best thing I ate this tasting...a lovely piece of fish on a pile of scrumptious roasted mushrooms in a pool of parsnip puree that just melts in your mouth, topped with minted smashed peas and Zinfandel syrup...this dish is bright, lush and wonderfully savory.  

And for dessert...the perfect compliment to a Foie Burger...a microbrew root beer float.  I am a huge float fan, and this is the perfect thing to sip after a big meal on a steamy summer night.

TADAAAA!  What did I tell you?  Drool puddle.

Whew!

Last weekend marked the end of a maddening May!  This final month of Spring just buzzed by...don't you think?

Our month in a nut shell: 

With a newborn and two year old in tow we spent 2 weekends traveling, welcomed three rounds of house guests, threw an impromptu wedding...oh and I almost forgot Chef survived a minor surgery.

The beautiful thing is that we did it without killing each other. Which is a definite reason to celebrate..hence the empty bottle of Krug. Kidding...that was from the wedding reception, if you could call it that.

We kicked off the wedding weekend with a rehearsal dinner...the bride and groom, their 3 small children, our 2 little ones, Chef and I crowded around a big wooden table in the 29 South garden.  It was the first time we have dined in the restaurant garden and it was absolutely perfect.  It was wonderful just to let the kids roam around the beds while we enjoyed a leisurely meal.

The following morning we snuck onto the deck of one of this area's premiere wedding venues and held a renegade service.  We met at 10 am. I took pictures of the wedding party (all 5 of them) while Chef went and picked up the officiant.  Chef thought that the bride and groom were going to be dressed "resort casual" so that is what he told the officiant.  This turned out to be a miscommunication...the groom was wearing a suit, the bride a white dress, the officiant in a Hawaiian shirt.  At 11 am, a 15 minute service was held on a deck overlooking the saltwater marsh.

I photographed the service, Chef was videographer, and Lil' Bit was...I hate to say it...official winer.  She chanted "I hungry Mommmmy!" at the top of her lungs during the entire affair, while The Sprout looked on from her car seat.  Luckily the ring bearer was a 2 year old, and the flower girl just 4 herself, the best man 9 years of age...so needless to say the bride and groom had a sense of humor about our hungry toddler. After the knot was tied we all took off for lunch poolside.


That evening, the new family came to our house and the reception was held at our kitchen table.  Chef prepared an Argentine asado, a.k.a meat fest, in honor of the groom's heritage.  For dessert we all shared a bottle of Krug.


It was a tiny beautiful destination wedding, and Chef and I felt honored to have been a part of it.


There is something to be said about small intimate weddings.  You really feel like you are witnessing something truly special when you are sharing the experience with just a handful of people.  This is the second itty bitty wedding Chef and I have been lucky enough to have received an invite.

The first was in 2007, a destination wedding in Virgin Gorda, BVI.   I spent the morning on a deserted Caribbean beach with the bride and the best man's wife, while Chef, the groom and the best man spent their time scuba diving.  We reconnected at sunset for a beach service and the reception was simply a dinner of fresh seafood at a local restaurant with a dance floor.  It was the best wedding I have ever been to... the only way to do it.


Intimate, authentic, and remote...those are my three choice words for my ideal destination wedding...and being a writer for a wedding magazine I suppose you could consider me somewhat of an expert...although I have no intention of getting hitched myself.  Chef and I prefer to be on the other side of the officiant..Happily unmarried.

If Only Flasks Could Talk...

I received my first flask as a college graduation gift from two of my roommates.  A stainless steel boot flask with a check pattern.  Your twenties are an age when it seems that booze is appropriate during almost any activity, thus making a flask an ideal tool to have on hand.

During the Middle Ages people would use gutted fruit to conceal liquor.  By the 1700's metal flasks were used by the upper crust of society, while the lower classes would fashion them out of pigs bladders.  Women in Britian would sneak gin aboard ships for sailors with a bladder flask tucked discreetly under their petticoats.   

The flask has been used throughout the history of liquor on battlefields across the world.  It is tool of courage for fallen soldiers when faced with surgery without anesthesia, and a means of steadying the nerves in the terrible throws of war.

It has been a while since I have used my flask.   I may technically still be in my 20's, but it is not exactly something a mother with two little babies wants to be caught with...if you know what I mean.  In fact, I hadn't much thought about it until I began seeking a new home for my wooden boat.  Flasks and boats seem to go hand in hand.

I had a fella help me trailer the boat, and it just so happened that this charter fisherman, owner of The Angler's Mark, was also a leather artist.  It came up in conversation that he specializes in leather flask covers.  Here is some of his work, as well as the flask above.

There is something wonderful about a leather flask.  Leather shows the wear of use with a warmth that a metal flask lacks.  A worn leather flask carries a certain sense of history...history with an undoubtedly interesting story.  

If only flasks could talk...

The Gulf Spill, part II

I am a stay at home mom living on a little island off the coast of the Florida/Georgia border.  I am a bit isolated to say the least. If it were not for the internet, I would be lost.  I asked Chef the other day,


"The oil spill...are people talking about it everywhere?  It is a HUGE deal...are people even aware?"  He assured me that it is on everyone's mind. 

Yesterday I checked the Huffington Post and the cover story was Tar Balls off of Key West.  It is a fear of ours that the oil is going to hit the Gulf Stream and make its way up the eastern seaboard.  Fear is an understatement...it would be a nightmare.  Aside from the environmental devastation, our little beach town is utterly dependent on  tourism during the summer months to provide for us during the off season.  If the oil makes its way to our beaches it will be ruinous to our livelihood here, as well as many other small business owners.

As someone who is in the restaurant biz, I am blown away that the oil rig, the culprit of this catastrophe, was able to operate without being up to code.  I mean it is drilling a hole into the Earth's core for god sakes.  At our little bistro, if we so much as leave a cup of diet soda near our food window, we face a citation from our inspector.  It just goes to show the disparity between the regulation of small businesses vs. big business in this country.

I feel a need to eat as much seafood as possible in the upcoming months.  For 2 reasons, to support fishermen that are literally fishing for their lives right now in order to stockpile cash to feed their families in the event the oil destroys their careers as mariners, and because who knows...it may be the last time for a long time that seafood from this region of the country is safe to eat.

Last week we had two rounds of company roll through.  Life long friends of mine that came to offer a hand with The Sprout and Lil' Bit.  Dishes were washed, laundry was done, babies were held...it was really wonderful.  We ended this lovely week feasting on local shrimp with a vegetarian...who ate shrimp for the first time in 15 years.  We felt honored she would indulge with us.  The dish served: the most extraordinary shrimp scampi...made with shrimp that was swimming in the ocean the day before.

I am not a big scampi fan, mainly because it usually arrives on a plate swimming in a sea of oil flecked with red pepper.  I always feel like I need to wash my face after eating it.  But this scampi is something very different.  It is baked in butter, garlic, and Panko breadcrumbs... and let me tell you...it is one of the best shrimp dishes you will ever eat.  As you can see, we didn't enjoy it one bit.

Here is the recipe.  Go forth and buy wild Gulf shrimp, if possible. If not, wild US shrimp of any variety will do.  Spend the money to support our fishermen and treat yourself to something incredible.  It may be the last time you get to eat shrimp from our nation's Gulf shore...so savor it.


Baked Shrimp Scampi / Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa


Ingredients: 

• 2 lbs shrimp in the shell
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons dry white wine
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 extra-large egg yolk
• 2/3 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
• Lemon wedges for serving 

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp (see note,) leaving the tails on.  Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.
• Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic.
• In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until combined.
• Starting from the outer edge of a 14 inch oval gratin dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up and toward the center of the dish.
• Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp.  Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. 
• Bake for 10 to 12 min (We find you should bake for more like 25 minutes) until hot and bubbly.
• If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute.  
• Serve with lemon wedges.

Bon Voyage

I have the habit of starting projects and never finishing them.  It is a hereditary defect that I have inherited from both sides my family... and it is something I am really striving to change about myself.  At the moment I have a needlepoint stocking and glasses case that need to be finished, as well as a knit sweater for myself and one for a baby...and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  Above is my biggest project that I began seven years ago.  I would like to introduce you to Lil' M.  She is free to a good home...custom trailer included.  Tell your friends. 

Lil' M was built by eye on the beach in Man-o-War Cay, Bahamas in 1951.  My dad happened upon her here on Amelia Island in 2002 and bought it for me as my college graduation gift.  She is lovely, like all boats made by the Albury Brothers who have been building boats in the Carribean for over 200 years.  Gaff rigged, she is a 23 foot sloop in need of total restoration.  The old girl is really a piece of folk art, a real beauty of a boat.

I had high hopes of restoring her myself, but after a 2 week course at the Wooden Boat School in Brooklyn, Maine I realized that I had neither the skill, nor the time handle such a massive project.  She has sat high and dry in a little green cinderblock building behind a sea food restaurant here for the past 8 years...up until yesterday.

With the help of Laurence Piper, of The Angler's Mark, we hauled her to a vacant lot, owned by my grandmother in town.  Before the elements take their toll on her I must find her a new owner.  If you know anyone who might be interested in a gorgeous wooden boat project...please drop me a line.

For years I would daydream about living on this little boat and spending my time drifting about the Caribbean.  I would cook and read and meet interesting people, who also sailed. Perhaps I would join them for dinner aboard their vessel.  If that were the case I would bring something delicious in this...

It is a tiffin set Chef gave to me as a Mother's Day gift.  Tiffins are used in India as a sort of lunch box.  Actually in Mumbai there is an entire industry of people called tiffin-wallahs who pick up hot lunch from people's homes and deliver the food to them at their place of  work.  The set is a group of stackable containers that are clamped together.  

This particular set came with a hip recycled fabric bag and bamboo place setting. 

I would dine with an elderly couple, tanned from travel in the sun. They would tell me stories about wintering in the Med.  We would drink rum and watch the sunset, and then I would hop on my dingy and row back to my little sloop.  There I would snuggle down with a novel, something classic like Don Quixote and drift off to sleep. 


 A girl can dream.