QUICK BITES

Another restaurant from the founder of Outback Steakhouse, PDQ— People Dedicated to Quality—is going up in the Colony Plaza center in The Villages. Casual atmosphere and freshly prepared food are the hallmarks of the new place. In addition to handspun milkshakes and fresh salads, diners can get made-to-order sandwiches, fresh fries (cut and prepared daily).

PDQ

in the Colony Professional Plaza, County Road 466A, east of Morse Blvd.

A Little Taste of Southern Charm

Check out Southern Gourmet Café and Coffee Bar tucked in the back of Southern Gardens in downtown Leesburg. The restaurant features breakfast all day along with gourmet coffee, cappuccino, lattes, and mocha, iced and fl avored coffees. Lunch includes an array of salads and sandwiches, from Southern Pecan Chicken Salad to All Beef Chili Cheese or Kraut Dogs.

If you want to take a little Southern food home with you, visit the Southern Gourmet shop just next door. With nearly 500 specialty items, it’s a great place to shop for gourmet cooking aids like avocado oil, dipping oils, and even truffl e oil. Cookbooks, aprons, and kitchen gadgets are available too, and they prepare gifts baskets to order.

FUN FACTS ABOUT THANKSGIVING

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING MEAL might have included lobster, rabbit, chicken, fi sh, various squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruit, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese. Defi nitely a nice spread. THE PLYMOUTH PILGRIMS invited the Wampanoag Indians to join them for the celebration that actually lasted three days.

THERE WERE NO FORKS on the table. The pilgrims used spoons, knives, and their fi ngers.

JAM UP AND JELLY TIGHT!

If you are stopping by The Villages Spanish Springs Farmers Market, be sure to visit Patty Grantham of Patty’s Preserves. There’s a healthy variety of products using only honey or agave for sweeteners. The Summerfi eld resident’s orange jam tastes like fresh oranges and her ginger jelly is made with just ginger and apple cider.

GET YOUR RED HOTS!

Lake Sumter Landing Market Square offers up nightly music, dancing, libation stations, and plenty of people watching. Most evenings you’ll fi nd Steve Scher at a hot dog cart serving up steamed dogs and rolls that’s reminiscent of childhood visits to baseball stadiums, carnivals, and street fairs. Just follow your nose—you’ll have no trouble fi nding and indulging in this delectable delight.

MIZ KATHI’S SOUTHERN SWEETERY

Those with a Southern sweet-tooth are smiling. The beloved Cotillion Southern Café in Wildwood expanded to include a Sweetery next door. All your favorites are at Miz Kathi’s Southern Sweetery, and there are no more worries of running out. You can fi nally have that pineapplecoconut-lemon cake all to yourself! Oh, and that salted caramel. The scrumptious treats include pies, cookies, bars, tarts, and M-Mmmmm… macaroons! Light fare is also served: simple sandwiches, fresh salads, a soup of the day, and homemade quiche.

HOTTER

CHOCOLATE

Whether you are a mini marshmallow guy or homemade whipped cream gal, you love this drink because it soothes, warming our bodies and fi lling us with fuzzy feelings.

Naturally, hot cocoa is a feel-good drink; it’s a drinkable endorphin release.

Filled with stimulants such as caffeine and tryptophan—which releases serotonin to the brain—drinkable cocoa was fi rst used as a vitality elixir for the Olmec and Mayan people in Southern Mexico. So rich and revitalizing, the Aztecs saw the cocoa as a valuable commodity. Drinkable cocoa was passed to Spain via our friendly conquistadors, then to Europe before making its way back to America.

However, it has changed quite a bit through all this travel. Prepackaged or instant options often stifl e cocoa’s natural health benefi ts with all its additives. Mexican Hot Chocolate recipes, a throwback to hot cocoa glory days, can be found in popular cookbooks and on your favorite social sites like Pinterest. And don’t think for a second that because it’s better for you that it’s lackluster. Ingredients are pure cocoa power, minimal sugar, cream, and even chili powder is often added. This historically spicier version is winter’s hot trend. Caliente!

GET YOUR COCOA FIX:

• One Flight Up! – Mount Dora • Donut King – Minneola • Yalaha Bakery – Yalaha • Bloom’s Baking

House – Leesburg • Kilwins – Lake Sumter

Landing, The Villages • Cottom’s Farm (during lights/hayride season) – Weirsdale

TAKIS GREEK AND ITALIAN RESTAURANT

What do homemade pasta, long-simmered meat sauce, fl aming goat cheese appetizers, and belly dancing have in common? Takis Greek and Italian Restaurant in Lady Lake. On the last Sunday of each month, Takis hosts a gathering with some joyful early-evening belly-dancing performances. Loud shouts of “Opa!” and bouts of good-natured laughter are delivered in equal measure as patrons accommodate the belly dancer’s request for audience participation. Due to the popularity of this event, reservations are encouraged.