Back from vacation!

I'm back from a wonderful getaway.  Bob and I went to Florida and enjoyed some time with Terri, of Your Friend from Florida. Terri is so sweet and invited us to come visit her, and when I whined about the nasty winter we were having, she invited us again! 

I'm going to break this up into several posts so you all don't get overloaded!

We left Grand Rapids on Sunday morning.  It was cold and a snow storm was coming in over the lake.  Here we're getting close to landing - look at all that green!  We arrived in Florida shortly after 1 and Terri was there to pick us up. 

She took us to her lovely home and I had to take a picture of this Palm tree - something we don't get to see in Michigan!

Terri spoiled us with her amazing Ziti and fresh, Florida Strawberry shortcake. Sooo good!

On Monday, Terri took us to Bonnet Springs Park.  What a beautiful place!  If I lived there, I'd be walking the trails frequently.

I love Live Oak trees and Spanish moss, another thing we don't see in the North.  This park was full of them.

They have an elevated walking path.

Here's Terri and I at the park.

We also stopped at Hollis Gardens, but they were closed. We ended up going back the next day, but someone passing by offered to take a photo of the three of us.

We saw these pelicans on the lake by Hollis Gardens.

Terri lives in Lakeland, which is known as the swan city. They became a symbol of the city when Queen Elizabeth gifted a pair to the city in 1957.  Now there are lots of them and we enjoyed a visit to feed them.  They are so beautiful!

I caught this pair in the classic swan pose.

That's all for today. Tomorrow I'll share more about the city of Lakeland.

Break Time

I'm going to be on a blog break next week. We're going to visit a dear blog friend and enjoy a little sunshine.  And - we're even getting to meet up with a few other blog friends while we are away. 
See you all soon!

Cooking Thursday

I got today's recipe from my friend Carrie at Northwoods Scrapbook. She shares lots of good recipes and this one sounded like a winner.  And... it was!  Her recipe called for ground beef but I used Italian sausage because I had some in the freezer.  I'm sure either would be good.  It was easy to make and full of flavor.

Easy Spaghetti Hot Dish

1 pound ground beef or Italian sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce or marinara
1 box of your favorite pasta; spaghetti, penne (I used rigatoni)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Spices of your choice; salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic, oregano

In a dutch oven or pot, add the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and green pepper and cook for several minutes until softened. Add the garlic and brown for a minute. Then push veggies to the side and add your meat, cook until it's done and drain any grease. Stir meat and veggies together.
Pour in your sauce and add seasonings of your choice.  Cover and let it simmer.
In the meantime boil water in another pot and make pasta according to the box directions.
Drain pasta and add to the sauce mix. Stir half of the mozzarella into the pasta and sauce, then sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella on top.
You can cover it to let the cheese melt and then serve it or put it into a casserole and keep warm in the over.
Serve with parmesan on the side to sprinkle on top.