It’s quiet.  Almost too quiet. The roar of the last motorcycle leaving the island is fading away as it heads up US1.  The town feels a little empty now.  We put away our black leather outfits that only get worn once a year.  We are grateful for Poker Run.  Besides raising money for different charities, Poker Run brings a lot of colorful characters to the island and is a great boost for the local economy in between hurricane warnings.  I went down to Duval Street Saturday to check out the bikes.  I must say, there are some really original and creative motorcycles out there! I got some good shots on my new video camera and as soon as I figure out how to edit and upload the video you will all be treated to an extremely wobbly and possibly nauseating ride.

Which brings me to my recipe of the day, wild hog BBQ wings.  Take a package of chicken wings or drummettes, place in a big bowl. Sprinkle generously with garlic powder, soy sauce, Worcestershire, paprika, pepper, maple syrup and mustard.  Toss to coat.  Let marinate one hour.  Preheat grill and cook for one hour turning occasionally. Serve with homemade blue cheese sauce.  Combine blue cheese crumbles, mayo, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder & Chouala hot sauce. Douse wings with even more hot sauce to your liking.

Eat these with your favorite biker buddies while dressed in your coolest bad-boy gear.  You will look mighty tough with barbecue and cheese sauce all over your face! If this doesn’t get your motor running then nothing will!

Here in Key West we are Foreign affairs experts!  We get a thousand cruise ships a year coming and going from all over the world, with people from other countries that are heads of staterooms.  On a clear day, with really, really good binoculars, you can almost make out an outline that is probably, most likely, definitely Havana Cuba! Yes, we are all very worldly and experienced in foreign affairs here in Key West.  Just ask anyone who lives here what nationality of men wear black socks with sandals!  We have many men and women who are in the service (industry) and are educated on foreign trade policies.  We are in a war very similar to Iraq with our electric car and parking situations.  Health care for our chicken population would have Michael Moore boycotting KFC.  We are very familiar with the Bush Doctrine but here it is called the McCoy Doctrine. The McCoy doctrine is so important here that we named our new airport after it.

Which brings me to my recipe of the day, Charles Gibson’s Strawberry Bon-Bon Cake.

Make a box of strawberry cake, pour one can of sweetened condensed milk over it. Frost with strawberry frosting, top with fresh strawberries.  Melt semi-sweet chocolate in heavy cream and cool a bit, pour over entire cake! Serve with whipped cream.  This cake is perfect for romancing television news anchors while looking them square in the eye and insisting that you are absolutely qualified for the most important job in the world.  This cake is like truth serum, whoever eats it will believe that whatever ridiculous lie you tell them must certainly be the truth! It’s sinful!

Hurricane Ike brushed by and spared us! Whew! That was a close one.  We did not evacuate, we watched the reports and computer models and made the decision to ride it out.  We cooked and ate and hunkered down for a couple of days.  Key West experienced 40-50 mile an hour winds and moderate rain.  No structural damage occurred but there was some beach erosion and road flooding on South Roosevelt Blvd.  Tree limbs and leaves were the most visible effect noticed.

Tourists will be allowed back in on Thursday, Sept. 11 and Key West is ready for business! The Airport is open and the first cruise ship will be in on Thursday as well.  Hotels are taking reservations and the Harley Davidson Poker Run is on for next week! This town knows how to clean up after a storm and a really big party!

Speaking of parties, Fantasy Fest is just around the corner.  Most hotels require 3-5 night stays.  You can find some great places for Fantasy Fest right here on www.keywestfinest.com.  The Hotel La Concha is the main stage for parade viewing and still has some rooms available. Come on down to Key West and get away from the hum drum of the real world.

Speaking of the real world, why do the politicians keep offending pigs? I happen to love pigs!

Which brings me to my recipe of the day, Chocolate lipstick storm cake:

make a box of butter recipe fudge cake in 2 round pans.

pour melted dulce de leche over one of the cakes and turn out onto a plate.

spread cheesecake filling between the two cakes.

top the cake with semisweet chocolate ganache and whipped cream.

Put on your librarian glasses, tostle your hair, apply your favorite lipstick and snort like a pig while you enjoy this delicious dessert!

Hurricane Ike has been steamrolling towards Key West as a Cat 4.  All tourists were evacuated Saturday and mandatory resident evacuation has been ordered starting today, Sunday 8am.  Check out www.realtraffic.com to see the traffic on US1 out of the Keys.  Last time I looked, the road was empty! Down here, our plans for leaving change every 6 hours along with the National Hurricane Center computer models.  My Family and I have cousins in Boca Raton that have opened their home to us, thank God.  However, we aren’t sure if we are leaving or not.  We will watch the 5:00pm report and decide after that.  Ike is a 4 right now but if it goes over Cuba it could come off as a 1 or a 2 in which case we will probably not leave.  The tricky part is figuring out which direction the storm is traveling.  Right now it is still tracking WSW which is good for us.  But when it comes off of Cuba it could jog North and that could mean trouble.  AND, since Cuba is only 90 miles away, that doesn’t give us any time to get out! What to do!!? It’s crazy I tell you!

Which brings me to my Hurricane Ike recipe of the day.  Bollito.  It’s a cut of beef that you cook in a bag, with onions, garlic, olive oil or mojo and a couple of teaspoons of flour.  Cook 20 min. per pound to medium rare.  Slice and serve on Cuban or french bread during the hurricane. Yum!

What am I doing today? Watching football with my Family of course! I will bake a coconut cake to have on hand to either take to my Cousin’s in Boca as a gesture of gratitude or we will simply enjoy it along with our bollito sandwiches while watching the world blow by….literally.

Compared to the storm at the RNC with the GOP, the tropics are looking good! And if the tropics are looking good to you then you must be one of those people with the extra gene that helps you see reality different than the rest of us.  Enjoy the bliss!

The cone of chaos, the cone of uncertainty.  Gustav, Hanna, Ike & Josephine! Give us break, please! Down here in the Keys we don’t tend to sweat the small stuff.  Sometimes we don’t even sweat the big stuff! We watch the tropics faithfully, keep our eyes on the storms, watch the track like hawks and plan accordingly.  Right now we are concerned about Ike.

This is a great place to visit in the summer because it is not crowded and really feels like a tropical island in paradise. There are some great bed & breakfasts in Key West.  The Conch House Heritage Inn for instance has rates starting at $108/nt. and is a wonderfully, elegant but casual, historic inn.  Check out their web site on www.keywestfinest.com.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to go practice my newly inspired hairdo, the “Palin ponytail”! Frazzled yet ready.

It’s not easy living in the cone of uncertainty……

We are constantly watching the weather, tracking the storm, trying to guess which way it will go.  Living on an island in the cone of uncertainty certainly doesn’t help an already indecisive person!

Which brings me to another pathetic, indecisive group; the die hard Hillary supporters.  I am a woman.  I would have marveled in seeing Hillary as our President.  It’s not happening this year ladies so move on! If you are thinking of giving your vote to McCain/Pallin then you are a hippocrate.  You should have supported him from the beginning! Pick your values! What are they? Are you pro-choice or pro-life? Pick one! You can’t have it both ways.  I thought I had seen it all until this group showed up.  No matter which party you are for, you need to stand up for something or you’ll fall for anything!

When it comes to politics there is no cone of uncertainty.  You either agree with the Republicans, and think our Country is in good shape and are pro-life OR you agree with the Democrats and think our Country is in really bad shape and are pro-choice.  You should know where you stand on those two very basic issues.  Get involved, listen to XM radio America Left or America Right.  You can’t be both it’s impossible.  It’s like trying to be angry and loving, judgemental and compasionate, humble and arrogant, fearful and faithful.  You just can’t do it.

Which brings me to my recipe of the day, Conservative but liberal spaghetti pie:

If you are like me you use the whole box of spaghetti knowing that it will be too much food. Use up all of your refridgerated leftovers like sauce, veggies, meat and cheese. Make sure there’s nothing left in the fridge.  Squander everything for this one special pie! Promise your family you’re doing it because you love them. Put all the ingredients together in a baking dish.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Feed the pie to your neighbors and let your family starve.  Enjoy!