Garden Herb Bouquet

Sometime friends will call at the last minute and invite us to their house for dinner. Since we don’t like to go to anyone’s home empty handed, I know as soon as my husband hangs up the phone, he’s going to say, “What can we take?”

We always have a bottle of wine on hand, but it’s nice to take a little something along with the wine. That’s when it pays to be resourceful. Unless it’s the dead of winter, I go outside and see what’s in our garden that I can make into a bouquet.

The above herb bouquet is one I put together last summer when the zinnias were blooming. I just added some fresh rosemary and sage from our herb garden, tied a bow, and voila, we were good to go. The inspiration came from the photo below of an herb bouquet in an old Gourmet magazine.

Photo from Gourmet 

Use what herbs you have growing in your garden and add some flowers or salad greens, such as arugula, perhaps from your refrigerator. When your chives are blooming, be sure to add them.

Here are some flowers that blossom in our mountain garden in the springtime. Some such as the pink peonies would be too large to combine with herbs, but make a splendid flower bouquet on their own. The delicate white Dutch Iris would be pretty addition to any arrangement.

I’ll be linking this to Beverly’s How Sweet the Sound Pink Saturday. Be sure to stop by and be inspired to add some pink into your life.

I'm also linking this to Garden Tuesday hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes. Drop by and see what others are featuring in their gardens this week.

Tidbits from the past featuring tasty seafood and French memories to celebrate Pink Saturday’s 2nd anniversary

Jacques Pepin’s pink salmon pizza
I was flipping through Jacques Pepin’s newest cookbook, More Fast Food My Way, when I came across a recipe for Smoked Salmon Pizza served on Naan flatbread. For the recipe and more….

Spicy fruit salsa with broiled pink salmon inspired by the Food Shack, Jupiter, Florida
Fruit salsas are very popular to serve with fish. I’ve seen numerous recipes in food magazines recently. We ate at Little Moir's Food Shack, a fish joint in Jupiter, Florida that served a spicy, sweet, and colorful fruit salsa with a tuna basil roll, which quickly became my favorite. I had never tasted anything like the fruit salsa before. It was sweet, spicy and hot all at the same time and it burst in my mouth with flavor. For the recipe and more..…

Low country pink shrimp and grits
We were houseguests at a friend’s home on the outer banks of North Carolina several months ago and they served Shrimp and Grits for breakfast, elevating the morning meal to a higher level. So when we had houseguests recently, we prepared the same. The cheese grits topped with pink shrimp, browned bacon and mushrooms, garnished with shreds of green scallions make an elegant presentation. For the recipe and more….

Pastry shop in Provence
Two of our favorite shops in France were the Patisserie, the pastry shop, and the Boulangerie, the bakery. In some Patisseries, but not all, you can purchase the one essential thing you must buy every single day – the French baguette. In the Patisserie shown above they only sell pastries. When we asked for a baguette one day, the beautiful mademoiselle (dressed in pink) pointed her finger to herself and said, “Patisserie.” Then she took her delightfully long finger and pointed out the door and said, “Boulangerie.” Meaning, for those who she thought didn't speak French, we don’t sell baguettes here. Although we continued to purchase beautiful desserts in this shop, you can be sure we never asked for a baguette there again. Read more…..

How beautifully a pastry is wrapped in France for you to take home

Le Petite France

Le Petit France is a bistro located between the small villages of Paradou and Maussane, just south of Saint-Remy-de-Provence. We dined al fresco style under white market umbrella shaded tables with the beautifully set pink linens Read more…

Pink Saturday is celebrating its 2nd anniversary plus it was also featured in the current issue of Artful Blogging. All of my congratulations go to Beverly, our hostess, from How Sweet the Sound, and to the dedicated Pink Saturday bloggers, who, each week, make Pink Saturday happen. Beverly is having a give-away so be sure you stop by and say hello.

My husband and I were out on a leisurely Sunday afternoon ride one day and couldn’t help but snap this photo. It aroused my curiosity. Do you suppose they painted their house pink first or painted their car pink first? Whatever the case, it has to be a one of a kind. This may carry the concept of matching shoes and handbags to a whole new level. I hope this free spirit owner of the pink house and a car to match brings a smile to your face and sunshine into your Saturday. Happy Pink Saturday,

Junkanoo Festival - held on Boxing Day in the Bahamas

Junkanoo is a national festival in The Bahamas, held in the early morning hours of Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. During the Junkanoo parade, a procession of dancers in brightly colored costumes “rush” through the streets, singing and making music on goat-skin drums, cowbells, conch shell horns and whistles.

Today is Pink Saturday and I want to thank Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for hosting this fun event. Please be sure to drop by How Sweet the Sound where you’ll find links to other Pink Saturday bloggers.

The revelers, both young and old, spend all year pasting their costumes together, many of which are made out of cardboard covered in colorful crepe paper.

Spectators join in the celebration, singing and dancing to make it a big street party.

The origin of the word Junkanoo is unknown. Some say it comes from the French word “L-inconnu,” meaning the unknown in reference to the masks worn by the parade participants.

Others believe it was named for John Canoe, an African tribal chief who demanded the right to celebrate with his people during the 16^th and 17^th centuries after being brought to the West Indies as slaves.

The slaves were given a special holiday during Christmas when they could leave the plantations to celebrate and be with their families with African dance, music and costumes. After emancipation, they continued the tradition and Junkanoo has evolved from its simple origins to organized parades with intricate costumes and music.

These photos were taken at the Junkanoo festival on Green Turtle Cay in Abaco, in the northern Bahamas.

Our favorite family tradition at Christmas - reading "The First Christmas Stocking" written by my husband’s Grandfather in the early 1900's

Every Christmas Eve we read “The First Christmas Stocking,” written by my husband Meakin’s grandfather. Years ago Meakin’s dad gave us his copy of “The First Christmas Stocking” that was crinkly and aging along with some black & white drawings of the story his father had written and told to him when he was a young boy. Meakin can also remember his Grandfather telling him this very same story.

Photo of Meakin and his Grandfather reading “The First Christmas Stocking”

Here’s an excerpt of what Meakin’s Dad told us about Christmas when he was a boy in 1919 and about the story his father wrote - “The First Christmas Stocking.”

On the day before Christmas of 1919 in Peotone, Illinois, Mother had spent the preceding week baking cakes, pies, and sugar cookies in Santa Claus or Christmas tree shapes and especially “Tea Rings” with their filling of brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and currants. They would be a feature of the holiday breakfast, accompanied by butter and lemon dressed salt mackerel which Dad had soaking in a dishpan of water. The Christmas tree which Dad and I had brought home on my sled leaned, snow dusted, against the side of the house. It would not be brought in until I was in bed and, presumably, fast asleep.

“The “FIRST CHRISTMAS STOCKING” is a Hoffer family heritage. It was written by my Father in the early years of this century when there was no television, few radios and movies were silent and seldom seen. Consequently story telling was an important means of education and of communication, especially between parent and child. This particular story occupied a special place in our Christmas celebration. After dinner on Christmas Eve we walked to the church for the Christmas pageant. When I returned home there was a sudden rush to get undressed, hang my stocking and get to bed. And when up I went, Dad did too, to lie beside me, to “start the night” and tell me the story of a little boy whose pleasure was in giving, not getting, whose concern was for the happiness and pleasure of others and in that found his own happiness. Dad wanted very much to see this story published. He found an old friend to do the drawings that illustrate the story here. But his dream was never realized.

Always up for a challenge, in 1977 I decided to find a book binder to see if they could make copies of the story for a Christmas present from us to all of our family members. When they said yes, I begin to painstakingly re-type the story on an old IBM Selectric typewriter with the rotating ball (there were no personal computers or word processing programs available at the time) and took it, along with the drawings, to a very seedy (read unsafe) part of downtown Houston to the book binders, selected an elegant dark green leather cover with gold lettering for the title, ordered copies, and said, “Call me when it’s finished.”

Meakin’s father was thrilled when he saw the finished book. He wrote in the inscription in 1977:

“Many times in the last twenty years that my Dad has been gone I have wished I could tell him of some of the wonderful things I’ve seen or done or just lived through. This is one of those times. Now, thanks to Meakin and Sam, here it is. If not for all the world to see, at least for me and my children, their wives and husbands, their children and their children’s children.” James J. Hoffer, New York City, 1977.

Here is “The First Christmas Stocking.” By the way, Meakin’s dad just celebrated his 97^th birthday in November. He still lives at home, cooks most of his own meals, reads the New York Times every day and does their crossword puzzles. And on every Christmas Eve he gets out his copy and reads this story.

The First Christmas Stocking

By Doc Hoffer

Away up north a long time ago

There lived a young lad with the Eskimo.

He had a reindeer but he had no sled

So he hitched it to an ice cake instead.

He carved toys of ice and had lots of fun

But they soon melted when exposed to the sun.

One day a ship got fast in the ice

And our little boy thought it would be nice

To take a look at this strange sight;

He wanted to go out that very night.

The men on the ship did not like to stay

So they hitched up their dogs and hastened away.

So Kris Kringle, for that was his name,

Went to look the thing over; you’d do the same.

He found it deserted and much to his joy

There were all kinds of tools that would please any boy.

He found lots of wood and pieces of metal

Lead for his soldiers and an old iron kettle.

He made a sled to hitch his deer to.

He made lots of toys like you’d like to do.

He soon had so many he thought ‘twould be fun

To give each little boy and girl some.

So he hitched up old Prancer and started away

With a pack on his back just ‘fore Christmas Day.

When he got there, there were Indians around

And just a few settlers were then to be found.

The Indians chased him and scared him you see,

He wished he was back home, take it from me.

He urged on the deer and imagine the shock

When it made a quick turn and the sled hit a rock.

He flew right up into the air

And lit on top of a cabin right there.

He crawled down the chimney to get away

From this bunch of savages this Christmas Day.

When he got in the room ‘bout ready to die

He found lots of stocking hung up to dry.

There were small ones and large ones, short ones, too.

Says Santa, “Now here’s what I’ll do.

I’ll fill each sock from top to toe

Then if the Indians are gone, for home I’ll blow.”

So he put in soldiers and swords and guns,

Wooden horses and toys for the little ones.

He peeked out the door and his deer was still there

So he jumped in his sleigh and sailed through the air.

He had such fun he said in his glee

“I’ll be back next year with more presents, you see.”

So he worked the whole year as hard as he could

And comes back each year as Santa Claus should

He’s old and gray, his beard is white

But he comes back each year all right

For all children he brings nice toys

For he still loves good girls and boys.

I apologize for the change in print size and the spacing. For some reason Blogger had a mind of its own today and gave me fits with this post and I've re-done it several times with equally strange results. Do you ever have this problem? It's very frustrating. Oh well or c'est la vie as the French say. 

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Joyeux Noel everyone.

A Bay Leaf Wreath – one of our favorite holiday decorations & perfect for the hard to please person on your list

It's Pink Saturday and Beverly of How Sweet the Sound, our hostess for Pink Saturday, has asked us to post about our favorite holiday decoration and to tell why it is special.

I’m sure you’ve had a hard to please person on your Christmas gift list from time to time. I know I sure have and I well remember the very person who always topped the list – my husband’s father’s late second wife Wanda, which would make her my stepmother-in-law if there is such a word. At the time she and my father-in-law lived in New York City and could buy anything imaginable whenever they pleased. Both were gourmet cooks and most especially Wanda. My husband referred to her as, “the best darn cook in the world that I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a professional.”

The trouble was at that time I didn’t know Wanda well, but I sensed that she could be hard to please. I’d met her once, earlier in the year during the fall, when my husband and I had flown to the city and stayed with them. I was a manger in the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Houston and, as a part of the trip, I had planned to go to the store and work with my buyer while we were there.

Before we left home Wanda called. “Sam, I thought you might want to know that in New York we don’t wear white shoes in the fall.” I was flabbergasted. I hadn’t worn white shoes since I was a small child and colored them pink, much to my mother’s horror. My entire career has been in fashion merchandising. Did she think I was some kind of country kid?

I wanted to reply that I planned on bringing my little Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress to wear with a soft shade of chestnut brown Bruno Magli sling-back pumps that look nice with my Vuitton bag, but I was so taken back by her call that I think I stuttered something like, “Thanks Wanda. I’ll keep that in mind when I pack.”

This is a time in life that thankfully I had been raised with good manners, because if I could have found a tacky pair of white heels, I would taken them to New York City and put them on in her apartment right before I left for Saks and asked, “Wanda, what do you think? Do I look all right?"

So now you know Wanda was hard to please and it’s time to buy a Christmas gift for her and my husband’s Dad. Knowing their love of cooking, I began flipping through the Williams-Sonoma catalog looking for ideas. How about monogram glasses – no, we got them that last year. Here’s a cute wooden acorn twine holder – nope, they gave that to us last year. I turned the page to find the fresh Bay Leaf wreath, shipped directly from the grower in California. We had gotten a bay leaf wreath for ourselves the previous year and were pleased with its elegant look and continued to use the leaves in cooking well into the year. Perfect. A bay leaf wreath it would be.

I worried that the wreath didn’t come gift wrapped, but I placed the order anyway and crossed my fingers she would like it. About two weeks before Christmas the phone rang.

“Sam, this is Wanda. UPS just delivered a bay leaf wreath.” Oh my, she’s going to tell me she doesn’t like it or, worse yet, she has two already and this will make three and they have a tiny apartment….

While I was lost in my thoughts, I heard her say, “I’ve never heard of a bay leaf wreath. It’s absolutely gorgeous; in fact I’ve never seen anything like it before. I adore it and I know Jim will too. Thank you and Meakin so very much. What a nice surprise. How long do the leaves stay fresh?”

“You’re very welcome, Wanda. I’m thrilled that you like it. Yes, we used our leaves until they began to dry up later in the year. If you leave it inside, it will last longer than if you put it outdoors.” Whew. I finally pleased her. I just about broke my arm patting myself on the back that year, but these kinds of things only happen once or twice in a lifetime for me – pleasing the hard to please.

Williams-Sonoma has been shipping bay leaf wreaths to happy people for thirty-five years, so if you’re looking for a lovely gift for someone that is hard to please, or even hard to buy for, I recommend this gorgeous holiday wreath. We hang one in our home each year on our early American chest on frame and I think it’s one of the most beautiful decorations we have. Every time I look at our wreath, I think of Wanda and how thrilled she was that year.

Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see what other bloggers are featuring as their favorite holiday decoration. Happy Pink Saturday everyone and enjoy the holidays.

Childhood Christmas Memories

Beverly of How Sweet the Sound is our hostess for Pink Saturday and this week she’s asked us to post about our childhood memories of Christmas.

I grew up in Warren, a small town in southeastern Arkansas, and my family had a jewelry store where I worked at Christmas from the time I could barely see over the counter until I left home after graduating from college to pursue my own career. My grandfather Weiss left Kansas at the turn of the century and arrived in Warren on a horse-drawn buggy after riding the Cotton Belt Railroad to the end of the line in a nearby dusty Arkansas town. On arrival in 1905 he found three newly established lumber mills and decided that they would insure a growing town, so he took his diamond ring and used it to finance his dream of owning his own jewelry store. He was also an Optician and a fine watchmaker and it wasn’t unusual in that day for a jeweler to be an Optician as well. A few years later he married my grandmother Turner, a local girl. Her grandfather was one of the original pioneer families that came directly to the Arkansas territory when their ship landed from England in the early 1840’s at Charleston Harbor in South Carolina. My father followed in my grandfather’s footsteps and was an Optometrist as well as a jeweler. His store was a fixture on the square in Warren for seventy-five years.

Weiss Jewelry was considered to be a Guild Jewelry store, meaning it sold fine jewelry such as diamonds, watches, gem stones, clocks, sterling silver, leaded crystal, fine bone china, Dresden Porcelains, as well as novelties and top quality costume jewelry. During the roaring twenties the store stocked brilliant comb sets that flappers desired and brides counted their friends by the cut glass wedding presents they received from Weiss Jewelry. During the Great Depression my grandfather saved every silver dollar that was spent in his store, knowing the sacrifice the person made to part with such a valuable coin during hard times to buy a loved one a special gift.

Photo of Weiss Jewelry circa 1930’s with my grandfather in the foreground and my father in back with customers

Every July my father went to the Dallas Merchandise Mart to purchase for the Christmas season. He took great pride in decorating his windows for Christmas and the Santa above, shown on my mantle at home, is a perfect example of one he might have chosen for his windows. He also had exquisite taste and wanted each present from his store to represent an elegant gift. It had to be wrapped (at no cost to his customer of course) in expensive foil paper, tied with a gorgeous bow, and be a thing of great beauty for the giver to present to the lucky recipient. A gift from Weiss Jewelry was meant to stand out among all of the others. As a young person, I was a junior bow maker and later, as a teenager, I “graduated” to the back-up gift wrapper.

The jewelry business has an unspoken rule about gifts, much like a confidentially agreement with a lawyer or accountant. For example, if Doctor So-in-so comes in and looks at an expensive diamond watch, the jeweler would never say, “Your wife Helen would love that.” Just as your accountant knows your income, your jeweler knows about the other woman. Confidentially is a lesson I learned at an early age.

If any of you have ever worked in retailing, you know that it’s made up of very long hours and hard work during Christmas. I remember going to the post office on Christmas Day with my father after we had opened our own presents at home to see what had arrived a bit late that needed to be gift-wrapped and delivered by us at the last minute to a waiting customer. During the season my parents were always exhausted and, as a child, Christmas just meant hard work and long hours to my family. My parents missed the rounds of holiday cocktail parties and social events. My mother decorated our house on Thanksgiving Day, took my sister and myself to the big city the next day to shop for our gifts, and worked at the store for the remainder of the season. On Christmas day right after dinner, she took our tree down and put away all of the Christmas decorations.

“Why don’t we leave our tree up like other families do?” I asked my mother one year. “They don’t take theirs down until after January first.”

“I guess I’m just sick of seeing it, Sissy,” she said. “I’ve had enough of Christmas.”

I said I would never follow in their footsteps, but of course I did. After college I went into a management training program of a large Federated Department store in Texas and worked long and tiring hours just like my parents. At Christmas time all I could think of was going home and putting my feet up because they were killing me and I was exhausted. As a young bride, it’s amazing my husband put up with me. From the day after Thanksgiving until early January I was either at work or asleep.

All through my childhood I promised myself that when I grew up, if I didn’t work in retailing at Christmas, I would throw the biggest, most elaborate party I could and invite all of my friends. And I would also keep my Christmas tree up until January like everyone else did.

Photo from the Martha Vick website of the exterior of the mansion

Many years later my husband Meakin and I lived in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was in the late eighties, with my retail career was behind me and a job with more civilized hours, we decided it was time to have our first “big” Christmas cocktail party. We had just remodeled a darling but tiny cottage on Confederate Avenue in the old Civil War Military Park. Although it was lovely, it was much too small to host a cocktail party of the size I had in mind. I was fulfilling a dream and my list consisted of at least fifty people. Fortunately two of our friends had a beautiful home that specialized in hosting big parties and they were both gourmets themselves. Our friends Bill and David owned The Martha Vick House, a gorgeous one story Greek Revival antebellum mansion on Grove Street that they had lovingly restored. Dating back to 1830, it was built by Martha, the daughter of the city’s founder, Newett Vick, and constructed of beautiful hand-made pink bricks with plaster covering the inside walls. I thought it was the perfect setting for the big cocktail party of my dreams.

Vicksburg is a black-tie kind of town and Bill and David know how to throw a big bash. Out comes their huge set of antique Havilland fine bone china and gobs of brightly polished sterling silver. They set up an elaborate buffet table in the dining room complete with lots of silver candlesticks holding tall glowing tapers. A florist friend artfully composed a gorgeous holiday creation for the center of the table. The food that evening included a large footed, ornate cut glass bowl overflowing with jumbo Creole shrimp that had marinated in a garlicky paprika Remoulade sauce. A large holiday ham glazed with bourbon and brown sugar sat high on a pedestal on a large silver tray with sliced freshly roasted turkey breast below it accompanied by homemade biscuits for making your own sandwich, a bowl of spicy pickled Black-eyed Pea Caviar (here’s my version) surrounded by dark party ryes, Tuzzi dip (a cheesy, spicy sausage mix) with crispy chips, asparagus spears decoratively placed on a tray with an aioli dipping sauce in a small Paul Revere silver bowl, a generous platter of Vicksburg tomato sandwiches (no party in Vicksburg was ever considered complete without tomato sandwiches and homemade mayonnaise) and piles of decadent, rich crème puffs and tiny pistachio wafers, both handcrafted by Bill. I'm sorry I don't have a photograph of our Christmas buffet, but below is a spring dinner party in the dining room of the Martha Vick House so you can get a feel for the dining room and see the lovely antique china and glasswear.

Photo of a spring dinner party in the dining room from the Martha Vick website

At the time we belonged to a private club in town, so we hired two of the bartenders we knew from there to tend bar. It was great because they knew what everyone’s favorite cocktail was - who wanted their martini extra dry or up, who drank scotch & soda, and which lady loved gimlets. This was in the day that people had cocktail parties at home. Today many people entertain their friends in a bar or restaurant after work and everyone comes casually dressed and drinks wine or beer. It also seems that no one has their own special drink anymore. I truly miss these kinds of cocktail parties. There’s something special and elegant about getting all dressed up and sharing cocktails and chit chatting with your friends at home (even if it is someone else’s home) that you can’t duplicate in a restaurant or bar. But - the very best part of this particular party was all we had to do was arrive on the night of the party dressed and ready to celebrate.

Photo of a cocktail party from the Martha Vick website

During that same period of time one of my recipes won the National Catfish Contest. Our friend Laurin, the Foods Editor of the local paper, called requesting an interview and pictures for the paper. As we visited, she said, “Sam, I assumed you didn’t know how to cook because you and Meakin always throw catered parties.”

Well Laurin, I think catered parties are the very best way to have a big cocktail bash for fifty or so of your best friends and I highly recommend it for a busy lifestyle, even if you do know how to cook. All you do is arrive a wee bit early, have a cocktail and relax with the owners Bill and David. When the door bell rings, greet your friends warmly while dressed in your finest black-tie attire standing beside the lovely marble top table in the foyer with a huge Christmas tree loaded lights twinkling in the background.

Photo of the foyer during Christmas from the Martha Vick website

But this is the most important part - have fun yourself instead of rushing around refilling the buffet or heating food in the kitchen. Mingle with your guests and enjoy the scrumptious food that someone else has prepared. After your last guests leaves, have a nightcap and discuss your plans for next year’s party and forget the dishes. Now that’s my kind of cocktail party. I consider it my childhood Christmas dream come true.

For additional ideas on how to throw a cocktail party, including how to stock the bar, Southern Accents can tell you everything you ever wanted to know. If you are ever in Vicksburg, Mississippi, The Martha Vick House is open for tours 364 days a year (closed for New Years Eve when they throw their own bash for friends).

Please be sure to drop by and say hello to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound where you’ll find links to other Pink Saturday bloggers and read about their childhood memories of Christmas. Happy Pink Saturday everyone.

It’s my (blog) birthday party and I’ll go where I want to

It’s my party and I’ll go where I want to, go where I want to, go where I want to. You would go too when it happens to you.

Welcome to My Carolina Kitchen’s first birthday. My other blog, Island Time in Abaco, is also one year old. I’ve decided to celebrate by taking you on a virtual trip down memory lane to a pink birthday party at one of my all time favorite places in the world - Wally’s Restaurant in Marsh Harbour, Abaco. Located in a pink and white Nassau-style Colonial villa overlooking the harbour, its grounds are dotted with pink hibiscus and bright rosy pink bougainvillea. It’s a balmy 75 degrees there today and I have friends waiting, so grab your passports, throw your sunglasses and flip-flops in straw bag, and hop on board. You take the window seat so you can so enjoy the view. Isn’t that a gorgeous private beach?

We’ll land at the Marsh Harbour International Airport in the northern Bahamas where we’ll take a taxi to Wally’s.

Hi ladies, it’s great to see you. How have you been? We’re meeting friends, so we’ll just go on in.

Hi Pattie, Penny, Barometer Bob. Hope we haven’t kept you waiting too long. I’ve brought along a few friends. Notice the Haitian art work on the pink walls. Even the tablecloth and napkins are pink. Wally's is one of the most upscale restaurants in the islands.

Every time we come to Wally’s the first thing my husband does is to give Wally's daughter Maureen, the owner, a great big hug. Hi Mo. Maureen attended the Cordon Bleu and returns to Paris each fall for a visit.

Hi Angie, our usual, please.

Here’s why we came – to share a bite of Wally’s special birthday brownie. One of their specialties, it’s a huge, sinfully rich brownie, smothered with vanilla ice cream, and covered in a dark chocolate sauce, rich whipped cream, and topped with a birthday candle. It comes with extra spoons, so dig in. The brownie is a little hard to see in this picture, but it's in front of me with the candle on it.

Before we leave let’s slip in the boutique and say hello to Angie’s daughter. Maybe I’ll pick up a cute swimsuit and one of those colorful pareos to match. Look around, I’m sure you’ll see something you can’t live without.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our trip to Marsh Harbour. Thank you Beverly of How Sweet the Sound for hosting this fun pink Saturday party. I’ve met so many fabulous people this year blogging that I now call friends. Thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Happy Pink Saturday.

These pictures were taken several years ago and reflect how the author remembers Wally’s and her friends.