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.........

Goat Cheese with Lemon and Thyme Olives for Crazy Ingredient Challenge

It's Crazy Ingredient time again!  Blogland's version of Chopped.  The ingredients this month were crazy.....crazy delicious!!  Not unusual flavors and flavors that paired very well together...Lemon and Thyme.

The first thought that came to mind when I heard these ingredients was muffins or a quick bread, followed closely by chicken picatta.  Of course, a lemon thyme pasta would be delicious too.  Or maybe a fish dish.  Hmmmmmm....decisions, decisions.  Then I decided to have a party and serve cocktails and appetizers so I turned my thoughts in this direction.

Oooooh....I wondered if Frank would consider creating a Lemon Thyme Martini.  I can see it in my minds eye....a pale yellow cocktail, garnished with a lemon twist and a sprig of thyme.  I am going to put him to work on that.  But not for this party.  So I started thinking about appetizers.  I already had Pulled Pork Sliders and Sweet and Sour Meatballs on the menu.  I knew I was going to have Chips with Salsa and Guacamole.  I planned a Cheese and Beer Fondue pot.  I decided I needed something from the fruit and vegetable portion of the pyramid.

I considered a vegetable platter featuring a lemon thyme dip for the veggies.  I knew I wanted a cheese platter and I love adding fruit, nuts and olives to my cheese platters.  When making a cheese platter I try to have one soft cheese and one or more hard cheeses.  Thinking about soft cheese and olives made me think of those delicious blue cheese stuffed olives you get in the deli bar.  YUM...anyway one thought led to another and this is what I ended up creating....I hope that you enjoy it as much as my guests and I did.  Frank's not a big goat cheese fan and he likes olives even less but there were plenty of other goodies on the tray for him.

The Goat Cheese and Olives were a perfect addition to this platter.  

I started out with mixed olives packed in olive oil from the deli.

Added some sprigs of thyme, lemon zest and lemon juice and heated it gently over low heat.

I didn't want to cook it, just infuse the lemon and thyme flavors into the mixture.

I placed the goat cheese into a bowl and ladled the olives around and over the cheese.

I think this recipe is going to be making regular appearances when I serve appetizers from now on.

Just as a side note...as you read this I am on a vacation in Bonaire.  Yesterday, for lunch, I was served local goat cheese, grilled , drizzled with honey and thyme and served on a flat bread with greens. Oh My YUM.

Goat Cheese with Lemon and Thyme Olives

1 pint mixed olives packed in olive oil

3 sprigs thyme

zest from half a lemon

juice from half a lemon

4 oz. roll of goat cheese

Place all ingredients in a large skillet over low heat and warm gently, stirring often, until fragrant. Place the cheese into a decorative bowl or onto a rimmed platter and ladle the olives over and around the cheese.  Serve with crackers or crostini.  Print Recipe

Here are more great Lemon and Thyme creations!

An InLinkz Link-up

Bonaire Day 2, Land and Sea

Up bright and early.  My little bout of food poisoning seems to have passed.  Took it very easy with just a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  It settled nicely so off to the dive boat we went.  We had 2 wonderful dives at Sampler Reef and Andrea 3 Reef.

After diving, we enjoyed Mojitos and lunch, relaxed by the pool for a bit and then took a little nap.

We all met up again at the bar for the Captain's Reception.  Free Rum Punches and a lot of laughs.

Then we split into groups depending on what our dinner plans were.  We walked to the neighboring resort with Jim, Sharon, Rob and Linda to have dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Ingridients. 

They were featuring Lion Fish on their menu this day.  And has a special daily menu board with those choices written in Dutch.

Our server also brought over a board for us that was written in English but we could have figured it out anyway.  Each couple had Lionfish fritters and a couple of us enjoyed the Lionfish and Langosine Soup.

They also had a featured cocktail called Ingridients Green.  When in Rome......

It was delicious.

We relaxed with our drinks and appetizers as the sun began to set.  It was such a relaxing, enjoyable evening with two couples with whom we always enjoy spending time.

Not a very good shot of the sunset but a great shot of Frank.

The restaurant specialty is a truffle pasta prepared tableside in a Parmesan cheese wheel.  It was amazing to watch the preparation and Linda said the dish was superb.

I enjoyed the veal ribeye and Frank had the pasta with tenderloin tips.  Sharon had a filet and Rob and Jim both had the Lionfish dinner.  It was a wonderful, memorable meal, a pleasant stroll back to the room and early to bed so we can share another day of diving with you tomorrow.

Our First Full Day in Bonaire....and a Book Review

Today was our first full day in Bonaire.  We got up early, had breakfast and went to the Dive Orientation.  We then did  a shore dive to make sure we had our weight right for buoyancy control. Bonaire is a protected Marine Park and they are very strict about conservation and keeping the coral and fish safe and protected.

After our dive, while waiting for lunch, I relaxed and read for a while on our patio while Frank took some shots for me to share with you.

He took shots of our room and our neighbor's rooms.  Each room is filled with members of our dive group and then there is another block of rooms also filled with our friends.

Some of our neighbors don't have rooms.  They just live under the trees and rocks.  Like these 2 guys.

And this handsome fella lives right outside of the steps to our patio.  He comes to visit each time we go out.

We went and had lunch and then started getting our gear together for a boat dive.  I was putting my gear together on the boat when suddenly I broke out in a cold sweat and my stomach cramped.  I ran to the restroom and.....Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

I had a fish burger for lunch, I liked it but apparently it did not like me.  I aborted the dive and went back to the room where I alternated between the bed and the bathroom. Very disappointing.

But, while in bed, I read and I finished a book I had gotten on special at Kindle.  Orchids and Stone by Lisa Preston.

Lisa Preston is a retired Police Officer which, of course, appealed to me.  This is her first work of fiction.  It kept my attention and while, at times, it was predictable, it still held my attention and made me want to keep reading. It is the story of a young woman who has suffered much tragedy in her life, Her sister was murdered and the case is never solved.  Her father, 10 years after the murder and the day before her sister's birthday, takes his own life.  It is the story of how these events affect her life and make her very tenacious when she believes an elderly woman to be in trouble, making her determined to get involved and not ignore her pleas for help as someone must have with her sister.  I am giving it 3 out of 5 stars.