2022

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Adopt-A-Manatee

(In Search of Moo-Shoo)

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For Mother’s Day 2022, my daughter Veronica gave me the gift of a Manatee Adoption

She chose the Manatee, Moo-Shoo

She knew I would love her name.  And, I do!

I am still Moo-Shoo’s Sponsor, my daughter is continuing the gift of adoption for me.  🙂

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Jimmy Buffet, Co-Chairman,

SMC Board of Directors

Save the Manatee Club    www.SaveTheManatee.org

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Jimmy Buffet Helped Save the Manatees

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2023/09/12/how-jimmy-buffett-saved-manatees-column/

RIP Sir, you will be greatly missed.

December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023

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Official Biography:  Moo Shoo

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First Identified:  2010 /  Mother:  Unknown /  Sex:  Female

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(Could this be Moo-Shoo?  A very friendly Manatee popped it’s head out of the water and came and visited with us.  Moo Shoo has been known to be very friendly and scrape herself on the research boat.  That is exactly what happened here with us.)

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Moo Shoo is a female manatee who visits Blue Spring State park in the winter and was first identified in 2010.  It’s possible she was visiting the park even earlier, as there were 19 calves who could not be identified in the 2009-2010 winter season, and Moo Shoo may have been one of them.  Researchers identify manatees by their scar patterns and they study and record their behavior.  Unfortunately, by the next manatee season, Moo Shoo soon had some scars.  She had a superficial scrape on the left edge of her tail and three prop slashes with a skeg slash in the middle of her back from a boat hit.

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“With such a young manatee, I was sure these would heal to invisibility,” said Wayne Hartley, Save the Manatee Club’s Manatee Specialist.  “Initially she was know as ”S5/10,’ and that meant she was a manatee I thought I would only be able to follow for one season, and I would not know her if she came back the next year.”

But by the next season, Moo Shoo came to Blue Spring with her white markings intact.  She then became “U14/11,” meaning she was marked well enough for Wayne to possibly identify her in the future.  At the end of the season, she received the name “Moo Shoo,” and her Blue Spring number “BS668,” signifying that she is officially know as a manatee who visits the warm water of Blue Spring State Park in the winter.

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Since 2010, Moo Shoo has been recorded as making several visits to Blue Spring during the winter season.  She seems to like hanging out halfway up the spring run, as she is frequently observed there.  “She also loves to nudge the research canoe and rub her belly on it.”  Says Wayne.  On November 4, 2014, she brought in a little boy calf that received the “baby” name Mandan, and the pair was recorded at Blue Spring 30 times that winter.  She was not the most attentive of mothers as she was often far from her calf,”  Said Wayne.  “She still wanted to do the ‘play with the canoe’ thing.  I don’t think Moo Shoo wanted to be an adult yet!”

Since that time, Moo Shoo has continued to return to Blue Spring each winter.  Mandan also came back as a yearling with Moo Shoo, but he does not have the marks that will make him easy to identify in the future now that he is weaned and on his own.  During the 2017-2018 and the 2019-20 manatee season,  Moo Shoo brought two more calves to the park.  Wayne reports  that Moo Shoo was a much better mother with these calves and did not seem to be interested in the research canoe as much.

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If you happen to visit Blue Spring State Park in the winter, see if you can identify Moo Shoo.  The spring’s water naturally maintains a year-round temperature of 72*F and is an attractive winter refuge of manatees.

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The Beautiful Spring Water

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Scraping itself on our Canoe  🙂

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The Tail of Moo Shoo?  Maybe?

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Shopping For Life Jackets (and stuff.)  🙂

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If you will be kayaking or canoeing, or just boating in the state of Florida it is imperative that you have a life jacket either on you, or in your boat.  You can be fined HEAVILY if you do not have the proper safety equipment at the ready.

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Creating Our Manatee Christmas Tree

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I had this fantasy of us canoeing in Blue Springs with a lovely Christmas tree situated in the center of our canoe, and everyone that we came across ooohhing and awwwwiiing at how wonderful it looked.  Their mouths gaped open with surprise and delight.  Just like in some magazine featuring a Christmas tree in a row boat on the cover of the said magazine……

(Yeah well, keep reading!)

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I even purchased lovely ornaments of Manatees, and what looked like lovely blue ocean ornaments.  I used our seashell leis from Hawaii as lovely garland….

(Again, keep reading.)

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Dried Oranges and Star Fruit

I wanted to add something very unique to Florida for our Manatee Christmas Tree.  I decided that I wanted to dry some Oranges and Star Fruit.  After all, Blue Springs is located in Orange City, Florida.  I also loved the idea of Star Fruit because of it’s lovely Star shape.

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It is actually very simple to do.  You just need to buy some Oranges and Star Fruit, slice them into ornament sized pieces, place them on racks onto baking sheets, and then bake in a low oven, about 250F for a few hours.  You do want to check them about every hour.

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Plan on the baking time taking a good 2-3 hours, or even longer.

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I could have actually cooked these longer, but I was satisfied with how they looked here.

I also wanted some of the Star Fruit to eat with our Moo Shoo Bars, below.

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Decorating Our Manatee Tree

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I’ve got a few battery operated lights,

Manatee ornaments,

Blue ornaments,

Seashells lei garlands…

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Dried Oranges and Star Fruit….

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(And a few little hidden Christmas gifts.)

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A Mama Manatee left, and an Alligator right.

(Surprisingly, they live together in perfect harmony.)

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The Dried Oranges and Star Fruit Ready for the Tree

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I just used some old vintage Christmas tree hooks, easy!

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Beautiful!  Ready for our Blue Springs Christmas!

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Here We GO!

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On Our Way to Blue Springs

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Gordon and I Attaching the Canoe to my Car

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We’ve Got a Manatee Hanging From the Mirror

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We’ve got our Picnic, Canoe Supplies, Clothing, and a Manatee Christmas Tree

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The Dash is Always My Desk

I always have an array of books, brochures, maps, guides, note pads, pens…

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https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/blue-spring-state-park/manatees-blue-spring-state-park

2100 W. French Ave. Orange City FL 32763

386-775-3663

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We ARE Here!

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Entering The Park (Manatee Count)

(The cost is about $6.00 per vehicle)

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Ahhhh…  Beautiful!

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Blue Springs is a Manatee Viewing State Park

The Manatee’s migrate here every year because of the warmer waters.

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There are always many informational alcoves for your guidance.

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After Taking a Look Around, We are Ready to Prepare our Launch

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Canoe Paddles, Backpacks, Water, Life Jackets…. and OUR Moo Shoo Bars!

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We also have a Wheels/Cart to set the Canoe on

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The Launch Area

They also have Canoes and Kayaks for rent.

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Gordon, Wheeling our Canoe to Launch

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Ready to Launch

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Gordon Getting Situated

(We tried to tote our Manatee Tree in the canoe but it kept falling down, so, we decided to nix it on the canoe trip.  However, it was very effective on our picnic table.)

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BLUE SPRINGS

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Blue Springs is Beautiful!

The weather was nice and cool, but not cold.  The sun was shining.

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The beautiful Manatees were very friendly.

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Sadly, we aren’t allowed to touch them.  The one thing that I think that we all want to do!

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To the right of the orange floats we aren’t allowed to go.  That is the route of the Manatee heading towards warmer waters.

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You can see the Manatees on that side of the orange floats.  It’s as if they know where to go.

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This cutie, swam out to us!

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We are so hoping this is our Moo-Shoo!

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I so wanted Gordon to paddle us over to all that Spanish Moss so that I could gather it all up into a trash bag and take it home to drape on our backyard trees!  Look how beautiful it is!  It pretty much has my name all over it!

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I LOVE Spooky Trees!

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Gordon

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There Are Always Markers

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Whatever it is, it’s tethered to the bottom.

(It looks like a palm of some sort.  Yet, it’s tethered.  Makes sense really, a palm will float.  How cheap, no need to buy something when you can cut something down.)  It must be some trap of some sort.

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Happily Being the Photographer that I am!

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This is the Real Florida!  Raw and Beautiful!

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A Happy Heron

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Tranquil Canoeing

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I don’t know what this mess is, but I do love it!

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The History of Blue Spring

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Gold Rush prospector turned orange-grower Louis Thursby purchased Blue Spring in 1856. Before the railroad rolled through in the 1880s, Thursby’s Blue Spring Landing was a hotbed of steamboat activity, shipping tourists and goods to Jacksonville and beyond. Mrs. Thursby was Orange City’s first postmistress.

‘The Forgotten Mermaids,’ an episode of the Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau, was filmed here in 1971. The documentary brought attention to the manatee and the importance of Blue Spring as a winter refuge, greatly influencing the state’s decision to purchase the land.

—As taken from the historical information.

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The Lookout Paths of Decks

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There are so many Manatee lookout decks all along the spring area.

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You Can See So Much Wildlife

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All This Wildlife Living in Harmony with each Other

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Look How Tranquil

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All The Fish In The Spring, Identified

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This Squirrel Was actually Quite Flirty

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Setting Our Christmas Picnic Table

(Finally a Place for our Tree.)

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Beach towels are always my go-to picnic tablecloths and bench seating.

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Baskets and a Cooler

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Setting our Blue Spring Picnic Spread

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On Our Menu:

Shrimp Cakes in Pita w/ Arugula, Remoulade, and Julie’s Florida Jezebel Sauce

Our Fresh Orzo Salad w/ Dressing

Florida Ambrosia

Beverages of Orange Juice and Fruit Juices

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After all that rowing…..  I think he’s hungry!

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Adding some of my Orange Jezebel Sauce to his Shrimp Cakes

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Click Here For:  An Old Florida Jezebel (Sauce)

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This is MY Plate!

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Here is Another Flirty Squirrel Wanting Some Food

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The Thursby House

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Louis Thursby, one of the area’s first European settlers, came here with his family in 1857. He hoped that being close to the river would help him to grow wealthy, and so he built an orange grove and a pier for passing steamships. The Thursby house is preserved as it looked at the turn of the 19th century, capturing Florida in a momentous period of transition between frontier and modern state.

Although the Thursby house is approaching its 150th birthday, it’s young when put in perspective of the area’s long, long history. Extensive archaeological research at Blue Spring State Park and the neighboring Hontoon Island State Park has revealed approximately 6,000 years of Native American inhabitation.

In fact, the Thursby house was built on top of a rich archaeological site, a shell midden. A midden, or mound, is a large pile of debris left behind by prehistoric societies. Sometimes, they left simple piles of trash and refuse. Other middens were intentionally constructed for ceremonial purposes, or to elevate a building. Blue Spring State Park has many middens, and archaeologists have learned much about the people who lived here by investigating the middens. Artifacts found within middens hold clues about prehistoric inhabitants’ diet, funeral traditions, crafts, agriculture, trade, settlement patterns and how they used their environment.

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The Thursby house is now a museum and interpretive center. From steamship to railroad and candles to electric bulbs, Blue Spring State Park is a time capsule for a bygone era. Ask a ranger about the middens or other archaeological sites within the park!

(As taken from the Blue Spring website.)

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This Beautiful Historical Home

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I know that I love old beautiful homes and this was such a nice one to visit.

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I can only fantasize about how unique it was to live in such a lovely home along the spring with the Manatees.

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Me, Peeking into the Kitchen Area

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Eatery and Gift Shop with Picnic Tables

Although everything had closed early that day, we would have loved to have visited the gift shop. 

Oh well, next time!

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Recipes Start Here

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Moo Shoo-Bars

We wanted to create something in honor of our adopted Manatee Moo-Shoo. 

And here they are!  🙂

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We Love You Moo-Shoo!  🙂

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Our Delicious Energy Snack

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The Ingredients:

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1/3 Cup Oat Bran

3 Tbsp. Wheat Bran

3 Tbsp. Flax Seed

1 Cup Rolled Oats

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

½ tsp. Baking Powder

½ tsp. Sea Salt

½ Cup Pecans – chopped

½ Cup Whole Almonds – chopped

½ Cup Currants

½ Cup Dried Cranberries

½ Cup Dried Figs – chopped

½ Cup Rice Puffs Cereal

¾ Cup Peanut Butter

¼ Cup Milk

1 Egg

3 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

The Zest of 1 Lemon

The Juice of 1 Lemon

3 Tbsp. Honey

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A close-up picture of some of the ingredients.

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Here are some great pictures…

you don’t have to be exact with the measurements.

Add your Oat Bran, Wheat Bran, Flax Seed, and Rolled Oats to a medium sized bowl.

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We like how the ingredients look here!

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Now add your Whole Wheat Flour, Sea Salt, and Baking Powder to the bowl.

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Whisk all the ingredients together.

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Here are the next ingredients….

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 I placed the Pecans and Almonds on a cutting board and gave them a good chop and then added them to the bowl.

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Now add your Cranberries and Currants to the bowl.

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Chop your Figs the same size as your nuts and add them to the bowl.

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Now add your Rice Puffs to the bowl and give all the ingredients a good whisk and set the bowl aside.

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Here are your wet ingredients.

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Add your Egg, Vegetable Oil, Milk, Peanut Butter, and Honey to a medium sized bowl.

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Zest your lemon into the bowl and then add the Juice.

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Mix all the ingredients well using a mixer.

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Here the wet ingredients are well mixed!

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Now add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

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And mix them together with a rubber spatula as shown.

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Pam Cooking Spray, Plastic Wrap and Parchment Paper as needed.

Line a large sheet pan with plastic wrap, then spray the top of the plastic wrap with a thin coat of oil. Now place your mixture on the wrap, smoothing it out as you go with your rubber spatula.

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Continue to place all the ingredients onto the pan as shown, again smoothing with the spatula.

Here we also used another sheet of plastic wrap and placed it on top of the ingredients, and then I smoothed out the ingredients with my hands.

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Place the sheet pan into the refrigerator for 30 min.

Place a sheet of parchment paper onto two other sheet pans.

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Now, preheat your oven to 300’F.

Using a dough cutting tool, slice your mixture in half as shown, then into bars that are ~2 inches wide.

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Use the blade to help to remove the bars…

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Now place them onto the parchment paper lined sheet pan about 1 inch apart.

You need to spread them apart, so they evenly cook.

Use the second sheet pan to be sure the bars have room between them.

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Place the bars in your 300’F oven for about 20 min. or so or until they are firm to the touch.

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Into The Oven They Go

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When done, let them cool …

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Here we used cooling racks to help speed up the process as they smelled great!

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Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 2 wks.

If you freeze them, they will last for months.

Enjoy!

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Our Blue Springs Christmas Picnic Table

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Our Picnic Menu

Our Fresh Orzo Salad w/ Dressing

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Ingredients:

1/4 Red, Yellow, and Green Bell Pepper – Chopped

1Lb. Orzo – cooked as per package directions

3 Green Onions – chopped

1 Cup Flat Leaf Parsley – chopped

1/4 Red Onion – chopped

2 Medium Sized Cucumbers – sliced in half then sliced into small sections

2 Cups Small Carrots – chopped into small sections

2 Tbsp. Sun Dried Tomato and Parmesan Crostini Spread

2 Tbsp. Pesto

½ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

Lemon Zest

The Juice of one Lemon

¼ Cup White Wine Vinegar

3 Garlic Cloves – Minced

1 tsp. Himalayan Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

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Here is a close up of some of the ingredients used in this recipe

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Look How Beautiful that Olive Oil is in the Pesto

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Pictured are some of the vegetables and tools needed for this recipe.

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I already sliced up some Green Bell Pepper which is in the baggie.

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Slice the tops off the Red and Yellow Bell Peppers and remove the seeds.

Then slice ½ of each pepper into small chunks.

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In a large pot, boil the Orzo as directed by the box instructions.

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Here I am getting the ingredients ready to chop.

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Boiling the Orzo, stirring occasionally.

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I chopped the root ends off the Green Onions…

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Then I chopped them thinly as seen in the picture above right.

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Slice and peel your Red Onion, then cut off the ends and slice the onion in half.

Then thinly slice the Onion.

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Drain the cooked Orzo into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

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Here I lined up all the ingredients to see how much I might use in comparison to the Orzo.

Slice your Cucumbers in half, then slice then into thin sections.

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Slice your Carrots into small sections as well.

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Here are all the ingredients nicely chopped and ready to be used.

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Here I added the Orzo into a large bowl, then I simply started to add some of the sliced vegetables a little at a time.

You can see I only added a little bit of each of the chopped vegetables.

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Slice your Flat Leaf Parsley thinly and add some of it to the bowl with the other ingredients.

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Fold the ingredients together. Folding is the process of taking your spatula and going down the edge of the bowl to the center, then bring the spatula up and repeat. This is done so the Orzo doesn’t break up.

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Here you can see I have a nice ratio of vegetables to Orzo.

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Now For The Sauce

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All of Our Ingredients and Tools

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Here are the Pesto and Sun Dried Tomato and Parmesan Crostini

These were great additions to the sauce.

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In a medium sized bowl zest your Lemon, then squeeze out the juice.

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Add your White Wine Vinegar and minced Garlic to the bowl. I am using a garlic press to mince the garlic which is very quick and efficient.

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Now, add your Himalayan Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper to the bowl.

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Next add your Sun Dried Tomato and Parmesan…

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…and Pesto to the bowl.

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Then add your Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the bowl and 2 Tbsp. of Vegetable Oil.

Whisk the ingredients together until well combined.

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Pictured are the two bowls of the ingredients you have just made.

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Simply, pour the sauce into the bowl of Orzo and vegetables…

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…and fold the ingredients together.

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Here we placed some of the Orzo Salad into Mason Jars and sealed them for later use.

We hope you enjoy this very tasty Orzo Salad as much as we did. 
This will store in the refrigerator for about a week.

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Florida Ambrosia

(My Grandmother, (Julie’s) loved Ambrosia and made it quite often.  Here is our version that we created, while thinking of her.)

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Here is the finished product… looks festive and tastes great!

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The Ingredients:

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5 Clementines – peeled and segmented

Zest of 2 Oranges

6 Oranges – peeled and segmented

1 Ruby Red Grapefruit – peeled and segmented using your knife

¼ of a Fresh Pineapple – peeled, cored, and cut into sections

Zest of 2 Key Limes

Juice of 4 Key Limes

~1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp. Himalayan Salt

~½ Cup “Some Pulp” Orange Juice

~3-4 Tbsp Honey – we used Orange Blossom to highlight the other ingredients within the recipe

~1/2 Cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes

Seed from ½ of a Pomegranate

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Here you can see the Honey we used as well as some of Julie’s Jezebel Sauce.

Also shown is some nice mint we picked from our garden.

Garnish:

Mint Sprig

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Start by peeling the Clementines and removing the pithy white strings from the segments.

Add the segments to a large bowl.

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When you have peeled, cleaned and segmented all the Clementines, zest some of the Orange peel into the bowl.

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Here you can see the bright orange zest which adds a ton of flavor.

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Now, peel and segment the Oranges. You can use a knife to do this which is very tasking, or you can simply peel the orange the best you can and separate the segments by hand. Place them in the bowl when done.

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Mix all the ingredients well… using the best tool in your kitchen for this job!

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Now, peel and segment the Ruby Red Grapefruit.

To do this, use your knife to cut off both ends of the Grapefruit, then use a curving motion to cut away the white pithy skin as shown. Then slice the segments out of the Grapefruit and place them into the bowl with the other ingredients.

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Here you can see the Grapefruit segments.

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The Pineapple

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Here is our fresh Pineapple.

Slice the top and bottom off as shown. If you wanted, you can plant the top of the pineapple to grow another one in your garden.

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Cut away the Pineapple’s outer skin as shown.

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Now, slice the Pineapple in half, then half again.

At the center of the Pineapple is its core, which you need to remove.

Simply, slice it away.

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Then, slice the Pineapple into chunks as shown and add them to the bowl.

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In another large bowl we will begin to combine the wet ingredients for this recipe.

Start by zesting a few of your Key Limes.

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Juice all the Key Limes into the bowl.

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Now, add your Powdered Sugar to the bowl.

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Another great picture of the ingredients Julie!

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Here I am adding some salt to the ingredients as salt will enhance the sweetness of the ingredients.

Then add your Orange Juice.

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Here I am adding some of Julie’s Home-Made Jezebel sauce. See the recipe on our website.

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I used this Orange Blossom Honey to enhance the Orange flavor of this recipe.

Mix all the ingredients well using a rubber spatula to break up any clumps.

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Now, add your fruit from the other bowl and fold the ingredients together. Folding is the process of taking your spatula and going down the edge of the bowl to the center, then bring the spatula up and repeat. This is done so the fruit doesn’t break up.

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Now add your Coconut Flakes and gently fold them into the fruit.

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Slice your Pomegranate skin in half, then pull both segments apart as shown.

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Remove the seeds from one half of the Pomegranate.

Fold the ingredients one last time and you are done!

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Here we placed some of our Florida Ambrosia into small containers and garnished it with a sprig of Mint.

We hope you enjoy this very refreshing from Florida fruit salad!

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Shrimp Cakes

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To start, thaw your Shrimp

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Peel your shrimp, separating your shrimp from the shells.

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De-vein your shrimp by slicing ¼ of the way down the middle of the back of the shrimp as shown.

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Here is another great picture by Julie showing the intestine of the shrimp.

Remove the intestine by simply pulling it out. Rinse the shrimp well then place it in a colander.

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Here you can see the cleaned shrimp and a photo of the ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Shrimp – peeled, de-veined, and chopped

2 Eggs

~1/2 Cup Sour Cream

~1 ½ Cups Bell Peppers – chopped

1 Tbsp. Dried Orange Peel

Zest of 1 Lemon and Lime

1 tsp. Florida Sunshine Seasoning – a seafood spice blend would also work

1 tsp. Coriander

1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

1 tsp. White Pepper

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1 Cup Cornbread – crumbled

~2 Tbsp. Orange Juice

Juice of 1 Lemon and Lime

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Fry Ingredients:

Panko Bread Crumbs – as needed

~3 Cup Vegetable Oil

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Shown are many of the ingredients we used for this recipe.

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This was painful but slice up that nice shrimp into small bite sized pieces.

When done, place them into a medium sized bowl.

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Crack your two eggs into the shrimp bowl.

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Mix the shrimp and eggs together using a fork.

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Add your Sour Cream

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Here I had some leftover Bell Peppers which were already in chunks, so I simply sliced them all a little more uniformly.

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And place them into the bowl as well.

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Now add your Orange and Lemon Zest.

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Then add your Lime Zest and Florida Sunshine blend of seasonings.

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Now add your Coriander and Old Bay Seasoning.

Your White Pepper…

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And lastly for the seasonings… your Garlic and Onion Powder.

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Here we added the crumbled Corn Bread to the bowl.

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Then add your Orange Juice.

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Then squeeze in your Lemon Juice…

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And lastly your Lime Juice.

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Mix all the ingredients well…

Then set the bowl aside to prepare the Remoulade Sauce.

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The Remoulade Sauce

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Ingredients:

1 Cup Mayonnaise

3 Green Onions – finely chopped

4 Tbsp. Parsley – chopped

½ Cup Celery – chopped

2 Tbsp. Ketchup – we used no sugar added

2 Tbsp. Sweet and Spicy Mustard

1 heaping tsp. Sweet Paprika

1 tsp. Tabasco Hot Sauce

Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

3 Garlic Cloves – minced

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Add your Mayonnaise to a medium sized bowl.

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Slice the root ends off your Green Onions then slice the onions thinly as shown.

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Add them to the bowl.

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Chop your Parsley and add it to the bowl.

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Now slice your Celery into small pieces

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And add them to the bowl.

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Here I am adding the No Sugar Added Ketchup and Sweet and Spicy Mustard to the bowl.

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Another great picture of the ingredients so far by Julie!

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Add your Sweet Paprika and Tabasco to the bowl.

Your freshly ground Black Pepper is next

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Now, you can mince your garlic using this simple tool or you can use your knife to mince the garlic.

The tool is much faster.

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Mix all the Ingredients Well

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Set aside in the refrigerator.

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Frying Our Shrimp Cakes

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To begin the frying process… add your oil to a cast iron skillet or large frying pan and turn the heat to medium high. Now, add some Panko to a plate. Form about ½ cup of the shrimp mixture into a small burger size and place it onto the top of the Panko. Turn the Shrimp Cake over to coat the other side with Panko. When fully covered and your oil is at temperature, add the shrimp cake to the fry pan being sure to let it go in away from you, so the oil doesn’t splatter towards you. You could also place them in using a metal spatula. You can see the nice sizzle of the oil around the Shrimp Cake.

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I can do this process fairly quickly, but if you can’t, you can simply make all your shrimp cakes, then add them to the oil.

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Repeat this process for up to no more than five Shrimp Cakes in the oil at one time. More than that will reduce the oils temperature causing the Shrimp Cakes to cook unevenly.

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Here I am using a no splatter screen. These are great when frying anything as the hot oil can hurt. When golden brown, turn them over using a spatula and repeat checking after a few minutes.

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Fry the Shrimp Cakes until Golden Brown as shown.

Another great pic Julie!

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When done, place the Cakes on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

While they were frying, I made some more of the cakes.

Here you can see me removing the cakes from the pan. Let the Shrimp Cakes rest some, then you can add them to a nice bun with your Remoulade Sauce and you have one great meal.

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Our Picnic Lunch

You can see the Remoulade Sauce in the square container. 

It was delicious with our Shrimp Cake Pita Sandwiches.

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After a Great Fun Day…

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…We Are Headed Home

I made Gordon stop the car and tighten the straps better.

  I didn’t like that they just didn’t seem very secure.  🙂

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Starting to Get Dark

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But, we have the beautiful tree all lit up in our backseat.

I even reclined my seat so that I could lay here looking at it as we drove home.

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Merry Manatee Christmas, and a Happy Heron Holiday to YOU!

Julie and Gordon

(and Moo Shoo Too!)

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p.s.  That would be Gordon.  🙂