The Sanibel Gals: Part 2~It's all about the food

As a diligent reader, you've already experienced my peanut M&M roll of shame down the middle of my departing airplane. Come to think of it, it was actually more of an avalanche. Prior to that humbling experience, I folded beneath the pressure of a grueling hour-long wait at the airport and ordered a caprese salad. Instead of bright red, juicy beef-steak tomatoes and delectable slices of buffalo mozzarella with a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar to tickle my taste buds, I was instead given translucently thin, pale "tomatoes" with dry cheese accompanied by what can only be described as balsamic syrup that tortured my poor taste buds. I can hear my friends, Cathy Nourse and Deb Mehlenbacher now...shaking their heads in undisguised disgust and saying, "What exactly did you think you were going to get...you're at the AIRPORT!!!" I know...I know.


And you know, as well as I, that any trip is all about the food. On this mini-respite, we certainly had our ups and downs. Sharing my vast culinary experience with my friends over our lovely continental breakfast, I demonstrated the short-cut method of peeling a hard-boiled egg by gently pressing the palm of my hand down against the egg and rolling it along the table. Watching me carefully, my friend Dawn eagerly gave it a go. Let's just say that I would never want the woman to EVER perform CPR on me if that was any indication of her accurate application of pressure.

The food, as you can imagine, was incredible.We ate at the renowned "Doc Ford's," which is named for the title character in the  novel series written by New York Times best-selling author Randy Wayne White. Under the best of circumstances, I am incapable of making a decision but faced with a menu that includes fish tacos AND caprese salad (You know what they say about that...when you fall off a caprese salad, you have to get right back on again.), I completely fell apart. Tired of my rather loud wavering, my culinary companion Sandy Lawrence finally relented and agreed to split both meals to shut me up.

Another of our favorite restaurants was named "The Island Cow." My friend Virginia is also a bit of a meal waver-er but, unlike me, is able to elicit sympathy, love and compassion from those around her rather than the eye-rolling and derision that is usually aimed at me. Afraid that her tuna fish would be (gasp) fishy, Virginia soon had our waiter rushing to the kitchen to offer her a sample before she decided to order the chicken salad because she actually doesn't like tuna salad. Our waiter, Terry, loved her anyway.


Having vacationed with me many times in the past, my friend Geri knew we were in trouble when, despite her efforts to distract my attention in another direction ("Look, Amy! A gopher tortoise!"), I spotted the tell-tale symbol of my most favorite restaurant in the whole wide world:  a giant United States flag! I squealed with delight. "It's just a car dealership," Geri said desperately but no, there it was...a Perkins!  Home of the most delicious potato pancakes in the whole wild world!!! Geri's shoulders slumped as she knew then, that she and I would be venturing off the island to take Amy Mosiman to a chain restaurant. YAY!

While I was enjoying the buttery, salty goodness of my crispy potato pancakes and Geri was spilling her chocolate milk in resentment, the rest of the gang was perusing the island's farmer's market. "Why would ANYONE want to go to a silly farmer's market when they could come to Perkins," I wondered through a mouthful of yummy potato pancakes. Strangely, Geri responded only by glaring at something slightly over my head. Unbeknownst to us however, this was no ordinary farmer's market. Our friends loaded up on macaroni and cheese loaded with bacon, pulled pork and salad fixin's for our dinner later that night as well as gourmet cake selections featured at the island's famous "Bubble Room." We dined like island princesses. The meal was topped off, of course, by a Perkins lemon meringue pie.