Hilton Head

On the way to Hilton Head we stopped for awhile to visit Gerry at Wadmalaw to see the final version of the house, which still hasn't been put up for sale.  On the road going to his house we ran into a swarm of love bugs and Larry still can't get them off his car.  This is an interesting article about them.

This is a view into the kitchen

 and I got to see one of those great spiders too.

We arrived at our resort about 4 and were greeted by the friendliest staff.  We were given a room on the third floor of buildin #4 - Osprey with a great view of the marshes.  It was such fun watching the landscape change everytime the tide came in or went out.

Our first stop was to Publix, my favorite southern store to get some food for the week and some 2 for 1 specials.  We had pizza for dinner that night (one of the 2-1) and again before we left.

On Sunday morning there was a welcoming brunch that had to be held indoors because of some rain.  There were door prizes and Larry, who's on a lucky streak at these things lately, won 2 decks of Marriott Vacation Club cards.

We rented bikes for the week and went out for a ride on the bike paths that are all over the island.

On Monday we finally got out of here around 2 and went for a bike ride.  We rode over to Piggly Wiggly to get more coffee,

came back and played tennis

 and then went to a wine and cheese gathering at the pool.  We played 2 games of Name That Tune

and even danced a little.  After we got back to our place the sky opened up and it poured.

On Tuesday the winds picked up and our nice peaceful water developed whitecaps.  We did a bike ride even though it looked like it was going to rain, but it never did.

On Wednesday we played golf

and we were lucky to have a perfect day.

We obeyed the sign and didn't feed the alligator.

These birds were right near the alligator, did they want to be dinner?

I don't remember what we did on Thursday, but we did see a beautiful sunset.

Friday we went to Harbor Town to walk around

 and saw some dolphins

Low tide and great for kayaking with what looks like lots of islands

And high tide,  we read that there was an 8 foot difference

On the way home we stopped in Fredericksburg and stayed at the Fairfield Inn.

Myrtle Beach

We left Saturday morning, Sept 7 *¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to Me ♪♫•*¨* 15 minutes ahead of plan.  We stopped at our favorite Pennsylvania Welcome Center rest stop

and then stayed overnight at the Residence Inn Fredericksburg using my free night from my Marriott Rewards card.  We went to eat again at the Mexican restaurant that we ate at last year on our way down.  If I didn't have it on my blog from then, I wouldn't have remembered the name, Cancun Margarita Bar & Grill.  I ordered the same thing as the year before, the BTO Loco burrito and this was what I had for leftovers.

Audrey and Steve came to Myrtle Beach too but we got there before them but the room wasn't ready so we went to the hot tub.  By the time we got out they were already in the room.
The first night we had Audrey's pesto pasta and Larry had my leftovers.  The weather was beautiful so happy hour on the deck was a nightly event.
The first morning we were there, we woke up to a visitor on our window.

Larry and Steve played golf twice and Audrey and I went to a sort of yoga class and water aerobics/yoga a couple of times as well as walked the beach.

Larry walked the beach one day when we went to exercise and he got a blister on his foot.  The day before we left we walked the beach, Larry left his shoes on, and I almost got 2 blisters on the same foot.  I limped for the rest of the day but they never really developed.  Guess I can't tell him he's so delicate anymore.
We went to Murrells Inlet on Tuesday and had lunch at Drunken Jack's

 Audrey had soft shell crabs

Larry and I got the sesame encrusted tuna salad that we always got and Steve must have gotten something that wasn't picture worthy :)

 On 9/11 the staff had a memorial at the pool at 8:46 AM

 On our walk there was this jelly fish that looked more like a jelly blob,

 This is where we had the water aerobic classes.

 Our last day to walk the beach

 And go in the hottub

Sightseeing in Rochester

Laura and I went to Corn Hill for lunch today.  She hasn't been in that area in ages and it has changed so much I thought it would be a nice place to go and sit outside along the river.  We walked along the river for awhile and then went back and read the menus on the different restaurants and decided on Ticos, a Mediterranean restaurant that was Aladdins until about six months ago.

We started talking about the Laser Light Show at High Falls and then decided to take a look at what was still over in that area. 

 The Light Show is gone and restaurants are diffferent but s we walked across the bridge we

discovered a restaurant by the Genesee brewery, which has a nice outside deck and the menu looks good.  It opened in 2012, where have I been?

Wonder how much longer the Kodak name will be here or is it considered a landmark and live on.

It was fun doing some sightseeing at home.  I think I need to do more of it.

Cheese Souffle

I had a delicious cheese souffle  at the Springside Inn in Auburn yesterday and thought I wanted to try making one myself.  Found this one by Alton Brown http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cheese-souffle-recipe/index.html but it needs to be made with a large saucepan not small like it says in the recipe and the cheese needs to be grated.

Ingredients

• Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/3 cups milk, hot
• 4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
• 6 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated
• 5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

• Use room temperature butter to grease an 8-inch souffle mold. Add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 5 minutes.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

• In a large saucepan, heat the butter. Allow all of the water to cook out.

• In a separate bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, garlic powder, and kosher salt. Whisk this mixture into the melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes.

• Whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.

• In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Whisk until incorporated.

• In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the base. Continue to add the whites by thirds, folding very gently.

• Pour the mixture into the souffle. Fill the souffle to 1/2-inch from the top. Place on an aluminum pie pan. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

Surprise Party

Laura and Greta and all of Greta's family came to town for a surprise 70th birthday party for their Dad.
Myles, Hunter and Tucker stayed with us for the two nights they were here and in no time they each found a computer to use. 

 Saturday while Laura and Greta were decorating

I took them to play miniature golf and to Abbotts for ice cream.

I wasn't invited to the party but since I had to drive down there to pick up all the leftovers, how could I resist crashing the party and wishing John a happy birthday

 and meeting Ann

A good picture of Laura, John and Greta

Myles didn't want to go back down to the clubhouse but it looks like Tucker, Hunter and Greta are enjoying make your own sundaes and cake.

Chicken Wrapped Eggplant

Saw this on Kelly and Michael this morning - looks real good and good as leftovers so make a big batch!

Maria Menounos' Chicken with Eggplant

INGREDIENTS:
2 big, long eggplants; sliced the long way (1/8 of an inch—or about 5-7 slices)
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced, or Portobello mushrooms (sauté them first)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper or ½ teaspoon seeded and diced jalapeños
1 cup of feta cheese

Sauce Ingredients:
One 7-ounce can tomato sauce*
One 10- to 12- ounce can diced tomatoes
½ cup olive oil
½ cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground black pepper

Note: Instead of canned sauce, another option is to dice 6 to 8 fresh tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Spray or brush the eggplant slices with oil. Place them in a baking dish and bake until they get some color, about 10 minutes. Take them out of the oven to cool.

In a sauté pan, cook the chicken in the ¼ cup of oil until golden brown on all sides. Add the onion, spices, and peppers and cook for a few more minutes. Let cool.

Place one tablespoon of the chicken into the middle of an eggplant slice. Wrap the eggplant around the chicken and place the roll on a baking pan. Repeat until you run out of chicken.

To prepare the sauce, in a small saucepan over medium heat, cook all the ingredients together for 7 minutes.

Spoon the sauce over the top of the eggplant rolls.

Sprinkle one cup of feta cheese on top of eggplant rolls.

Bake for 30 Min.


This recipe comes from Maria Menounos' book "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life."