Making it Paradise...bits of Bajan life

Ever so often, I find myself in the midst of some place or activity when I have an ah ha moment . This evening while working out with my group, it dawned on me how stunning a view was before me as we exercised al fresco. W ho needs a gym when you have a pasture?

By now, I know someone somewhere must be asking "what kinda Bajan blog dis is and she ain't write bout cou-cou yet?" After all, cou-cou is our national dish. Thing is, cou-cou is one of those dishes which you either love or hate. We love it but I don't cook it regularly! The reason most people hate cou-cou is usually attributed to the okras and it is for this exact same reason I love cou-cou. I am one of those people who must have a tonne of okras in the cou-cou, it must be super mellow, just sliding down the throat. Lucky for me, one of my farming neighbours reaped in lots of okras and I was passing by at the right moment to receive two pounds. Today I used half for cou-cou the other will make my daughter and I happy later this week in okra slush . First I gathered my ingredients together.

 My god-daughter  Shanice  is visiting for two weeks and today we headed out for a history lesson at The Barbados Museum and Historical Society.  Boy was it worth it! This little island has such a grand history, it is much to be proud of. When you acknowledge that some establishments on the island are older than the USA, it kinda puts it into perspective.  The grounds are as magnificent as ever.      This contraption caught my eye and I was even more elated to see a sign "Please take photographs". It revealed a pretty cool and interesting item. So what is it? Come on, you didn't think I was gonna just give it to you, please visit and find out! Unfortunately, you CANNOT photograph the exhibits at the museum BUT you can view them here for a teaser.  http://www.barbmuse.org.bb/galleries/ In other news, we headed through The Gap , went to Miami Beach , stopped for delicious doubles then ended up

Any guesses on what that drink might be? Let me give you a hint..... Golden apple/June plum While we in Barbados call this a golden apple , it is actually a  June plum,  simply because it is a plum (hence the large central seed) and it is a summer fruit. There are many ways to enjoy these delicious fruit, and one of my favourites is to juice and make drink. My neighbour called me over last night for a bag of "apples" and I got to work on them this morning, First it is important to soak and scrub the apples well. Then cut them into manageable pieces.   You simply feed these into a juicer and end up with a super concentrated juice. My 20 apples produced about 9 cups.   Fresh concentrate I add  ice cold water to my concentrate .   (This is actually the liquid I squeezed from the apple remains..... maximum use!)   I sweeten with  Bajan Sugar.... direct from the factory!!! I wish you could taste this, this is soo fresh and tangy.    You can a

It is such a joy to sit back and watch my children discover some of the same simple pleasures in life that I did as a child here in Barbados back in the 70s. One such past-time is cloud watching. Now this may sound trivial to some of you, but you never appreciate clouds until you have lived through a period of not seeing or noticing the sky for years! My niece and I talked about this one night when she was visiting from Toronto. We were sitting out one night when she remarked that the moon looked c lose enough to touch , the sky seemed like it was right there. In any major city, when you look up, you are guaranteed an over load of skyscrapers, ads and competing artificial lights. So, what was any diligent nature lover to do but start taking photos of the sky. I had a renewed appreciation of the sky view. If your location does not afford you a spectacular sky view, then by all means please enjoy ours.      I love these whimsical clouds. Then there are the unusual. We have gre

  Jamaal "Patron James" Bowen .     Barbados' top mixologist.  Jamaal reps Barbados hard.      He has represented Barbados at countless culinary competitions. He has amassed numerous medals and awards and is now called on to train bartenders for competition. Jay lives, eats, sleeps and of course drinks bartending. This is his passion.   Some years back, Jay came to visit and said his goal was to create cocktails using local produce. I immediately suggested breadfruit. Breadfruit is an Asian food and they use it so diversely. He got to work on it and created this winner. So, as promised: Breadfruit Punch 6 oz whole milk 4 oz breadfruit (cooked and pureed) 3 oz soursop punch (ah,ha..secret ingredient) 1/2 oz sugar 2 oz rum nutmeg and cinnamon to taste Place ingredients in blender and mix until smooth. You can find Jamaal activating his liquid tools at the Monkey Bar, Sandy Lane Hotel, St. James.