Fruit, vegetables and culture!

Before you get any farther, my sweet sister Anna took these pictures, not me! (except the pumpkin and peppers) She's just amazing like that! :) Thank you, Anna!

This is the typical produce we buy....it's a nice variety and in comparison to the US, very cheap!

Fresh rosemary....you can find lots of fresh herbs for about 75 cents US.

I love the pineapples! (20 US cents a pound)

-Bananas that are called figs- whole hands for two dollars US.

Bok choy- three large heads for one US dollar.

Pumpkin- they are very large and quite good. They sell it by the slice. You get about three to four US pounds for about 2 US dollars.

The little fruit stand where I frequently shop...

Scotch Bonnet peppers...the Trinis use these in almost everything!! I think they are beautiful...so colorful and peculiarly shaped!

It's a beautiful thing to count your blessings. :)

Menu Monday

Is it Monday already?! Wow...well, that was a fast week!

Today is not only the Monday I do my menu, it's also Mexican Menu Monday! Say that three times fast!! ;)

-Enchilada Casserole (garnished with lettuce and sour cream (Please see note at the end))

-Seared corn salad (It would have been even better if there were tomatoes...but...we didn't have any!)

A very simple, easy, and yummy supper. Mom has been wanting some Mexican food, so that turned out nicely!

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A little note on sour cream.

Do you live somewhere where there is no sour cream? Do you ever run out and need some? Do you have extra plain yoghurt sitting around, just waiting for something to happen to it? Do you need a new recipe to try? Well, do you? 'Cause I have the answer for you!

It's called Greek yoghurt. Sounds fancy and difficult? Nope, well, yes it does, but it's not hard at all. You take regular yoghurt, pour a couple cups into a mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth or a coffee filter. Drain yoghurt over a bowl to catch the whey, in the fridge overnight. Next morning carefully scrape the thick yoghurt into a glass bowl or jar. Stir to smooth out and serve, or use as sour cream. See?! It's simple! And healthy for you!

Have a lovely week!!

Menu Monday

How was your Monday? Mine has been pretty good! Quiet and restful, so that's nice. :)

Menu number two. I sure enjoyed reading the different menus!

*Oven-baked chicken with mushroom pepper sauce

*Brown rice with a little paprika

*Steamed carrots, buttered of course!

*Mixed greens

*Banana bread for dessert

We don't always have dessert, but the warm banana bread Anna made sure was yummy!

Next quiz: dessert every evening meal or only on occasion?

Have a great week!!

Surprise!!

Goodbye, old blog design...I really loved you... especially since you were so neat looking, and because my good friend Julia made you!!

So I'm trying to teach this old dog new tricks, which include blog design! (If you feel the need to laugh hysterically, please take this moment to do so.)

Bwhahaha...that's me laughing at myself...this may be a long process! I'm not really good at this sort of thing, but I'm going to try! :)

So here is new blog design numbah one!!

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It's Saturday evening, so I'm going to go put a roast on for tomorrow and bid you all a wonderful Lord's day tomorrow! God bless!

A little hobby of mine...

Some people collect Coca Cola stuff, or ranch stuff, or thimbles. I enjoy collecting and using glass jars and bottles! I love finding old Mason jars or a unique jar that is brand new! Now, I realize that this could come back and haunt me, so I'm trying to be very careful! These jars are just the ones I've found here at this house and we've been using them, etc. Like that brown lidded one on the bottom left, it's the syrup bottle, and the shorter ones work great for leftovers, salad dressing and storing a series of brown beans! Well, maybe not the beans!

See this neat looking jar? So sleek and graceful?

Who cares if it used to be a Old El Paso Salsa Jar!

(Step 1, soak in very hot water. Step 2 scrub off label with scrubbie, rag, fingernails, whatever it takes! Step 3, dry. Voila!)

I especially love Mason jars. Did you know that Mason makes those sweet little salt and pepper shakers? Yes indeed!

I'm telling you, jars are very artistic looking!

Things you can do with jars: store spices, grains, baking ingredients, beans and the like. Use as leftovers containers for your fridge. Vases. Candle floats. Store glass marbles in a mason jar...a very lovely idea! And my favorite....make jam! Like strawberry, or peach, or...No! I've got it! Fudge Chocolate Sauce for ice cream stores best in a glass jar. I'm sure of it!!!

One last picture...oh, and let me tell you about these jars! You see, these are not just wide mouth pint jars! No, the two on the edges are older, probably about 3o years old. The one the right was probably made in the 60's! I found one fruit jar here from the 40's or 50's! Anyway, I think it's neat..plus I love to can so it kinda goes together. :)

So if you have a pretty or unusual jar, now you know what to do with it! :)

Menu Monday

For the month of January I'm going to post our evening menu every Monday night. Or it might be Tuesday! Ha! Anyway, feel free to post yours too!

Menu the first:

*Pampano Fish in Ginger Sauce.

(Sounds fancy, but it's not. It's super easy!)

*Steamed pumpkin with cinnamon sugar

(The pumpkin here is totally different then the pie pumpkins in the US...not sure what to compare them too, but they are very good and most people here will eat them! Since we are a little shy on the orange vegetables, this is great! )

*Green Beans

(Just plain: I was in a hurry, but they were fresh and tasty all the same.)

*Fresh Lettuce Salad

(With homemade Lemon Basil Dressing, another super easy fix!)

*Focaccia Bread

(My latest favorite bread to bake and I can't wait to try some different flavours!!)

*Coconut Star Fruit Salad

(Emily and I concocted this up this very evening!)

Aaand....here you go!

Coconut Star Fruit Salad

Slice 6 star fruit, 3 bananas and 2 oranges into a glass dish.

Sprinkle with sugar to taste.

3/4 cup coconut milk (we used powdered coconut milk and water)

1/2 cup water with 4 teaspoons cornstarch mixed in.

Heat milk and water mixture till thick.

Let cool and mix into fruit. Best served chilled.

This made 9 small servings. Based on how well people like it, we'll make a little more next time!

Please excuse the un-scraped bowl...we should remember that next time....

Star fruit is a beautiful fruit! I didn't get a chance to play with my camera with them, these are Emily's pictures. Maybe next time! :)

I hope your evening meal was delicious and have a great week!

Oh and a fast quiz: The evening meal- Dinner or supper?

:D

Happy New Year!

"Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee: Jehovah make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

Numbers 6:24-26

Have a wonderful New Year!