Honduran Baleadas #EattheWorld

 Baleadas is a traditional Honduran food consisting of thick flour tortillas smeared with refried beans, sprinkled with queso, then topped with avocado and a drizzle of sour cream.  It is folded and eaten by hand, making it a wonderful street food.

We are traveling to Honduras today as we Eat the World......

J is for Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Fragrant and flavorful, chicken is marinated in jerk spices made popular in Jamaica, before being grilled to a smoky goodness.

I substituted Jalapenos for the Scotch Bonnet Peppers because Frank is spice-sensitive and J is for Jalapeno.

A Tropical Grazing Board and Hawaiian Sparkling Wine; Mele Kalikimaka #WorldWineTravel

I am heading to Maui to kick off the New Year.  I am very excited to return this year and so fortunate to have such good friends who welcome us to their home on the Island.   

I decided to see if Hawaii made sparkling wines.  To my delight, they do.  This made my decision on what to share with this month's wine group very easy.

Belizian Panty Ripper #EattheWorld

One of the most popular cocktails in Belize, the Panty Ripper (Panti Ripa) is a delicious blend of tropical juices with a kick of Rum.

We are traveling to Belize today as we Eat the World......

Roasted Lobster Tails with Curry Dipping Sauce paired with a French Granache Rosé #EattheWorld #Winophiles

Roasted Lobster Tail brushed with olive oil and simply seasoned with salt and pepper, is roasted to perfection and plated with a Curry Dipping sauce instead of drawn butter.  

This is a popular dish on the Island of Kiribati that we are visiting today as we Eat the World.....

Hawaiian Pork Roast and a Book Review of Moloka'i #LitHappens

I just finished listening to our Lit Happens selection for March.  This year we are concentrating on Historical Fiction set in different areas of the USA. 

Camilla of Culinary Cam is hosting this month and chose the novel Moloka'i.

Banana Pineapple Muffins with Macadamia Nuts #MuffinMonday

I was cleaning out my freezer the other day.  I had about 10 overripe bananas in there and also half of a bag of Macadamia Nuts.  I thought these would make a great muffin and I was right.  I have been patting myself on the back ever since.

It's time for Muffin Monday..................

Poisson Cru #EattheWorld

Tender delicious chunks of Sushi grade tuna tossed with tomatoes and cucumbers and dressed with coconut and lime.  An amazing appetizer or first course with very little work.

We are traveling to French Polynesia as we Eat the World......

Selefina Spiced Chicken Tacos and the Weekly Menu #sponsored

 Adagio Teas proudly presents Selefina spices and I proudly share them with you.  I was given the opportunity to receive the new line of Selefina products at no cost for sampling/testing purposes.  I agreed to share my honest review of these products in return.  

Look at this assortment!!!  I didn't know what to make first.......

Foiled Fish with Mango #FishFridayFoodies

Fish Fillet coated in butter, sprinkled with lime and rum and topped with mango chunks before being wrapped in foil and baked until tender and flaky.  Come visit the Tropics with me during this Stay Home/Stay Safe mandate.

Join the Fish Friday Foodies as we share recipes inspired by our travels.......

Trinidadian Stir Fry Shrimp #EattheWorld

 Plump, tender shrimp are "washed" in lime juice as is customary in Trinadian cooking the stir fried with crisp vegetables and covered with a rum based sauce.  A quick and delicious weeknight dinner.

We are exploring the foods of Trinidad and Tobago this month as we Eat the World......

SPAM Musubi #CooktheBooks

A popular dish in Hawaii, SPAM Musubi is packed and eaten as a sandwich in lunches.  I cut mine into pieces for a party, reminiscent of sushi.

This recipe was inspired by our Cook the Books Club selection this month.......

Pineapple Coconut Cake #BundtBakers

All the Tropical Flavors of a Pina Colada in a Bundt Pan.  This moist, delicious cake with just a hint of rum is sure to be a success at your next Luau or Island Party.

The Bundt Bakers are headed to the Tropics today.  Come see what we are sharing...…

Hawaiian Cole Slaw #CookoutWeek

Coleslaw chock full of pineapple, mandarins and macadamia nuts dressed with tangy, citrusy, creamy goodness.

I made this coleslaw last September for my granddaughter's Moana themed 3rd birthday party but have never shared it with you.  When I started choosing the recipes I wanted to make for Cookout Week this year, I came across this in my archives.Welcome to Day 5 of Cookout Week...…….

Grenada~~Island Tour

It ended all too soon.  It seems like I have been home much longer than a couple of days.  We have gotten a lot accomplished since we got home.

The pool is opened and should be ready for us by the end of the week.  The laundry is done, the lawn is mowed.  We've spent each day with our Little Miss and we went out and got all the supplies to start painting the renovated back room.

I found a few minutes to go through the photos from our Island Tour on the last day of our vacation.  I will share those with you now.  We loved our time in Grenada.  Most of our time was spent at True Blue Bay Resort.  They say their mission is to keep their guests happy and they certainly do.  Very friendly and accommodating staff.

Our mornings were spent diving with Aquanuts.  This is, without a doubt, one of the best dive teams we have had the pleasure of spending a week with.  They pampered us completely.  We didn't even have to take care of our own wetsuits.  They did it all.  Each morning we would get to the boat and our gear would be all set up, ready and waiting to go.  Bugsy, Bruce, Crispin and Dennis couldn't have done anything that would have made this dive experience any better.

Friday morning, our last full day, there was no diving.  We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast and then met in the lobby at 9 am to tour the Island.  Grenada is 12 miles wide by 21 miles long but you would think it was much larger.  It is very mountainous so there is a lot of land above sea level in that short distance.

There are 6 Parishes on the Island.  We visited 5 of them.  Each little town we drove through has their Farmer's Market going on Fridays and Saturdays.  St. George is the largest city on the Island. Their Farmer's Market rivaled our Eastern Market here in Detroit.

Much of the roadside is decorated with the Grenadian colors of red/green/yellow.  There are handwritten signs of goodwill and charity everywhere you look.  The USA is well loved by Grenadians and they made it very clear that our tourism is appreciated and needed.

Our first stop was a beautiful waterfall where we cooled off a bit and stretched our legs after the trek out of St. Georges which was very heavily congested with traffic.

Our next stop was the Spice House.  This plantation used to employ over 300 people.  In a four year period, the owner, worried that he was going to lose the business due to political uprisings, let the plantation go and it now only has 20 employees.

Grenada is known as the Spice Island.  It used to be the 2nd largest exporter of nutmeg in the world but a hurricane took out many of it trees, knocking it down to #8.  They also export cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon, turmeric, and allspice.

This was followed by a stop at the Chocolate Factory. Cocoa is also a huge crop for Grenada and is imported to other countries.  The picture on the bottom left shows a cocoa fruit from which the beans are taken.  They are then placed in drawers and covered with banana leaves being turned and stirred each day until they turn a golden brown.  Then they are machine sorted for size before being hand sorted for any imperfections before being roasted and becoming the products that we know and love.

Lunch was enjoyed at a mountain top restaurant at this rum distillery.  After lunch we enjoyed a tour of the distillery, which is the only distillery on the Island that still presses and makes rum in the same manner as when it first opened in the 1800's.  This was followed up by a rum tasting.

The ride back took us past this fort where the USA battled with Grenada.  We called this an invasion.  93% of the Grenadians called this a rescue mission for which they are very grateful, celebrating it each year with a day they call Thanksgiving.

It was a very long, full day.  Dinner was ready upon our return to the resort and then we headed to the room to pack up and get ready for our return home the following day.  

Grenada~~Last Day of Diving and a Cooking Class

Thursday we went to the Marine Preserve Park for our last two morning dives.  The first stop was a sunken schooner followed by the sculpture park.

The current took us around the hull of the schooner.

And the we had to fight the current to see the top of the schooner.

We then swam into the shallower waters and visited the Underwater Sculpture Park.  This Park was designed by a local artist using models from the Island to make the faces on the statues.  The Park is in pretty good shape except for one area that was damaged by a storm.  The bodies were ripped from the stand and now lie in the sand....this is now called the graveyard.

The second dive was another part of the reef system, I can't remember the name of the site.  It was a beautiful, vibrant reef with an abundance of sealife, mostly fans, coral heads, and small fish.

After lunch we attended a cooking class where the chef from the resort shared her recipe for Creole Sauce.  The Creole sauce here is very different from what I have made.

Now I have the secret ingredient and will be replicating it at home so stay tuned for that recipe coming up soon.

Following the Cooking Class was a night dive of the wreck we did the first dive of the first day.  This wreck is in a protected area so there is no current to deal with negating the need for a drift dive.  

The cup coral was very vibrant, we saw a couple of spiny sea urchin but were disappointed that none of the "thugs" were out.  Normally night dives are where you get to see your octopus, sharks, eels, etc.

Back to the resort for a late dinner and then crashed.  Yesterday was spent touring the Island.....learned so much and have a lot to share with you....coming up next on the blog....see you soon.

Grenada~~Day 4

I did not dive yesterday morning.  I awoke in the middle of the night with a terrible migraine and was still in pain and nauseous when it was time to leave in the morning.  Frank went and visited our dive friends, Brad and Sherry, who happen to be an ER Doctor and Trauma Nurse.  He came back with medication.  I was then able to fall asleep while Frank went diving.  I awoke around 11 am and felt much better with just the lingering residual effects of the migraine remaining.

Frank said that the visibility was not very good on the dives.  However, he did get some nice photos that he shared with me and I am sharing with you today.

I'm sorry I missed this guy.

Peek a Boo

I wish we didn't see so many of these guys.

After lunch I went back to the room and rested a bit more, read for a while and  went for a massage. By late afternoon I was feeling right back to normal.

The resort hosted a cocktail party for all of the guests.  We met the owners of the resort and mingled for a bit before heading over to the restaurant and bar area that had been taken over by locals for an evening of street food.

This was a lot of fun.  They had different stations with all kinds of local specialties.  We were given tickets and were able to pick and choose what we wished to try.  The only unusual thing that I tried was the curried goat stew which was absolutely delicious.

I got a lot of ideas for what to serve at our after dive party we will be hosting at the end of the month.

Off for our last day of diving.  See you all tomorrow.

Diving Grenada~~Day 3

Day 3 of diving was very nice but it started getting a little rough in the afternoon with high winds expected in the evening, canceling our scheduled night dive.

Our first stop of the morning was a site called Windmill Shallows. It contains neither a windmill nor shallows so we are unsure where the name originated. What it does contain is a Catamaran that was used for taking tourists out for rum cruises.  One morning the crew came into work and the Catamaran had disappeared.  Some time later it was discovered lying on the bottom of the ocean at the dive site.

There was an entire colony of Lionfish living on this Catamaran.  All stationed right over this feeding hole which is probably why we didn't see much else.

We did see this guy....Who's not afraid of no stinkin' lionfish.

And this spider crab who was oblivious to it all.

Our second dive was Kohanee, another section of the miles long reef system.  This was a beautiful site with a lot of marine life and gorgeous corals of all kinds.

We hung out by the pool after lunch.  We had spa services provided with our all inclusive package so Frank went for a back massage and I had a facial.  It was so wonderful that I scheduled a massage for today.

After our spa treatments we attended a chocolate and rum tasting.  We tried many different chocolates from 100% cocoa to 60% cocoa.  Some were plain, others were flavored with sea salt, nutmeg and ginger.  This is, after all, the Spice Island.   My favorite was the nutmeg flavored bar with 60% cocoa.  My most exciting find were cocoa tea balls.  I picked some up and got the recipe for cocoa tea….we have National Tea Day in June!

There were 3 different rums that we tried.  The first was 150 proof.  It was like taking a sip of lighter fluid.  The second was a Plantation Rum to be enjoyed on the rocks, with a sweeter honey flavor to it.  The last was a 10XO aged in Bourbon barrels from Tennessee and meant to be enjoyed neat.  This last was my personal favorite.

Cocktails and laughter before dinner.

Music and Dancing during Dinner.

Delicious Cajun Shrimp for dinner, that tasted more sweet and spicy than Cajun.

And then back to the room for a good night's sleep before diving the next day.  This is when my vacation went awry but more about that in tomorrows post.  See you then.

Grenada-Day 2

Our second day of diving with Aquanuts was just as wonderful as the first day.  The crew that we have is absolutely amazing.  This is the most relaxed dive trip that I have ever been on in my 25 years of diving.  The crew takes care of everything!!  They even take care of your wetsuits.  I have never been this pampered by a dive crew before.

Our first dive yesterday was another wreck called Shakem.  This wreck was a ship that picked up building supplies from Trinidad to bring back to Grenada.  They overloaded the ship with cement bars, blocks and rods.  The weight shifted and that was all she wrote.  This is one of the most intact shipwrecks I have seen.

We also came across a shovelnose lobster.  I had never seen one before.  You can see why lobster are sometimes called the cockroaches of the sea.

Our second dive was called Escape.  It is part of the same reef system that we explored on Day 1. 

It is a healthy, colorful reef with lots of small marine life.

A lot of shrimp hiding out on this dive.

Beauty everywhere you look.

How majestic is God's work!

We spent the remainder of the day around the pool, relaxing and reading.  I finished a novel I had been given and advanced copy of from The Book Club Cookbook for review.  I will be sharing that and the recipe it inspired shortly upon my return home.

The group we dive with is such a wonderful selection of personalities.  It is always an awesome time.  I look forward to sharing more with you tomorrow.  See you then,

Our First Land Excursion

We arrived on the wonderful island of Dominica after dark on Friday night.  It was a very loooonnnggg day.  We had gotten up to head to the airport at 3 am.  After 3 flights and an hour long bus ride through the mountains we were greeted with rum punch and a meeting with the hotel management where we were given our room assignments and invited to have a buffet dinner before turning in for the evening.

Saturday we had two morning dives.  The diving photos will be shared after we return home.  Frank is using the Go Pro and the program for it is on our PC at home.  We spent the rest of the day recuperating but did stay up long enough to see this beautiful sunset.

Sunday we enjoyed two more dives in the morning and then spent the afternoon on a whale watching excursion.  We didn't see any whales this time but we did have a whale of a good time.

Monday, again we enjoyed 2 morning dives and then we went on a land excursion to three different waterfalls.  Each one better than the last.

First stop was Spanny's Falls.  A short hike through the rainforest brought us to the lower falls on the bottom left.  To get to the upper falls you had to pull yourself up the mountain with the rope.  We chose to forego the upper falls.

Next stop, Jaco Falls.  I could've sworn our guide called these Hibiscus Falls but the sign says Jaco and I have been known to hear things wrong.  Jaco, Hibiscus....not even close LOL.

Our last stop was Emerald Pool.  A beautiful short hike to the falls and pool with lookout points over the Gulf side of the Island and the Atlantic side of the Island.  Just breathtaking.

Tonight we are going to Carnival and having street food for dinner.  Tomorrow is 2 dives in the morning, lunch on the beach and a third dive in the afternoon.  See you very soon.