My husband and I moved to Los Angeles 2 months after getting married in the Virgin Islands. We met in college while I was dating another boy and 2 years later began seeing each other. Then 2 years after that became engaged and 2 years after that were married. We lived in Los Angeles for 2 years before moving back to Wrightsville Beach, NC where we stayed until I became pregnant with our little angel, who is now 2 years old.
We had a blast in LA, it was like a really long vacation where there were no consequences, no dead lines, and no one to answer to but each other. We saw amazing concerts, drank incredible wine, met people famous and non who still influence our lives today. We hiked up beautiful mountains, skied down giant ones, ate superior sushi, drove to Mexico, and learned valuable life lessons. We initially had driven across country to continue our acting careers but that certainly took a turn for the different when we got immersed in the food and wine business. We worked in great restaurants while on our ‘vacation’ and got to work with some amazing chefs and sommeliers. We loved food and wine prior to moving to California but it wasn’t until we were there that we really fell in love with it. We were introduced to wines that weren’t available in North Carolina and produce that we had never heard of before. It was fantastic.
It was LA that made us decide we would love to start our own business one day. We would stay up late at night dreaming and sketching our dream restaurant or wine bar and couldn’t wait to get back ‘home’ to start. But like all vacations, this one had to end when reality soon set in. It took us 2 years to decide we would rather live in the place we were running away from so many years ago. We wanted a family and both agreed that it wouldn’t happen the way we wanted it to in LA.
But when we first planned on moving to the Pacific coast we were so excited about the weather, the no-smoking laws in restaurants, and the produce. After our first couple of months in our beautiful, little apartment we decided we wanted to grow our own. Everywhere you walked in LA had citrus trees growing, so we didn’t think it would be that hard. We decided we wanted to grow avocados and limes because we’re suckers for margaritas and guacamole and…
and pick our own ingredients?! Sooo Cool!
I did not inherit my mother’s green thumb so I let G do all the work. Well, it wasn’t really work… I mean, we planted the plants, watered them some and stood back and waited. And waited. And waited. The avocado plant just sat there, shed a little, got uglier and uglier and just became a nuisance. The lime tree, however, started to flower and produce the cutest, tiniest little limes. It took us a couple of weeks before we realized that our cat was eating all these cute, tiny little limes so we banished her from the terrace and really focused on our one, remaining lime. Weeks passed and it got bigger and bigger. More weeks passed and when it seemed like it had finished growing we planned our ceremony. Margaritas!! Only, we needed more than one lime for a margarita so we decided the proper thing to do was to cut ours, taste it first to really appreciate it, then blend it with other ones to make our drinks. This lime was a thing of beauty. The skin was kelly green and very firm, we were so excited! We sliced into that firm, green skin and it was even more beautiful inside. We each took our halves, clinked them together and licked them.
What did that taste like to you?
Well, maybe that’s just part of the peel we’re tasting.
Yes, right-the bitter part of the peel is what we’re tasting.
It will taste better once we juice it.
So we did. We juiced it, mixed it with 3 other limes, some simple syrup, triple sec and tequila and Cheers! Glass to lips, and…
That’s gross! Does yours taste like Pez? No, it’s not Pez…what is that?
Pine Sol! We grew Pine Sol!
We poured those drinks down the sink and gave the plant to a noisy neighbor.
*The Perfect Margarita*
-equal parts freshly squeezed lime juice, simple syrup, silver tequila and triple sec.
Mix well and serve in a small, chilled glass over crushed ice. Salt the rim if you’d like.
7 Comments
Abbey-you're a very good writer. You could write cookbooks or a memoir. My empty nest project is to try & write a cookbook. Maybe we could collaborate?
Have you tried agave nectar in your margaritas? That's the big thing here. Mike does it by mixing agave nectar with water-half and half in place of simple syrup.
Thanks for your posts. I look forward to them.
Sebia
Oh my goodness, Sebia-thank you so much! (Now, could you go back and tell that to my old English teachers?!) I would absolutely love to write a novel/cookbook and would thoroughly enjoy the collaboration, I'm sure. I've always had a vision of writing autobiographical short stories that somewhat centered around food and had recipes at the end of the chapters. That's my ultimate dream.
And I have agave nectar and used it in my son's oatmeal before he could eat honey, but have never used it in margaritas. I'm sure it would be delicious but I fear I would blow my budget b/c I love a margarita! 🙂
Honestly, thank you so much for you comments. It truly made my day.
Would it help to have affirmation from a current English teacher? 🙂 Love the narratives you've been weaving into your blog entries as of late, and can't wait to see you tomorrow!
Oh Beth, that means a lot. You have no idea.
Stopping by to say "hi" and check out your blog. Love your writing!
oh good Abbey, I'll tell you my idea when I get close to starting.
Here's Zola's Cornbread from the 1974 Furniture City Feasts by the High Point Junior League. Zola was a cook in High Point and my mom said she went to at least one luncheon that Zola cooked.
1 cup self rising corn meal
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small can creamed corn
1/2 carton of sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
Mix together. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.
Thanks 'Boutique'-Glad to have a new reader! And thanks for the recipe, Sebia-it sounds awesome!