Photography and story by Nancy Kirkpatrick
Falling in Love with St Simons Island is easy. You need only experience it once and the magic begins.
For some it is the call of the ocean. Or the childlike lure of the beach.
Lively play or serious sport…and the liberty to take one’s own sweet time.
Find your summer place. For a day, a week, a month. A forever place in your heart.
by Nancy Kirkpatrick
Google Images
I’ve featured my Peruvian Chicken recipe before but it deserves another round. The sides have changed and I think you’ll love them. I’m exploring different grains as the weather warms up, cool salads packed with nutrition and light desserts. Have a wonderful weekend….stay cool and enjoy!
Peruvian Chicken
2 3-4 pound chickens, butterflied (I asked the butcher at Harris Teeter to do this for me and he did a great job!)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry marjoram leaves
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
Place the chickens in two large zip lock bags. Combine the marinade ingredients and mix well. Pour half of the marinade into each bag, seal and refrigerate overnight, turning every few hours. Heat your grill to 400 degrees, or if using charcoal, heat until coals are turning white. Grill for about 6 minutes on each side. Cut into the chicken to make sure the juices are clear. Cut into serving pieces and place on a platter.
Quinoa and Vegetable Fritters
I have to give credit for this recipe to 12 Tomatoes, one of my favorite spots on the internet when it comes to good eating! These are so yummy and you can vary the vegetables as desired.
Ingredients
Directions
Cucumber Cilantro Salad
2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
Golden Isles Olive Oil Persian Lime Olive oil
Juice of one lime
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely minced
sea salt to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
Toss the cucumbers and cilantro with the olive oil and lime juice to coat. Add the remaining ingredients, toss and chill for an hour.
A nice bowl of frozen vanilla yogurt with fresh raspberries and chopped pistachio nuts completes the meal….yum! Easy cooking for easy summer living….enjoy!
I have to have a good reading list for summer entertainment. When it’s too hot, hot, hot to go outdoors and enjoy I love nothing better than reading a good book. I usually have two or three going at the same time and my taste varies as to what they are. Here’s what’s on my list so far!
At the top of my list is “A Memory Of Violets” by Hazel Gaynor. I found this book on Goodreads, a New York Times bestseller, it chronicles the life of Tilly Harper as she travels to become assistant housemother at Mr. Shaw’s Home for Watercress and Flower Girls. The flower girls are poor, lame and orphaned for the most part. Tilly finds the diary of one of the girls when she arrives which sets her on a course of trying to find her. This looks like it’s right up my alley. It’s set at the turn of the 20th century and promises to deliver a good read!
I’m a John Grisham fan and his new book “Gray Mountain” is calling my name! It begins in Manhattan right as everything crashed in 2008. Samantha Kofer is the protagonist. She is a Wall Street attorney who loses everything. A new job takes her to Brady, Virginia in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains where she becomes involved in the treacherous world of coal mining. Danger awaits her at every corner as the story grows. A page turner is just what I’m looking for and John Grisham does not disappoint!
I cannot wait to delve into Sue Monk Kidd’s latest offering, “The Invention of Wings”, was recently released in paperback. I love her writing and so look forward to reading this book. From slavery to abolition and the women’s rights movement the story begins in Charleston and goes from there. It sounds intriguing, full of history and strong women. Perfect!
So I’m making iced tea, sweetened with organic stevia instead of sugar, have to watch those sugar grams! I’ll be settling into one of my big leather chairs when time permits and turning the pages as I escape into each of these stories. Reading is the best escape I know of! Let me know if you decide to read any of the three books. Summer is definitely here so why not make the living a bit easy?
Story and Photos by Nancy Kirkpatrick
Continuing my walk-about series as our coastal population expands with the warmest season of the year, we explore what locals call “Driftwood Beach” on Jekyll Island. This secluded shore on the northern tip of Georgia’s Jekyll Island attracts and intrigues with its ghostlike projections scratching skyward; reaching upward from a forgotten landscape.
Seductive and alluring, these tortured formations beckon the climber. The child. The romantic. And always the photographers.
Here, on this beach, this haven, Nature provides an artful sanctuary in our own backyard. A visual treat. A garden of textures.
Visit once and discover it again at day’s end. Dawn. Twilight. Experience for yourself how the character of this beach transforms dramtically with the tides, the seasons, the light. And make it your own treasured memory. Just as we have: the “permanent tourists”.
Nancy’s photography can be seen and purchased via:
Facebook: Nancy Kirkpatrick Photography
Story and Photos by Nancy Kirkpatrick
Copenhagen, Denmark. The fifth and last port-of-call of our 15 day trans-Atlantic crossing of Disney’s cruise ship, The Magic.
The morning dawns sunny, cool, but comfortable. We disembark in this largest city in Scandinavia. Denmark boasts the oldest monarchy in the world and claims to have the happiest people. Taxes are high, but its citizens are provided with health care, free education and monthly stipends for university students.
Our destination is Dragoer, a quaint fishing village just south of the capital. But first a photo stop at the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen’s harbor. The bronze and granite sculpture was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale about a mermaid who gives up everything to be with a young, handsome prince on land. We add our clicks to the more than 5 million snaps taken every year. And are urged by our guide to read the real story, which she cautions is quite different from the Disney version.
We proceed through the city, our guide pointing out palaces, museums, bigger than life art sculptures. There is a distinct blend of old and new architecture, giving the city an intriguing air. Firmly planted in history, culture and tradition, while embracing the progressive, clean and sophisticated. It is a vibrant, moving city. Most residents own one car; all of them own bicycles.
We arrive at Dragoer. Quiet, quaint, pretty. The harbor is small. No longer in its heyday, but still vibrant with color. The blue sky and photographer’s clouds adding just the right background for visual delight. This quiet spot, this color, the salt air. Perfection.
The collection of yellow painted cottages with straw roofs were built between 1720-1890. They are well loved homes now and well kept. There is pride of history here. We wander, take more pictures, meet at the hotel for a Danish pastry, coffee and tea. What a treat for even this pastry skeptic! Light and not too sweet, I am converted – but only if baked by the Danes!
Nancy’s photography can be seen and purchased via:
Facebook: Nancy Kirkpatrick Photography
I’ve featured several of Bud Hearn’s “Weakly Posts” here, but I think this one is my favorite thus far. Bud has such a way with words, but I think this post, in particular, gives us a glimpse of the man himself and how deeply he thinks and feels about writing and about life. I think you’ll enjoy reading “Something From Nothing”! I know it spoke to me and I will treasure it for years to come!
Something from Nothing
“….the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”
Genesis 1:2
Some days are like being inside a cloud of thick fog—all white nothingness. Attempts to mentally find anything of substance are impossible.
It must have been on one of those days the poet wrote, “(V)ague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not its end.” Or something similar. Poets play with vague concepts. Yet, in that white chaos, it’s helpful to realize that haze is full of promise, just waiting to be discovered.
Deadlines for writers hover like death. They sit looking at an empty computer screen or a blank sheet of paper, searching for something to write. In those days ideas are harder to find than hen’s teeth.
For about nine years my Thursdays have begun by staring at an empty sheet of paper, or a set of white computer pixels that make the screen appear blank. This is the genesis of this Absurdity.
Empty is always the beginning. There’s just something about a blank slate that craves input. It calls, “Put something on me ~ words, numbers, drawings ~ or fold me into the shape of an airplane and sail me. Do something with me, now!”
Imagine being a blank sheet of paper. How would it feel if your life went unused, just wadded up and pitched at trash cans? Or run through a shredder to make parade confetti or other such ephemera posing as momentous events. Please! A blank sheet has infinite possibilities.
Everything starts out blank. We did, too ~ some may still be! So did this planet. Think of the untold number of possibilities that existed at the Big Bang of Creation. Imagine what could come from a totally blank universe page. Now look at it. Think of each person’s beginning as a blank sheet of paper. Impossible to comprehend with a finite mind.
All pages begin equal, but some more equal than others. Some become important, like The Bible, The Constitution, or The Gettysburg Address. Some amount to absolutely nothing. Some would be downright frightening ~ like fodder crammed into The New York Times.
I prefer blank computer screens. It eliminates the eraser and wipes the slate clean with no consequence. And ink on paper is better than pencil lead. Imagine a fancy invitation scribbled in pencil. Pencils, like flip phones, are relics of another era. Its devolution is rendered thusly: “Let’s pencil in the appointment instead of ‘ink it in.’”
Blank pages have other possibilities. Suppose someone has trashed you with some malicious gossip ~ why, you can write you several scathing replies, take out your anger and frustrations on paper and then trash them in the nearest shredder. There, don’t you feel better?
Blank bank deposit tickets provide wonderful possibilities. Sometimes when I’m bored I take a blank one and write insanely huge amounts on it. Pretending to be wealthy is better than caffeine. I envision myself presenting it to a bank teller, especially one showing a deposit of $10 billion dollars to my account. Imagine their shock. Sadly, this dream has yet to materialize.
That brings up another subject. Bank accounts. They can begin small with very little written on the deposit ticket, like $10.00. Yet, a bank account has the capacity to enlarge itself to infinity. It can’t be filled to capacity.
All of which may lead one to the ultimate use of paper ~ to print cash currency. This paper is highly decorative and has the effect of creating more emotional fervor than all the paper in the world. Yet, the irony is that while it starts out as a blank page, its value is based on nothing but a fiat faith ~ a huge blank page.
Many of us may be writing more checks than deposit tickets these days. But may I suggest a superior endeavor? Grab your blank page of faith and write something on it. Perhaps it is nothing more than a short note to a friend, a card to a child or a check to a charity. Your words will make your paper very happy, as well as the recipient.
A blank sheet of paper is a terrible thing to waste.
Bud Hearn
June 12, 2015
I think Nancy Kirkpatrick’s post yesterday about Anne Frank inspired me to begin a search for music that has meant something special to me. Schindler’s List is one of the most poignant movies I have ever watched. It was both heartbreaking as well as uplifting. I found the main theme on Youtube and have decided to share it with you today. People faced such fear and hardship at that point in our world’s history, not unlike today. We have to remember that there is always hope and always a light at the end of the tunnel. This music is gentle and beautifully written by John Williams. Like all of his compositions it draws pictures in our minds that may relate to the movie or they may trigger memories of our own. I hope you’ll enjoy listening this morning and receive the warm sensitivity I have found in each note as it leads to the other. As human beings we all find ourselves challenged at times. Be it the loss of a loved one, the end of a way of life, sorrow over past, present or future. Whatever the case we are united in our desire to thrive and survive. You might take note of the simple sentence you’ll find on the video…”whoever saves one life saves the world entire”. And so it is…….a peaceful, simple Sunday is my wish for you all!
As I wrote this post, it came to my attention that yesterday, June 12, was the birthday of Anne Frank, the young author of “The Diary of Anne Frank”. This would have been her 86th birthday. My own mother is 87. What a realization that the Europe we know today, visit, tour on our vacations and travel destinations, was in horrific turmoil not that long ago. So today, I give you some beauty. Because that’s what Anne Frank would have done. Even in the midst of that horror, she believed there was beauty.
The following are quotes from Anne’s diary. Anne wrote her diary from June 12, 1942 to August 1, 1944.
“I’ve found that there is always some beauty left – in nature, sunshine, freedom, in yourself: these can all help you.”
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.”
“Everyone has inside him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential can be!”
And finally: “What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again.”
Nancy Kirkpatrick
www.nancykirkpatrickphotography.com
Nikki Dinki with Bobby Deen
So many doors have opened for me as I have written The Permanent Tourist over the past two years! But I have to say that one of the most exciting opportunities is being contacted by the publicist of a budding new star on the Food Network’s Cooking Channel to write about her, the new show she co-hosts with Bobby Deen and the time she spent filming here on St. Simons Island last February. I got to speak with Nikki Dinki about her career and her flair for incorporating vegetables in unexpected ways so that anyone can love them! It’s all about thinking outside of the box, enhancing vegetables with sauces and butter, yes butter, in ways you may never have considered. The show made its premiere appearance on the Food Network June 2nd and offers a blind taste test of foods we might consider junk food and how Nikki and Bobbi create a healthier version. You’ll find participants, blind taste testers, choosing the healthier version, much to their surprise, when they learn which dish is which! So without further ado, here is a delicious recipe Nikki kindly sent for me to share with my readers! It’s easy and perfect for weekend entertaining, especially since it features shrimp and we all know how tasty our sweet Georgia shrimp is!
Brown Butter + Lemon Rigatoni with Cauliflower Breadcrumbs
Serves 4
½ head cauliflower, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ cup loosely packed parsley
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 ½ ounces parmesan cheese, shredded
1 pound rigatoni
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup heavy cream
2 lemons zested + the juice of 1 lemon
1 pound large shrimp, peeled + deveined
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat for cooking the pasta and preheat the oven to
400°F. While they are heating, pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until finely chopped.
Spread the cauliflower on a baking sheet, toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil and ½ teaspoon
of the salt and bake until brown – about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
2. Turn the oven heat up to 450°F. Add the parsley, parmesan and panko to the bowl of the
food processor. Toss in the browned cauliflower and pulse until everything is finely ground.
Transfer the mixture back onto the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes more, stirring
every 2 minutes until breadcrumbs are crispy and brown. Set aside while preparing the pasta.
3. Cook the pasta in the now boiling water until al dente according to the package directions.
Once it is finished cooking, drain the pasta and return to the pot. While the pasta is cooking,
make the brown butter lemon sauce.
4. In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat and cook it until browned – about 5
minutes. Turn heat off and let the butter cool for 5 minutes; then add the cream, lemon juice
and zest, parsley and 1 teaspoon of the salt and stir until combined. Add the sauce to the
pasta and toss together until well combined; leave over low heat while you make prepare the
shrimp.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Toss the
shrimp with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and the black pepper in a medium bowl; then
add to the skillet and sauté until pink and slightly charred, turning once – about 4 minutes
total.
6. Serve immediately, dividing the pasta among 4 dinner plates and topping each portion with
one-quarter of the shrimp and scatter the cauliflower breadcrumbs evenly over the tops.
Look for Nikki’s cookbook in 2016. Published by St. Martin’s Press, this book will guide you on your way to creative cooking! I cannot wait to get a copy! One more to add to my ever growing cookbook collection! Get to know Nikki better here: www.nikkidinkicooking.com, you’ll find more yummy ideas and recipes!
AND, before I end! When Nikki and Bobby were here on St. Simons Island they filmed a segment with one of all of our favorite local restaurants, Southern Soul BBQ. If you’re a fan of the restaurant I know you’ve tried the Drunken Cubano sandwich made so famous there. The show airs this coming Tuesday, June 16th at 9:00 pm on the Food Network’s Cooking Channel. You’ll get to see how Nikki and Bobby added a healthy touch to this classic favorite and see how participants responded! Talking with Nikki was delightful and I know you’ll enjoy the show when you tune in! Another fabulous offering from Food Network’s Cooking Channel to program into my smart tv for regular taping! For more on Junk Food Flip go here: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/shows/junk-food-flip/bobby-deen-nikki-dinki-junk-food-flip-face-off.html
I’ve written about my friend, Holly McClure, a very talented author and storyteller over the past couple of years on this blog. Holly is sharing a post today in which she writes about the process of doing research for a book. In this case, “Conjuror”, a soon to be released novel, published my Mercer Press. I think you’ll enjoy Holly’s writing and I can tell you, having read the story, you’ll want to read it too! You might also put her book “The Vessel Of Scion” on your summer reading list. It’s a thriller ala Dan Brown and available on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Vessel-Scion-Holly-McClure/dp/0992657474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433953446&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Vessel+Of+Scion
Skidder
