First Tastes of Florida

Finally, after several months of anticipation this summer, Travis and I have arrived in Florida! We are living in Bradenton, Florida (40 miles-ish south of Tampa) for Travis' year long internship here at Trinity Lutheran Church.  We are excited and have had a great time so far in the week and a half we've been here. And for our culinary fortune, we both LOVE seafood, and are excited for the year-long of seafood ahead of us! Mercury levels -- can they really get too dangerous?!

We lived on Anna Maria island for a few days while our condo was being worked on with about a 2 minute walk to the beach. Here is a picture of our first walk on the beach.

Holmes Beach, Anna Maria, Florida

Pretty, right?! Oh just wait, there is more to come later...

The second night we were here we wanted to eat on the beach and The Sandbar restaurant on Anna Maria island was suggested to us.  Well, we wanted on the beach, and we got ON the beach -- like sand beneath our feet, on the beach. 

This was our view from dinner at The Sandbar

In continuing my quest to eat epic food, something on the menu jumped right out at me when we sat down: Conch Fritters, (pronounced conk).  Here is the Wikipedia link discussing what Conch is:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch.  The dish was basically just a fried ball of chopped up Conch, (see below).

Front to back: Conch fritters, hot boiled shrimp and cold boiled shrimp

What did they taste like, you ask? I thought they kind of tasted like hush puppies; they were pretty good!

So, for about a week, every single meal we had was seafood.  We had a delicious Flounder sandwich from A Moveable Feast on Anna Maria, Ahi tuna and Salmon from Bone Fish in Bradenton and the list goes on and on.  Travis' parents arrived in Bradenton with the rest of our stuff on Friday and we took them to dinner on the island.  The sun was setting as we were heading that way, so we hopped out of the car to check it out, pictures below.

So gorgeous it's hard to believe it's real, right?

On Saturday, a couple from the church took us and Travis' parents to dinner on Anna Maria island at The Waterfront.  The first time we drove by it, I had the feeling that this would be an amazing place, and probably one of our favorite restaurants for the year.  Small, nice and right across the beach, it's a great spot!  And, to top it off, they had a super tasty Lobster Bisque on the menu.  Much to my excitement, they had an epic Macaroni and Cheese dish on the menu (and, to remind you: a few months ago, I decided that since I love mac and cheese so much, anywhere I go that has an epic mac and cheese dish on the menu, I have to order it).  And so, I enjoyed a delish Truffled Gouda Macaroni and Cheese.

It is as good as it looks!

After getting settled enough to work out way around the kitchen, Travis and I decided to cook our first meal in our condo.  A trip to the grocery store to see what was fresh, we decided on one of our traditional dinners, with a variation: sauteed mushrooms, fresh green beans with garlic and, instead of Salmon, Shark steaks! Yes, I said Shark.  When I saw it in the case, I knew I must attempt it. They suggest that you grill shark, as it is a meatier fish but we didn't have our grill stuff ready so we baked it with a simple citrus grill seasoning instead.

Pre-baked Shark steaks with olive oil and citrus grill seasoning

Shark, mushrooms and green beans are served!

Our first attempt at Shark was pretty good.  Shark is definitely the toughest fish I've ever had, I almost needed a knife to cut it.  I am definitely interested in marinating it and grilling it on a grill with a glaze.  We plan on trying it -- and you know I'll let you know how it goes!

So it's been a good start to our time in Florida, and we anticipate a great year ahead of us.  Cheers!