HAPPY BIRTHDAY

(Happy Birthday-Lenny Kravitz)

Happy Birthday to me. I’m sick. Sore throat and sinuses. Super. Why today of all days. BUT I send huge thanks to all my fantastic family and friends for their lovely birthday wishes. Feeling the love.

I made the decision that I still wanted to do make the most of the day sick or not.

To start it off Richard and I went to Hazel’s Nook for their breakfast buffet.

https://www.hazelsnook.com/

It’s a small, quaint little place that appeared to be a place frequented by locals and it was good. We especially liked that it had an omelet bar. And it was a reasonable price $11.99 per person.

Back home for a little R&R&R (Reading, Rest, and Relaxation).

Around 1:30 we decided to go on a little exploration drive so we headed down the Beach Blvd with our first stop to be Starbucks. You know. Had to get my free birthday drink. Couldn’t miss out on that. After taking a few wrong exits oopsy, we arrived at Starbucks. Richard had his tall bold with a shot of espresso and I got my drink. Delish.

Now off to explore Canal Road. It’s a beautiful drive and partway down it we stopped at The Wharf.

https://www.alwharf.com/

It’s a charming shopping area with a nicely treed avenue separating the two rows of shops. A delightful waterfall welcomes you into the shopping area and how cool to also have a Ferris Wheel right there.

I tried on a few dresses and tops and ended up buying two dresses – one long sleeved and one sleeveless for $100 total so I was happy.

Our last stop was Cosmos for supper.

https://www.cosmosrestaurantandbar.com/

As we’d both been feeling under the weather we opted for burgers and fries. Nothing like good old comfort food when you’re sick (Richard also had mini crab cakes as an appetizer- he loved them). Burgers and fries were delicious. Exactly what was needed and the burgers were homemade. Fantastic.

Even though I was sick I had a smashing birthday.

Nite y’all 😴

DINNER SONG

(Dinner Song-Small Reactions)

Normal start to the day: gym, yoga, groceries, and then back home for breakfast. After tea and reading we did a major cleanup of the house as our next door neighbours are coming to dinner tonight. Always feels good to have things cleaned.

Even though the weather forecast for today was 9 degrees Celsius it turned out to be 13 and bright sun this afternoon. We were able to sit and read on the deck and were very warm. Yay. Good day.

Then a bit of a change in our dinner plans.

Joanne came by (brought Key Lime Pie) to say Jean had a fall and is at emergency waiting to see if she’s ok. She’s sure she is but wants to make sure. We told them if they’re back and still feel like dinner to come on over. Joanne has Richard’s phone number so it’s a wait and see scenario. Either way we’ll have Richard’s Mango Chicken Cashew Curry, Naan Bread, and Key Lime Pie. Hopefully everything is ok with a Jean and they’ll be here. But if they can’t make it tonight we’ll certainly have them over another evening.

Nite y’all 😴

HEALTHY BODY

(Healthy Body-Operation Ivy)

Today our fitness centre had a FitFair. There were numerous booths from various health professionals (with free stuff like toothbrushes, contact solution, eye glass cleaner, travel case of bandaids, can/glass holders etc.-yes I took some), health food and cold pressed juice suppliers, and a healthy food court. I think a lot of people were there for the food. Lol. There was veggie lasagna, chicken and kale soup, a fruit bar, juice and water, and several kinds of fruit and nut bars. I tried the soup. It was delicious. Richard had the lasagna but wasn’t a fan. They supplied the recipes and I’ll definitely be making the soup.

They had two massage stations but they were so popular I couldn’t get to one. Shoot. I could use a massage. 😢

In addition to all the normal Friday classes there were group classes in the gym. The Zumba Toning Class and the Barre Class were what I wanted. I enjoyed them both although the Barre wasn’t like other Barre classes I’ve tried in Canada. But doing these two classes made for a great 90 minute workout. While I was at those classes Richard worked out in the gym and then went to our regular Vinyasa Yoga class. I’ll have to get back there on Monday. I missed two vinyasa classes this week as I wanted to try other classes.

The rest was a normal day: groceries, reading on the deck, and eating. Oh what a life.

Nite y’all😴

FOOD ON THE TABLE #2

(Chicken Fried – Zac Brown Band)

Southern Meal #2

Chicken Fried Steak with Country Gravy, Fried Okra, and Sautéed Greens.

Why is it called chicken fried steak when it’s not chicken?

Sounded crazy to me. Of course I googled it and found this online. “The recipe doesn’t contain any chicken, but it is so-named because the cooking method is similar to that of pan-fried chicken breast cutlets.”

My recipe said to use cube steak. Cube steak is a cut of beef, usually top round or top sirloin, tenderized and flattened by pounding with a meat tenderizer. The name refers to the shape of the indentations left by that process.

Okra or okro known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods.

Okra presents a host of benefits.

  • Okra aids in digestion
  • Okra is high in vitamin C that can boost immune system strength
  • Okra can help strengthen vision and protect against cataracts
  • Okra is a great source of fibre

Ok then. Off to prepare tonight’s meal.

After searching Pinterest (my go-to place for online recipes) a few days ago and purchasing the ingredients, I was ready. Have I mentioned how expensive groceries are here? The same price or more than at home plus then there’s the exchange rate. Oh well, what can you do.

Let me state,”I am not a relaxed cook.” And trying new recipes does not help. I do my best.

The meal tasted good. Neither of us had ever had okra before and we both enjoyed it. The steak was tasty and tender. Of course my presentation did not look like the recipe pictures but then that’s usually the way. That could also be related to the fact that I could not, in good health conscience, use the amount of required oil. The okra recipe called for cooking it in 6 cups of oil. Really? Good lord. I felt guilty using 1cup. I’m sceptical as to whether the benefits of okra apply when it’s deep fried. Thoughts?

Even though the meal tasted good I couldn’t eat this often, maybe only once a year. A lot of fried food and we don’t eat gravy. Can my arteries clog from one fried meal? Hope not. (Thank goodness I went on a bike ride this morning.)

Nite y’all😴

TWO MORE BOTTLES OF WINE

(Two More Bottles of Wine – Emmylou Harris)

I usually write and post my blogs in the evening. My regular followers may have noticed I missed posting yesterday. Here’s why.

On the way to the gym yesterday we passed one of our next door neighbours walking her dog. Richard stopped and put the car window down to say hello. We had previously only waved and talked across the yard but were wanting to actually meet them. So as luck would have it she invited us over for late afternoon drinks. Can you see where this is heading regarding today’s post heading and missing yesterday’s post? I bet you can. Oh my. But I digress.

After chatting with our neighbour we continued on our way to our 8:15 vinyasa yoga class, then went for a walk, and finished with the 10:00 gentle meditation yoga class. Worked out really well as we stopped at both the library and the post office during our walk. Triple bonus.

We’re trying to get into a normal, regular routine with our grocery shopping so we looked at the sales flyers, made a list, and then went shopping. Trying to do it more like we do at home – stock up on sale items to save $ in the long run. Hope it works. Groceries here are no cheaper and often more expensive than at home plus you have to consider the currency rate of exchange. $$$$

So now why I missed posting yesterday.

At 4:00 yesterday we headed next door for drinks with Joanne and Jean (two retired teachers from Lansing, Michigan) and their beautiful dog Kafi (sounds like coffee). They were worried about their dog as she has anxiety issues and often doesn’t do well with new people but we had no issues at all. Kafi was very friendly with us. Score one for us. Joanne and Jean have been coming to Gulf Shores for a few years (Jean has been visiting much longer as when she was growing up her family always holidayed here). Being a fount of information they shared lots of useful hints with us: good restaurants, places to visit, scenic walks, best places to buy groceries etc.

We had a wonderful evening. They had a yummy veggie tray plus both shrimp and veggie quesadillas. And wine. Oh yes. Thus my title and pics. Now I’m usually a one or two glass kinda girl. That’s about all my head /body can take. But great company and stimulating conversation combined with delicious food added up to slowly drinking (over five hours mind you) a bit more. Well, ok, maybe a lot more, but who’s really counting. 😉 On the positive side all we had to do was walk across the yard to get home. And I did sleep well.

Surprisingly I felt fine today. No hangover. Whew. Thank goodness. But had a lazy day – laundry, reading, and a walk on the beach.

Nite y’all 😴

GRITS

(Grits – The Roots)

Our first Alabama restaurant breakfast and, of course, we had to try some traditional dishes. This was at The Sunliner Diner in Gulf Shores, Al.

http://www.sunlinerdiner.com/

First Richard’s:

CORNED BEEF HASH – house-made corned beef hash, green and red peppers, sweet Vidalia onion hash browns topped with two poached eggs, horseradish cream and served with a classic biscuit. Then mine:

WESTERN SCRAMBLE – Ham, peppers, onions, scallions, cheddar and jack cheese with cheesy grits, fried green tomatoes, and a classic biscuit.

Our meals were delicious. We’ll certainly be returning here another day. Neither of us had ever had grits or fried green tomatoes and we enjoyed both.

I will definitely be including grits and fried green tomatoes in my southern recipes. Fingers crossed 🤞

After breakfast we went shopping at The Tanger Outlets. Heaven! Oh happy day. I was in my glory.

https://www.tangeroutlet.com/foley

We decided to shop on our own for awhile and, thank goodness, Richard had his phone with him so we could call each other when we wanted to meet up.

I spent the majority of my time at T.J.Maxx, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, and Coach. Great prices and variety. And yes, I bought a few things. But I didn’t buy everything that I wanted. I can show restraint sometimes. 😉 Richard enjoyed finding several gym shorts and t shirts plus a biographical book on Nina Simone. He was a happy man.

A little stop at Starbucks and then home.

I will definitely be going there back.

Nite y’all 😴

AVOCADO

(Avocado – Weird Al Yankovic)

We’ve discovered something we absolutely love: the Green Avocado.

Look at the size. Wow. We showed it next to a large egg so you can genuinely see the size.

Much larger in size than the Hass avocado we get at home on PEI. These green avocados are known for their bright green skin and large, teardrop-shaped pits. According to the internet they are a bit harder to determine ripeness, as they will never really get as soft as a ripe Hass avocado. This variety is great for slicing and dicing as it holds its shape extremely well. We had them sliced on our salad and can attest to their delicious taste. And got them at a great price: 2/$3.

That’s all for today.

Nite y’all😴