Hello from Texas Coastal Bend

[TX Salt Life]

As I am writing this post I am watching the track of hurricane Beryl.  Where I live on the Texas coast (Aransas Pass), is in the cone of uncertainty.  My husband and I own and manage an RV park on the coast.  We survived  Cat 4 Hurricane Harvey and don't want to go through another one of those.

 

I love to grow, catch, cook, preserve and eat all types of food.  Working in my kitchen brings me such joy.  Many times we get together with guests in our RV park and cook the days catch together.  I am hoping to find new recipes to share with our guests.  Plus, learn new tips and tricks when working with fish and seafood.  The main types of fish in our area is:  Speckled Trout, Red Drum, Black Drum, Flounder, Mangrove Snapper, Red Snapper, Triple Tail, Grouper, Amberjack, Kingfish, and Mahi-mahi (Durado).  Seafood is mainly:  Shrimp, oysters, and crab.

 

I have a small garden that I grow fresh veggies and herbs.  I have just started getting into canning with items out of my garden.  I just canned watermelon jam, lemon curd and lime curd.

 

Another interest I have started to play with is baking with freshly milled wheat.  At present I have a pretty good sandwich bread made with freshly milled wheat and yeast.  Next adventure is to try sourdough with freshly milled wheat.

 

Here's to many hours of checking out this forum.

[Smithy]

Welcome, @TX Salt Life!

 

Prior to Hurrican Harvey, my husband and I spent happy times camped on the Bolivar Peninsula, just north of Rollover Pass; and also on Goose Island State Park near where you live. Those were fun times. We hated to read about the devastation at the state parks and the private resorts. Here's hoping Beryl gives you a miss.

 

We particularly enjoyed buying seafood at the local shops and figuring out what to do with it. His preferred method of dealing with almost anything was to fry it -- but there's so much more to do than that! I'm fond of shrimp with pasta, for instance. And the oysters! Oh, yum. Your gatherings with guests for communal cooking sound fun, and I hope you'll say more about that.

 

Lime curd and lemon curd are familiar and delicious to me, but I hope you'll post about watermelon jam -- either here or in one of the continually open topics. Here are some you may especially enjoy:

 

What are you preserving, and how are you doing it?

 

Gardening: (2016-)

 

If you have any questions about how the forums work or where to post something, feel free to ask a host (I am one). 

 

[TdeV]

Hello @TX Salt Life. I can see you've a weath of interests and I shall follow all your posts!

 

Best wishes for surviving these storms.

 

Welcome to eG.

[C. sapidus]

Welcome to eGullet @TX Salt Life! Good luck with Beryl, and I look forward to hearing about your growing, catching, cooking, preserving, and eating.

 

But especially seafood. I love seafood. 😃

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Welcome to eGullet.

There are a fair number of gardeners here so feel free to post about yours.

 

[TX Salt Life]

I woke this morning with hurricane Beryl ticking north and starting to make me nervous.  As these things get closer they get stronger just before they hit.  I will try and give you updates on this feed.  Right now it is just HOT.

[Smithy]

What sort of preparations do you have to make, and how soon do you make them? I'm thinking about storm shutters, but maybe not in an RV park? Do you advise your guests to leave? How far inland and how quickly would people have to move in an evacuation? Do you have water stored, a standby generator or three? What, if anything, can you do with your garden?

 

Is there anything left of fresh produce, sandwich fixings, bread etc. (food that doesn't need to be cooked) in the aisles of the local HEB?

[Smithy]

By the way, what sort of humongous fish is that in your profile photo? Looks like a nice catch. I'm looking forward to reading about your fish preparations!

[TX Salt Life]

I have just sent out a notice to our renters to make their decisions.  Once Beryl enters the Gulf of Mexico you might have 2 days.  If you pull out traffic will be bad and gas stations will be packed.  Those who keep their RV at the coast should pull in all slides and secure outside items so they do not become projectiles.  Yes, the grocery store will become bare.  During hurricane Harvey our local grocery store HEB has plans in place once the storm passes.  They bring necessities into the effected areas quickly.  One thing that I do remember from Harvey was the amount of help that our coastal area received from all of our neighbors in Texas and the United States.  Our power in our park was out for 3 weeks (not fun).  

 

The fish in my pic is a Red Drum.  These guys will give you a good fight.  As for my garden at this point it is about done from all the heat.  I did manage to can Roasted Marinara Sauce, Garden Spaghetti Sauce, Bruschetta in a jar, Salsa, Cowboy Candy and Cowboy Candy BBQ Sauce.

 

I have a bad feeling in my gut and hoping this will change.  I will try and keep up, but if we take a hit I will probably loose my way to get info out.

[TX Salt Life]

Follow up from hurricane Beryl.  Thankfully Beryl totally missed my home and business.  We are praying for those who ended up in the path of Beryl.  We had a few very hot and hard days of prepping for the hurricane.  The pic is of my home when we started boarding it up.  Yesterday turned out to just be a calm cool and beautiful day.  We were hoping for some much needed rain and that did not happen.  We did not receive any damaging winds.  The temp stayed in the low 80's all day which was so enjoyed.  It is early in the hurricane season and we could have to do this all over again if a system spools up.  

 

Stay calm and cook on.

[Smithy]

I am soooo glad to get your news! Rockport and Aransas Pass both crossed my newsfeed. I've been worried on your behalf about storm surge.

 

Let's see your celebratory dinner! Perhaps a potluck with guests who stayed, if any?