December 7
I love food. I love cooking it, trying new ingredients, creating new - not repeatable - recipes. And I'm not afraid to use visitors or Frank as ginnypig. LOL! I guess I've been lucky so far; no visitors have pushed back their plates in disgust ... unless they've been too polite to do so. LOL!
Here in the Grenadines so far, I've tried a few local produce. Plantains: I fry them then sprinkle a bit of salt before serving. They look like scallops on the frying pan. They're a bit sweet and a bit starchy. With the sprinkled salt, we get the savory/sweet balance. We've had them a few times already. It's a yummy sidedish. Callaloo: I've mentioned it earlier. Sauteed with onions and garlic, they're a good alternative to a green vegetable (rare or expensive here). Starfruit: boiled until tender then in the blender for a refreshing, all natural juice. Next, we'll try green bananas. We learned yesterday that boiled and seasoned, they're a good replacement for potatoes. Bananas here are a lot smaller and tastier than home. The plantains, in comparison, are bigger and its skin is a lot thicker. Even though I don't like bananas when they turn yellow with brown spots, that colour is perfect for plantains. Also, next, I want to try cassava (or juca). <span;>We've had some in Puerto Rico (boiled in chicken broth) and seen some here. It is a big, dark brown, root. Those sold at home are usually covered with a waxy film. Juca tastes like potatoes. I'm going to add onions and garlic. Our tastebud will thank us for it. Potatoes don't grow here, therefore they are more expensive than local produce like green bananas and cassava.
An interesting tidbits I forgot to mention during our island tour (November 21): I wrote about the nutmeg fruit which has a bright red mesh around the nut; this mesh is mace. Mace, with a very strong burning sensation upon skin touch, is often used in spray to deter human attackers.
During our last day in Grenada, we participated in a Jumble Sale on the beach (see blog photo). We wanted to sell our IridiumGO (satellite communication) which is brand new. As you may remember last sailing season, the first one had died in Turks & Caicos, 2 days before our multi-day jump to Puerto Rico. As it was still on warranty, the company sent us a brand new one at home. We no longer need it as our sail trips are now short and easy. Among other items for sale, I had 2 tubes of toothpaste. We brought too many thanks to Costco. LOL! I was a bit shy to put them on the table; it's kind of weird to sell toothpaste when everyone else sells boat stuff. But within minutes, a couple gratefully bought both. We didn't sell the IridiumGO but we sold our spinnaker sail - that's the big balloon-looking sail you see in races. The guy who bought it is sailing to Australia, via the Panama Canal. As you can see on the photo, many dinghies were parked along the shore. There were a couple of tiki bars and BBQ's for lunch then a swim.
We're now in Carriacou. And decided to spend the month here. So we renewed our cruising permit until early January and topped up our cellular data plan with Digicel. In the Grenadines, cell companies are Digicel and Flow. They offer about the same plans. We chose a plan of 25 gig <span;>for 30 days at 120 EC ($60 CDN) when we arrived in Grenada. We noticed that 25 gig for 30 days is a bit tight for us. Digicel also has a plan of 20 gig for 10 days at 50 EC. Now that we're staying here for a month, we pay a little bit more but we get 2.5 times the data with this option.
We'd like to sail around the island and visit Petite Martinique in the next couple of weeks. The island of Petite Martinique is the baby version of the Martinique you know; and it is located near the Northern tip of Carriacou. Along the way, there are a few anchorages where we can snorkel and enjoy beaches. The winds are getting stronger so this little trip will need careful planning and without an itinerary, especially when we travel on the winward, ocean side of the island. Susan and Rachel on Aspen I are willing to buddy sail with us. Joe, our good friend on Lady Seagull, is still in Grenada finishing up some major repairs. He thinks he can join us tomorrow.
My Garmin watch died. A few days before, I could still charge the batteries every 3-4 days. And within a couple of days, they couldn't keep their charge for 12 hours. Hmm! I learned that lithium batteries don't like to be very low before they are recharged, as I did. I needed to recharge them regularly. I can read Frank's mind "I told you so" LOL!. The problem is that I can't change the batteries. The watch is garbage after 5 years. Frank's Garmin watch is 6 years old and still going strong. So I keep learning ....
<span;>I just finished reading "Becoming" by Michelle Obama, her biography. It is well written and compelling, <span;>an excellent book. Her story progressively and clearly tells how her character and experiences have defined the woman she is today.
Next blog, I'll talk to you about Christmas Winds and other interesting subjects.
