Shell Island Resort

Shell Island Resort

 I finally got in a quick trip to the beach.  My younger son and I spent three days down at Wrightsville Beach at the Shell Island Resort which is at the far northern end of the beach.  It's a beautiful place, and the beach is not too crowded, or at least one can wander down to the far end for a bit of privacy.

Swimming pool and beach at Shell Island Resort.

I spent most of the time catching up on my reading.  I'm currently reading the new John Dean about Watergate.  In the early evening, I walked on the beach after the sun was low in the sky. 

Sea oats are important in maintaining the dunes. And they are lovely on a late afternoon walk.

One evening a young man was kite surfing near us on the beach, and at one point the kite passed directly over me.  That looks like a lot of fun----if only I were younger. 

Kite surfing.

Kite passed right over my head.

Dining out is one of my favorite pastimes while at the beach.  We managed to have a number of really good seafood dinners. 

Our favorite place to dine.  Oceanic at the pier on Wrightsville Beach.

Delicious she-crap soup and a nice salad.

 On our last evening there, the sunset over the marshes was spectacular.

Beautiful sunset over the marsh at Shell Island.

I'm ready to go back to Shell Island and Wrightsville Beach.

Summer Berries and Figs with Honey-Basil Cream

Summer Berries and Figs

Now that it is fig season, I just had to make my favorite summer fig dessert.  As Janet Hazen in her little book, Basil says The flavor of basil paired with fresh figs and summer berries in this unique dessert is sure to leave a lasting impression on you and your dining companions.   This was first served to us many years ago by a dear friend who also recommend Hazen's  little book,  I hurried right out to find the  book, and I've been using it for many years for unique recipes using basil including this recipe.

This recipe makes from 4 to 6 servings.

Honey-Basil Cream:

1 pint heavy cream

½ cup water

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup finely chopped fresh sweet basil leaves

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Figs and Berries:

1 pint Black Mission figs, trimmed and quartered (or halved if small)

½ pint strawberries stemmed and halved

½ pint raspberries

½ pint blackberries

Sprigs of basil, for garnish.

To Make the Honey-Basil Cream:

Place the cream, water, and honey in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently to prevent the mixture from boiling over.   Add the basil and reduce the heat to moderate, cook for 20 minutes until the cream is thick and pale brown.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  Strain through a fine wire sieve and transfer to a small saucepan.  Keep warm over low heat until ready to use. 

Combine the figs and berries in a large bowl; mix gently.  Arrange in serving dishes and drizzle with the warm Honey-Basil Cream.  Garnish with the sprigs of basil, and serve immediately. 

I had a beautiful basil plant from which to gather my basil.

Beautiful basil plant.

I found these lovely figs at Costco.

Black Mission figs.

With Alice's help I made the Honey-Basil Cream.  It was great to have someone to help with the stirring and with the preparation of the fruit. 

Chopping the basil.

Stirring the Cream mixture.

Adding the basil. 

Gently mix the figs and the berries in a large bowl.

Figs and berries ready to serve.

Strain the Honey-Basil Cream to remove the basil.  You really just want the flavor of the basil in the Cream.

Serve in individual dishes topped with the warm Cream and garnished with a sprig of basil.

Drizzle the warm cream over the berries and figs.

Ready to enjoy.

 If you like basil, I can highly recommend Janet Hazen's book, Basil.

Basil by Janet Hazen.

 

Shopping at Ivy and Leo with Grace

My only granddaughter turns thirteen next week.  Where has the time gone?  She was over at the house giving me a hand with some things, and I suggested we go shopping for something for her upcoming birthday.  She chose Ivy and Leo at Cameron Village to look for a dress.  It's always fun shopping with her, since I had only boys and only grandsons (seven) until Grace arrived.  The ONLY girl. 

Grace checking out the rack of clothes.

I love the color of Grace's hair.

She just had her ears pierced last week.

I was intrigued as I watched her shop.  She has definite ideas about what she likes and what she doesn't like. 

I tried to get Grace to try these shoes, but she wasn't interested.

I couldn't persuade her to try these shoes for example.

She settled on this dress.  I thought it a nice choice.

She tried four different garments and settled on this little dress which I like very much too.

Her nail polish matches the trim on her dress.

 After shopping we headed over to Goodberry's for some ice cream---actually for a concrete. 

It didn't take long after we finished our ice cream until out came the cell phone.

I must admit I checked my phone too. 

It was fun shopping with my only granddaughter.

Homemade Pierogies

Homemade Polish pierogies.

My dear friend, Marta Boguska from Poland, is a great cook, and she frequently brings us "goodies" that she has made from authentic Polish recipes.  We are so fond of pierogies that the other day she came to the house and made a batch for us.  I watched in hopes that I could learn to make them, but there is definitely an art to it and I didn't do too well.

Here she is mixing the dough, rolling it, and then cutting out little pastries that will be filled with good things.

Mixing the dough from flour, eggs, water and salt. 

Rolling out the dough.

Cutting out the pastries and filling them with the potato mixture.

She filled these pierogies with a potato, cheese, onion mix---one of our favorites.   

Adding Farmer's cheese to the potatoes and onions. 

The potato, cheese, onion filling.

The mixture goes into the pastry and the pastry edges are pinched together. 

Pierogies ready to cook.

The little dumplings are dropped into boiling water for just a few minutes until done. 

Simmering the dumplings.

After simmering, the pierogies are placed in cold water to stop the cooking and then drained.

Pierogies placed in cold water to stop cooking.

Drain pierogies. 

They are often served with fresh dill garnishes.

Ready to eat with pepper and dill and a side of cole slaw.

Left overs ready to freeze.

The leftovers can be frozen, and cooked in a bit of olive oil until brown on each side.

Marta's homemade pierogies are so much better than the frozen ones available at the grocery, and if you live in the Raleigh area and are honing for some homemade pierogies, she would be happy to make some for you.  Just let me know and I can put you in touch with her. 

Lavender Bistro, Tryon, North Carolina

When Dan and I were in Cleveland County back in May we had planned to take my friend PJ to the Ni Fen restaurant in Shelby for her birthday, but our plan did not materialize.  In July we planned to celebrate her birthday belatedly, but Ni Fen was closed for the Fourth of July holiday.

Peggy the birthday lady.

Determined to find a fine restaurant to celebrate her birthday, I called around and the Lavender Bistro, up in Tryon was highly recommended as a likely place to have a special dinner.  Tryon is at the foot of the mountains up toward Asheville about 40 miles from Shelby.  Upon calling we were able to secure a reservation so we took off for the hills. 

The Lavender Bistro.

Tryon is a lovely little town where a lot of folks choose to retire.  The Lavender Bistro is a charming little place right on the main street. 

After perusing the menu we thought we had made a good choice with this Bistro.

We shared a starter of baked brie with a wonderful roasted fig marmalade in puff pastry.Yummy!!

For our entree we each chose the trout almondine.  It too was delicious.

Carolina trout almondine.

 We were pretty sated after the ample entree, but wanting to at least try one of their desserts we shared a serving of the tiramisu.  It was light and delicate and flavorful.  We made the right choice there.

Tiramisu, the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

I'm glad to know of this little Bistro that's not that far from Shelby.  I feel sure we will venture up there again on one of our future trips to Cleveland County.