Summer Reading

I love to read and luckily I've been able to read a lot this month; going on a vacation at the beach really does help.  Sitting outside with my book under a large tree is a great way to spend part of my day or if I'm near a beach I'm there with a book in my hand.  

Tout Sweet and Picnic in Provence took me back to France, a country and culture I love so much.  I always wonder what it would be like to pack up our family and move to France.   I don't think it would be that easy.  Elizabeth Bard also has some delightful recipes.  Recently I made her Zucchini Soup after a stop in my local farmer's market.

A Time to Kill is older, but I've never read it. It was a definite page turner. I would say almost as good as The Firm.  

Crazy Rich Asians and Sightly South of Simple were just fun beach reads.  Both of these have sequels coming out soon if not already.  

That leaves Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk.  This book was very well written and makes me think about all the stories people have that you see walking around your own city.  I think this book is a must read for anyone.  

What are you reading lately?

As always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Summer Drinks

As I have mentioned before I really enjoy a Kir while I am cooking dinner or having appetizers.  But in the summer I like to change things up a bit, so recently I've turned to rum drinks.  I'm not one for too much hard liquor, but nothing says summer beach quite like a rum drink.  Of course I have always liked a Pina Colada, and it is very easy to make with a minimal bar.  I just follow the recipe on the back of the Coco Real Cream of Coconut and use about 1 cup of ice.  Recently I've added Pain Killers to my list of tropical drinks.  Again they are easy to make with a minimalist bar.  

Pain Killers for 2:

6 oz pineapple juice

6 oz orange juice 

3 oz cream of coconut

6 oz rum ( please use something good)

I put everything in the blender with about 2 cups of ice and blend together.  If it is not strong enough for you go ahead and add a rum topper. This can also be made without the rum for a Virgin Pain Killer for kids, and the adults can add the rum later. 

Enjoy!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth 

Fresh Flordia Fish

Well the last few week my family and I spent in Florida.  It was hot and sunny perfect summer weather for the beach.   I'm so luck that my husband likes to fish; even though he doesn't eat any of it. But none the less for most of our  lunches and dinners we were blessed with fresh fish.  Usually after sitting at the beach for a few hours I would come home to my fridge looking like this.

The question is what to do with a limited supply of seasonings and lack of a desire to spend a huge amount of time in the kitchen.  Well since the fish was so fresh, caught that day, not much needs to be done to it.  Sometimes I would cook our Florida Grunts whole.  I baked them for about 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven with butter, white wine, parsley and salt & pepper.  That served with a baked potato and veggie was heaven.  

Other times I heavenly seasoned the fish, usually a Red Fish, with salt, pepper, paprika & thyme.  Usually I grilled this very meaty white fish. Sometimes a quick broil with fresh herbs underneath  worked well too. 

However most of the time I pan fried the fish. Permit and Sea Trout really worked well for this preparation. I either dredged them in seasoned flour or in Italian style breadcrumbs.  They would cook in about 2-3 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the fish.  Also many times we had a few types of fish as you can see by this last picture. 

Since the meals were light I usually served a Chardonnay. At the grocery store they had a really good price on Chateau St. Michele.  Can't let that opportunity pass me by.    

Bon Appétit!

And as always with love from the Midwest,

Beth