Markham County Park, Sunrise, Florida
It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. ~ Romans 14:21
For the next two weeks, we’ll be taking up residence in Broward County’s Markham Park. It’s 666 acres includes not only the campground, but also an observatory, a radio-controlled model plane airfield, a divided dog park (one side for large, one for small), tennis courts, racquetball, volleyball, swimming pool (which isn’t open yet because it’s supposed to be winter!), biking and a little nature trail.
Blaine washed windows again this morning, and guess what? Yep. It rained an hour or so later. Just a quick shower, but still . . . At least all the splatters we collected on our drive here are gone. 😊
What was I doing while he was washing? I made use of our lemons! Scrumpdillyicious double lemon muffins! I’ve been making these muffins for years and while a bit time consuming, they’ve always been a big hit. The recipe’s at the end, if you’d like to try them yourself. And I used up the last of them to make lemon chicken for dinner. Yum!!
Once we were done, we decided to ride our bikes around the Park, stopping to watch the radio-controlled model airplanes for a bit.
As we continued our ride around, we came across these giant, Jurassic Park type lizards! They were 4-5’ long!
Apparently they’re Green Iguanas – to quote an article I found, they’re “prehistorically cute”. But they’re an invasive species in Southern Florida, reaching maturity in 18 months and each female lays 40 eggs per year. There’s even a company that will come and exterminate them humanely and lawfully. They shoot them with $1,000 pre-charged pneumatic pistols to deliver one shot to the head.
We’ve been dealing with stink bugs for a long time. In fact, we’ve considered taking out stock in Bounty, Mardi Gras and Charmin since we use them so much as an elimination tool. In the past, we’ve not always been diligent in exterminating them the second we see them. Lately though, we’ve not been hesitating, in an effort to try to stem their propagation. And I think we’re winning the battle.
Either that, or they’ve been roasted alive in this record-breaking heat we’ve been living in.
Blaine and I have never been big proponents of air conditioning, but in recent days, we’re grateful for it. We’ve been running it a lot, even when we’re not home. Temperatures have been in the way upper 80’s every day and even the minimum lows (that means the coolest it gets) are record-breaking for this time of year. I’ve hesitated to mention it because most of the people I know are freezing, so who am I to complain. But truthfully, I’d rather be where they are. I deal with cold much better than hot. Especially when my body experiences a power surge.
To end the day on a more humorous note, I just ran across my notes from our move. There were two billboards I thought were pretty funny!
“My train of thought is still boarding at the station” 😊 I’ve said for years that my train derails and it takes a while to get it back on track. Haha!
A restaurant ad – “Eat here or we’ll both starve!” Funny!!
DOUBLE LEMON MUFFINS
SYRUP:
½ C. sugar
¾ C. water
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ C. lemon juice (use zested lemon and add Real Lemon juice as needed)
BATTER:
3 ½ C. flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 ½ C. sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
1 C. milk
¼ C. lemon juice (same as above)
2 eggs
2 sticks butter, melted
Additional sugar for topping
FOR SYRUP:
Combine sugar, water, lemon zest and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cover and boil over medium heat for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
FOR BATTER:
In a large bowl, combine flour baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Stir well. In a small bowl, combine lemon rind, milk, lemon juice and eggs. Stir well. Add egg mixture and melted butter to dry ingredients. Stir quickly, just to combine. Pour the batter into greased muffin tins (or paper cups), filling almost to the top.
Sprinkle each muffin with about 1 t. sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until rounded and golden brown. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire rack. With a thin skewer poke holes all over each muffin going all the way thru to the bottom.
While still warm, spoon the lemon syrup over the muffins. Cool and serve.
Makes 18
LEMON CHICKEN
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 C. lemon juice
1 C. flour
1 ½ t. salt
2 heaping t. paprika
1 scant t. black pepper
½ C. olive oil
2/3 C. brown sugar
½ C. chicken broth
6-12 lemon slices, thin
Make a marinade by combining the chicken and lemon juice in a large zip-lock bag. MARINATE FOR 2-3 HOURS (Longer than that will make the chicken too lemony!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove chicken from marinade and RESERVE 2 T. of the juice. In a large bag, combine flour, salt, paprika and pepper. Add chicken and shake to coat. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry chicken until well browned – about 5-6 minutes per side. Place chicken in a 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle with brown sugar. Mix broth with reserved marinade and pour over the chicken. Top each breast with a lemon slice or two.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until done.