Chive N Thyme

Nesta with me and Darnell

One of the (many) things that I am falling in love with in Grenada is the cooking. I'm having a blast trying out the local dishes on my own. Thanks to our friend Nesta, a Grenadian AND a fantastic cook, Darnell (s/v Island Dream), Carolyn (s/v Moondance) and myself have been having a ball learning to cook Grenadian style.

We took a trip to the fruit and vegetable market in St. Georges, with Nesta at our side to help make sure that we are charged the local prices. Just buying the vegetables is a pleasure, as you walk through the market, you see the lady washing her beautiful heads of lettuce in buckets and bagging them for you.  The tomatoes too were picked that very morning. I just love the sight of a well stocked vegetable market.

My bundle of chive n thyme

One thing you can never leave the market without is your chive n thyme. It's basically a bundle of seasoning goodness that you can be sure will include chive and thyme, but it's even better than that. You will almost always find a few extra goodies such as local basil, celery, or, if you're really lucky, a few leaves of chadon bene (pronounced shadow benny, it a local herb that tastes like cilantro). It's fun to cut the string on your chive n thyme and see what you find inside.

I decided to try my hand at pumpkin soup.  I used a big hunk of local pumpkin that I bought at the market and added  my bunch of chive n thyme, some fresh ginger, garlic, coconut milk and a few other goodies and let me tell you - Campbell's will be calling me for the recipe any day now! 

Nest week Nesta is making a visit to Storyville to teach Darnell, Carolyn and I how to make bakes. One hint about what makes bakes so good - they're fried!

Pumpkin soup, ready for the heat

This is some yummy soup (I grated a little nutmeg on top, just because I could

My chadon bene, growing in Storyville's cockpit

Calabash Bowl

My Calabash Bowl, filled with salad

Check out my Calabash Bowl! It's a bowl made from the fruit of the Calabash tree. It's like a gourd in appearance and different trees actually make different shaped fruit. They are carved and used for cups, bowls, bottles (in years past sugar cane field workers carried Calabash bottles filled with water into the fields with them) and even for musical instruments and decorative uses.

The bowls are popular here in Grenada for use on the beach during oil downs. Lucky for us, our friend Jude has a Calabash tree growing next to his house. He happily made two bowls for us and also a beautifully carved candle holder.

This is the tree growing next to Jude's house

Calabash have grown all over the world, from Africa and Europe and the America's, for thousands of years before Columbus even discovered America. They have been carved and used for everything from carrying water to making music.

This is Jude. He made our Calabash Bowls!

Calabash growing on the tree

Our bowls came from this tree

Jude also carved this beautiful Calabash candle holder for me

Oil Down

Our Grenadian family invited us to an oil down on the beach yesterday. Oil down is the national dish of Grenada. It's a hearty, one-pot meal, cooked over an open fire on the beach. The ingredients vary, depending on who the cook is and what is available, but some of the staples remain the same, such as breadfruit and callaloo. The ingredients are layered in the pot, starting with a layer of breadfruit, green bananas and meat. Some seasoning is added, then another layer on top of that. The dumpling are next, followed by a layer of okra and callaloo.

The whole family was involved, some with getting the fire going, some with prepping the meat, some with peeling and chopping the veggies. Dog the Bounty Hunter was in charge and he let Stacy and I help as much as we wanted. A few of the things I helped with were staining the coconut water (by hand), making the dumplings and chopping the callaloo. What a very fun day we had, just hanging out on the beach and helping with the cooking and playing with the kids. I hope we get to do it all again one day soon.

We are very blessed to have this wonderful family here in Grenada that took us under their wing. Thanks to Rene and Stacy and Lisa and Sea Dog for meeting them and letting us join in the family.  They include us in their family gatherings where we love to sing (at the top of our lungs)..... "We are famileeeeee, we are one famileeeeee". They are such fantastic people and they truly do make us feel right at home on their lovely island.

Here is the story in pictures:

It all starts out innocently enough, a couple of limes, some
seasoning peppers and onions.

Some breadfruit and green bananas.

Everyone got in on helping peel and cut up the breadfruit.

Some chicken wings and turkey wings were added to the pot.

Time for the onions and seasoning peppers. Interestingly, other
herbs were added when someone picked them and brought them over.
I think it was lemongrass and maybe some kind of wild basil and
possible shadow benny (a wild herb that tastes like cilantro).

Time for the seasoning - lots of turmeric!

The callaloo (or dasheen) was chopped, to be
added on the last layer, along with some okra.

Stacy and I (with supervision from Dog) strained the coconut
milk by hand.

Then we made the dumpling by hand - also closely supervised
by Dog.

Coconut milk, herbs, meat, green bananas, dumplings, breadfruit.
This looks ready for the fire.

Then we added the chopped callaloo to the top.

Put a lid on and let it boil!

This is the finished product. Looks yummy, can't wait to
give it a taste!

Move the pot off the fire.....

Remove the cooked okra and callaloo from the top and stir
it together in a bowl, forming a kind of sauce.

I was too busy eating to take any more pictures. This stuff is fantastic. I ate until I couldn't eat another bite. Thanks again to our family for another great day!

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. ~Voltaire

Hash No. 807

Luna and I did another hash last Saturday and I just had to post a few pictures of what we saw along the way:

The paper says it all....

This was my view for most of the hash.
The backs of Rene and Sea Dog

The sun on a cute little house nestled in a valley

These guys were amused as Luna and I struggled up a giant hill

That's the hill. Doesn't look too bad in the picture
but I tell you, it was straight up!

I don't know what kind of palm this is, but I love the way they
grown like a fan.

One tired puppy.

You need special shoes for hiking - and a bit of a special soul as well. ~Terri Guillemets

Dinghy Concert

Last weekend we had an awesome time at a dinghy concert sponsored by Le Phare Bleu Marina  here in Grenada. It was a blast! The marina tied a couple of barges together with a boat in the middle to create the stage and music was provided by Madison Violet  a band from Nova Scotia. Cruisers from surrounding bays dinghied over and rafted up for an afternoon of music and fun.

Thanks to Paul of Sheryl Shard of the TV Show (and boat) Distant Shores, for the great You Tube video! Click the link to check it out.

 I think the pictures will tell the story better than I can:

Silvio, Vee and Sadie s/v Blues Breaker

Cynthia and Mike s/v Minx

Hurri Cane Lisa and Sea Dog Dave s/v Ke' Ola Kai

Rene and Stacy s/v Pipe Muh Bligh

Luna and Troy s/v Storyville

Madison Violet

We even had a rainbow!

Keeping Luna cool!

I made it to the barge!

After Party! How many can we fit on Storyville?

On On

Since the day we decided to sail to Grenada and started doing some research about the island I put a hash run on my bucket list. Well, last Saturday I got to put a great big check mark beside that one!

What is a hash? Well, I'm glad you asked. A hash is basically a hike on a trail that has been preset by a hare (the person who sets the trail) marking the trail with paper scraps, to be followed by the hashers (the runners and/or walkers). The terrain can vary from mountain trails, crossing streams, mud, dirt, paved roads and even through neighborhoods. Thank goodness it is non-competitive. In fact, hashers are often referred to as drinkers with a running problem, as there is always a party with beer and food at the end of the hash. If you hear other hashers around you yelling "on on" then you know that you are on the right trail.

I was a little worried about my first hash. How would it be? Could I do it? After all, since I had never hashed before, I was known as a virgin (and even made to sign up as a virgin before the hash). Thankfully, Rene, Stacy, Lisa and Sea Dog Dave, all no longer virgins, agreed to go with me. When we got to the gathering point, we all slathered on sunscreen and then bug spray over that. Next came the sweat and some mud as we hiked uphill on a very narrow and slippery trail. Stacy, Lisa and I, along with our new friend Sheryl Shard, brought up the rear and we got so busy talking that we got lost. For a minute there I was worried that we would never find our way back! The views were breathtaking and it felt absolutely wonderful to be enjoying the island from a point of view that other visitors may never get to appreciate.

Once we got back to the gathering point everyone enjoyed a cold beer and an oil down (In case you are wondering what an oil down is, that topic will be a future blog post all of it's own - a hint though - it's food). So we were enjoying our refreshments when the hash master called all the virgins up. There were 6 or 7 of us and we were presented with our certificates of loss of virginity, then they had us put our sunscreened, bug sprayed, sweaty, muddy arms around each other and they SPRAYED US WITH BEER!

What a day! Luna and I enjoyed every minute of it and we can't wait to go back and do it again.

Hashing has been around since 1938 when it originated in Malaysia. According to the World Hash House Harriers home page, there are currently 2028 hash groups in 1330 cities in 185 countries, so check them out and find a hash group near you.

 Here are a couple of great resources if you are interested in learning more about hashing:

Grenada Hash House Harriers

World Hash House Harriers

Wikipedia - Hash House Harriers

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

On on! Beginning of the hash!

The trail is marked with shredded paper piles

The views are incredible!

See what I mean?

Luna, making friends with a goat.

Rene and Sea Dog have a rest after the hash.

Here's a fun hash tradition for you - If you wear new shoes
to the hash, they make you drink beer from them!

We did it! Sheryl, Deana, Lisa and Stacy

And now - the reward!

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~John Muir