Christmas Eve in Trinidad

Stefanie and Tim arrived safely very late Thursday evening. We sat up chatting till almost 3am. Doug was working Friday so the kids finished wrapping gifts and took a trip to the Mall. We picked Doug up from work around 4pm, went for supper and came back home for a few drinks and an early night.

This morning it is 10.00am and Stefanie and Tim are "chilin" in the pool, it is a beautiful day.










The glasses contain juice, no alchohol...........................MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Mince Pie Anyone

I have just finished baking 55 Mince Pies. Some will be for us to enjoy over Christmas the remainder will be finding their way into some Trini homes this festive season.

We are swapping mince pies for some local delicacies being made by Doug's work colleagues.



Stefanie and Tim arrive late tonight, I think I am ready, maybe a nap this afternoon, dinner to cook and the kitchen floor to mop. It is going to be a wonderful Christmas with them here, Doug hasn't seen them since July.

Hope Santa is good to each and everyone of you....MERRY CHRISTMAS

Lazy Sunday

Sunday we drove to Chagaramus to find a restaurant we had heard so much about. We went after lunch so decided we would have a drink and check it out for future visits.

We spent a couple of hours watching the boats and soaking up the view. We were shopping for Tim's Christmas present but couldn't decide on which one. Sorry Tim maybe next year. We will definitely be going back for lunch, maybe when Stefanie and Tim are here.






Today I am making my mince pies plus several orders for the locals in Doug's office. we have all the gifts wrapped and under the tree. ( I don't think Doug has done his shopping yet) The turkey is in the freezer and a ham in the fridge. All ready to go for the big day but one thing is missing............Cold Weather.........it is not the same having the warm climate and although everywhere is very festive and the shops are crazy, it does not feel like Christmas.

My first Rum Cake

Although it is very hard to get into the Christmas Spirit as the weather is much too warm, I have been doing some Christmas baking.

Last week I sent in a tray of Christmas cookies for Doug's office, I forgot to take a picture. This week I made a Rum Cake for the first time. I had bought a lovely cast iron cake pan in the shape of a Christmas wreath so I baked the cake in it. Came out pretty good for a first attempt.




Next week I will be making a tray of Christmas Candy, I will remember to take pictures before they go to the office. I also have a lot of mince pies to make for some of the locals, we are swapping for some traditional Trini delights. Doug is very happy as most everything has rum in it.

It is only a week before Stefanie and Tim arrive to spend Christmas with us. All my presents are wrapped and will be going under the tree at the weekend. But it still doesn't feel like Christmas.

The Humble Nutmeg

I have never thought much about where nutmegs come from. When I was young I can remember grating a nutmeg on the rice pudding and in later years would buy it in the supermarket ready grated. After our visit to Grenada I have developed great admiration for the humble nutmeg.

After Hurricane Ivan in 2004 a lot of the nutmeg trees were destroyed and nutmeg production is still not up to full capacity, new trees have been planted but it takes several years to have a good crop from them.

Come with me on a nutmeg journey.

Nutmeg trees fruit all year long, when they are ready to fall from the tree the outer pod splits.





The red you can see around the nutmeg is mace, this is removed and dried in the sun until it turns yellow and then ground to make the spice you buy in the store. You can see the different stages of growth, after the mace is removed the nutmeg is still in an outer shell. With this shell intact they will last for years. Once cracked open you get the nutmeg we see in the stores.



At the nutmeg cooperative, the farmers are guaranteed a certain price per pound for their crop. The nutmegs are laid out to dry for several weeks and raked several times a day with a wooden rake.



They are then put through a machine that cracks them and removes the nutmeg from the outer shell. The outer shells are used in landscaping much the same way we use bark chippings around shrubs and plants.





The nutmegs are them packed in sacks to be shipped all around the world.



Every part of the nutmeg is used, the outer pod is left on the ground to rot and give back to the soil. It produces the spice mace. Helps retain moisture in the garden. It is also used to make Nutmeg Syrup similar to Maple Syrup which I had on pancakes for breakfast and it was really good. Doug tried Nutmeg Jam on his toast at breakfast and it too was really good. It is also used in medicinal treatments and apparently very good for arthritic joints. Not forgetting the uses it has in cooking.

You are never too old to learn something new.

Farming in Grenada

During our trip with Mr Francis we passed through the agricultural region. His family were farmers and he grew up in the agricultural region he knew a lot of people that we stopped and talked to. One worker gave us some fresh oranges straight off the tree, Mr Fancis peeled them and we ate them as we drove to the next area, they were lovely and juicy.

Bananas Trees, the blue covering is to protect the bananas almost ready for harvesting being eaten by lizards and birds.




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Cocoa Trees although some pods are red and some yelow, they produce the same cocoa.





Paw Paw (Papaya) not ripe enough to pick yet.



More in my next post about the nutmegs but here is a sneek peak at a nutmeg tree. We also saw cinnamon trees, plantains, green figs which are a tiny bananas used in cooking.

More about our trip to Grenada

We were introduced to a very nice Taxi driver Mr Francis who took us on a tour of the island way up into the mountains where you can look down over St George. The views were spectacular. We drove up some very unpredictable roads that did not look as though they were wide enough for one vehicle led alone two to pass each other.

Our first stop was at the Annandale Falls which were surrounded by tropical vegetation hanging down over the rocky cliffs, you felt as though you were deep in a rain forest, the photos do not do it justice.





There are a group of locals that entertain the tourists (for a donation) by jumping off the very high cliffs into the water at the base of the falls. The water is approximately 20 feet deep. They do this with a big smile on their face. You can just see one of them in red about to jump.

A day on the beach

We spent most of Sunday around the resort and on the beach.





We strolled along to the craft market which was on the beach, chatted to the local people who are lovely. Doug did manage a few beers from the beach bar, we bought one for the local calypso singer who strolls the beach with his guitar. I think we have a new best friend. We almost had the beach to ourselves, a cruise ship came in which had sailed from Southampton UK a few of the passengers spent a couple of hours on the beach and then it was all ours again.


We had our lunch in the hotel bar and were entertained by this hummingbird who was very busy collecting nectar.

Our first day in Grenada

We arrived after our 25 minute flight from Trinidad to find Doug had booked us an amazing resort for our short stay here. We overlook a white sandy beach which is about 20 feet from our balcony. Last night we went to sleep to the sounds of the waves from the Caribbean sea.



This morning we took a tour of the capital St George where we visited the fort which had a wonderful view over the inner harbour which was once a volcano pool.



The fort was the where the Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was killed on October 19th 1983, which resulted in the U.S. invading the island to bring order..

We then went into down town St George to the spice market, our guide was very knowledgeable and we learnt so much about the local produce as well as the wide variety of local spices which are not only used in cooking but are medicinal also.





After lunch we spent time in the sea and a long walk along the beach.

Grenada here we come

We leave today for a long weekend in Grenada, we are staying in a hotel right on the beach, it looks beautiful.

Grenada is known as the spice island and apparently you can pick up the nutmegs that have fallen from the trees. It is still very unspoiled and we are looking forward to exploring the island.

I know it is a hard life but someone has to do it, look out for pictures when we get back.

Down Town Port of Spain

Saturday Doug and I went into Port of Spain to check out the stores on Charlotte Street. We were looking for inspiration for Christmas. I did manage to find much to my surprise a wonderful prim iron wreath stand much like the one I have in storage back in Canada. I think this was the best buy of the morning. Doug loves the hustle and bustle of Charlotte Street where you can buy most anything, especially from the vendors who line both sides of the street How they make any money I don't know as they all appear to sell the same items at the same price.

More Decorations

Finished my wreath today and also made a table centre arrangement. It really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

More Christmas decorations from almost nothing

After posting pictures of the christmas mice I made, I got to thinking what else I could make from almost nothing to decorate this year.
I had an empty tomato paste tin which I covered with a scrap of burlap, filled it with sand, borrowed a star pick from a basket I have hanging on the powder room door, found some twigs in the garden and odd red berries in my crafting stash.


Next I made some gingerbread men from scraps of warm and narural, grubbied them up tied a bit of homespun around their necks and attached a jingle bell. I finished them off with a rusty wire hanger. These will probably go on the tree.





I found an old cedar plank that we had used on the barbeque, it was lovely and dirty so I attached one of the gingerbread men to it with some sweet annie and a grubby sign, made a wire hanger and it will probably hang somwhere in the kitchen.



I also wrapped my grapevine wreath with garland and it has made a good size wreath, now I have to think of something to decorate it with.

Christmas Decorating

We have bought the tree and are planning to put it together by the weekend. We always have a real tree so it was a big decision to invest in an artificial one.I think we have found one that will look quite prim when decorated.

I realised that we did not bring much in the way of decorations so I have been checking out some of the stores. Everywhere has very glitzy, bright, sparkly decorations which is so not me. I need my prim stuff around me so decided to make a few things with the limited supplies I have.

This is what I finished off this morning.

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The mice are made of old wool fabric and are sat on a mousetrap bought from the local grocery store, then decorated with greenery and berries. I have also just grubbied some prim gingerbread men. I am not sure how I will use them yet. Going to try my hand at a Christmas Wreath later today. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Christmas Lights

I know I know it is much to early it is only the begining of November but everyone here starts Christmas decorating in October. All the shops have Christmas music playing and the malls are all decorated. On Sunday we had our Christmas lights put up. I think we are the first in the neighbourhood but as we are staying in Trinidad for Christmas we are getting ourselves into the Christmas mood.

Here are a few pictures of the house.

Domestic Goddess

Sunday morning we had our Christmas lights put up all around the house.

I couldn't do much outside without getting in the way so I did some baking.



Bannana Bread, Cheese Scones and an Apple Crisp. Also prepared a chicken for a roast chicken dinner later.

Pictures of the lights in the next couple of days.

Spooky Gathering for Halloween

I know it was a week ago but it has been an extremely busy week and I have only just got around to editing the photos.

Everyone had a good time and there were some very creative head gear and costumes.








I had fun making decorations for the house which went down very well especially the colony of bats on the ceiling.






I spent most of the day in the kitchen but well worth it. We gave the dishes gruesome names which everyone seemed to enjoy, I also tried my hand at some really yucky cupcakes which were a hit.





The best get together we have had for a long time. I think theme parties are definitely the way to go, everyone has more fun. Took me a couple of days to get over it all but so glad we made it happen.