Florida sunsets and meet ups

We have just spend a wonderful weekend in Florida, a weekend of fun eats, wonderful meet ups and strolls along the beach.

 We fly into Saint Petersburg from Greensboro great deal :-) meet friends in Tampa that evening. We ate at the Tacos bus 

913 E Hillsborough Ave  Tampa, FL 33603

(813) 232-5889

Fun place with a buzzing atmosphere and good Mexican food at very affordable prices. I thought the fish tacos were just ok but they were fried I prefer grilled, my favorite item was a drink - Hochata a Mexican drink made from rice, condensed milk and cinnamon. I mentioned it on the facebook wall and Kristina kindly shared a recipe, guess what I will be making this week :-)

Chow and Chatter

Love horchata - rice, condensed milk and cinnamon from Mexico so good

181 People Reached · 6 People Talking About This

 ·  · Share · Friday at 10:12pm via mobile · 

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  4 people like this.
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    Nelly Rodriguez I had this at The Aviary last weekend and it was amazing! They made cinnamon ice cubes, so the flavor was amazing! They also added rum and tequila ;)
    

    Friday at 10:26pm ·  ·  1
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    Chow and Chatter Nelly now that's a fun version :-)
    

    Friday at 11:45pm ·  ·  1
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    Shelley A Rael My son buys it as his own treat. I don't remember to get it for him. Good stuff.
    

    Saturday at 12:16am · 
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    Kristina Holdburg i love it to never made it with condensed milk before im sure that makes it super sweet ill have to try that! i always use rice cinnamon sugar and whole milk.
    

    Saturday at 12:40am · 
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    Kristina Holdburg horchata is great in the summer its a thirst quencher!
    

    Saturday at 12:41am · 
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    Chow and Chatter Shelley :-) Kristina do you have a recipe ?
    

    Saturday at 12:04pm · 
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    Kristina Holdburg yes my recipe is very simple and authentic got it from my best friends grandmother who is from mexico.... take 1 cup long grain rice and 5 cups water put into blender make sure rice is uncooked blend about 1 min till rice breaks up. set aside and let soak 3 to 4 hrs i usually do it before i go to bed and when i get up in the morning i strain the rice water into a pitcher and then u discard the rice then add 1/2 cup of whole milk 1tsp vanilla 1tsp cinnamon and 2/3 cup sugar blend wellput in fridge till well chilled serve plain or over ice! YUMMY now i want to make some! :)
    

    Saturday at 5:22pm · 
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    Chow and Chatter Kristina thanks awesome recipe making for sure :-) Rebecca
    

    Saturday at 8:14pm ·  ·  1
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    Kristina Holdburg your very welcome hope you like it! :) and thankyou for all your wonderful recipes that you share with us all! :)
    

    Yesterday at 4:33am · 
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    Chow and Chatter Kristina oh your so sweet I am going to add your recipe to my blog just now :-) rebecca
    

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We then headed south to Siesta Key wow the sand is like sugar. I have been enjoying Lyndseys blog The Tiny Skillet for a few years and love her beach pictures it was so special to walk on her beach.

a sunrise 

stunning sunset a must see

Since I was headed to her neck of the woods a meet up was in order, so we arranged to meet for lunch at Mattisons downtown Sarasota and another one of my all time favorite bloggers joined us Sam from My Carolina Kitchen.

Here you can see Lydsey in the blue she is every bit as sweet and talented as her blog, her hubby and daughter. On the left the pretty and lovely Sam and her hubby Meakin he was the life of the party.

This beautiful shell angel was a gift from Lyndsey that she made, she also gave us some dried sea urchins and told me she had made snow men with them here's the link, she is super crafty as well as a great mum, wife and cook ;-) - sea urchin ornaments

On saturday after a morning on the beach we drove along the keys from Siesta to Anna Maria in fact these wonderful German folks at our hotel told us to go, we ate at the waterfront restaurant overlooking the 100 year old pier. Good fresh food and loved the view. 

fresh gulf of mexico shrimp so good 

and of course no trip to Florida is complete without key lime pie :-)

lovely old car

Today on the way back to Saint Petersburg I quickly looked up restaurants and red mesa cantina came up, offering Mexican and South American flavors. I loved this place funky building with a hip vibe 

4912 4th Street North  St. Petersburg, FL 33703-3819

I ordered mofongo a new dish to me - pork, a type of cheese and yuca a Puerto Rican dish very good, we were in a rush would love to visit again and have fun eating more from the menu :-) 

decor

I even got to enjoy a cup of tea on the beach this morning :-)

So if your thinking of a short break in the US - be sure to add Siesta key, Sarasota area to your list. Also if your a blogger never be afraid to reach out to blogging friends in a city your visiting and arrange a meet up you will be glad you did. 

I miss you Florida :-), we will meet again 

Have a great start to the week everyone its a special week for folks in the US thinking of you as you prepare for Thanksgiving 

Love 

Rebecca