Last of the Vinoy Photos

The view from our room - the waterfront of St Pete and the pool area

From the historical wall

Fred's - where we ate. It has a speakeasy atmosphere.

Me Madre

The courtyard patio from the restaurant French doors - notice the waterfall from the pool area.

Crab and Asparagus fritters on Kim Chee and some green puree

My Chilean sea bass over saffron couscous with miso and sugar snap peas

Mom's beef tenderloin with pancetta risotto and pureed leaks

A strawberry dessert - forgot the name

Mom doesn't do breakfast and I wasn't interested in the big mother's day brunch so I opted for the simple buffet.

On our way to checkout and the spa this morning. My mom's purse and luggage match, lol.

Da spa and da end!

Preparing Christmas Eve Dinner

This is why I took two days off. I debated and almost took only one but shopping alone took abut 5 hours today because I had to go to multiple stores and they were BUSY.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve and day and that you get to spend it with those you love and who care for you. Jerry and I had many alone holidays and I am sure enjoying living near family and sharing special times.

New Year's Dinner

I am behind in blogging and will try to catch up - alot has gone on in the last few weeks. Christmas, my birthday, new year's, my dad's passing, and our wedding anniversary. Now I am under the weather and hopefully can use that time to catch up on easy things like downloading my camera ;)

Jerry and Jake show signs of stress on New Year's day. Watching college football and waiting on dinner to be served can take it's toll.

Having been selected as "the chosen one" to attend New Year's dinner at my mom's, Jake was an absolute gentleman. No marking, barking, whining, pacing, begging, or any other annoying doggie behaviors one might see in a more-spoiled doggie (not mentioning any names here); however, he did need to have me in his line of sight at all times. He was so good with my MIL Marge who normally avoids my dogs because they paw her to pet them and it rips her skin. (Don't you just love the aging process? I don't mind getting older but I don't like the changes so far or those to come.)

The crew sitting down for dinner. We had my hubby Jerry, my MIL Marge, my first cousin once removed Erica (in the scrubs because she had to go to work after), my mom Vee, my first cousin Lee (Erica's mom), and of course the world's worst phototographer, me!

My family, and strangers in restaurants, may believe it is wierd but I like to photo plates of food. Granted, I am no food stylist, but I like the documentation of tradition and food is a huge tradition during the holidays for my family. You could probably compare previous year blog posts and see just about the same menu year to year but always lovingly prepared ;)

Other than a day out, here's the real reward for being the chosen one. Luckily, Jake had his dental surgery the day before and had been on antibiotics for several days so I believe he was able to enjoy it.

Dinner At Mom's

We went out to dinner with the mom's tonight. Jerry chose Smokey Bones because they had a $10 off coupon for checks of $20 or more. It was such a good deal that they had loooooong waiting lines. Luckily, we got there early and only had to wait 25 minutes ;) Butm, let's talk about last weekend!

My Mom cooked dinner at her condo instead of us going out last week. Doesn't she set a lovely table? She searched high and low to get that set of dishes because they are sold by the piece and no store had the whole set. I believe it was worth it because they seem to make her happy and may have brought out some creativity (lots of new recipes).

Erica & Sarah. They weren't feeling well but they joined us anyway. Poor Erica felt so poorly that she slept on my mom's couch after dinner. Despite her feeling awful and not wearing makeup, she is still a cutie! She definetly got the cute gene in our family :)

Fried chicken with some Polish sausage and red potatoe wedges. Yummy!

My Cousin Lea & Jerry. Lea is dishing out some fried okra. Now don't turn your nose up, my mom makes good fried okra. Lea is my first cousin and Cousin Erica is her daughter (and Sarah is cousin Erica's daughter) so I had my first cousin, my first cousin once removed, and my first cousin twice removed at the table. How cool is that?

Marge waiting for the rest of us to sit down. Those are pinto beans right above the text. Love them. Amaizing how bad they smell when you burn them though. It's an odor you will never forget.

Easter Dinner

We had dinner at my mom's this aftenroon. She fixed a ham, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, green beans, salad, deviled eggs, biscuits, corn bread, and apple pie. Yummy.

Can you read the saying on the mug? (That's me, by the way)

New Year Dinner at Mom's (as told by Daisey)

I was the lucky one yesterday when I alone got to go to my granny Vee's condo for a traditional New Year dinner. I wore the cute snowman teeshirt that "Aunt" Michelle sent from Wisconsin. I so loved having my papa's lap all to myself.

I was such a good girl and didn't paw grandma Marge trying for pats (that normally results in torn skin and bleeding for grandma Marge).

Here's the holiday dinner table covered with southern delicacies such as black-eyed peas, ham, fried potatoes, fried okra, deviled eggs, and cornbread. I sure wish I was tall enough to reach the table.

And here's the best part - leftovers!

Ugh.....I think I ate too much!

Leaving my granny's was also an adventure because I got to chase a squirrell up a tree. My mama was too slow with the camera to catch it.