Home Again!

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Our Alaskan adventure was a blast. This was our first cruise and I guess I never realized how much they feed you. Constantly. I don't think we every actually had a chance to even get hungry before another meal rolled around. The food was good but the best part of being on the ship was having someone at your beck and call at all times, for whatever you needed. Want coffee at 7:30 in the morning? Just ask. Want cheese and fruit as a pre-dinner snack? "Coming right up." Need extra towels? "I'll be right there." That was AWESOME! I never knew I needed a butler, now I'm wondering how I could afford one all the time.

Alaska is beautiful and we were blessed with good, albeit cold, weather during our entire trip. Apparently any day that it doesn't rain is a beautiful day in Alaska. It was cold by our Southern standards, however. Highs in the upper 50's pretty much describe an Alabama winter! We didn't complain. It was a great break from the sweltering summer heat at home.

The rugged natural beauty of Alaska is almost impossible to describe. Even photos don't really do it justice. It's impossible to capture the breathtaking 360 degree views. Gorgeous snow-capped mountains that seem endless. The incredible blues of the glaciers. The sight of eagles in flight. All of which must be seen to really appreciate their amazing beauty. Oh and then there are the whales! A-ma-zing! The humpback whales calling to their calves was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

After our week cruise was over, we went to visit my parents. They were living in Alaska for the summer, volunteering at a camp. I'm glad we got the opportunity to see more than just the touristy part of Alaska. The cruise was fun but at the stops there would be anywhere from 2-5 cruise ships docking and unloading. These tiny towns of 900- 2000 in population, are suddenly inundated with up to 10,000 people! I know the tourist mean money in their economy, but at times there were simply too many people for these small towns.
Spending a week with my parents in a more remote area, we were able to get a sense of how real Alaskans live. We meant some neat people. One of the families we meant, lived in a house that could only be accessed by boat or ATV. They lived in a beautiful log home which they generated all there own power for through water and wind. They invited us to their home one evening for dessert. They served us delicious homemade rhubarb pie. It was outstanding!  I loved getting to see how other people live. They truly live another life and I'm not sure I could do it, but we enjoyed getting to know this family.

This is their home. The rhubarb she used in the pie is the green plant growing by the house.

This is the view from their front porch...wow!

Although you can't capture the wonder that is Alaska fully in a photo, we gave it a great effort. I think we came back with 500 plus photos! Thank God for digital cameras!! So here are just a few of those photos. If you get the chance to go to Alaska, take it! It's worth it!

My ship has come in....

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No I haven't dropped off the face of the earth...but close...I'm in Alaska! We have been on a week long cruise along the Inside Passage in Alaska. Now we are spending a week visiting with my parents who've been staying in Alaska for the summer. It's been a fabulous vacation, but I'll be back to baking soon!

Seafood, sunsets, and saving our coast

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Sorry I  know not much has gone on here at Half Baked for a week or so. Hubs and I have been on vacation. We headed down to the beach for a week of sun and seafood. It was sublime! We love to go to a part of the Florida coastline along the Gulf of Mexico, know as "the forgotten coast". Situated between Mexico Beach  and Carrabella, it's a beautiful part of the coast, with pristine beaches and few people. The open beaches and lack of people allow you to experience the wildlife that you'd never see along the more crowded coastal areas. On one of our previous trips, we went there in early fall and got to witness newly hatched sea turtles being released into the ocean. That was really amazing. We've seen many dolphins, and even got an up close look at a bald eagle as it swooped down and grabbed a fish that had washed up on the shore. That's we love about going this part of the Gulf of Mexico. That and if you've never had fresh wild caught Gulf shrimp or oysters from Apalachicola, you've missed out on some of the world's finest seafood! It's a unique and beautiful part of the Florida coast and the beaches are dog friendly, so we can take the whole fam. It's truly a place to get away from everything, I didn't even have cell phone coverage where we were staying. Now that's a get away!

 Hubs was the one that first wanted to come to this area for vacation. He had flown over it many times and said it looked beautiful. When he found out that he could fish from the beach and we could bring the dog,  he was sold! Pompano is one of the fish that can be caught from the shoreline. They usually run in the spring and fall and like the calm water in this area. Pompano is a delicious white fish. It has a delicate buttery flavor that makes it one of the best fish I've ever eaten. The average size of pompano is only about 2 lbs. Because of it's size and great flavor, pompano usually commands the highest price of any fish caught in America. Did I mention they can be caught from the shore??!!?? Hub's mission each time we go; catch at least 2 pompano before we leave and grill them for dinner. He did catch two this trip and they were fabulous.

We leave them whole and prepare them very simply:
After the fish have been cleaned. You could fillet them but it's really not necessary, once cooked the flesh just comes away from the bones. 
Score the skin on both sides (btw pompano have no scales!)
Rub the each sides with about a tablespoon of butter
Salt and pepper
Then place on a hot grill. Charcoal give the fish a really great flavor, but a gas grill works just as well. Grill the fish 8 -12 minutes per side depending on the size of you fish. Add a squeeze of lime and that's it!

 Maisy likes to help with the fishing!

Unfortunately, the BP explosion and oil spill that happened just a few days before our vacation, threatens to destroy this beautiful area. Tourism, fishing, shrimping, and oysters are the main industry in this area. The oil spill could ruin the beaches and kill the much of the wildlife. The fishing industry could be permanently impacted by this catastrophe. All of the local people we talked to are worried that their livelihoods may soon be destroyed. I'm sure all the folks that live along the Gulf of Mexico and make their living from it, feel the same way. I don't know the answer to this problem or how it can be fixed.  I hope that our government and BP will do whatever it takes to clean up this mess and save the coastal areas of the Gulf from permanent devastation and preserve it for future generations.

Where in the world is half baked??

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About 5 years ago my husband's job brought him to Germany for about a year. We lived in Wiesbaden during that year. When he wasn't working, we traveled all over Europe. It was great way to experience the culture and foods of the places we visited. We also made lifelong friends of our neighbors in Germany. It was an unforgettable year, full of wonderful people and experiences.
A few weeks ago Hubs got the opportunity to come back to Germany for about 3 weeks for his job...and I got to tag along! The best part is that while here, Hubs will have lots of time off.
Our first couple of days were spent catching up with our good friends in Germany. We lived next door to them during the year that we lived here. It was wonderful seeing them again. The first day I arrived we went to see them. We had cake and coffee in the afternoon(a habit that I would love to adopt!) and then took us to a wine festival in a small nearby town. Hubs and I were definitely the only Americans at this little festival. It was fun and the food and wine were terrific.

Riesling with strawberries

So for the next couple of weeks I'll be a little out of the loop but will try to keep you posted on our adventures!!

Strawberry Cake

Strawberries are in season here and they are everywhere. Our friends made this strawberry cake. We had a slice or two before heading out for the wine festival.

Mango salsa...What I did on vacation?!

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While Hubs was home we took a trip to Gulf Coast. Wanting to avoid the Spring breakers as much as possible, we chose an area known as "the forgotten coast" along the Florida panhandle. This area is also known for wild caught shrimp, oysters, and numerous varieties of fish. We spent the next four days walking on the beach with the dog, eating fresh seafood, and watching the sunsets. It was total relaxation! We only ate one meal at a restaurant. The rest of the time we feasted on fresh local seafood. So good! We picked up grouper one evening and I made a mango salsa to serve along with the grilled fish. We both love mango salsa with fish. (It's also tasty with chicken.) I've been making it for so long now that I don't remember where I got the original recipe. I pretty much just eyeball all the ingredients, so this is just a basic guide.
Mango salsa
serves two
One ripe mango diced
1/2 avocado diced
1/4 cup red onion chopped
1/2 jalapeno seeded and minced
juice from half a lime
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs chopped cilantro
Toss the first four ingredients together. Squeeze the lime juice over the mixture. drizzle the olive oil over and mix together gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over grilled fish or chicken.

A slice of paradise

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We went to Barbados for a week and I thought I'd share a bit of it with you all. We had a wonderful, albeit to short, time. We chose to go to there because we have a close friend that is from Barbados and has been trying to get us to go with he and his wife for several years now.

J, the one from Barbados still has some family living there and they graciously hosted a dinner for us on evening during our stay. The wife is a caterer, and she prepared an authentic Bajan meal for us. Outstanding! Hubbs was in pepper sauce heaven! It was neat to see how people really live and not just see the tourist's Barbados.

I would say it was a wonderfully relaxing vacation except for the fact that we also rented a car while there. Thank goodness I didn't have to drive. Every time we had to drive somewhere I felt it might be my last day on earth! The roads are narrow, bumpy, and for and island surprisingly hilly. I feared each time we passed a bus that we may end up careening into a ditch or some one's home. J did a superb job of driving and we did arrive alive to our destinations. Although we took a couple of interesting "detours" while trying to find something called Animal, Flower, Cave. (I'm not making that name up!) I think they're three separate things... I think, still not clear on that. Somehow the men in the front with the map thought they knew a better way than we girls in the back following the street signs. 30 minutes later after several dead-ends into peoples yards,we finally ask a man on the side of the road. He directed us to a "road" through a muddy field to get back to the real road. Men with maps... I'm just saying! Who knew you could get lost on an island?? All worth it for this amazing view!(this is Cave...I think...definitly not Animal?!)

The food in Barbados was wonderful. The seafood is as fresh as it gets and the mango's and banana's are picked ripe and were so sweet.

I had flyin fish for the first time. Very good, we had it prepared different ways nearly every day.

The salt fish cakes at this fun little place we found in Bridgetown were outstanding as was the fresh fish baguette.

I LOVED the pumpkin fritters... taste a bit like fried pumpkins pie. How good does that sound:) yum
We were staying very close to this roti stand that the locals swear make the best roti on the island. I would have to agree. We ate lunch there several times. The food is all prepared fresh and when it's gone it's gone. The best food comes from places like this:

Although we did plenty of eating like this as well:

So for the most part we ate, lay on the beach, ate, walked around town and shopped, ate, swam, ate, walked on the beach, which can really work up your appetite:)