I'm Back In Time For the Storm!

I'm back from my long weekend with my parents and we had a blast! We went down to Elliot Key in Biscayne National Park (this is in Florida, btw). On the way down we went past these funky stilt "houses" and had dolphins swimming with the boat! This is not uncommon in the area we were in, but it's always magical!

Lilly did great on her first boat trip. She didn't get sea sick and LOVED the water, which I'm so relieved about! She floated, ran on a sand bar, and even took herself for a swim off a beach. 9 times out of 10 we are able to get the dogs to land in the dinghy to go potty, but we taught her to go on the front of the boat, just in case. Turned out to be a good thing because one night there were 3 foot waves in the cove where we were anchored and there was no way in hell we were taking the dogs in, at night, in a little boat. She would only go when my mom took her out there though. If I was there she'd just sit at my feet. Overall she had a blast, and she was so cute and unafraid, and, I'm afraid, a little depressed to be back home ;)

My "treats" were, of course, a huge hit! We gobbled down ever last piece and mom and I both had to swear of sweets for a while. I think we put on 5 lbs this weekend, but it was well worth it! The Date Bars were the overall favorite, but I liked the Blueberry Bundles too, but they were definitely better toasted.

One night we cooked Pasta with Rosemary Seasoned Tofu Balls from Vive le Vegan! I was a little worried how this would be received, since I have a very tofu-phobic family. But I shouldn't have worried. Of course everyone loved it! They really were delicious and certainly better than any meatball I've ever had. I just love not having to worry if something is undercooked, which I was always so obsessive about with meat.

Another night Mom and I had leftover Sweet Curry Chickpea Casserole We made a little extra sauce using curry paste, curry powder, onions, and some vegetable broth. We also added peas and it was absolutely delicious served over brown rice.

We ended up eating the casserole because I had a failed attempt at Pumpkin Seed-Coated Lentil Patties also from Vive. I followed the direction but it didn't seem like the lentils cooked enough so I added more water and cooked them for longer, but I think maybe they were to "wet. I refrigerated the mixture over night but they were pure mush and unusable. I ended up chucking it overboard, which made mom a little mad because she thought they were tasty anyway. And I guess i shouldn't have wasted it, but I honestly didn't know how to salvage it.

Now I'm back at awaiting the imminent arrival of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ernesto. You'd think it was the storm of the century the way everyone's getting all hysterical and buying up every available bottle of water and cooked food in the store. And of course, it's the only thing on TV. *sigh* People get silly. Which is not to say it shouldn't be taken seriously. I've lived here for 8 years and I've been through my fair share. It's no fun and I always seem to lose power at the mere mention of high winds. I'm also only a mile from the ocean, and therefore in a 2nd level mandatory evacuation zone, which I never heed. Mom is coming down with her dog to spent the night with me (I swear my building is a bunker, it's solid concrete), but Dad is going to stay on the boat. This is normal for him, especially for a tropical storm/low level hurricane. They actually stayed during Wilma last year, which was a bit stupid in hindsight, but they were ok. So.... If you don't hear from me for a couple days, please don't worry. It's just because I lost power and therefore internet access as well. It's not going to be a bad storm though. I swear ;)