From the monthly archives:

April 2009

Eggplant Choka

April 30, 2009
Making eggplant choka

Every so often I am overcome with an overwhelming urge to grow something.  Usually it is best to ignore such urges because I am, it seems, cursed with a brown thumb.  Or perhaps a yellow thumb.  Moviene Fahie grew the beautiful purple, eggplant-colored eggplants above.  I, alas, grew the urine-colored yellow specimen…yet another gardening failure to add [...]

Read the full article →

What Not To Wear

April 29, 2009
Disney Cruise Ship

We love to sit on the balcony and watch the cruise ships arriving in Tortola (or, even better, leaving Tortola).    When we see a cruise ship, or three, gliding past the balcony in the morning, we know to stay out of Road Town.  Every taxi on the island will be cruising at warp speed (5 [...]

Read the full article →

Gray Day

April 28, 2009
Pumpkin Risotto

Partly cloudy.  Scattered showers.  Breezy.  That’s our weather forecast today.  Hmmm.  At our house on the hill, it’s gray, cold (well, cold for here) and pouring with rain.  The “breeze” is blowing a steady 10-15 knots with gusts up to tropical storm force.  The wind is howling across the balcony and threatening to rip all the [...]

Read the full article →

Sugar Apple

April 27, 2009
Sugar Apple

Just in case you were wondering exactly what a sugar apple is…it’s not a candied apple or a caramel apple.  And it’s not an inane pet name that Bones has for Audrey.  Or worse, for me.  A sugar apple is the fruit of a tree that grows in tropical regions from the Caribbean to India and to Vietnam.  The [...]

Read the full article →

Pretty on the Outside

April 26, 2009
Caribbean Conch

A conch shell is a beautiful thing.  Those of us who live here all have a collection and the tourists will pay rather astounding amounts of money for a good-looking specimen.  The invertabrate inside is, however, not so attractive.

Read the full article →

Camp ConchQuest

April 25, 2009
The Camp Donkey

Audrey has been at Cedar School since she was three years old and during those eight years she’s had some great teachers, some good ones and, luckily, only a dud or two.  I think the low point was definitely the kindergarten teacher with the cropped tops and the pierced bellybutton.  As far as I could tell, she [...]

Read the full article →

Devica, Continued

April 24, 2009
Devica's Cucumber Salad

As promised, here are a few more recipes from the Trinidad feast that Devica produced earlier in the week.
Devica’s Green Seasoning
Devica starts a lot of her dishes with this fresh green Caribbean seasoning.  Devica uses it in her curries, as a marinade for barbecued chicken and in fresh salads and relishes.  You can buy it [...]

Read the full article →

Introducing Devica

April 23, 2009
Buss Up Shut

Those of you who know me are probably wondering where Devica is.  Those who don’t know me are wondering who she is.  She’s been on vacation in Florida but she’s back, thankfully.  Devica has been in our lives for almost 11 years now.  She started life with us as Audrey’s nanny, when Audrey was just 10 [...]

Read the full article →

Hitching to Jamaica

April 22, 2009
Donkey ride

Coming from the States where hitchhiking is not safe or legal, it took a while to get used to the large numbers of people by the side of the road looking for a ride into town.  But hitching is generally safe here in the BVI and you’ll find locals, tourists and yachties alike flagging down a passing car for [...]

Read the full article →

Antigua Classics

April 21, 2009
Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta

The Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta finishes up today with gig racing (dinghy rowing) and a cream tea.  Very civilized indeed.  Out on the water, it’s civilized…though perhaps not so genteel.  As you can see from the photo above,shot on the course a few years ago by Bones, the racing can get pretty hairy.  That’s Radiance [...]

Read the full article →

King of the Grill

April 20, 2009
Chief Inspector Mike, BBQ Master

The balcony is definitely back in business, just in time for summer.  Yesterday, we were lucky to have grillmaster, Chief Inspector, and good friend Mike Donovan handling grill duties.  Mike barbecues some of the best ribs this side of Memphis and he’s the man who made Audrey fall in love with grilled swordfish.  Lucky us.  On the grill yesterday [...]

Read the full article →

The Best Bread on Tortola

April 19, 2009
Almost Parisian Bread

My favorite new toy is my Cuisinart bread machine.  I’ve been producing some beautiful whole grain bread in the machine and have been extremely pleased with the results.  The toast at our house has definitely taken a turn for the better.  And since the bakery charges about six dollars a loaf for country bread, I’m saving us [...]

Read the full article →

Fish Curry from Kerala

April 18, 2009
Fish Curry from Kerala

Every once in a while we have to let Bones step out of the office and into the kitchen.  Indian food is his speciality and the food of the southern state of Kerala is a particular favorite.  The flavors tend to be brighter and cleaner than the food of northern India.  Kerala is at about the same tropical latitude as [...]

Read the full article →

Rock Fever

April 17, 2009
Dried porcini mushrooms

Living on a Caribbean island can be just as fun-filled and idyllic as you might imagine.  But spending most of your days on a spit of land about twelve miles long and three miles wide can also result in a malady that we call rock fever.  That means it’s time to get off the rock.

Read the full article →

Steve Martin’s Breakfast

April 16, 2009
Papaya Breakfast

 
In the fairly recent (and fairly boring) movie “Baby Mama”, Steve Martin plays an obnoxious new-agey type with a ponytail.   At one point, his character brags about eating papaya on the beach at Virgin Gorda.  I would bet there aren’t twelve people who saw the film that have ever heard of Virgin Gorda, much less know where [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries