Fruit makes it a salad, right?

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter just aren't right without it. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, like the sweet, creamy, crunchy, green goodness. And it is perfectly beautiful in one of those crystal bowls that your Great Aunt gave you, so pull one out of the cupboard, rinse the dust out of it, and display it proudly during a holiday meal.

Watergate Salad

I'm hearing angels sing. Aren't we lucky that it goes perfectly well with both turkey and ham? And it just gets yummier the next day. Thanksgiving is all about the leftovers, right? Well, for half of my family (lucky us), we HAVE to have it or the holiday meal just isn't right.

I looked up recipes on the internet, but they all appear to have half of the ingredients we use. So... lucky you gets to see our version. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do. And if there are parts and pieces you don't like, just leave them out.

Pull a tub of Cool Whip out of the freezer so it can start thawing. Mix together a box of instant pistachio pudding with a can of undrained crushed pineapple (the ~15 oz size). Drain a can of fruit cocktail (I always get the one with extra cherries) and mix that in. Fold in the tub of Cool Whip. You can do up to here the day before and stick it in the fridge. Not too long before serving, mix in coconut, slivered almonds, and mini marshmallows. As much or as little of each as you want. Put it all in a pretty bowl. If you are feeling extra decorative, halve maraschino cherries and decorate the top.

Not only is this a yummy side dish, it makes a great breakfast with a side of pumpkin pie.

Better than blind Christine's coconut lime sorbet?

I get a real kick out of watching all the Gordon Ramsey shows. Sometimes my kids watch with me, other shows I watch without them because I don't want them to talk like Gordon. What's funny is I really don't cook. I do make meatloaf, ham and bean soup, muffins, bacon... that's about it. I'm much better at warming up things that other people make. But I do love watching other people make magic. It was a super proud parenting moment one night when my son told me that I should cook this dinner if I'm ever on that show with the guy that says bad words and the three judges. Oh, you are the sweetest son in the whole world and I love you sooo much. If you ever see me on MasterChef, I'll be making mac 'n cheese with peas and ham.

Well, one of my co-workers really should go on this show. He is a chemical engineer and a total foodie. He is the main cook in his house completely spoiling his wife and (now grown) daughters. One of his daughters used to babysit for me and I'll never forget she told me she actually lost weight when she went off to college because the food was so much worse than at home. LOST weight. Just can't relate. Whenever he hosts our group socials or offers to bring a dish, the obvious answer is always a resounding YES! I'll be there to eat your food. When you travel with him you know you will NEVER eat at Applebee's or Wendy's. In fact, you're better off just letting him order for the table wherever you go.

We typically have opposite tastes in entertainment. The one show I found we could talk about together is MasterChef. We both watched this last season, chatting about how cool it was that Christine could do her thing without seeing and how much each contestant progressed through the season. After the finale, we critiqued their menus (me in awe of the fact they actually cook, him reviewing techniques and recipes). The very last thing that Christine served to the judges was a coconut lime sorbet. Me - amazed. All he said was "mine is better."

I made his last night. A.MAZ.ING. You have to make it. Ridiculously delicious. Here is the recipe as provided:

Hecht’s Coconut Lime Sorbet
1 can (15 oz.) of coconut cream (find the richest in fat you can >20% is best)
Zest from 1 lime
~¼” inch of fresh ginger root, slice thinly then minced finely
Juice of two limes
~1/2 cup sugar
~1/2 cup coconut flakes
2-3 oz. of rum

Blend the sugar, ginger and the cream together in a blender. I generally add sugar a little at a time until it is as sweet as I want it by taste. Then I add the zest. Then add the juice and rum. Re-taste: you do want it sweet (the cold reduces sweetness) but you do not want to lose the tartness.  Lastly the coconut flakes. Freeze in an ice cream maker.

I learned a few things:

1. You have to plan ahead. The ice cream maker is supposed to be frozen BEFORE making your ice cream.
2. The ice cream maker doesn't take it all the way to ready to eat. You'll need to put it in a container, cover it with plastic wrap inside the container, and freeze it for a few hours to get it to the right consistency.
3. I want more of his sorbet recipes. He is doing something with peaches and amaretto tonight...
4. He was right. This has to be better than blind Christine's.

5, 12, 16, and 22

These aren't the winning lotto numbers, these are the ages I was when I met the 4 other adults I joined for vacation this summer. As my girl would say... for realz!

As teenagers, we used to hang out at Lake Thoreau in Reston, VA. You know, while listening to OMD, Erasure, Steve Miller, etc., wearing Croakies with our Tom Cruise looking shades, and hiding beer in the water. Well, I just bought 2 new pairs of Croakies (because I really don't want to lose my prescription shades), our kids can fetch us the beer, and I have the Best of Erasure on my iPod. Now we're even better at hanging out at the lake or the beach because we know how precious that time really is.

Our first beach trip was probably Ocean City, MD in high school. No comment. We upgraded to renting houses along the Outer Banks, including Duck, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, and Rodanthe, until we started having kids. This year we had a short window of time, so we rented a fantastic house at Lake Gaston. But our favorite is still our almost annual week at Ocean Isle Beach in southern NC. We always stay on the west end and really love to be oceanfront, with a pool as the kicker. You know, it is important to have that secondary rinse after spending all day on the beach.

View of Ocean Isle Beach from The Isles

Our vacations together go something like this with small variations dependent on the location:

• drink coffee on the porch in pjs until 10ish while kids do something somewhere else (a little fuzzy what they do)
• command all in the house to put on bathing suits
• step over and around cereal on the floor to find beach bags with sunblock and go through a few cans coating everyone sufficiently to spend hours and hours in the sun
• establish our base camp on the beach
• toss copious quantities of chips at the kids every so often to keep them fortified
• boogie board and play in the water 
• dig lots of holes, paths, hot tubs, dams in the sand and make drip castles
• discuss ice cream flavor selection for later in the day
• keep eyes peeled for Sunset Slush (on the beach at Ocean Isle) - must be loyal to ONLY the yellow and white striped umbrella, no others will do - and dance around while it takes another hour to make it to your part of the beach once it has been spotted
• take a late afternoon dip in the pool to rinse off the sand
• road trip to Calabash Creamery - must be loyal to the cows (drive right on by the creamery in Ocean Isle... wannabe) - waking kids upon arrival
• enjoy ice cream in the rocking chairs on the porch
• take annual pictures of kids by the cows
• discuss tomorrow's ice cream flavor 
• drive back to Ocean Isle
• feed kids something for dinner, doesn't really matter what because you are on vacation
• order takeout for adults from Causeway (the BELT is the best, unless you are in the mood for the Avo Pavo or The Blue Beast) or the Jamaican place (fall off the bone ribs, coconut shrimp, or even goat). 
• drink wine* on the porch while kids do something somewhere else (again a little fuzzy what they do)
• send kids to bed
• drink wine on the porch
• eat Brian's famous snack mix**
• drink wine on the porch
• laugh laugh laugh and appreciate that this is the kind of relaxation you only get with those you've known for most of your life

We are ridiculously predictable. And we are perfectly happy with that.

*May be substituted with margaritas, dependent on the year and the diets.
**May contain nuts. May also contain Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, pretzels, Goldfish, and any other salty crunchy type stuff that can be found in the stash of vacation munchies.

Our crew on the front porch at Calabash Creamery

Annual pic with Scoop and Dip at Calabash Creamery

What you'll be if you have too many

The Mess. Between us that is all we have to say and we know we're talking about our favorite drink at The Point. It is one of those vodka, vodka, vodka, and a squeeze of lime kind of drinks that go down way too easily.

When the server took my order you could tell he knew I'd been there before. We shared one of those all knowing secret smiles before he said "ooohhhh good choice." And since his sister was tending bar that night, he told her to make it extra good for me. I really do love the south and the intimate relationships you make with strangers. 

So you know there are more things than just beverages at The Point, the build your own burgers are awesome and the chicken pot pie is delish. I was able to get a spinach salad as my side instead of fries. You know... 'cause I eat healthy and all. ;-) It has that cool adult local hangout feel even though there are families with kids enjoying it too. And if you are still hungry after, it is across the street from the fabulous desserts at Hayes Barton, but those deserve a post all their own.

It began with the pomegranate martini

The talk of starting a blog began with our running commentaries on the pomegranate martinis sampled at various restaurants around the Triangle. For example, the pom martini at Bonefish is awesome, while the fizzy pom martini wannabe at Tribeca Tavern really disappointed. Sometimes we branch out to other drinks, such as the one at Hayes Barton that we can never remember, but remember which server made it and just ask her each time for "that really good drink that you made last time we were here."

Now, with a lot more martinis, restaurants, and trips behind us, we know we love to eat, enjoy our beverages, have a ball traveling, and laugh all the time. Life is short. Why waste time not enjoying it to the fullest? And if we can make someone else laugh with our sense of what tickles us, why not share?

Fair warning, posts will most likely be my opinion based solely on unprofessional criteria totally dependent on my mood at the time. I tend to take a ton of photos of food, beverages, and other people (a la people of wal-mart), so that should at least keep it visually interesting around here. I get a kick out of trying local food and beer when I travel, so will include that kind of stuff too.

This is pretty much going to be a big dumping ground for food, drink, travel, and anything else interesting at the time kind of place. I hope you enjoy it.

And in case you were wondering, the header photo was taken last weekend from the balcony of our room at the Hampton Inn Oceanfront in Myrtle Beach. Totally recommend it, especially when you pay with points. :-)