I can remember the exact moment when, my cousin Gloria introduced me to the Carambola fruit as a teenager. I had lived on the island my entire young adult life, and had never seen or tasted anything like it. Its clear star shape made it look almost otherworldly. As if it was too intentional that this was the specific design of a piece of fruit. Read More
I recently appeared on one of our local radio talk shows “Beyond Empowerment”. It is hosted by one of my favorite people on our little Rock, Charlene Springer. We talked for a full half hour about food, and the love of crafting foods, and the importance of it for our island’s economic growth.
Right at the end of the program, she whispered faintly a word that in all my culinary curiosities I never heard uttered. I didn’t understand what she said, so I asked her to repeat it. But before she did, she closed her eyes, smiled a brilliant flash of white contentment, and breathed the word out once more, “Aebleskivers“. From that reaction alone, my spirit understood, that I didn’t know what it was, but I wanted to!! Read More
Yes, there can be absolutely no doubt that it is summer! The line of demarcation for the seasons on St. Croix is not a visual one, but a physical one. Your body recognizes the intensity of the summer sun before your eyes start to understand that the lush landscape is now drying. Then the thirst sets in, and all you physically crave are ways to beat the heat and cool down. This is one of my favorite summer time “Cool Down” treats. Read More
Even though we don’t have seasons on the island as visually dramatic as those in the Northern parts of the States, we do feel the changes of the seasons quarterly. None more so than the switch between Winter/Spring and Summer. A cool winter evening is so appreciated when compared to the cover-kicking-off heat of a summer night.
On the island your body, more than your eyes, tells you that the seasons are changing. This is especially so, when summer shows up in all its warm, trade wind-cooled glory! Read More
Whenever I make a sweet dessert, I always add just a pinch of salt, whether or not the recipe calls for it. The salt offers a slight flavor contrast to the dessert that without it can leave the dessert tasting flat.
As it is in life, it is in the kitchen. Opposition creates compliments– good and bad, black and white, sweet and sour, salt and sweet!
So add a bit of salt to the sweetness in your kitchen and in your life!! It makes for more interesting living and eating!
I am such a fan of green lip mussels! They are the perfect light addition to any occasion, as an appetizer or as a meal itself. Whenever we have friends over, it is not uncommon for me to make a bowl of this simple seafood that when properly complimented can prove to be anything but! Visually, its beautiful, green-blue, iridescent shell is reminiscent of every island beach I know. Somehow sun and sea and sky always seem to infuse their colors into every island food and flavor. Read More
When I think of the word Vanilla, the word warm walks into my mind and sits right next to it.
Vanilla is anything but just vanilla.Try various types of vanilla, and you can taste that each kind is just slightly different. With each taste, other words like spicy, bold, or mild will join the vanilla table in your mind. Read More
The human tongue can perceive four distinct tastes– Sweet, Sour, Salty, and Bitter. This drink manages to capture the first three, and invents a new fourth: AWESOME!! Read More
Become curious about food! Not just the ones you know and love, but the full spectrum of flavor. One of the things I enjoy doing is going down an isle in the grocery store that I would usually not browse. The other day, I found myself in the “Middle Eastern” isle at our local grocery store. Flavors like rosewater, pomegranate molasses, shwama, and zatar, all jumped off the shelf competing for my attention. I have never worked with some of those flavors, but decided to buy a bottle of zatar. It is a type of thyme. Try something new! The kitchen will reward your effort and your curiosity!
