You are invited to join The Book Club Cookbook Cooking Crew in May (#thebookclubcookbookcc)

I am stepping in this month to host another round of The Book Club Cookbook CC to help out Danielle of Mostly Food and Crafts who was the scheduled host.  Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.  It happens to us all so when it does we step in and help each other out.

For those of you who are wondering what the heck I am talking about, let me explain.  Our friend, Cam of Culinary Adventures of Camilla invited 11 of us to join her on a year long journey working our way through the Book Club Cook Book by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp.  We each chose one of the books that had been used in developing this cookbook and a month that we would like to host.  Each month, the publisher, provides one of our lucky readers with their own copy of the cookbook.  You will find the raffle below.

We could choose to read the book or just read the section of the cookbook dedicated to the book.  We could make the recipe showcased in the cookbook, a recipe inspired by the words of other book clubs who had read the book and been interviewed or we could read the month's selection and make any recipe that it inspired within us.

When I hosted last October we read "The Three Junes" and had some wonderfully inspired recipes as a result.  You can see all the recipes made in my roundup post.  May's selection chosen by Danielle is 

"Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

If you would like to join us this month, we would love to have you.  It is a simple procedure.  

1. Draw inspiration from the chosen recipe. (found below)
2. Blog about it! It doesn't have to be a lengthy post. Just share your dish.
3. Include a link back to the hosting blog (that's me or Danielle) somewhere in your post. Grab the logo and use it if you'd like.
4. Your post must be current (during month). And, of course,we don't mind if your post is linked to other events. The more, the merrier.
5. Email your entries to me at: wendyklik1517@gmail.com and include:

• Your name 
• Your blog's name and URL
• The name of your dish and the permalink to the specific post you'resubmitting
• Attach a photo of any size (or just give me permission to"pull" one from your post)
• Indicate #thebookclubcookbookCC in the subject line 
• Deadline forsubmission is: May 29th so that I can post the roundup on the last day of the month.

The Cook Book offers two separate recipe selections for this novel that takes place in the Caribbean. The first is for Mojitos and the second is for a Mango, Jicama and Corn Salad.  I have chosen the Mojito recipe for this month's inspiration.

I had just shared a recipe for Mojitos a couple of weeks ago.

I was preparing for our trip to the Caribbean.

I didn't know, at that time, that I would be stepping in for Danielle.

Here is the recipe shared in the Book Club Cookbook.

Mojito
source: The Book Club Cookbook

10-12 large fresh mint leaves, plus 1 sprig for garnish
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons) – reserve half of the squeezed lime
2 ½ tablespoons Simple Syrup
2 ½ ounces light (golden) rum Club soda

In 12-ounce high glass, lightly mash the mint and lime juice together to extract the mint oils. Add the squeezed lime half, top with syrup, and mix well. Fill the ice and add rum. Mix again. Top with a little club soda and garnish with a mint spring.

I hope you decide to join us this month but if that is not a possibility please make sure you at least enter into the giveaway for this fun cookbook.  It begins tomorrow and goes through the month of May.

Giveaway

This month Danielle at Mostly Food and Crafts along with Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm, this month's co-host, are giving away a copy of the cookbook.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

One of our lucky readers - US and Canada only! - can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from May 1st till May 31st at 6 o'clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: Danielle and Wendy received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp as an opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.

The Prettiest One: An Audible Book Review

This is the 3rd audio book we have listened to by James Hankins and we enjoyed it as much as the first two, Shady Cross and Brothers and Bones.  I think I liked the characters in this novel the best of the three.  I am thrilled that Frank also enjoys these stories because, now that he is retired, we are normally together in the car and that is where I do most of my listening.  The downside of his liking the books is that I can't listen to them during solitary time while in the car or on the treadmill.

The Prettiest One:  Kaitlyn isn't sure where she is, how she got there or in whose car she is but she does know that her husband, Josh, is going to be very worried about her.  She can't seem to find her phone to call him so she just heads home.

Imagine Josh's surprise when he opens the door and finds his wife who disappeared without a trace seven months earlier.  The police and media suspected that she were dead and that the death were at the hands of her husband.  It had been a hard 7 months but he was just happy to have Kaitlyn home again.  

Kaitlyn is dumbfounded when given the news she has been missing, having no recollection of the last seven months prior to finding herself in the car she used to drive home.  Kaitlyn is carrying a bag that contains fake human hands and a gun.  She is also covered in blood.  After a night of rest, she and Josh, decide to return the car to it's owner having found a registration in the glovebox.

Bix has been worried sick when he opens his door to some guy asking for his fiancee, Katie.  He is trying to figure out who this guy is that is looking for his girl who never returned home last night when suddenly his face lights up with relief as Kaitlyn walks from the car. "Katie" Bix says "Thank God, you're home".

This starts the mystery thriller of the Prettiest One.  Who is Kaitlyn/Katie?  What has she been doing for the last 7 months?  Why did she find herself with a gun and blood soaked clothing?  Who is this Bix, who obviously loves her and from all photographic and physical evidence in his apartment, had spent 7 very happy months with Kaitlyn/Katie or whoever she is........

I am giving this book a 5 star rating.  If you like thrillers in the genre of Tom Clancy, I think you will like the writings of James Hankins as well.

The upcoming week and the weekly menu

Good morning all.  It is a good morning albeit an annoying one.  Yesterday we went and bought a new desk top computer for the house.  We decided to go with a Mac.  We have apple phones and Frank has an Ipad so he wanted to check them out.  They were on sale, bringing them more into line with the other computers that they had so we ended up buying it.

Frank brought it home, hooked it up and......it's broke.....the screen display is all jiggly and it appears as if the pixels are bleeding.  Hey, these are very technical terms here!  Any hoooo....last night he got on line with tech support, who went into our computer remotely and the screen they saw was perfect. Frank is packing it up now and we will be taking a trip back to the store.  The tech guy said they will just give us a new one.  A minor annoyance and an excuse to get in the car for a half hour and finish our audio book...we didn't want to leave the car last night after choir LOL.

Tomorrow, weather permitting we are taking down the old pool in preparation for installation of the new pool we bought during the winter at a tremendous price.

Sunday we will be singing in the morning.  In the evening we are going out to dinner and downtown to the Fox Theater to see the cast of ABC's Nashville perform.  Do you watch Nashville?  We love that show and we are looking forward to seeing them live.  This is our Anniversary celebration as Monday marks our 24th year of marriage.  What a wonderful 24 years it has been.

We are also celebrating a blogging event this week.  #BrunchWeek 2016 starts on Monday and goes all week long.  There will be great brunch recipes and even better raffles for our readers.  I am a little jealous that I cannot enter these raffles.  There are some specatcular gifts being given away.

Tuesday night we are attending Danielle's Spring concert.  Wednesday we are celebrating Frank's Birthday.  Thursday is choir practice. Keeping our fingers crossed that our days will have nice weather so that we can get the yard ready and have Frank's birthday celebration on the deck as we are grilling burgers.

Here is the weekly menu.  Don't forget to stop by for the #Brunchweek event starting tomorrow.

Saturday

Three Meat Stew

Oatmeal Dinner Rolls

Sunday

Out to dinner and show for our anniversary

Mexican Monday

Chicken Enchiladas

Tuesday

Teriyaki Chicken

Steamed Rice

Stir Fry Veggies

Wednesday-Frank's Birthday Bash

Hamburgers/Hot Dogs/Chicken Breasts 

Condiment Tray

Baked Beans

Seven Layer Salad

Potato Salad by Rebecca

Birthday Cake

Thursday

Leftovers

Fish Friday

Breaded Cod

Rice Pilaf

Steamed Broccoli

Dandelion Pickles for Food n Flix

Heather, of  All Roads Lead to the Kitchen, is the founder of a cool group to which I belong called Food n Flix.    Heather is also hosting this month and chose the movie Tampopo, a Japanese Spaghetti Noodle Western, as the flix portion this month.  Heather explained in her invitation post why she chose this movie from 1985 and also extends invitations to any who would like to join the club.  It is a great club and we love to have new members.

I was on vacation for much of this month.  When I got home from the first vacation I went to the library looking for this movie and found that they did not have it available.  Then I went onto amazon and netflix neither of which had the movie for streaming but Amazon did have the movie for sale.  I ordered it up but not early enough to get it before my next vacation.  I got home in the wee morning hours of Sunday, April 24th, which is my daughter's birthday.  I grabbed some sleep and then prepared to have company over for her birthday dinner.  Yesterday was catch up day.  Laundry, yard work, shopping, etc.  Finally, today (1 day before the deadline) I sat down to watch the movie.

There is no shortage of food in the movie, that's for sure.  It is in Japanese with English subtitles.  It is a spoofy movie which are not my favorite in English and I think that Japanese spoofiness is completely over my head.  It's not that I don't "get" it....I catch most of the jokes and innuendos, in English and this Japanese version, it's just that I don't "get" it.  I don't think it is funny....I don't like the 3 Stooges, I wasn't crazy about Airplane or movies of that sort...It is just not my type of humor, I guess.  Except for Young Frankenstein....I love Young Frankenstein.  Weird, I know.

Anyway the movie would be okay if you liked this type of movie, I guess, but I stopped watching about halfway through until Little Miss awoke from her nap.  I turned it off and had no real compulsion to go back and finish it.

That's okay though because even in the short time I watched it I had a very long list of food:

• Noodle bowl with 3 slices of Pork
• Shinachiku (bamboo shoot)
• Several Noodle Restaurants
• Rice in Nori
• Japanese Pickles
• Seafood Restaurant
• Sole Meuniere
• Consomme
• Quenelle
• Escargot
• Spaghetti Alle Vongole
• Lobster
• Prawns
• Egg
• Whipped Cream
• Pork and Wonton Dumplings
• Boeuf Bourguignon
• Rice Omelet
• Oysters
• Dumpling
• Steamed Buns
• Ice Cream
• Pig Head
• Chicken with feet included
• Snapping Turtle

And I am sure that there was plenty I didn't get written down because it is hard to write and read subtitles at the same time.  And that was only half of the movie!!

I knew right at the beginning what I wanted to make.  When the two cowboys come into Tampopo's Noodle Restaurant, they are not impressed with her Noodle Bowl but they are very impressed with her pickles.  Being as I was short on time, had the baby and didn't want to take her to the grocery store....pickles it was going to be.

Tampopo means Dandelion....hence the name of my pickle. There is no dandelion in them at all.  I found a recipe for Fast Japanese Pickles from The Splendid Table.  I adapted it to make one pint of pickles and used the vegetables I had in my refrigerator, baby carrots and red pepper.  

Dandelion Pickles

adapted from The Splendid Table

3/4 c. rice vinegar

pinch of kosher salt

scant 2 T. sugar

1/4 t. chili paste

1/4 t. grated lemon zest

asst. vegetables of choice to fit into pint jar  (I used baby carrots and red pepper cut into chunks)

Combine vinegar, salt, sugar, chili paste and zest in a small bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pack vegetables into a pint jar.  Cover with the vinegar mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.  Can be kept in refrigerator for up to two weeks.  Print Recipe

Ooey Gooey Quadruple Fudge Brownies for Secret Recipe Club

Happy Reveal day to all my blogger friends.  I love SRC reveal day but that is not what makes today so special.  Today is also my son, Chuck's, birthday.  He is the big 40 this year and I so wish I could spend the day with him celebrating one of the best days of my life, the day God blessed me with one of the most wonderful guys I know.

Happy Birthday Chazzy. wish we were toasting you today.

I also have some Secret Recipe Club news to share with you today.  SRC will now only consist of 3 groups instead of 4.  I have been moved to Group B and will be posting on the 2nd Monday of each month starting in May.  I am going to miss working with Sarah but am looking forward to being in Cam's group.  For those of you who may be new to my blog and unfamiliar with Secret Recipe Club, you can learn all about it at this site.

So, for this last post in group D, I was assigned to Lynsey's blog aptly named, Lynsey Lou's.  Lynsey has been food blogging since 2008.  She shares the lessons that she learned from her Mom, Meemaw and Grandma.  You can only imagine how many recipes she has to share after so many years.

We were invited to our daughter's house for dinner and I told her I would bring dessert so I knew, at least category wise, I was looking for when I went to Lynsey's recipe page.  My daughter, Amy, loves brownies so I decided to see what Lynsey had available in brownie recipes.  Well....when you type in brownies in Lynsey's search button you get back 235 results.  No, that is not a typo.....seriously 235 results under a search for brownies!!

Fudgy Bacon Toffee, Better than Bakery, Fudgy Peanut Butter Marshmallow, Quadruple Fudge , S'more, Cream Cheese Swirl, Brownie Pie, Brownie Waffles.....the list goes on and on.....

I went with Quadruple Fudge because Quadruple Fudge!!  And Lynsey describes them as oeey gooey. I cannot resist ooey gooey.  Plus I had several half bags of assorted chocolates so it provided me a cupboard cleanout day.  I made a slight adaptation.  I used white chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks because that was what I had on hand.  Other than that I followed Lynsey's directions and was very pleased with the results.

Talk about Ooey Gooey.

This was almost like eating a lava cake but better!!

Amy had seen that I was bringing brownies and bought some ice cream and hot fudge to go on top of them.  It was a mouthful of Heaven!!

Ooey Gooey Quadruple Fudge Brownies

very slightly adapted from Lynsey Lou's

3 oz. semi sweet chocolate

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate

1 stick butter, cut into pats

3 1/2 T. cocoa powder

3 eggs

1 1/4 c. sugar

2 t. vanilla

pinch of salt

3/4 c. + 3 1/2 T. flour

3/4 c. white chocolate chips

Treat an 8" square pan with baking spray.  Melt the semi sweet and bittersweet chocolate along with the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring often to prevent scorching.  Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, whisk in the cocoa powder to combine. Set aside to cool slightly. 

Place eggs, vanilla, sugar and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.  While continuously stirring, pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.  Add the flour and stir just until incorporated.  Fold in the white chocolate.  Turn into the prepared baking pan and bake in a preheated 350* oven for 35-45 minutes.  Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Print Recipe

Here are the remainder of the final Group D posts.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins #MuffinMonday

I love the last Monday of every month.  You know why?  Because it is Muffin Monday.  It is the day we get together and share our muffin recipes with each other and with our readers.  I, for one, love muffins and I am fascinated at all the great recipes the other members of this group share.

Muffin Monday is the brainchild of my friend Stacy of Food Lust People Love.  I think she has been celebrating Muffin Monday since she started blogging and was kind enough to invite some of us to join her.  There are no themes, no assignments, no commitments.  When we have time we make some muffins, blog about it and share links to the other's posts.  A perfect blogging club!

This month I am sharing a muffin that I made to go along with my daughter's birthday dinner.  We had BBQ Ribs, Rice Mingle Salad, a Ramen Salad and these delicious Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins.  They were the perfect accompaniment to the dinner and I am proud to share them with you. 

Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins

slightly adapted from: Epicurious.com

1 c. flour

1 c. cornmeal

1/4 c. sugar

2 t. baking powder

1 1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

3 grinds fresh black pepper

1 c. sour cream

2 eggs

1/4 c butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 c. frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained

4 green onions, white and light green parts, sliced

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl.  Whisk together the sour cream, eggs and butter in a small bowl.  Add to dry ingredients mixing just until combined.  Fold in the corn and onions.  Place into a 12 cup muffin pan that has been fitted with muffin papers.  Bake in a preheated 425* oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted removes cleanly.  Print Recipe

 Don't forget to stop by and see the muffins the others are sharing this month! 

• Apple Carrot Muffins from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Blueberry Cornmeal Sourdough Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Molasses Muffins from Passion Kneaded  
• Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles
• Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy and Sweet Hummus Muffins from Kelli’s Kitchen
• Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Home is where the heart is and the Weekly Menu

I love, love, love vacations and you know what I love even more?  Coming home.  It is so wonderful to walk into your home where the dogs are waiting impatiently at the door to get the week of loving that they think you owe to them.

Now, I know my friend, Karen, and I know that my dogs got more attention than they would have had we been home but that doesn't change anything in their minds.....they need a weeks worth of ear and belly rubs and they need it now!!

Speaking of Karen.  I hope that all of you are blessed with a friend whom you can count on any time you beckon.  She leaves her home and stays in ours. Takes excellent care of the animals.  Leaves the house cleaner than she found it and allows us to relax and enjoy our time away with no worries in the world.  I know I have told you all before how amazing Kirsten is, well Karen is another amazing gift brought to us by Kirsten.  We are so fortunate!

I know I still owe you the post about kayaking the mangroves and it is going to be up sometime this week.  I have a lot that I need to say about it but for now I need to get ready for my our week.  It seems so strange to have to think of my days as ours now that Frank is home full time.  Nice but strange.  Now my days include those things that he needs to get done as well.  The trade off is that he is here to help me with my stuff.  Life is good.

Today is Ting's birthday.  Tomorrow is Chuck's birthday.  Frank's birthday is next monty. My sister's birthday is the 16th of May. I am surrounded by bulls!!  Do you place any stock in horoscopes?  I don't put much stock in daily horoscopes but I do like comparing personalities of people born under the same sign to see if there are similarities.  I see a lot of similar qualities in all my Tauruses but I think I also find similarities between people born in the same era also so I think it is all for fun.

We are going to throw some ribs on the grill for Ting's birthday dinner.  Amy is bringing the cake.  I sent out Chuck's package before we left and he received it already.  The week is pretty quiet.  I have Food Pantry on this Wednesday because my friend, Mary Agnes, switched weeks with me while I was on vacation.  Other than that we just have a list of to do's to do LOL.

So I am sharing our weekly menu.  Come back each day when I will be sharing photos, recipes and the kayaking adventure.

Sunday
Ribs
Crunchy Ramen Salad
Rice Mingle Salad
Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins

Meatless Monday
Onion and Apple Frittata
Cafe con Leche Crumpets

Tuesday
Fried Chicken with a Kick
Ranch Potato Salad
Baked Beans
Biscuits

Wednesday
Leftovers

Thursday
Kielbasa Welsh Rarebit
Tomato Bisque

Fish Friday
Crab Souffle
Spring Greens Salad

Our last full day on Bonaire

It is hard to believe that a whole week has passed.  It has been a lovely vacation.  It isn't over yet.  We still have until Noon before we leave for the airport. I thought I would take this time, while waiting for Frank to shower, to share yesterday's adventures.

We were up bright and early for kayaking.  Unfortunately, I can't share those photos yet because the computer is saying they can't find the files on the GoPro so Frank has to work on that when we get home.

I will tell you that we had a very peaceful, enjoyable paddle and snorkel through the mangroves.  Our guide was very competent and knowledgeable.  I am going to share more information about that trip when I post the photos.

We walked down to the next resort for lunch and made some friends along the way.

The donkeys just roam around the island.

These guys were walking along and I asked them to stop and pose for us and they did!

Then these little guys flew up and posed for us too.

I guess they didn't want to be left out.

Kayaking wore me out evidently because I took a two hour nap when I got back to the room.  We awoke and went out to the pool to visit with the others for a bit and to decide on where we were going for dinner.  A group of 10 of us decided to go into town to an Italian restaurant that has gotten rave reviews and, as we found out, with good reason.

Waiting on the others to leave for dinner.

All meeting up at the pool.

Dinner was wonderful and the company even better.

Dinner on the Island is a few hour event.  Our reservations were at 7 and dinner was completed and we were on our way back to the resort around 10:30.  It was a great final full day.

Our final day of diving brought us not one but two gorgeous seahorse.

We left the dock bright and early this morning because we were on the hunt for the ever elusive sea horse.  We have been lucky enough to see and get photos of seahorse several times during our dive career but many of our group have never before seen any while diving.  Our divemaster, Karin, had told us that the site to which we were going was home to 3 seahorse.  We only saw 2 but it was very exciting none the less.

The rest of the first dive and the second dive is on video for you. The seahorse are in the video as well but I wanted to share stills of the seahorse with you.

We walked down the street for lunch at Between 2 Buns, absolutely amazing sandwiches.  Came back and relaxed by the pool with the gang until it was time to get ready for dinner.  We all split up but a dozen of us went to Eddy's where the food was excellent and the entertainment entertaining.  It was a great day.  

Tomorrow we are kayaking the mangroves in the morning so stay tuned......

Campbell's Tomato Soup Cake #BundtBakers

Our theme for today's Bundt Bakers is Retro Flavors!!  How much fun is that?!  Thank you Felice for coming up with such a great idea.  No surprise though because Felice is one smart cookie....you can get to know her a little better by going to All That's Left Are the Crumbs.

The funny thing about retro is that it is different for all of us.  For my kids, retro is food popular in the 70's.  For their kids it is food popular in the 90's.  For me and my generation...we go back to the 50's. The good old days....women are liberated from the kitchen with the advent of frozen dinners, packaged meals and canned soups.  Our parents used Campbell's canned soups for everything, from the can with sandwiches, in casseroles, as gravies and sauces and even in desserts.

So, for today's Bundt Bakers retro party I am sharing with you a delicious spice cake made with Campbell's Tomato Soup!  I would have shared a retro Mayonnaise Cake but I used that recipe for a Sunday Supper post not too long ago.  This cake comes to you from the same cookbook, Back of the Box Gourmet.  Enjoy!

I decided to add some Springtime Sprinkles to celebrate the season.

This cake is a perfect mixture of spice and tanginess.

The orange glaze adds some depth and flavor.

Classic Tomato Soup Cake
slightly adapted from Back of the Box Gourmet

2 c. flour
1 1/3 c. sugar
4 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. allspice
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed tomato soup
1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
1/4 c. water

Orange Glaze:
adapted from Martha Stewart

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 T. freshly squeezed orange juice
1 t. orange zest
3 T. milk (plus extra if needed for thinning)

Place all ingredients for cake in large bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Beat at low speed until combined, scraping sides often.  Beat at high speed for 4 minutes, scraping occasionally. Spread
into a bundt pan that has been treated with baking spray.  Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center removes cleanly.

Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Turn out of pan onto cooling rack and let cool completely before drizzling with cream cheese glaze if desired.

Glaze:  In small bowl of  stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment beat cream cheese until light and fluffy, scraping sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Add salt, zest, juice and milk.  Mix on low speed until smooth, add additional milk 1 T. spoon at a time to reach desired consistency.  Print Recipe

____ You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about #BundtBakers, can be found on our home page. And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month ~

• Boston Cream Bundt by Andrea at Adventures in All Things Food
• Boston Cream Pie Bundt Cake by Mary at Los Chatos Chefs
• Campbell's Tomato Soup Cake by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Coca~Cola Bundt Cake by Mondo at I Bake He Shoots
• Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Inside-Out Ho Hos Lava Bundt Cake by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Key Lime Bundt Cake by Sarah at The Chef Next Door
• Lemon Meringue Pie Bundt by Felice at All That's Left are the Crumbs
• New York Style Crumb Cake by Tammy at Living the Gourmet
• Nutella Chocolate MIlkshake Bundt Cake by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Orange Creamsicle Cake by Sue at Palatable Pastime
• Pantera Rosa Bundt Cake by Rocío at kidsandchic
• Root Beer Float Bundt Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Sock It To Me Cake by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Milkshake Swirl Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Tomato Soup Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker
• Tunnel of Fudge Cake by Kelly at Passion Kneaded

Day 3 and 4 in Bonaire....

Yesterday....all my troubles seemed so far away............

My first boat dive in the morning was aborted because I was suffering a leak in my regulator.  When we came back to shore the Dive Master was able to fix it up and I was able to do the second dive.  In the afternoon we took it easy, had lunch at the resort, sat by the pool and read.  No cocktails as we were doing a night dive.

I have video to share of Frank's first dive and our second dive of the day.  We enjoyed our night dive but have no video's or photos to share.

Following our night dive we walked next door to Blennie's for dinner.  It was delicious and a good time was had by all.

This morning we headed out to dive a wreck called the Helma Hooker.  This boat was confiscated for smuggling drugs and eventually sunk as an artificial reef.  When we were last in Bonaire in 2000 there were 4 people diving this wreck, Frank and I along with our friends, Heidi and Mike.  It was a great dive.  Today there were 3 boatloads of divers along with shore divers.  I hated every minute of this first dive.  I dive to relax...I don't want pushing, shoving and rude people on a dive site with me.

The first thing you see on this video is Rodney and Mickey doing a sun dance.  It works every time. The sun comes out and we have beautiful dives.  The second dive in the video made me remember why I love Bonaire so much.  It is beautiful, calm and peaceful.  The dives are relaxed and easy. Perfect.

After diving, we enjoyed a couples massage, had lunch with a glass of wine and I took a two hour nap.  We went into town for dinner at a restaurant called It Rains Fishes.  There were 20 of us for dinner so, of course, we had a great time.  Until tomorrow.........