FLORIDA FINALE
Episode 3 of 3
Good-bye Gulf. We’re heading to back to the Atlantic, to Fort Lauderdale. We decided not to overstay our welcome with our various cousins … so rented a one-bedroom apartment, courtesy of AirBnB. It was my first time soloing on that service (and a past experience had made me a tad nervous). The host, ShaAn, was super nice … and had a bottle of red wine waiting on our arrival, as well as dark roast coffee.
With a kitchen, I could cook. Or dabble. Without a dishwasher, I was more inclined to dabble … because washing up is not part of a vacation.
We went to TRADER JOE’S, of course. In addition to avocado and quintessentially Californian sourdough bread and milk and eggs (the good angel on your shoulder), we bought wine and ice cream (the devil made me do it).
I must digress, and tell you a great story … because the setting is this very Trader Joe’s (this might be the best Trader Joe’s … it’s next to a Nordstrom Rack. Oops, I’m getting side tracked in my digression). So … wavy lines indicating a flashback. David & I are living in an apartment in Toluca Lake, and the apartment managers are a lovely girl named Edie and her husband, Alex. We were already planning our escape to the Tuscan countryside, but it was still several years away. Before our departure, Alex and Edie moved to his native Columbia … and though we exchanged emails, the staying in touch dwindled. Wavy lines … to two years ago. We are walking around the produce section of this Trader Joe’s. I’m looking at this, David at that .. and a zumba song starts playing. I start to dance, David starts to dance … people start to stare. Hm, that blonde girl looks familiar, I think to myself … and she walks over to David and says, “David?!” It was Edie … the familiar blonde was Edie. She and Alex had left Columbia a couple of years ago, and moved to Fort Lauderdale. Wow.
Wavy lines … back to the present. I called Edie while we were in town … our staying in touch much more secure now … but she wasn’t available to get together during our visit.
One morning, we went to DINER BY THE SEA, up the road in Lauderdale by the Sea, for breakfast. We were introduced to this little place by our friends Tom and Johanna … the German couple we met at baggage claim at Miami airport because Duchessa was meowing.
If it can be cooked on a griddle, you can have it here. I had chocolate chip pancakes plus, because David wanted a pork product, bacon. (Sausage links or bacon are required eating at a diner … it’s in the small print at the bottom of the menu.) David ordered eggs over easy, biscuits and gravy, and country potatoes. And big old mugs of American coffee … which the waitress kept refilling. I had my chocolate fix, David enjoyed his selection (no tastes for me; it’s a bit too heavy in the morning).
Traveling the culinary world, cousin Sam recommended a Colombian restaurant … BALCONES DE AMERICAS. In the corner of a strip mall in Boca Raton, it was a delicious introduction to this cuisine. We started our meal with wonderful fresh mango juice. We enjoyed crispy/salty/fried plantains with guacamole, and then had quesadillas with chicken, mushrooms, and Jack cheese. When I was growing up, my BFF Laurie’s dad used to make us quesadillas … today, they are one of my “madeleines.” These were richer and bolder and very good. We ordered beans and rice to take away … to complete some leftovers that were waiting at the apartment.
The next day, I made an omelette, toasted slices of sourdough, heated the flavorful beans and rice … all good, all easy. Another day for lunch, I made open-faced ham sandwich with fried egg … and because we are on vacation, we drank Prosecco. Of course, we believe being on vacation … we’re retired … it’s Wednesday … it stopped raining … are all good reasons to drink Prosecco.
The next destination for our palates … Hawaii. We went to THE POKE HOUSE in Fort Lauderdale. You can fashion your own bowl from long lists of ingredients (Column A = proteins … Column B = starches … Column C = veggies … Column D = sauces). One was ahi with radishes, black sesame seeds, avocado, and rice. The other was yellowtail, nori, rice, avocado, mandarin sections, and rice. We couldn’t decide which we liked more … both had fresh flavors, interesting textures, warm and cool combinations … they were, in a word, delicious.
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We ate at The Poke House again … and enjoyed delightfully delicious bowls with yellowtail and edamame and radishes and avocado and rice, plus another bowl with ahi as the star. David also tried the fish tacos … and as good as they were, he said the bowls were better.
We saw Jodi and Mary on this coast, too, thanks to a family celebration … and we all grabbed a late night dinner at UMBRIA RISTORANTE at the Marriott Renaissance in Boca Raton. Despite the name, the menu was “American.” Jodi had a turkey burger, served with very good waffle-cut sweet potato chips (so good, we ordered a second basket) … the rest of us enjoyed seared tuna on an arugula salad, with hard-boiled eggs, olives, and cubes of potatoes. The tuna was fresh and flavorful, but Mary and I agreed the vinaigrette was a suspension and, thus, a faux dressing.
It was March … time for March madness. And as a native of Michigan, David had to watch Michigan play in the Final Four. So we walked to a bar called SHUCK & DIVE. Cajun country … and as we watched Michigan win (woo hoo!), we ate accordingly. David ordered a bottle of Ecco Domani Sauvignon Blanc, which sat in an ice bucket as we enjoyed our food. We began with oysters. Icy cold, tasting briny of the sea, and perfect. You don’t even mind when lemon squirts into your eye. As we decided what else to order, we noticed some folks eating soft-shell crab. It’s another tasty treat we don’t see in Italy. They were crispy and flavorful, serve with sweet potato fries, sweet and spicy beans, and rice.
I started chatting with the lady to my left. I noticed that she liked pink … nail polish, telephone cover, sweater, Cosmopolitan. (I’m a pink girl, too … and have been drinking more rose’ lately.) She said she was moving across the country to be here because her ex-husband was very sick … and though their divorce has been longer than their marriage, they have a son together. They are better friends than spouses, and she thought it was the right thing to do. Kudos to you unknown pink-loving lady … cheers!
And David talked with a couple to his right. As soon as they heard we lived in Italy, they told us they had been on the last successful cruise of the Costa Concordia. On the next voyage, Capitan Scipettino was otherwise engaged in the engine room, and the ship ran aground off the Island of Gigli. The couple said they have a photo of themselves with the now infamous Captain Scipettino in their scrapbook.
Our last Floridian meal was lunch with David’s long-time friend, Bruce. His wife was stuck at their office … and she missed a memorable meal. Bruce’s first choice was a barbeque shack, but it was closed, so we decided to look for Japanese. We were lucky we found 17TH STREET THAI SUSHI in Miami.
David’s lunch included a salad with ginger dressing and miso soup. But the stars were the sashimi … salmon and ahi. Served ice cold in a beautiful presentation, the fish was very tender and very delicious. I had a spider roll with asparagus, the fabulous crab stretching well beyond the round slices. Bruce shared his nicely salty edamame, and said his tempura was excellent. 5 stars all around … and a great way to finish Florida with a flourish.
But I still don’t know what to make of Florida. Publix, a large supermarket chain, has very good sushi, but no bread that you would want to eat. Head shops are legal, but possessing you-know-what is not. Strip malls have gun shops next door to Cuban fast food next to massage parlors. And for those of us who grew up in Southern California, the Orlando attraction called Disney World is just the freckle-faced stepchild.
It’s a place where there could be an AlligaTornado …
We’ll be back … we love our cousins. And I know we’ll have a good time, especially if we see a pre-season baseball game (though our Dodgers are practicing pitching among the cacti in Arizona). And I’ll admit that the Jurassic landscape … with birds of prey sitting motionless on the stark tree branches or swooping silently on expansive wings toward the water … is rather unique.
But where are the flamingos?
BANANA MARBLE CAKE
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-½ cup banana, mashed (3 large or 4 medium)
3 cups flour
1-½ tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
2 oz. (4 Tbl.) cocoa
½ cup chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350° F (170° C). Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
- In small bowl, combine dry ingredients.
- In large bowl, mix eggs and sugar, then stir in oil, vanilla and banana.
- Fold in dry ingredients.
- Pour ⅔ to ¾ of the batter into the prepared pan.
- Into the batter remaining in the bowl, stir in the cocoa and the chocolate chips.
- Pour the chocolate batter into the pan. Then use a knife or thin spatula to swirl it into the plain batter.
- Bake for 45–50 minutes, until done and lightly browned.
- After 5–10 minutes, remove from pan.
- Serve at any temperature.
Enjoy!
