NEW BLOG...... NEW BLOG.... NEW BLOG........

I have created a new blog to post some of my favorite pictures. I tend to take too many pictures, which isn't a bad thing. I wanted to be able to look at them without going through the stories of this or my other blogs.
Here's the link... http://mamazukesphotos.blogspot.com/

We just came back from an unexpected, unplanned trip to see Brooke in FL. We drove PJ's car down there to give to her and we were flying back. We left at 2:30 AM and arrived at our hotel in SC at 3:30! Out of all of that time, I only drove 2 hours! Poor PJ. He was one happy camper though, when we found a great Mexican restaurant near the hotel. We wanted a place to sit outside and relax and this fit the bill. Besides the food being cheap, the food was delicious and way too much!

We got the Chili Poblamo's to share... they were $4.99 and could have been THE MEAL. Then we got the "A Little Bit of Everything" so we could try different items. That included Chili Rellano's, Mexican Salad, Enchiladas, rice, beans and some Portabello Mushroom Au gratin thing and a taco. That was $7.99. A pitcher of DosXXX was $4.99. I wish they had a place like this on L.I. but then again, we'd be there way too often!
It was the Flower & Garden Show at Epcot. We had a lot of fun and got to go there for 2 days.

We ate at our FAVORITE restaurant in Epcot... Germany... The Biergarten





PJ making paper
Brooke making paper
Sitting in the yellow pansy's

Our favorite part of the trip, besides seeing Brooke, was seeing 2 concerts at Epcot of the Herman's Hermits. We had a BLAST to say the least. Peter Noone is such a funny guy.
Caterpillar in the Butterfly tent

The second night with the H.H's
The people in front of us were so funny. They belong to the Herman's hermits fan club and travel to see them. They held up babies and heart pillows when the words "Baby Baby can't you feel my heart beat" would be sung and the letters of HENRY for Henry the 8th and even one that said SAM with an X through it! They were just so funny! Here's a video of the same people from last year's concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuyhYKwtxt8




My pics somehow got out of order. This is also from the second night. Peter Noone brought up this 3 year old boy from the audience. His name is William and has been going to the Herman's hermit concerts since birth. This boy danced WITH THE BEAT for 2 songs and just loved being up on the stage. He wasn't scared and just boogied to the songs. I wish I got his autograph! Here's a video of William: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YncGX5bRgo

Brooke's cat (FATSO) and Sammy the dog wait for her to get out of the shower. I took the pic because she'll never see what they do when she's in there. The cat was next to Sammy until I went to take the picture. Then she moved.
On our last day, we had to wait for Brooke to get us to take us to the airport. She had to leave during lunch which was perfect. PJ and I took the Resort boats, going from resort to resort, walking around and checking out the beaches. This was at Ft Wilderness.
On the resort boat. I hate looking at my hair! I dyed it a week before we left. I don't have any gray showing except in pictures! I just don't get it!!!


While waiting at Typhoon Lagoon, I took pics of the flowers and waterfall.



We had a great time. We landed to find that the airline lost one of my bags. It ended up on the next plane and will be delivered this morning.

We colored our Easter Eggs on Saturday. This was Dave's first experience with coloring eggs. He really got into it!
I was more interested in trying out something I found on the internet... coloring eggs using silk ties! (I will put the directions for this on my cooking blog... www.mamazukecooks@blogspot.com I went to the local thrift store where I bought 10 ties for $1 each.


My little egg pouches cooling off.
For a first try, they didn't come out too bad. Too bad the yellow one (LandsEnd tie) cracked. It would have been the best one. The upper right red white and blue was a J.Garcia tie. That was my favorite.
On Easter, Alyssa made Dave his first Easter basket. She hid it behind the curtain.
We took a walk on the boardwalk before dinner. It was such a beautiful day. I couldn't believe how far the water was up.
Looking down at the water and sand that is right up top the boardwalk.
PJ had Alyssa and Dave pose in front of the garbage pail to say "now stop talking TRASH". Stan then said "you certainly have a lot of garbage to talk about"! Those Zukowski boys... what a sense of humor they have!

We had a nice very relaxing Easter. It was great for Stan especially since he rarely gets a home cooked meal. It's also been about 40 YEARS since he was at Jones Beach so it was an experience for him!

My friend Craig took this picture from his garden up in Ithaca. I love this time of year when the plants start emerging from the ground. It's like a rebirth of life.

SCORE!!!!
I have a compulsion to buy picnic baskets at garage sales. I have a few including one that I bought PJ when we were dating in 1977! I just find them to be so fun yet romantic. I keep my sewing supplies in one.
WELL, I really scored a great deal yesterday. I got a picnic basket by Picnic Time for $12 at a garage sale. It came complete with all of the accessories! This one really puts the other's to shame. I think I may be getting rid of a couple. We have designated this one as our get-away basket.

I FINALLY mailed out the quilt that I made for "Quilts For Kids". It was my first quilt and I'm pretty proud of it! There were some minor problems along the way but a child will never know! Just knowing that it will be given to a sick child makes it so worth while!

This is a little crazy but there's a live web cam that is attracting people from all over the world to watch a Barn Owl Family being born (8 eggs), hatching, feeding etc. A few minutes ago there were 14,000 people viewing it at that moment! You have to check it every once in a while and you'll see something different each time. You can hear the chirping sometimes also.
http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html

It actually gets addicting!

We went to the rally being held at Belmont yesterday. It was to show support for the VLT's to go into Aquaduct and to let Albany know that 9 years after the bill was passed allowing them to get the VLT's is too long of a wait. I learned some things going to this rally. The state is running out of money which we hear every day. If they had the VLT's, as does NJ tracks and Yonker's racetrack, they could be making 1 MILLION DOLLARS A DAY for the state. That's the average of what the other tracks make per day with the VLT's. Also, having the VLT's would provide a TON of jobs for people in the area! I don't get what they don't get!

Ed Mangano and other politicians lined up for pictures to show their support.













Yesterday was Alyssa's 24th birthday. We went to Smokin' Als for dinner. We've always wanted to go there so I was glad that Alyssa chose it. Dave already chose it to be where he wants to go on HIS birthday in September!
Alyssa ordered the BBQ SPUD. I couldn't believe how HUGE that potato was and how LOADED it was!!!
What you see in this picture was actually the END of the meal! We started with appetizers of Fried Pickles... DELICIOUS and a Nacho Platter with Brisket on top. That platter was the best Nacho Platter I've ever had! All of us got almost our entire meals wrapped up to take home! We were stuffed after the appetizers!

This week has been a fun week. Not having power on Monday, Kris asked me if I wanted to waste some time at hicks Bursery at a cooking Demo. SURE! I was excited because I love to cook but I can do something in the light! We enjoyed the demo so much! It was southern cooking (Fried Green Tomatoes and Smoked Pork Shoulder) with chef Leisa Dent of LL Dent in Carle Place. I had such a fun thime that I went to Tuesday (Ivy Cottage- Onion and leek Tart)), Thursday (Fresh Herbs- A La Carte Cooking School in Lynbrook) and today's Demos! Today was Paul from the New York Ravioli Company. He has a very interesting 'story' of how him and his business partner have been friends since 9th grade etc. It was one of those feel good stories!
He made a delicious Pasta Salad for us. I can't wait until next year when they have these demos again!

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day. It's really only about 60 degrees give or take a few degrees but my back years is really feeling the heat! It's secluded on all 4 sides and has always been much warmer than everywhere else. This thermometer is on the side of my shed, under a fir tree in the SHADE! I sat outside while I chatted with Chris on the phone. It felt so good to be in the sun!!!






Last night I made Boxty. There's an old Irish verse something like
Boxty on the griddle, Boxty in the pan, a girl that can't make Boxty, can't get a man! I just had to try it. Everyone liked it but honestly, it was like glorified potato pancakes!