Tag: Beauty

Posted in Delicious Joy

Any Thyme

Posted on by Neal Saye

“Robert, please get me a lemon and some fresh thyme,” I said-pled, as we finished up some shopping, and I headed to the car, while he was trekking across the street to one of our favorite little independent grocers.

Back home I delved into magical alchemy …

Homemade simple syrup, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, orange slices and … some THYME.

Slash it all together with some Tito’s and voilà …

Wait, that is not the best shot!

That’s a little better.

But here, look at the lavender blooms of the thyme through the glass …

And here are photographer Robert’s photos …

It’s thyme …

Posted in Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling?

Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 7/14/25

Posted on by Neal Saye

Oh my goodness! I’m still MARVELING over Robert’s absolutely amazing Scalloped Potatoes in Cast Iron Sunday Night Supper …

Putting it in the oven.

Taking it out of the oven. 

It was actually a full meal because Robert added layers of turkey and ham — and then some bacon on top.

(I unsuccessfully tried to convince myself that it was sort of vegetarian since it had so many potatoes.)

Posted in Travel

Miami Day Four: South Beach-ing

Posted on by Neal Saye

Breakfast on our little balcony.

Our Travel Buddies playing second fiddle to the coffee.

With pastries from the Bakery at Versailles (from yesterday).

Left to right: Millefeuille au Caramel, Pistachio Cannoli and Tarta Santiago.

Oops, I smudged the Tarta Santiago. Here’s what it looked like before:

“Tarta de Santiago, or St. James Cake, is an almond cake from Galicia with its origins in the Middle Ages. The cake is a simple base of almonds, sugar and eggs, usually flavored with cinnamon and lemon zest.

It’s easy to identify it as it’s almost always adorned with powdered sugar with an imprint of the Cross of St. James, also known as the Cruz de Santiago.” sundaybaker.com

Now you know.

Stuffed, we made our way over to Miami Beach, South Beach to be specific, for a little morning “swim.”

Showing my age with an umbrella.

Our Travel Buddies went with us! It was so difficult getting sunscreen on them.

Sun-tired, we trekked across Ocean Boulevard to one of my favorite restaurants from yesteryear, News Cafe.

HR smashing a smash burger.

Goodbye News Cafe. We had a great time.

Before heading back to downtown Miami, we Ubered over to the Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall. Why? Because in my memory (from academic conference trips to the University of Miami a couple of decades ago) Lincoln Road was filled with all these quirky shops, bars and restaurants. No more. Big name stores everywhere.

But we did see this:

Where did they get all those rubber ducks?!

A terrific day at the beach.