liamsaunt

Yes, it was. And yes, it did! There was an indentation in the wooden board the steak was served on, but that was not enough to contain the flow of butter and steak juices. When they took the board away, there was a puddle on the table. We saw some other tomahawk steaks going out that looked like they had the equivalent of three sticks of butter on them. Butter is delicious, but that was a little much! We spent yesterday back at Francis beach. We were greeted by a deer as we got to the end of the trail to the beach The rocky side of Francis, where the good snorkeling is. The other side is sandy, but we like the rocky side (no people) Last night we went to our favorite fancy restaurant on island, Zozos. Typically, there is a four course prix fix menu here, which is too much food for us. In the on season (which is December-April), they open up the lounge on the lower level and offer the menu a la carte, which works better for our appetites. The cocktail list And our selections. My husband had a dirty martini, and I chose the Aqua Fresca from the mocktail menu (That was another annoying thing about Dave and Jerry's. No mocktails on the menu. I usually just have water with dinner, but will choose an interesting mocktail on vacation if they are offered). The menu We shared the langoustino (delicious) The spaghetti al chitarra (fantastic) and the tuna (again, delicious) The views are great from this location. We really miss the resort that used to be here on the National Park land, but the ownership of the resort ruins and the land is stuck in a legal dispute between the US government and the private equity group that was operating the resort at the time of the hurricanes, and there does not seem to be an end in sight to that battle. St. Thomas in the distance We have no dinner reservations tonight. The plan is for some snorkeling and eventually locating a fish sandwich and maybe some conch fritters.

I will definitely report back. I don't think it can count as camping, per se. There are multiple places to do actual camping on St. John. The National Park runs a campground that has really nice facilities. They provide everything from bare sites to cottages, and it's on one of the best beaches on the island. There's also an eco campground on the other side of the island that has good reviews, and is also near a good beach for snorkeling and hiking. My husband is not a camper though. Even the "glamping" is pushing his comfort level. Good memory! That is the place. We did not initially have dinner plans for last night, but my husband decided he wanted to go to the local steakhouse. He figured the leftovers would make good ingredients for meals back at the villa later in the trip. I am not a huge fan of this restaurant, because there is not a lot for me to choose from since I don't eat red meat. I will get my picks later in the visit. Palate cleanser of raspberry and black pepper sorbet Appetizers We shared an order of the duck fat gnocchi. I thought the gnocchi was undercooked, but my husband liked it Entree options I opted for the pumpkin curry with shrimp added. The curry had great flavor, but there were no detectable chunks of pumpkin. I wonder what I would have gotten if I had not added the shrimp. Husband had a steak, which he enjoyed. He ordered a side of wild mushrooms, but they brought him mashed potatoes by mistake (twice!). By the time the mushrooms came he had eaten most of the steak that he wanted. It was OK, we brought them back to the villa for mushroom omelets. Dessert was a gooey St. Louis style butter cake. This was not to either of our likings. It was our fault. Neither of us had tried this type of cake before and it was just too sweet. We agreed that we won't be back to this restaurant. It tends to attract large groups that come in after a day of overindulging, and the resulting loud, loud noise from them makes for an annoying dinner experience. The behavior is especially annoying since it is the most expensive restaurant on the island! Plus, my husband said they have an awful wines by the glass selection, so he always has to buy an entire bottle to get a glass of something he likes (they let you take opened bottles home here). We left with an entire order of mushrooms, half a steak, and 3/4 of a bottle of red wine. Here's a picture of where we spent yesterday. Francis Bay

We are back on St. John. This trip it's just my husband and me. The flight times were not great this time for whatever reason, so we came in Friday and used Marriott points to spend one evening on St. Thomas at the relatively newly opened Westin Frenchman's Reef. This property was devastated in the hurricanes of 2017, and it took all these years to rebuild it. If you like resorts, it seems to check all of those boxes: lots of restaurants and bars, multiple huge swimming pools, spa, watersports, boats, etc. That type of vacation is not my speed, but it was fine for one night. View We made a reservation at the fine dining restaurant, Isla Blue. Restaurant It was very dark so taking photos was a challenge. Some menu pictures for @rotuts appetizers hot appetizers and caviar service entrees We ordered the hot turadito appetizer, which was made with local snapper. It was not really hot, they just poured some sizzling oil over it at the table. We also ordered the tempura sushi roll, which had more local snapper and tuna too. I am not sure why they put gold flakes on a sushi roll, but OK Husband got a 1.5 lb. local lobster for his entree. He said it was outstanding. The sauces were a lime butter and a banana sauce of some kind. I got a the cassava crusted mahi mahi with callaloo sauce. The fish was very fresh and I love callaloo but the coating was a bit bland. Desserts We split the coconut cake. It was ok. We did not finish it. Breakfast the next morning I got a fruit plate with plantain bread Husband got coconut overnight oats And then we hopped the boat over to St. John. We are staying in the same house we rented last summer for a week, and then we are heading to a nearby private island to glamp for three nights. Neither of us were starving at dinner, so we just went to Longboard for some small plates. Drinks. I did not catch their names. Mine is on the right. It is a cocktail with mint and cracked black pepper. Husband wanted the curried lobster rangoons. I dislike lobster so did not try them. I ordered the mahi mahi seveche with yucca chips And then we split an order of tuna tempura tacos and mahi mahi sliders (one each)

Leftover mashed potatoes from the weekend's turkey dinner got repurposed into last night's potato soup with leeks and bacon.

Egg banh mi. The crazy color on the pickled vegetables is from the varieties from my CSA box. They sent purple daikons and red-orange carrots, and they became neon bright in the pickling marinade.

They are very easy. I just cubed up a couple of sweet potatoes, and tossed them in a spice blend and a little vegetable oil. I used hot smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt for this batch. Then I roasted them at 425 for about 40 minutes. My sister made the beans, and I was not paying attention, so I'm not sure what she put in them. Last night at the request of everyone but me, I made a roast turkey dinner. I am not a fan of roast turkey, so my plate was everything but the bird. Sides were mashed potatoes, butternut squash pureed with maple, cranberries that I made last fall and froze, Eric Kim's Thanksgiving stuffing recipe from NY Times Cooking, and green beans with almonds.

Spicy roasted sweet potato and bean tacos.

Ricotta gnocchi with burst cherry tomato sauce and spinach. I could have used more care in shaping the gnocchi but nobody minded, I was in a hurry and we were hungry.

You are right, I don't eat red meat. I have not cooked a steak under the broiler. I try and use the outdoor grill if possible when I make steak, which is why I don't offer it very often at this time of year. Last night we had bowls of roasted tomatoes, onions, broccolini and feta cheese over lemony orzo.

I have a Wolf too. If I am broiling on the top rack I always check after 90 seconds. If I want to leave it in longer I start on the middle rack and then move it up for the last minute or so. Otherwise, char central! Last night was clear out the crisper drawernight, so a chopped salad with leftover chicken cleaned all that up

My CSA grew lemongrass this summer and of course gave us a ton of it. I cut off the unusable parts and then froze the rest whole, wrapped very well. It's been fine to use from frozen. Sunday we had chicken and eggplant parmesan at my nephew's request And last night was my choice: Thai red curry sweet potato and carrot soup

Miso salmon bowls with udon noodles, oyster mushrooms, spinach, carrots and cilantro

The fish truck only had one container of the Martha's Vineyard bay scallops left by the time I got there, so I bought that and a container of Cape Cod sea scallops and made scallops picatta over angel hair.

Stir fry with chicken, peppers, onions, Thai basil, and a little bit of broccoli that needed to get used up.

Mini rigatoni with roasted grape tomatoes and buratta

Broccoli, potato and cheddar soup

Yes, basically. I added some cayenne pepper and garlic powder to the crushed pretzels. They were very crunchy and tasty, but a little saltier than I would have preferred. Everyone else thought they were fine, but next time I might crush up half no salt added and half regular pretzels. Last night we had quesadillas stuffed with bell peppers, spinach, onions and cheese, with some guacamole, a salsa that came in my CSA box, and a red cabbage slaw.

Caesar salad with pretzel coated chicken on top Later that night I made a small plate of buffalo wings for the guys to enjoy with the Super Bowl. Almost the entire package was the flat side, which was weird.

rigatoni with garlicky mushrooms

grouper reuben

I boiled them for a brief while, then rinsed in cold water. I finished cooking them in the sauce at the very end. It worked well. Last night, I roasted a big bag full of parsnips and then added them to an oven baked "risotto" recipe. Topped with a few scallops.

Rice noodle stir fry with broccolini, peppers, and mushrooms

Italian wedding soup with tortellini. I put multi colored carrots from my farm box in the soup, and the purple ones stained the broth an odd color. Still tasted fine though.

Lasagna and salad

Haddock poached in spicy tomato sauce with olives and capers