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Corned Beef, Green Beer, Irish Soda Bread, The Wearing of the Green, Clover; St. Patrick’s Day is the Perfect Way to Greet Spring. May the Luck of the Irish be with us all as we wait for the Pandemic to disappear and our lives to return to normal. Thank you to the caring Solivita Team, every resident over 65 was offered the COVID-19 Vaccine right here in our own community.

Solivita did a wonderful job and deserves a big Thank You. I know I thanked the Solivita Team last month in our newsletter, but I felt they deserved a second shout out for a job well done.
Again, this year, St. Patrick’s Day will be a low-key event in our family as we are still distancing for our safety, the safety of our friends, our clients, and our community. Must admit we are feeling the seeds of adventure emerge, and I am starting to think that by year’s end we will be planning a few days away from the Safety of the “Solivita Campus”.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to You All.

“May Your Troubles Be Less and Your Blessings be More and Nothing but Happiness Come Through Your Door”.

If you are not quite ready to take a trip to the goat farm, how about taking a Cooking Class Online from Sur La Table. You can visit Sur La Table on the web at www.surlatable.com and scroll down to the online cooking classes and take a look at their offerings.

Sur La Table has online cooking classes for home chefs. These classes are not the generic video cooking tutorials you have seen, at Sur La Table, instructors host gourmet cooking classes online in real time. You can ask questions while cooking and you can interact with the Chef. The Sur La Table Staff provides you with a prep packet and a shopping list beforehand so you can follow along with live online cooking classes in your own kitchen. At the end of each interactive session, you will have a delicious meal to enjoy. Classes are for beginners and experts and cover all kinds of cuisine. Enjoy some “me time” in the kitchen with Sur La Table, learn a new skill, and have fun time that ends with a good dinner, or involve your partner in this activity and enjoy a fun date afternoon without leaving home. Online classes start at just $29.00 per household.

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
¼ Tsp Salt
Ground Pepper to taste
4 cups Spring Mix Greens
4 cups seedless watermelon cut into 1 inch pieces
4 oz or as much as you prefer of goat cheese
½ cup toasted hazelnuts or toasted walnuts chopped

Whisk together the first 4 ingredients.
In a large bowl, gently toss the spring mix and watermelon together with the vinaigrette and before servicing top with goat cheese and nuts.

For a different taste, this salad would be good if you substitute the greens with baby arugula or spinach. Next time I make this salad I am going to experiment by deleting the nuts and adding cucumbers, tomatoes, and a few olives into the mix.

Before we know it the heat of summer will be upon us, time to dust off my salad recipes and add some new salad ideas to our dinner menus.

Or you could just spread some delicious goat cheese on a cracker and munch away.

If you are not quite ready to take a trip to the goat farm, how about taking a Cooking Class Online from Sur La Table. You can visit Sur La Table on the web at www.surlatable.com and scroll down to the online cooking classes and take a look at their offerings.

Looking for a new experience, why not visit our Local Goat Farm; Proctor’s Goat Farm at 6291 El Camino Real, Winter Haven, FL.

Call in advance and arrange a Tour, (863) 289-3585. Proctor’s has about 18 goats for you to interact with. You can get up close and personal to the goats, have a chance to hand feed them, and perhaps milk them too. I suggest you put on a pair of jeans, pull out your hiking boots and enjoy a nice morning or afternoon in the country. This is not a dress up occasion, but rather a fun day out in nature enjoying the beauty of our surroundings. The goats are fun, friendly, quite comical and after the year we have all had who among us does not need a good laugh and an afternoon out. After you have met and enjoyed the goats make a stop into the tasting room and enjoy a taste of goat milk, goat cheese, fudge, kefir, and the ice cream that the farm produces.

In addition to tasty goat goodies, the farm also sells a few beauty products produced from goat milk, soap and lotions. Big benefit, goatmilk skin products are rumored to have the ability to soften our skin and give us all a youthful appearance. So, if trotting around with the goats does not turn you on, perhaps a youthful appearance will. I purchased some of these local items and have stashed them away, waiting for the day COVID-19 is over and guests can safely return to visit. The goat farm’s motto is “You’ll be udderly glad you stopped by” and Lee and I agree, this is a fun outing and will not disappoint.

Of course, we could not leave the goat farm without some delicious cheese. Since I love to cook, and we both enjoy all kinds of cuisine, on our way home we stopped at the farmer’s market and purchased a few goodies to accompany our goat cheese. We came home and made a delicious, tasty salad from our Farm Fresh Florida Food. Easy, light and refreshing.

Advice for Buyers: We are in a Seller’s Market and Have Been for the last few months. In this seller’s market we have more homebuyers in Solivita than actual homes for sale. This type of market results in rising home prices and stiffer competition. However, even with stiff competition and rising prices, rest assured you can still buy a home here.

The experts are predicting that due to the shortage of available homes, the market will remain in the Seller’s favor throughout 2021. If you are ready to buy a home, please do not let this market deter you. Mortgage rates are low, so if you can buy a home now, jump in and take advantage of the low interest rates still being offered. A homebuyer in this market just needs to be prepared to make a strong and speedy offer upon seeing the home they desire. The speed this market is moving at can be stress inducing, thereby making it important to have a great realtor who will be at your side throughout the entire transaction. A good realtor knows how to negotiate a deal and assure the buyer gets the home they desire for a fair market value.

Advice for Sellers: With inventory historically low and home prices rising, this is a great time for any sellers to list their homes. If you have been thinking about selling your home; or waiting for prices to rise to sell your home, the time “to make your move” is now. A Bella Verde Representative will perform a complete market analysis for you at no charge, get your home listed, and sell your home quickly for a good price.

Lorraine has “Done It Again”. We are Proud to Announce for the Second Year in a Row Lorraine Valdes has been Selected as One of Orlando’s TOP 500 Realtors. Bella Verde Realty is Proud of Lorraine’s Achievement, Proud of her Industry Recognition and Proud of Every Realtor Associated with Bella Verde Realty. Bella Verde Realty is the Top Producing Real Estate Firm in Solivita, and we would be proud to work with you when selling or buying a home. Bella Verde Realtors cover Central Florida, 55 Plus Communities, Poinciana, Kissimmee, Orlando, Celebration, and our surrounding communities. Call a Bella Verde Realtor today and make an appointment to meet with us, you will be glad you did.