n Florida but now Matt and I are back safe and sound in Australia. We were so lucky to have a BEAUTIFUL wedding in Jacksonville. I am the most fortunate girl getting to marry Matt, twice!!The time leading up to the wedding was lots of fun! I got to spend time with my godson, Sam. Amy and I took him to Atlantic Beach one day and there were tons of starfish washed up on shore. You can see one on Uncle Mike's foot in the picture. Even though most of the starfish had gone along to starfish heaven, Sam was very sweet and methodically returned them to the ocean sending them back home. He is such a wonderful little guy!!!
I ro
ped Matt and my sister, Judy, into a pet project at the beach. Since I was little I have dug up donax in the sand (small, edible saltwater clams known as pipi or goolwa cockles in Australia) and it was an old Florida tradition to make them into soup. There was even the Donac Shell Tea Room in the Atlantic Beach Inn in the early 1900's famous for their donax soup. My grandmother showed my sister how but I had never tried it. Judy and Matt helped me collect 100s of donax. This was especially appreciated since Matt has a great aversion to sitting in the sand because the sand always finds it's way into his shorts. We boiled the miniature clams and then the tedious work began. The clam bod
ies are teeny, tiny and have to be picked out of the shells. Judy seemed to enjoy this process but I was quickly losing interest in my project. We did manage to make a tasty donax broth. Donax soup has lost it's popularity in Jacksonville but I did find a recipe along with Alligator Pilau and Old Swamp Cabbage in Millen's A Taste of St. Augustine: Recipes of the Ancient City which is fitting since St. Augustine was virtually built with donax. Donax are also called coquina shells and were a vital building material.
ped Matt and my sister, Judy, into a pet project at the beach. Since I was little I have dug up donax in the sand (small, edible saltwater clams known as pipi or goolwa cockles in Australia) and it was an old Florida tradition to make them into soup. There was even the Donac Shell Tea Room in the Atlantic Beach Inn in the early 1900's famous for their donax soup. My grandmother showed my sister how but I had never tried it. Judy and Matt helped me collect 100s of donax. This was especially appreciated since Matt has a great aversion to sitting in the sand because the sand always finds it's way into his shorts. We boiled the miniature clams and then the tedious work began. The clam bod
ies are teeny, tiny and have to be picked out of the shells. Judy seemed to enjoy this process but I was quickly losing interest in my project. We did manage to make a tasty donax broth. Donax soup has lost it's popularity in Jacksonville but I did find a recipe along with Alligator Pilau and Old Swamp Cabbage in Millen's A Taste of St. Augustine: Recipes of the Ancient City which is fitting since St. Augustine was virtually built with donax. Donax are also called coquina shells and were a vital building material. Matt g
ot to experience lots more southern cooking. There (of course) was lots of Sticky Fingers BBQ. Dennis made his speciality, beer-butt chicken. Chicken on the grill with a can of Guinness in the afore named place adds lots of flavor!! Chris and Elizabeth made a pit stop on their way down from New York in South Carolina at a crawdad farm. In America the little freshwater variety lobster type crustacean is referred to as crayfish, crawfish or crawdad as opposed to Australia where these are yabbies and crayfish refers to the saltwater spiny lobster. After a joyous stay at the $25 a night Swamp Fox Hotel Chris and Elizabeth arrived in Jacksonville with a car full of crawda
ds. I must admit I felt really guilty dumping these mini-lobsters into a boiling pot after the little guys put on a such a show of prowess waving pinchers in the air like a prize fighting boxer but into the water (with a little Old Bay Seasoning) they went. Dennis did spare a few crawdad lives and built them a pond in the back yard.
ot to experience lots more southern cooking. There (of course) was lots of Sticky Fingers BBQ. Dennis made his speciality, beer-butt chicken. Chicken on the grill with a can of Guinness in the afore named place adds lots of flavor!! Chris and Elizabeth made a pit stop on their way down from New York in South Carolina at a crawdad farm. In America the little freshwater variety lobster type crustacean is referred to as crayfish, crawfish or crawdad as opposed to Australia where these are yabbies and crayfish refers to the saltwater spiny lobster. After a joyous stay at the $25 a night Swamp Fox Hotel Chris and Elizabeth arrived in Jacksonville with a car full of crawda
ds. I must admit I felt really guilty dumping these mini-lobsters into a boiling pot after the little guys put on a such a show of prowess waving pinchers in the air like a prize fighting boxer but into the water (with a little Old Bay Seasoning) they went. Dennis did spare a few crawdad lives and built them a pond in the back yard.We definitely
swam in the ocean alot but poor Matt forget to put sunblock on his legs the first day out on the beach and he turned the color of a tomato. Dennis cut up his aloe plant to try and help Matt out a little but he burned pretty bad. The peeling a week later was a sight to see. He sat around on the beach with a towel over his legs for the rest of the trip. Friends and family started to arrive from all over the country and even Ireland and Germany. We toured around a bit as we got ready for the big day. I am scanning in pictures of the wedding now. We are waiting for some more to arrive but will put up some that I have of the bridesmaids luncheon, rehearsal dinner and wedding in my next post.
swam in the ocean alot but poor Matt forget to put sunblock on his legs the first day out on the beach and he turned the color of a tomato. Dennis cut up his aloe plant to try and help Matt out a little but he burned pretty bad. The peeling a week later was a sight to see. He sat around on the beach with a towel over his legs for the rest of the trip. Friends and family started to arrive from all over the country and even Ireland and Germany. We toured around a bit as we got ready for the big day. I am scanning in pictures of the wedding now. We are waiting for some more to arrive but will put up some that I have of the bridesmaids luncheon, rehearsal dinner and wedding in my next post.
