Shrimp Dip for a Spring Picnic

This recipe is based on a recipe my mom use to make for her microwave cooking classes and demonstrations when I was a teenager. My only addition to the original is the can of tiny shrimp.
I served this on "party rye" bread at the picnic that my son and I had last week. The following day, I served some in little cucumber cups and my son said he liked that even better, because he thought the rye bread was too dry. My mom served it as a dip for potato chips. So, it is quite versatile.




1 8-ounce package of cream cheese

1 can of Cream of Shrimp Soup

1 4-ounce can of Tiny Shrimp

1 bundle of green onions


Place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave 1 minute on high power. Stir. Add Cream of Shrimp Soup and put back in the microwave for an additional minute on high. Stir well. Add tiny shrimp and three finely sliced green onions (white and green parts) to the mixture and stir well. Finely slice two more green onions to use as garnish.

The dip can be made a day in advance. It will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Old Fashion Milk Bottles

I have seen this idea in several places, that the Starbucks frappuccino bottles look like old fashion milk bottles, but I only just recently tried it for myself.



The labels are easy to peel off. I read one source that said to use nail polish remover to clean off the expiration date and any remaining glue, but I found that Lysol wipes also work. Then the bottles can be washed by hand or they can go in a dish washer.

What I hadn't read anywhere, was that normal straws are two short to use with these bottles. Special long straws, made for soda bottles, have to be used. The straws I used came from this Etsy dealer: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DimeStoreBuddy?ref=l2-shopheader-name.



Afternoon snack on the porch:

The Third Annual All Florida Victorian Picnic

Yesterday, Blaze and I traveled through fog that was so thick at times that we couldn't see a car's length ahead, to attend the third annual All Florida Victorian Picnic in Winter Garden. The weather was perfect once we got to the park, though.




Demonstrating an important skill for any proper Victorian lady; how to gracefully faint in a public place. Notice that she has fallen in such a way as to land on a comfortable quilt, with her skirts modestly draped over her feet. We believe that this fit of the vapors was brought on by excessive exposure to the Florida sun, and not by any shocking behavior of her fellow picnic goers.

The 2nd Annual Special Needs Family Picnic

Yesterday was The 2nd Annual Special Needs Family Picnic at Westside Park in Gainesville, Florida, hosted by Miss Florida National Teenager, Kelly Belanger. 



There were lawn games, frisbees, and soccer balls for the children to play with.







Some of us even picnicked at this picnic.





Wall art:











It was terribly hot, so Blaze and I stopped at Mochi for frozen yogurt before making the long drive back to Tallahassee.

The Second Annual All Florida Victorian Picnic and Croquet Tournament

This year's event was held at Central Park, which is the heart of the Winter Park, FL. business district and right next to a busy railway station.



It was easy to find the group, once we saw this sculpture. Parking was not as easy to find and the only thing that saved us, was knowing someone who was leaving.



Once we got to the picnic, it was lots of fun. We met many new people, as well as getting to see people we hadn't seen in a long time.





Blaze played in the croquet match, while I walked around talking to people and admiring everyone's creativity.





I love seeing all the work and imagination that go into the costumes.











There were also some very elegant picnic spreads





and I brought enough gingerbread cookies for everyone.

Open Face Smoke Salmon Sandwich

This is the recipe for the little salmon sandwiches that we had at our beach picnic on Saturday.



8-ounces cream cheese

2 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 Tablespoon finely chopped, fresh dill

1 teaspoon lemon juice

smoked salmon/lox

cocktail rye bread (found near the pita bread in most grocery store deli areas)

extra sprigs of fresh dill for garnish


Bring cream cheese to room temperature, so that it is easy to stir. Add onions, dill, and lemon juice to the cream cheese and stir well. refrigerate until ready to use. This can be made a day in advance.

Spread each slice of rye bread with the cheese mixture. Add a piece of lox and garnish with a tiny sprig of dill leaves. Serve immediately.

For our picnic, I kept the ingredients separate in the cooler and assembled the finished product just before we ate.

Shell Point Beach

It has rained 19 out of the last 25 days, but today was one of the 6 dry days. It was actually a really beautiful day! I had looked up the closest beach to Tallahassee, along with direction for driving there (Thank goodness for the internet!), and Blaze and I drove down to Shell Point Beach.

It's a small beach and, even on a sunny Saturday, it wasn't crowded.



There are picnic shelters and a couple pieces of playground equipment.



There is also a place for beach volleyball.



There were many of these little orange butterflies fluttering around in the grass, along with a few of these butterfly-eating birds.



Having grass so close to the beach made this a great spot for a beach picnic, without getting sand in the food.



There were a few flies around, but they were easily kept away from the food with the little mesh food tent (I have no idea what these things are actually called, but they are handy). This one came from World Market and was less than $5.



I know many people will disagree with me, but I like swimming in the Atlantic better than the Golf of Mexico. The Golf waters are very clear and warm, but I've noticed this same rusty color at other Northern Golf beaches and it just bothers me.



That being said, I also admit that the golf is a much safer place to take children swimming. Blaze gave up trying to use his "boogie board" because there were no waves, but he had a great time doing real swimming, which is something he's never been able to do in the ocean.



Another thing Blaze had fun with was creeping through the water, trying to sneak-up on these birds.





I thought we had a bottle of sunscreen in the trunk of the car, but when we got to the beach, I discovered that bottle was actually bug repellant. I spent most of the time we were there, hiding from the sun, under my umbrella. Blaze took this picture of me.



I still managed to burn, proving once again that DH's theory is correct, all someone has to do is show me a picture of the sun and I will burn.