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The sweet corn 🌽 came from Hackman’s Farm Market south of Vallonia on Highway 135. I prefer to cut it off the cob. The Brussels sprouts came out of a bag and we very tasty. ( Heidi has really come around on the Brussels sprouts!) it is also and easy clean up.
Take a cubed steak, brown it in flour and Chef’s Secret and then bake it. Boom!!! 💥 Let me tell you about the scalloped 🥬 cabbage. Nina Hackman gets a big cabbage from her brother Barry Melloncamp, chop it up, add a can of chicken soup and put cheese on top and then bake. Incredible!!!


Get some Grassy Fork grown blackberries from Ronnie Jo Scarlett, flour and sugar are the main ingredients for the cobbler, then add a couple scoops of some melting ice cream and it is Blackberry Heaven!
Nina also made me try a raspberry 🥧 pie. She got some Grassy Fork grown raspberries from Barry’s wife Linda Melloncamp, bake a pie and add the melting ice cream again and it is a home run! grassy Fork grown is a great way to start a summer meal!!!



Heidi seasoned the kabobs with sweet chili sauce . I grilled them for five minutes on each side with applewood smoke for flavor. Each piece of the kabob was filled with taste.

On vacation last week, Heidi and Sophie had some fish tacos and Heidi decided that she could reproduce them. And reproduce she did, by golly! They were outstanding! Now, this ceviche business was really good if you like that kind of thing. Fresh veggies and shrimp marinaded and served cool. The tacos 🌮 have two incredible ingredients: the sliced 🥑 were fabulous and we found a new condiment that is out of this world…Hidden Valley Ranch Blasted Bold Buffalo sauce.





Just down the road about a half mile is Santino’s. The lasagna, shrimp and chicken Alfredo were all delicious.

Conveniently located next door to the Fractured Prune doughnut store and less than a mile from our rental house, we tried the Sunrise Bagel Company this morning.


JM’s On the Water is located on the sound and just north of the Topsail Island bridge. You can get a seat outside along the dock or inside. We chose inside due to a 🌬 windy evening. Actually, after we came in from the beach 🏖 for lunch and also before 🌧 rain, it has been a bit windy the rest of the day.
A sound is a channel connecting two bodies of water. In this case, Topsail Island is a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina and the water between the mainland and the island is a sound. (Teaching moment.)




My Pogue friend Braden also recommended the Shaka 🌮 Taco and folks, let me tell you, it was really good. It is in Surf City and is a taco stand where you order at a window and dine outside at a picnic table.


Rae had the taco bowl with veggies and it was fantastic! I will get that if we return.



When deciding on vacation locations, Sophie said if we went near Wilmington that we could eat at The Dockside. She is a huge Nicholas Sparks fan and in the movie “The Choice” a scene 🎥 is shot at The Dockside restaurant. It is located on the Intra Coastal Waterway in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.



