October Festivals on the Carolina Coast Continue...

Yesterday, I traveled down to Myrtle Beach to go to Market Commons, a particularly pretty shopping center that has all the shops I love. 

Had to take a picture of this so that I could capture the blue October sky!

Isn't this a pretty place to shop?

I particularly love browsing through Williams Sonoma  - makes me want to have a party!  And, I've always loved their table linens...

After finishing my shopping, I walked down into an area I'd never been in before, and saw...

what looked like another October Festival!  I got closer and could see a happy crowd of people, sipping wine and enjoying some VERY GOOD music.

Turns out, it was the Myrtle Beach Wine Festival!!  I was in.  All of you know how I love wine and music.

Check out these hand-blown wine bottles.  The booth owner said they contained aged Port Wine, and each bottle was uniquely shaped.  

Selecting a wine to sample, I had my glass filled and moved closer to the music.  The band had Everyone's Attention, and I was captivated by these two little boys - who leaped up from their seat on the grass and began dancing with abandon...

They were oblivious to the crowd, and were just Grooving to the Music.

With that happy scene in mind, I left to go to the next Festival...The Annual October Fall Brawl Fishing Tournament.   When I got there, Husband was on duty as the Official Weigh Master, with cousin Brenda standing by to Tag.  Here's a photo of last year's winner - a monster King Mackerel that tipped the scales at nearly 57 pounds!

Image from Fishermanspost.

This year, the leading fish is right at 30 pounds...but the Tournament is not over yet!

Tonight, the final October Oyster Roast, hosted by the Ocean Isle Fishing Center, as they will hand out Thousands of Dollars in prize money for the largest King Mackerel, along with prizes for Lady, Senior, and Kids Anglers.  


What an October it has been!  But I'm missing Atlanta and the hardwood trees...I want to see yellow and orange and red leaves drifting down to the lawn, smell the acorns, and hear the wind in the Oak Trees.  Time to go home.


Thank you, Carolina Coast, for another beautiful October Festival Season!

Coastal Cottage Crab Bisque Recipe - Yumm!

Okay, folks.  Usually we are all about "Catch and Eat", but this time, I couldn't help myself.  Lowes Foods had a Great Sale on pasteurized Crab Meat, and I loaded up!  With a cold front moving in, my sinful Coastal Cottage Crab Bisque and a Boule of Olive Rosemary bread, hot out of the oven, was a lock.

I knew I had to make it Chunky and Rewarding enough to get away with serving this as the entree to a Husband who is all about a full plate at Dinner.


In a flash, standing right there in the grocery store, I visualized sweet corn, sweet onions, half and half, and, well, I was off and zooming up and down the aisles...

Doesn't this make your mouth water and your brain churn, thinking of Crab Bisque, Crab Cakes, Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Crab Omelet...etc., etc.?

So, first, I rough chopped a Sweet Vidalia Onion - I only use Vidalia Onions in seafood, because their sweetness melds right in without overwhelming the fish, crab, or shellfish in the dish...

and caramelized the onions in a heavy pot with Salted Butter and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Always keep the heat Really Low when caramelizing...you don't want the onions to scorch before the sugar comes out.

Then, I added lots of fresh corn cut off the cob, with the milk that I scraped out of the cob,  and then the Crab Meat.  I didn't want the corn to be overcooked and loose its sweetness. 

The Bisque had to be rich, so I added about two cups of Half and Half, along with about a cup of 2% milk.  Right behind that,  the seasonings:

  

The above seasonings are pretty basic in my pantry, but of course, you can mix and match to your own taste.  I think a dash of nutmeg is always necessary in a bisque!

I didn't add salt because the Old Bay, Worcestershire Sauce, and Tabasco already have salt in them.  I also added a squirt of Ketchup, right at the end.  At this point, don't let it boil, keep your heat medium low so the milk doesn't separate.

Now, here's the most important ingredient, besides the Crab:

Don't be shy with the sherry...it cuts the richness and brings it all back together under a different blanket.   Get your bread out of the oven when the crust is crisp and flaky, and you are good to go!  Sublime.

Picked up this Olive and Rosemary Bread Boule in the Bakery, and popped it in the oven at 400 f.  for about 7 minutes.  Perfect for sopping up the last bit in the bowl!

And Husband LOVED it!

Meeting, Greeting, and Eating at The Oyster Festival

The NC Oyster Festival is over, and what a Festival it was!  On Saturday, we had over 45,000 attendees, an all-time record. 

The response to my new Wall Art Collection was  so  gratifying, after all that hard work.  It pulled hundreds of Lovely Folks into the booth.  Can you imagine how that made me feel?? 

I took orders to customize the canvases - lots of people wanted their own Cottage Name on the Canvas...so, lots of work to do this week!

The Sailboat canvases got lots of questions about the coordinates on them...those are the coordinates for Ocean Isle Beach.  I can put the coordinates for anywhere in the world on the image, but thought it was appropriate to mark where the Festival was being held.  One man who came in the booth murmured to his wife, "She probably doesn't know what those numbers mean."  Well, I do.


Many, many customers bought Stationery.  So good to know that people still value the hand-written note!  I sold Tons of Stationery, and took orders for more.  Happy, happy.  Here are a few of the designs:

When the crowds thinned out on Sunday, I took some snaps of my booth with my Iphone - here is the Hand Bound Journal Rack...

The blank Journals attracted lots of attention, but overall, seemed to puzzle most folks.  Don't people Journal anymore??  Maybe they just Blog??  One Lady zoomed in and grabbed up the Coral Bouquet Journal and flipped it open.  She paused, then riffled through the pages.  Turning to me with almost indignant puzzlement, she said, "It's Blank!".  I had that happen more than once.  Tell me, What was THAT all about?

The Festival ran out of Oysters mid-afternoon on Saturday, due to the HUGE turnout!  

Roasting Oysters on Saturday.

Bummer.  But there were more offerings on the table:  sublime Shrimp Gumbo from Causeway Gourmet.   Oyster Stew from The Boundary House.  Shrimp Rolls.  Scallop Rolls.  Shrimp and Grits.  Seafood Platters.  Apple Dumplings and Homemade Ice Cream.  North Carolina Barbeque.  Smoked Turkey Legs.

You haven't seen anything until you've seen a Lean and Mean Southern Boy walk through a crowded Festival, gnawing on a gigantic Turkey Leg.  Makes me grin, every time.  

So it's a wrap.  Now, back to business and to getting my house back in order!  

Order.  Holy Cow, I've got to fill all those orders!!  

A North Carolina Visit...

I'm in the trenches, getting ready for the Oyster Festival, but just had to share last weekend's North Carolina Family Weekend with you.

Is there any doubt who this is REALLY all about??

This is Grandson Brayden, flirting with his Aunt Megan's (from Atlanta)  camera.  After he'd had Grouper Dogs by Grandpa Rube.  And had a carpet Takedown with Uncle Jeremy.  And eaten Uncle Jeremy's Apple Crisp - two fisted.  He's the reason we didn't get leftovers...

Read all about it at Meg's Blog:  Not Just Meg.  October family get-togethers, on the North Carolina Coast.  Can't beat it with a stick!

October On the North Carolina Coast

Two words for October in Coastal North Carolina.

  Simply 

Beautiful  

The sky turns a gorgeous shade of blue, and the sun slides to a more Southerly position, making the shadows turn to shades of violet and magenta.  Sunsets are almost surreal as they flash orange, pomegranate, and purple lights all over everything...reflecting beautifully off the windows in all the quiet houses.

Lavender Sunsets.  Only in October.

The bees busily gather the last bit of nectar

The pampered Plumeria Tree begins to wind down, producing some of the final buds of the year.  She knows that we will pull her into her cozy Winter Home in the basement soon, and she'll take a long nap.

Fat Roe Mullet get roasted on open fire pits...

Granddaughter Caroline, thinking of the Winter to come, is worried about our solitary squirrel (we still don't know how he got on the island), and has built a Fall feeding station for him, complete with directional arrows:

It is totally appropriate that she has spelled his name "Mr. Scwirl"; after all, she is only 6 years old, and is worried about the "Scwirlliness" of his lonely situation.

Meantime, we are enjoying an October visit from my niece Megan and her husband, Jeremy...who cooked up a fabulous Apple Crisp out of perfectly beautiful Fall Granny Smith Apples last night.  Which disappeared out of the large pan he baked it in within 20 minutes flat.  We thought there would be leftovers!  Didn't count on everyone eyeing that dish and going for seconds...

In between all these adventures,  I am working on my products for the Oyster Festival, which starts next Saturday here on the island and runs for two days.  And my studio doors are open to the Fall breezes... No Air Conditioning necessary now!

October in Coastal North Carolina - gotta love it!

Aground In Shallotte Inlet - The Truth Will Out

Well, now.  I was taught as a child that Truth is sacred, and in the end a much easier route than  supporting an Untruth.  Without further meandering, I want to report to all you mariners that Shallotte Inlet is, indeed, Marked.

And the explanation for the above picture is simply that my Husband was doodling around and not REALLY following the markers while traversing this historically shifty, tricky, inlet.


Although the US Coast Guard reported on August 16, 2011 that markers for Shallotte Inlet were either Missing, Off Station, or Adrift, Husband says they were in place on Sunday. 

The Truth has Outted, and I stand corrected.  Not grinning - corrected.

Sunday Afternoon - Aground in Shallotte Inlet, NC

All members of our family are acutely aware that navigating Shallotte Inlet, between Ocean Isle Beach and Holden Beach, is nothing short of tricky.  

Here's why:

In this aerial photo by Marinas.com, you can see the muddy area to the left...that is sand, even though there are waves that make it look like, well, WATER.   The deeper channel is clearly visible on the right (Holden Beach) side.

Because of the tides that rip through here, the sand shifts around like a living creature, piling up into bars and shoals that move around.  A lot.  Mainly because of this constant shifting, the Inlet isn't marked.


In April every year, all of us develop a heightened sense of alertness, with an ear tilted toward the inlet, because we know that visitors won't necessarily know to hug the Holden Beach side to avoid the hidden sandbars that lurk on the Ocean Isle side.  To run aground in the Shallotte Inlet on the wrong wind or sea, or with night approaching, can be deadly.

Soooo, when I got the call from Husband around 4:00 Sunday afternoon that he was aground in Shallotte Inlet, I jumped in the car and drove down there.  All photos from my Iphone...sorry for the quality, but you'll "get the picture"!


This is my first view when I emerged from the beach access path:

No boat.  But, the inlet beach is very long.  So, walk, walk, walk.

 

Aha!  There he is - the boat with the black bottom.  Looks like water under him, until you get closer...

The Ocean Isle Fishing Center World Cat is standing by, and a smaller boat that came to help is in the middle.  That's Husband STANDING in the inlet.  Know what I mean?  Standing in the inlet??

In the time it took me to walk around to the tip of the sandbar, the tide almost completely went out.  That fast!  You can see the waves out on the horizon, thankfully calm and a couple hundred yards away.  Those are what get you in trouble when you run aground in an inlet. 

Husband has just figured out that I am in the neighborhood, and taking his picture.  He yells out, "Little White Dove!  I'm  Running Bear!".  Stand-up comic, he is.

Nothing to do now but put the anchor out, abandon ship and wait for the tide to come in.

Walking where water was, only 15 minutes ago.

You can see from the shadows that night is fast approaching - the absolute worst time to be trying to maneuver a boat off a sandbar with the tide coming in behind you.   

The dogs are unconcerned, and wait with us for the incoming tide and son Barrett to come join the fray. 

Barrett arrives later in the evening, and deftly ushers Dad down the waterway in inky darkness.  Working together, they swiftly engineer the boat off the sandbar with the help of the incoming tide, retrieve the anchor, and head home.

Thankfully, all's well that ends well.  Lesson learned.  Hug the Holden Beach side of Shallotte Inlet.  

No harm to the boat or engines, just to my Husband's bruised ego.  As you might imagine.  But it could've been a lot worse.  Thanks again, good old Guardian Angel!

Snapping Turtles are All Gums!

We are now in Snapping Turtle Advanced Class.  And we have a News Flash.  They don't have teeth!

All these horror stories I've heard about how they will absolutely amputate your fingers if you get too close are now simply puzzling.  I've seen the lightening fast attack with that hooked beak, seen those jaws close like a vise...but there are no teeth!  So, how do they bite off your fingers???  Are their lips like a guillotine?

This is a close-up of yet another Snapping Turtle out of our pond, and look at that mouth.  Scary looking, but no teeth.  But we know they have eaten all the red meat we could throw at them.  Do they just clamp those jaws shut and Voila! cut the meat off?  Snap!  Zzzzttt!  Done.

Here's a shot of the enlarged team -  young son arrived to help out on this particular day.  He and Husband are teasing the above teenage turtle out of the pond...

I'm rather weary of seeing these prehistoric creatures in our yard...I read somewhere that the females lay about 20 eggs a year.  If these are the kids of the Original Pair, we are in for a long war.

I'm praying for cold weather and hibernation time.