Sushi, sushi, and more sushi!!

One day Gilles made some sushi and brought a few pieces to us and that led to a discussion on making sushi at home and enjoying the entire sushi experience.


...So Francine and Gilles opened their home to










Ghyslaine and Berthold who had also made sushi and thought it would be a good idea to get












...us involved as well. So after numerous trips to various grocery stores, including Tim's Oriental Market, and the Captain's Tavern and Seafood Market,









the guys slaved away making sushi while we gals sat and watched (and enjoyed our wine).













Gilles was very proud of his hand roll sushi, the first he had ever made (and his second one didn't turn out as pretty).










With the sake warmed to 105 degrees, we started our meal with "cheers, chin chin, and salut."













We had spicy tuna rolls, salmon nigiri, pressed eel with roe, tempura shrimp roll,












and tuna rolls, pressed pickled plum and basil with roe, big tuna roll with veggies, small tuna roll, eel sauce,












shrimp nigiri, salmon roll, more tuna rolls with cilantro,



and we aren't done yet...







tuna nigiri, more salmon, shrimp, and spicy tuna rolls, and










...we finished it off, along with two bottles of wine and two bottles of sake.











Yes, we were full, but Gilles made grilled bananas with a rum sauce, orange zest, and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

And yes, we are still talking about that meal!

What fun to have friends that can share that kind of experience.

The grandkids!

Caryn sent a picture of Brayden and I remembered I hadn't put on the latest Macy and Addy pictures, so...

here is Macy--getting ready for summer looks like to me,












and here is Addy with her hair in pigtails,


















and here is Brayden, playing horsie with his daddy. (When we walked into the restaurant one of the wait staff exclaimed, "I know who you are, that little boy looks just like the chef!")

Happy Third Anniversary, Bryan and Stacy!!

There is always something going on...but I didn't take pictures the night we had lamb, and I forgot the camera the night we had our "Good Bye Dinner" over at the clubhouse, and of course it's rained a couple of days, but a real highlight was going to Jason's restaurant, Steak 954, on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Caryn, Brayden and we went for Sunday brunch and Jason served us some of his favorites--which have become some of our favorites. We really enjoyed the big eye tuna & foie gras tacos for starters, and I especially liked the short rib eggs Benedict on a potato pancake, and the miso-glazed black cod (shown) was very tasty. Of course, we had to have his signature rib eye steak and it was fabulous! And after all that food (and more) we had dessert--doesn't every meal end with dessert! How does a baked Alaska floating in an apricot flavored preseco sauce sound? Or a peach tart with bleu cheese ice cream on figs? It was all very yummy and we are still talking about it! Thanks, Jason.


Our weather has been touch and go, one nice day and four bad ones. One nice day we all (about 25 of us--in a small park that is just about all) went to the beach for a patanque tournament--a couple of games then lunch (with a bottle of wine), then a couple more games. It was a very good day!


By the way, Happy Third Anniversary, Bryan and Stacy!!

Happy 90th Birthday, Mom!!!

Today Granny is 90 years old and we wish her a very Happy Birthday. We'll be celebrating with a big birthday bash on Sunday, May 23, at Prairie View in Garner. Keep the date open!







We've kept ourselves busy with the usual running around, eating, entertaining, and all that. We've even had some time for Brayden! Besides all the busy stuff with him, he has time for a game of "Slap Jack" with Grampa.

Key West, Florida

The weather has been chilly, but we picked a sunny day and went to Key West. Gilles and Francine had never been there before so they came along and we did Duval Street.












In case any of you are bird knowledgeable, Francine was informed that the pink flamingo we saw on our Shark Valley bike trip was really a roseate spoonbill, so when I found this flock of "pink flamingoes" in Key West, I just had to take their picture!










We also made the walk to the southernmost point in the United States. Jim and Carol came all the way from Minnesota!











The six of us had a really good day, a wonderful meal at a fun Latin place, and the sunset was beautiful!

Biking Shark Valley (Everglades National Park)

Gilles said he could fit all the bikes in his truck so we packed up and spent a gorgeous 80 degree day with scattered clouds biking the 15 mile trail of Shark Valley.

We saw lots of alligators, lots of birds, lots of
people, lots of turtles, and it was all great!











At the seven mile marker is the tower, with Francine and Gilles.







And that's where we ate lunch...




fresh pastrami on rye sandwiches with a bottle of nice cabernet and a little chocolate for the ending.

Ah, a very nice little lunch.











The alligators were spectacular, but I really like the pink flamingoes. This one was showing off!

The Olympics--Palm Garden Style

For the second annual International Shuffleboard Tournament the two man French team thought it only fitting to have an American manager (Mitch) so the American team decided to have a French manager. Of course the French couldn't speak English and the English couldn't speak French. So with big cigars and drinks around the games began.

Bobby, Manager Bebe, Mitch, Jacquelyn (aka Christian), Joe (Bobby's partner), Raymond, and two guys holding the umbrella to usher the group in.

To make things even more interesting, we had had a baseball toss tournament during the day and Mitch's team included Christian who is really good but couldn't do a thing right. Then he took Jacquelyn's place on another team when she had to leave and couldn't do anything wrong. So he decided to "dress" the part and we called him Jacquelyn the rest of the night!

The French won this year but the Americans won last year so it was decided they'll have to play again next year!