Were they good - Yes they were!

Bacon Wrapped Scallops with an butter garlic-scallion cream sauce

The other day when unpacking some totes to find software disks to load in my new laptop - I discovered a long lost treasure, my scallop shells which I use to serve one of my specialties, so I decided it was time to cook up some scallops, which I love.

Shells

Scallops typically are mostly tasteless unless they are old then real fishy, but fresh or freshly frozen are sweet and need a good sauce to bring out the flavor of the scallop.

My favorite is a fresh butter garlic/scallion cream sauce with a little kicker of pepper and chili powder. So crushed chopped garlic in a small sauce pan with a stick of good salted butter and some finely chopped green onions - simmer in the melted butter then put a tablespoon of flour in a few ounces of cold milk or cream - shake briskly to dissolve the flour then slowly stir into the sauce pan of butter and garlic - stir until it thickens. Add some fresh ground pepper to taste and some chili powder or cayenne pepper to add a little bite.

Bacon wrapped scallop under the broiler for about 15 minutes each side - turn once until bacon is crisp!

Spoon some sauce in the serving shell and then add the scallops and spoon some more sauce on top.

What a great presentation!

Shared in the clubhouse with rave reviews while watching the College Football Championship - YEA CLEMSON!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Chili and a few PBR's at the Oasis

I am not much for NFL Football, but one of my neighbors asked if I was going to watch the game, so I fired up the Crockpot with some cold weather Chili, fired up the heater and opened the Oasis for the game...beautiful evening out with calm winds and a little warmer than it has been.

Chili cooked for about 18 hours..

Heater works great!

Inviting atmosphere for sure..

Game on - Seattle wins...

Love how it looks at night...

As the winter weather warms up will have to have a few more gatherings...

Stay tuned for details on my next adventure!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Oasis Ready for Snowbird Friends

Other than some additional paint and clean-up and plants the Oasis is pretty much ready for my winter friends. It has been quite a bit of work, but I am extremely happy with the results - evenings out watching the World Series has been quite pleasant, other than the fact that Boston won - but hockey season has started so will be watching some more games outside.

New Furniture!

New Heater for Ed and Shirley! Have to shorten by about 14 inches to fit under the trellis!

Very pleasant in the evening hours...

The solar shield provides nice shade and should hold in the heat from the new heater!

I Have some great plans for new appetizers and snacks!

I Plan on some wonderful Happy Hours and relaxing on my new patio, hurry up winter friends!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Oasis - Paint, Music & Trellis

Since returning from Ohio I have been busy working on the trellis and new items for the Oasis. I have added interior and exterior speakers and new amp for stereo, wire shelves, another set of metal shelves and finished the wood part of the trellis. Hardware store trip today for a few more painting accessories then will get it finished over the weekend - flat area of the shed will get a coat of beige paint in the coming weeks.

Once I get the trellis painted I will be installing the sun shield fabric and the ceiling fan...also have more outdoor furniture ordered so when my winter friends get here there will be some nice seating.

The rest of the trellis is up!

Dark brown trim is started the entire trellis will be dark brown!

New wire shelves

4 stereo speakers - two inside and two outside

New stereo amplifier - still needs a little wire cleanup! It sounds great!

Another set of standing shelves for tools etc...

Two more 6 foot lengths of LED Light tubes for the trellis - on a dimmer!

Paint supplies!

Hope to have everything completed by the end of the month, ready to enjoy some nice music and friends at Cap's Oasis!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Blog Update - Oasis Trellis

The long 16 foot 2 X 6's finally arrived over the weekend and were delivered so today I started to get the trellis up at the Oasis. The plan is to create a 12 foot X 12 foot square of shade with the combination of the trellis and an outdoor shade cloth which is designed to cut 95% of the light and heat, we shall see how it works out. I also have an outdoor ceiling fan for the middle...

First a pretty picture...

The beginning of the trellis - still need to add 5 more cross members...but the hard part is up!

Sun Shade fabric

Ceiling Fan Light kit..

A little dessert from yesterday - they won't last long...

Hopefully the additional 2 X 4 12 foot cross members will be delivered this week before I leave for Ohio next Tuesday and I can finish the wood part of the trellis then paint when I get back and put up the solar shade and fan.

More later - still having fun!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

A little Prank and some cooking!

Sometimes you just have to have a little fun around here...

Part of my summer job around here is handle the after hours phone and a little security patrol at night and then lock the pool and hot-tub and fitness room at 10:00 pm. Every Morning Ric our maint guy unlocks the pool and hot tub, checks the bathrooms and facilities then starts his day, it seems Mondays after the weekend the pool is usually in need to some cleaning. Well this Monday he was in for a surprise! Amazon and I were about to have a little fun...

It was a hit - he laughed and laughed after a little shock at first...

I spent most of Sunday trying out my new Convection Oven in the Oasis - nice to be able to bake things again.

First Up was meatloaf - microwave Stouffers just does not cut it, time for my old recipe and a good meatloaf.

Oven pre-heated to 375...

Back in the trailer mixed up some brownies for dessert.

Meatloaf done and out of the oven...

Brownies in the Oven!

Brownies Done

Dinner Served had some mashed potatoes with the meatloaf!

10 PM The floater went in the pool!

The park is in pretty good shape - Ric is a great guy and really making a difference on the property - with young Bryon off to greener pastures it has taken a little toll on keeping the place pristine, but from a Maintenance perspective things are running smooth. We have had a couple storms with some wind and that always generates some palm fonds down around the park and leaves and windblown trash so that is time consuming to pic up and dispose of.

Can't wait to get out of here for vacation on the 11th!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Update - Summer Fun & Oasis Update

Nice to have my appetite back and adding some new items for cooking and eating. Finally have an oven I can bake in, so time for some goodies...

Also time to get some bigger pans - now that I have a bigger oven to use...

4 cookies just a little too much...

Ordered this the other day should help solve the problem...

The New oven is fantastic and a great addition to the Oasis!

Also ordered a new egg poacher for the microwave! It works great!

It's too hot to work on the Trellis for the Oasis - so decided to get a larger TV for inside the trailer, same as the one outside in the Oasis - 32 inch ROKU TV...it barely fits on the counter.

Already have the ceiling fan and misters and solar shield for the trellis, so once the weather breaks a little will get the wood and put is all together! Found this the other day and think it will go well with the trellis and make my outdoor space perfect for relaxing. Gonna order it soon while it is on sale.

Had to order some big boy pants for my trip to Ohio - in case shorts and T-shirts are not warm enough, my last pair of new jeans ended up full of holes from battery acid working on the Golf Cart, so needed a new pair. I fly out of Palm Springs on the 11th of September non-stop to Denver then Non-stop to Cleveland. Arrive in early evening will be a long day.

Look out Ohio, will be there soon!

Capt. Jim - "The Wanderer"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest