Vacay Report Four

I'm wrapping up my vacation reports here with two different eating establishments. It's hard to relive last week because it's just makes me want to be back in the Sunshine State!

The Broken Egg is a popular breakfast destination in Siesta Key. My favorite breakfast treat here is Uncle Jerry's Pancake - a huge pancake with blueberries, banana slices and wheat germ. I eat mine up with tons of butter and it's such a sweet and satisfying breakfast - one I keep telling myself I need to attempt to recreate at home. The other popular breakfast is The Sampler: eggs, hashbrowns and bacon served on a huge pancake!

The Broken Egg is a favorite of sports announcer Dick Vitale and you'll often hear him speak of the Broken Egg or be seen at the restaurant enjoying a meal and sometimes penning away his autograph to fans (his books are sold at the restaurant). While I have eaten at the Broken Egg maybe four times in my life, I've yet to meet him there.

The Sampler

Uncle Jerry's Pancake

Turtle Beach Pub is a laid back little place serving up lots of favorite local fare. Here I was introduced to a catfish-like fish called swai (pronounced sch-wa-hee). It's a white, mild fish that flaked right apart. It was excellent simply grilled with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Since I had gone to Turtle Beach right after the Daiquiri Deck, I was craving some extra carbs and decided to have my swai in sandwich form.

Swai

Vacay Report Three

During an adventure away from Siesta Key, we traveled to Longboat Key for dinner at The Dry Dock Waterfront Grill. The restaurant is right by a huge dry dock (a warehouse-like storage facility for boats), on the bay. We were there just as the sun was setting so the view was beautiful!

I tried the grilled Florida grouper, freshly caught from the gulf. It's a very meaty, sturdy fish which is ideal for grilling. It's not super easy to find here in PA, but the next time I see it, I want to get some, throw the filets in a good marinade and grill them up with veggies.

The grouper bruschetta also looked like a very tasty dish - one that I want to attempt to recreate with some fresh summer tomatoes. Grouper filets, grilled, served over rice, and topped with a generous portion of bruschetta, drizzled with a balsamic reduction... yum!

The believe the key to these very basic dishes is the fresh fish. I'm a huge fan of all fish but I'm not lucky enough to live somewhere where I have access to the freshest of the fresh so I have to savor the meals I have when I'm near the water. Then again, if I had access to as much seafood as I wanted, it wouldn't be a special treat. Not many ingredients to these dishes because they're not needed!

We sat inside, on the second level

Grouper Bruschetta

Grilled Grouper

Vacay Report One

In case you were all concerned about me down here in paradise, I am having a blast! Relaxing on the beach, by the pool, taking long naps, sipping margaritas, going shopping... all and all not too bad. We've been ordering in and making some meals at the condo so I don't have a blog-worthy dinner venue to tell you about quite yet. We had a great breakfast after a long beach walk at a cute restaurant (name is escaping me at the time) where I indulged in banana fosters pancakes and cheese blintze with blueberries!

Since watching Julie & Julia, I've been on a Julia Child kick. I have purchased Child's memoir, My Like in France and began reading it on the beach. As you can see, and this has been a pattern on the trip no matter what I'm reading, I fall fast asleep after just a few pages! This sunbathing is tough work! I'll have a full report on the book hopefully sooner than later.


At about 4:00 today we're headed out to the Daiquiri Deck where lots of deliciously alcoholic slushy drinks will be consumed. I'll report back with my favorite drinks and photos!