All this staring at water, waiting for eagles to fly by and photo-shooting is clearly detracting from blog-time. If you're still here, you have my apologies, as well as my endless gratitude. It's incredible to feel like we're on a scenic vacation, every day. It's even more incredible how time flies by. So, herein I'll try to catch up and share...
Needless to say, that big bass already mentioned was the excitement of the week past. Thing is, Gav is a fussy eater with an incredibly delicate palate… meaning… don't try to pass something off on him by neglecting to mention ingredients. But he was bound and determined to consume that big fish, especially after watching the scaling and cleaning process for the first time. We had a bit of trouble deboning and filleting properly, wasting too much delicate meat. But the results weren't too bad, for our first big catch. Now, we'll invest in the proper knives, 'cause you never know… there might be a big brother out there in Golden Pond. Hope it doesn't take another thirty years to find him. :-) Here's the simple recipe:
While the grill was firing up to the highest of temps, I poured not-too-much EVOO in pan and ran both sides of fish through it, leaving it skin-side down. Spread top side with some Dijon mustard; sprinkled with paprika, garlic powder, fresh pepper; squeezed on fresh lemon juice; topped with very thin coating of cornmeal, to hold it all in. Another spritz of oil and into the hot grill it went for a very quick bake of about 12-15 minutes.
Wowsa!
Gav was anxious to play another game of Monopoly and didn't want to wait for Gramps, who was busy doing a few real-life things around here. So, we went head-to-head. The kid is smart. After only two games, he already understands which properties to buy and when. He's a whiz at math, making logistics a breeze for him. Real estate and mortgages and now understood. And the kicker? He beat me fair and square. I mortgaged properties on three consecutive turns, in order to pay the honcho rent!! Finally, I conceded. Joe wanted to know what all the laughing was about… that game was hot and fun. It's been a long, looong time since Christian brought friends home on half-day snow days and we played equally exciting games.
Meanwhile, flowers abound and the first leaf has popped up on the elephant ear plant. Okay, okay, so it's a baby elephant. But stay tuned! We planted morning glory around the newly erected mailbox.
Best of all are late dinners by the most incredible sunsets and post-sunset views. Gav's comments:
"It's like staying in a hotel, G'ma."
"Can you move back to the other house, so that we can live here?"
(This after much anguish about our moving at all!)
"I love the reflection of the sun on the water, during sunsets."
Mouths of Babes. What more can I say?
Actually, there is one more thing. This last photo is, to me, THE capture of last week. We'd had a violent storm, but it cleared in time for a beautiful sunset. About twenty minutes afterwards, I snapped this unfiltered shot of an incredible sky. See what you think…
