Memorial Day, 2010.

The Hawthornes' flag flies proudly. #1 #2 What Kathy said. Thank you to those who serve and to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

If Rosie Tweeted ...

I love it when one accessorizes with a car ...

... and Dixie.

Mr. Hawthorne's Dinner.

Tonight, it's Mahi Mahi Moreovers. I had hidden some of the mahi mahi I had left from my fish tacos the other day so I could stretch another meal out of it.

Mr. Hawthorne heated the mahi mahi in the toaster oven and placed on a bed of lettuce.

And he poured on his Ranch Dressing. I don't know exactly what was in his dressing, but when I make mine, I use mayo, sour cream or creme fraiche, buttermilk, oregano, Italian seasoning, granulated garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, maybe some fresh basil for a little kick, perhaps a shot of vinegar and sugar and Lea & Perrins. You don't need to buy the packets. You can make your own dressings very quickly and they're much better than a packet of chemicals mixed into mayo or oil and vinegar. Once again, trust Rosie on this.

The Puppies At Play.

Junior and Giada are always up for a good game of tug-of-war.

Dixie is a happy dog. Her mama loves her.

Poor Youngest Hawthorne.

If you've been a regular reader, you may remember Youngest Hawthorne's problems with the birds. It seems the sea gulls have a certain proclivity for his car. See my post about it here. Apparently, this penchant is not limited to just the gulls.

There were four other cars in this particular parking area and they were all in pristine condition.

There were no trees directly above YH's car. This was yet another senseless, random act of vandalism by evil, thug robins.

No doubt an initiation ritual for rogue robins to join a bird-gang.

Flip side of above photo.

I likey. I see a helicopter chasing a witch on a broomstick. With a black cat. Or is it a turtle? Or a goose??

Friday Lunch At The Hawthornes - Pork Tenderloin With An Orange/Pineapple Sauce, Brown And Wild Rice, Broccoli, And Popovers.

Last week, I thawed out a package of pork tenderloins and had this meal. I still had one of the loins waiting for me to cook, so I came up with this.

In the front is my pork medallion with orange-pineapple sauce, back left is my molded Basmati brown and wild rice blend, back right is steamed broccoli, and back center is a popover.

Rosie's Popovers 1/2 cup milk 2 eggs 1 TB vegetable oil 3/4 cup flour 3 TB bacon drippings Whisk first three ingredients. Add in flour, whisking until smooth. Place drippings in 6 muffin cups. Heat drippings for 3 minutes in a 450 degree oven. Remove pan from oven and spoon batter in, filling about 3/4 way. Cook on lowest rack for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Whisk flour into egg/milk/oil mixture.

Bacon drippings going into 450 degree oven.

Rosie makes a mess ladling batter into muffin cups.

After 30 minutes, here are my airy little popovers. Next up, pork tenderloin.

I seasoned the pork medallions with salt and pepper. Ingredients for my sauce in the back: 2 oranges more orange juice crushed pineapple (leftover from my mango/pineapple/habanero sauce) Balsamic vinegar

I juiced the oranges and decided to use honey and soy sauce, too.

I seared these in ELBOO and LOLUB. That's Extra Light Bertolli Olive Oil and Land o' Lake Unsalted Butter. About 4 minutes each side. You want them slightly pink on the inside. Do NOT cook pork until it's a pitiful gray inside. Remove pork from pan, cover, and let sit.

I added a pat more butter to the pan, then deglazed with the juice of two oranges.

Crushed pineapple (about 10 ounces) went in with about a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

I poured in a little more orange juice in the Dijon bottle to rinse the last bits out.

About a tablespoon of honey.

About a tablespoon of soy sauce.

About a tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar.

And simmer, stirring, for about 7-10 minutes.

The pork. Delicate pink. Tender. Juicy. The sauce. Full-flavored. Nice fruity complement to the pork. The broccoli. Steamed perfectly. Slightly crunchy. Serve with butter and lemon juice. Bright. Green. The rice. Nutty. Chewy. Brown goodness. The popover. Crunchy on the outside. Soft center. Nice textures.

All in all, a very nice meal. All good flavors. Dang it. I forgot my homemade applesauce I had thawing out.

Rosie's Bouquet.

Rosie went through her garden and picked a bunch of flowers this morning.

Here are various roses, hydrangea, larkspur, Queen Ann's Lace, foxglove, lilies, and bachelor's buttons.

I thought it was very pretty so I'm sharing it with you, Dear Readers.

Sorry. Didn't see the hose in the background. Glare on the screen. That's my excuse.

I really need to read my Auntie Hawthorne's books on flower arranging. I've been multiple posting for the past few days. Usually, I only put out one post a day. But now, I have a backlog of drafts. So everyday, I'm doing multiple posts. Please scroll down and see if you've missed anything. Today alone, I posted about this flower arrangement, the breakfast fair I provided, and Dixie having a splashing good time in the pool.

Rosie Does Breakfast.

Rosie has a houseful of chilluns - three of her own and numerous others who show up, inevitably at meal times. Here's a quick breakfast they all love.

I grill Arnold's thin bagels in butter, crack an egg in the hole, place cheddar slices over top, and cover until bread is the brownness you like, the egg is how you like, and cheese is melted. Freshly cracked pepper and salt on top.

I love the browned cheese part.

The ooey-gooey goodness of a runny yolk is divine.

Ooh! Oooh! Put some strips of bacon on top. Sorry I didn't do it. But just imagine the bacon.

Tell me your mouth isn't watering.

Dixie Enjoys Time In The Pool.

Dixie likes to do this. Every day. All day long.

And it's not enough for her to have the pool all to herself.

She demands that I come out and witness every jump. She knows the drill, but I must be there to tell her to "go to the end" so she doesn't jump in the shallow end.

And she does the same little twirl every time she jumps in.

Colington Harbour's Blessing Of The Fleet.

Every Memorial Weekend Saturday, Colington Harbour has a humbling and sobering ceremony - The Blessing Of The Fleet. Participating boaters await in canals outside the main harbor until time to parade in. Local clergy pray for the Lord to protect our watermen - to keep them safe from wind, rain, and perils of the deep. The boats then file by, one by one, and are blessed by the sprinkling of water. I was going to write about the history of Memorial Day, but then saw that my friend, Kathy, of Reinventing A Boomer Blogdom had already posted beautifully about it, so please check out the above link and read what Kathy has to say.

I attended this event last year and blogged about it HERE. Compare and contrast, my little grasshoppers. Interesting I used some of the same pictures and shot some of the same views.

The ceremony takes place up at the park/playground/harbor, which is full of very old live oaks. Quercus virginiana.

Twenty five years ago, when Mr. Hawthorne and I first moved to Colington Harbour, we would come up to the park and what used to be a lovely, wide, sandy beach right up ahead. As in IN the water. Tsk. Tsk. Bulkheads were not there back then.

Here's sweet little Daughter Hawthorne and Rosie, my lab, on that very beach. They'd be underwater today.

Both Rosies and Daughter Hawthorne loved it up here.

It is quite a nice park and play area, with grills and picnic tables throughout and a fish cleaning table at the harbor entrance.

Spanish moss in live oak. Sign of a healthy environment. Spanish moss is in the bromeliad family and ranges from the southeastern United States to Argentina. It is an epiphyte, living on other plants, non-parasitically, (from the Greek "epi" =upon and "phyte" =plant) absorbing nutrients (magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and particularly calcium) and water from the air and rainfall. In the southern US, the plant prefers growth on Southern Live Oak and Bald Cypress because of these trees' high rates of foliar mineral leaching, providing an abundant supply of nutrients to the moss. Epiphytic organisms usually derive only physical support from the host, not nutrition. although they may damage the host or lower its growth rate by restricting light the host receives. Spanish moss also increases wind resistance, which can leave the host tree vulnerable during a hurricane. I didn't know this, but found out from Wonderful Wiki that Spanish moss can harbor a number of critters, including rat snakes, three species of bats, and one species of jumping spider, Pelegrina tillandsiae, which has only been found in Spanish moss.

Friendly little critter in the park.

Osprey tending to eggs or chicks.

Harbor entrance.

The boats are starting to come into the harbor.

This gentleman found a comfy spot.

Now this is the less-sobering part where all the boaters dock their boats, have a cook out, and partay.

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service to this great nation. Fly your flag.