The Liebster Blog Awards!

I was recently honored with the 'Liebster Blog' award, given to me by Jenn Duffy-Pearson of http://www.wine-n-chat.com/ . So now I have the pleasure of awarding this same award to five other blogs of my choosing!

It is my understanding that this award means "favorite blog", so I have tried to narrow my list down to five. It was not easy, because I like so many blogs, and the two writing groups I belong to are filled with talented writers. But since I can only award five, these are the 5 that I have chosen (some of you may have already received the Liebster award from someone else; nevertheless, I have chosen five of my top favorites):

1) Laura Rogers of http://stoopinitinthesuburbs.blogspot.com/
2) Paula Martin of http://heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com/
3) Jenn Duffy-Pearson of http://theshortstorygal.blogspot.com/
4) Daphne Steinberg of http://musementsandamusements.blogspot.com/
5) Ralph Rolon of http://trunklocker.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to all of you, and keep up the good work!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

I love breakfast! My husband and I especially like to go out for breakfast. One of our most favorite things is to take the motorcycle out for a morning ride to one of our favorite spots: Emily's in Crystal River. It is a nice ride up to "Emily's", where we have a nice, full breakfast....I love to get 2 eggs, sunny-side up, with corned beef hash.

One morning awhile back, we rode down to "Sam's Beach Club" at Hudson Beach to eat breakfast right on the Gulf. Even though breakfast was served with plasticware, that still could not detract from the sheer beauty of spending the morning in the fresh air, right on the Gulf! We also laughed as we watched mallard ducks paddle on by. The omelet that I ordered was quite tasty, too! I think just about everything tastes better in fresh air, anyway.

One omelet that I tried at a nice, little, seasonal "Key West"- style eatery in Brooksville was the Key West Omelette. I loved it! I have since tweaked it even more to my own tastes: complete with shrimp, avocado, brie, tomato and muenster, it is truly a luxurious treat for breakfast! I like to serve mine with home fries, a couple wedges of fresh orange (to cut the richness) & rye toast ...it simply must be rye, the type with the caraway seeds.....lightly buttered...and the toast should still be flexible, so as to easily "mop up" all the delicious remnants from the omelet!.... YUM!!!!

I'd always wanted to try the fancy 'Soft-Boiled' Egg with toast points.....I figured I should like it since I like sunny-side-up eggs. And I'd acquired a few of those old-fashioned "egg cups". I decided to givit a shot and boiled a room-temp egg for 3 minutes, then promptly removed it from the boiling water. The egg was perfect!! I was able to easily scoop the liquid yolk and the semi-firm white on the little toasts...and it was so yummy! No wonder soft-boiled eggs are considered comfort food. I also served it with potato croquettes topped with a little 'sunshine' orange mayonnaise, and some fresh fruit (raspberries, grapes & orange slices). It was truly a memorable breakfast....startlingly so for just being a weekday.

The final breakfast I'm featuring is a special creativity all my own: Banana Sourdough French Toast with fresh orange slices and raspberries. I have my own, homegrown sourdough starter that I learned from "The Bread Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Of course, if you don't want to go through the process of establishing your own sourdough, by all means you can purchase a sourdough starter, such as Lalvain starter.....or try King Arthur sourdough starter.

I love to try different things with my sourdough, it can be so versatile. This time I thought that a banana sourdough would be very nice...I thought it'd go well with the eggy liquid and that the tangy nature of the bread would work well with the sweetness of the powdered sugar and syrup. So I just used the regular sourdough recipe, added 1 very ripe banana & a couple pats of melted butter, decreasing the water slightly to compensate for the moisture in the banana. (*Of course, you can always use regular bread, and slice up bananas if you like).

Fried sausages would be a nice, fatty-salty diversion, too....unfortunately I was out of breakfast sausage this morning...DOH! But the fresh orange slices do a fine job at cutting the richness & sweetness. I have to say that I was very pleased, my hunch turned out to be correct, the non-sweet, tangy banana sourdough was a terrific counterpoint to the sweetness of the other ingredients.

Breakfast can be a true joy! If you no longer think of it that way, try to rekindle it....serve it on the patio with fresh fruit or get out and go out to eat. I have to admit that a ride on the motorcycle is especially invigorating with the fresh air; but just getting out altogether is nice..... why not pack breakfast to have on the beach or in a park? There is nothing like campstove coffee in the fresh, morning air. So next chance you have, slow down and enjoy a nice breakfast....and don't forget to wish your loved one(s), "Good Morning, Sunshine!"

Floribbean Fare

Ahhh, September. That month between truly blistering summer heat and the promise of cooler days. I always liked September (despite all of us collectively holding our breath during this typically most active month of hurricane season).... because now and then it gives us a "hint" of those refreshing days to come. In between the lingering humidity there are occasional wisps of dry air that make you want to hang outside a while longer to confirm your fleeting suspicions that you just felt a touch of Fall. And as occasionally occurs, even in September, there was a light, cool breeze when we stepped outside this morning, and I was compelled to stand out on the porch awhile and enjoy it. I noticed that even the wood porch beam I wrapped my arm around felt cool. Hooray for September!
Despite the slight nuances of September and our intense eagerness for cool weather, we know that it is still a tropical, summery month. A perfect time to enjoy some tropical fare for dinner! The nice thing about warm-weather dinners, besides their freshness, colors and festive flavors, is that they are often quick to make it to the table. So not long after you slip in that calypso CD, tonight's dinner will be done! Think fish tacos with crisp lettuce and juicy tomato, sour cream and fresh, homemade guacamole....yum! Served with hot crinkle-cut french fries, the meal is nearly complete.....unless you also have Jamaica Tea in mind! Made with the calyces of a hibiscus known as Roselle, the hibiscus tea can be enjoyed hot or iced. It has a nice, citrusy flavor and is sometimes referred to as the 'Florida Cranberry'. In Jamaica, they serve it cold with ice, and often will add fresh ginger, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice and a splash of rum. What a fruity, refreshing tropical drink!

We actually grew a couple Roselle hisbiscus plants this summer. It was so exciting to see the buds/calyces! Since I only collected a few "buds" I really didn't have enough calyces and I miscalculated the amount of water to boil/steep them in. Normally roselle is a dark red color, like that of cranberry or grape juice. While the calyces certainly gave up all their color (the deep red steeped right out into the water, leaving behind white calyces), they were still more diluted than they should have been....so instead I ended up with a lovely, light pink color! It was still very nice, and next year I plan to grow more plants so we can harvest more calyces. (*By the way, this is the same tea you buy in the store known as hibiscus tea or "Red Zinger").

I urge everyone to enjoy the last bits of summer even as you anticipate the exciting and cooler days of autumn. And on that note, I'd like to say thank you to Jenn, who awarded me the "Liebster Blog" award for Sunshine Food and Wine! I am so very happy for this recognition and have posted the award under a new, special tab at the top. (The award is given in special recognition by other fellow bloggers for those who have a less than 200 members). Thanks again, and I just want to also thank everyone who follows my blog...there would be no point to it without all of you!

**Don't forget to check my "Recipes" tab if you're interested in trying the above recipes.