Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip

I have searched and tried many different recipes for Spinach Artichoke Dip.  Throughout all of my tries I have meshed a few recipes to come up with the perfect dip.  I use tortilla chips, baguettes, and/or pita chips for the dip.

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions
   
Preheat oven to 350*.  Lightly grease small baking dish. In a med bowl, mix together everything except spinach and artichoke. Mix well then gently stir in the spinach and artichoke hearts.
Transfer mixture to baking dish.  Top with mozzarella. Bakefor 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

The Forgotten Coast

Every Summer we go on a week long beach trip.  We love the Florida Panhandle (The Forgotten Coast).  We stay away from the busier and more commercial areas like: Panama City and Destin.  I really hate crowds on the beach. The beach and ocean should be heard during a vacation without screams, competing radios, and other conversations.  You could say that I am a beach snob...I will admit it.  We usually vacation on Cape San Blas.  It is very quiet, absolutely beautiful, and relaxing. 

This year we were unable to get a rental for the week that we had opened so we decided to go to St. George Island.  SGI is not far from The Cape. It is more congested than The Cape but the rental we were in was far enough from the crowd that I was still happy.  The island has more to do and actual restaurants in close proximity to the rental than the cape but I will give up conveniences for solitude.


If you go during July 4th week make sure that you grab a spot on the beach.  The Blue Parrot has an awesome firework display on the beach.  We decided to make patriotic colored snacks and bring our cocktails to watch the show.

SGI has a lighthouse and museum that you can tour.  The top has a great view you can practically see the entire island. The island has wonderful bike paths throughout the island so bring your bikes.  The best part about the island is the closeness to Apalachicola.

Apalachicola is an old shrimping and oyster town.  The town has some very eclectic shops and wonderful food.  While you are here check out Boss Oyster....their menu is HUGE...seriously it has everything from Seared Ahi Tuna to Fried Shrimp Po boys.  I promise that both are outstanding.  The one place that is a MUST try would be the Apalachicola Chocolate Company.  The chocolate is good but they sale the best gelato that I have ever had.  They have many flavors but the blueberry (fresh blueberries) is the best.

If you are in the area you have to visit Sunset Coastal Grill in Port St. Joe.  This has to be the best restaurant in the entire area.  Gouda Scallop Pasta is a must.  I would recommend staying away from the crabcakes....more crab stuffing than crab cake.  I am also a self proclaimed Crab Cake Snob.  Every year we take our official vacation picture from the back of the restaurant.

Last but not least while you are here you have to block out a few hours one morning to explore St. Joe Bay. From late June to late September (usually), is scallop season.  You can go into the bay and pick up scallops, found in the underwater grass so where shoes.  You will see people scattered throughout the bay  with nets looking down to find them but I recommend donning on your goggles and snorkel and really look.  You will be amazed at the life you find in the bay.  It never fails during our trips we see starfish, mollusks, rays, snails, fish, scallops, crabs, etc...  We have a small blow up boat that we keep all of our things while we search for scallops it is also great when the boys start getting tired. My boys are 9 and 6 and we have been doing this since they were babies.  They love the search more than we do.  WARNING: These things are a lot of work to clean but totally worth it.  These bay scallops are little, sweet, and very tender morsels. 


Under FWC rules, each person can take up to two gallons of whole scallops or one pint of meat. No more than 10 gallons of whole scallops or one-half gallon of meat may be aboard a vessel at any time.


Read more: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/opens-41311-scallop-bay.html#ixzz21Ydz64kK

Silhouette Window Wall Art

I am a nut for old, dingy, and distressed accent pieces.  I love to incorporate old and new together to get a one of a kind eclectic look.  One of my faves would be old, shabby, and distressed windows as wall art.  Well while scanning through a local Antique Market (Red Hound Antiques), I came across the perfect window in the perfect color.  Honestly the only thing that I had to do was clean the glass and figure the perfect thing to do with it.  I love when projects become so easy.  Well after cleaning the glass and looking at it a few days I had an idea.  I have seen canvases and wall art with shadow silhouettes as the center art.  I love that idea soooo...I decided to use my sweet boys' perfect heads as my inspiration. 


Using my Canon and Photoshop I had the perfect side silhouettes of my boys.  I then sent the pics to my vinyl plotter and cut them out.  I was going to use the cutout as a guide to paint....painting did not turn out the way that I wanted so I then used the inside of the cutout as the decal.....PERFECT!! 

As you can see I have paired it with another shabby piece that I have collected.  I am still looking for the perfect knobs for the cabinet.  I am also going to hang the window piece about 2 ft from the cabinet.

The window itself is a light green.

The same green in the stripes of the chair.