1/14 to 1/31 West Palm Beach

Greetings and welcome back. 

Tropical tolerance triumphs. As I continue to enjoy the crappy weather in West Palm Beach, Florida, it seems I've gotten used to it all. It will get warm. I can handle the heat, but only to a certain degree. (Yes. That was deliberate) And, the passing showers won't dampen my spirits. As most will agree, "a bad day here in Florida is better than a good day anywhere this time of the year" as illustrated in the temperature map below for January 15th. 

Safe travels and keep warm.

But here I am enjoying and grateful for the hospitality of son, Chuck and Silvia as I "camp" in their driveway. 

My "spot."

With Chuck's guidance, I entered the side driveway entrance....

...maneuvered and backed up snugly into my spot without taking any part of the house with me. That was a good thing. Yay, me.

Once settled, I wanted to tackle the various projects I have in mind. The first was to continue working on my Snail Shell Wind Chime. The second phase requires a way to hang the shells to whatever line I've yet to choose.

Yes, a little overkill, I know. I just need about 30 but 300 tiny eye screws for $2.12 fit my budget. Let me know if you need any.

A dab of Gorilla glue keeps the eye screw solidly in place. Trimming the excess glue is next.

The final step will be to find the right line to string the four rows of five shells. Stay tuned for that next step.

Meanwhile, with no propane flowing (I need a regulator replacement) to make my pancakes and bacon, I finally got to enjoy them indoors thanks to Chuck, the chef. But what's this? My milk is "turning?" Add that to the list of "What Next?" Ready to discard it, Silvia came to the rescue. Did you know you can use sour milk for lots of things? Check out the link. Silvia showed me one of them: How to make my favorite, ricotta cheese.

"Ricotta" is Italian for "recooked." It's actually a whey cheese. Silvia poured the 'souring' milk into a pan and brought it to a simmer.

Simmering, not boiling, separates the milk into two distinct ingredients. The solids are called curds and the liquid that is left behind is called whey.

You can see the curds starting to coagulate becoming larger and more solid. Eventually...

...the (very hot) curds and whey are emptied into cheesecloth or, in our case, a linen handkerchief and strained.

The whey is drained.

Depending on your preference for consistency/moisture content, the squeezing out of whey can vary to your liking.

At first, to me, the tightly packed, drained ricotta looked like a ball of mozzarella.

But after cooling a bit and separating, it truly was going to be the main ingredient in our next pasta and pesto dish. Thank you, Silvia.

The end product. Pesto and ricotta with drizzled olive oil. Una cena deliziosa

Avocados were always a part the delicious salad we had with dinner. For another project, I decided to try and get the plant growing with a procedure I used long, long ago. If interested, visit this LINK for the various methods to grow your own. It's really quite simple. 

Simply balance the seed with toothpicks in a glass with just the flat end touching the surface of the water. I will follow up on its progress in future blogs. Stay tuned.

So, with two projects on the table for future blogs, I'll end this blog and post it. I'm "house-sitting" while Chuck is in NV and Silvia is in CA for five days. My excitement will be a walk (ha!) to Sushi Jo's down the street for dinner.

5 (huge) Fried Shrimp Shumai

Maine Lobster Roll: Lobster with spicy mayo, Masago and sesame seeds.

But, as a proud grandparent of two beautiful granddaughters, I could not let the opportunity slip by without sharing each of their recent accomplishments.

In Miami, Sara has passed her Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) exam for her Marine Turtle Permit and with it, has accepted a position as Miami Dade County Sea Turtle Conservation Program Manager. Check out the links for details. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country in Corona, CA, granddaughter, Beca, will soon have the gala opening of her own Smart Parke Pet Boarding and Daycare Spa in February.  Check out the link telling you all about it. Congratulations to both for making our families very happy and proud of your accomplishments.

“Congratulations!
Today is your day
You're off to great places
You're off and away

You've got brains in your head
You've got feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself any
Direction you choose

You're on your own
And you know what you know
And you are the [gal]
Who'll decide where you go

Out there things can happen
And frequently do
To people as brainy
And footsy as you

And will you succeed?
Yes you will indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed)

You're off to great places
Today is your day
Your mountain is waiting
Go, get on your way!”
― Dr. Suess