liamsaunt

Not really….this week’s box contained more potatoes, TWO cabbages, and a butternut squash the size of my thigh 😂. It’s back to square one! Last night, no root vegetables were harmed in the making of dinner. Linguini with clams

Mustard roasted cabbage, potatoes, onions, and chicken on butternut squash-apple purée.

I don’t make chicken salad very often, but when I do, I am partial to Ina Garten’s curried chicken salad. It has cashews in it, which I really like as an addition. I am not a huge celery fan, so usually leave that ingredient out. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/curried-chicken-salad-recipe-2014291

I don’t celebrate any of the Hallmark holidays, so have no special meal planned. Ideally, I will come up with something to use up some the massive amounts of potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and cabbage I have in the house from my CSA right now.

Chicken, broccoli, cashew and bell pepper stir fry with scallion rice

Butternut, tamarind, and coconut stew from Ottolenghi’s Comfort, with rice and flatbread

Autumn pilau with squash, kale and smoked garlic from Meera Sodha’s East. I added some chopped nuts for crunch. A big bowl of brothy ramen with spinach, mushrooms, scallions and roasted broccoli with chili crisp for spice

They are a big, big, negative. Borderline dealbreaker, to be honest, which is why I said we might not go back. They are not on the main beaches where the resorts are, but we like to go off the beaten track a bit. They roam all around the neighborhoods too. All the properties are gated, including the house we rented. On St. John some of the properties are gated, but it’s to keep wild donkeys and goats out, not feral dogs. We actually had a random donkey try to come inside the first we ever rented on St. John 😂. I will take donkeys and goats over angry dogs any day.

I have not, sorry! I will say that everyone I know that has been to Croatia loved it. Good luck in planning your next adventure.

We are heading home today, weather permitting. We spent yesterday walking up and down Grace Bay beach and soaking up what sun came out between clouds We were not going out to dinner because of the Super Bowl, so instead went for a late lunch at the bar on the resort. Cocktail/mocktail. Snacks menu Neither of us were very hungry so we just opted to share a couple of the sushi options. This is the chili garlic tuna roll and the truffled salmon nigiri The path to our room at the resort and one last Grace Bay sunset Would we come back to Turks and Caicos? I would have to say that’s a qualified “maybe.” There are good things and bad things about it. The best good things: we had some nice food, the people are friendly, and the beaches are lovely. The worst bad things: the traffic is awful, and there are often packs of feral dogs roaming around the streets and the less visited beaches. We’ve been trying out a new island each year in addition to our usual visits to St. John and Bermuda, and so far have not visited a place that comes close to matching either. Anguilla is next on the list, and we might be headed there this summer, if we can resist the usual siren song of St. John. Time will tell. See you on the dinner thread.

We spent yesterday just sitting on or walking up and down Grace Bay beach. The water was rough, but it’s too cold to swim anyway. The waves were large We walked the length of the beach. This is the pier in front of the Club Med resort. The end of it is long gone Grace Bay Club automatically made us a dinner reservation at Infiniti when we checked in, but I did not want to go back there since we had already eaten there earlier in the trip. Instead, my husband read about a French bistro place about 1/2 mile from the club, Le Bouchon du Village, and we were able to snag an early table. It’s an outdoor restaurant as you can see We were the third party to arrive, but by the time we left it was completely full with a long line waiting to get in. Here is the menu, in its entirety The owner of the restaurant also owns a bakery and sandwich shop across the street. They are closed Sundays or we would probably walk back and check it out this morning. Amuse bouche of tomato tart The waiter explained the accompaniments to the various dishes on the menu, and said that they had local wahoo, snapper, tuna, grouper and lobster that evening. He highly recommended the mussels to share as a starter. They came with a plate of skinny fries for dipping in the sauce, but we tried not to eat those haha I chose the snapper buerre blanc, which came with mashed potatoes and the most delicious vegetables. This was by far my favorite plate of food. I cleaned my plate, and I never do that! Husband chose the wahoo, which was lightly dusted with curry and pan seared, then served with the same vegetables I had, rice, and a garlic butter on the side (but in an actual dish this time, not a little plastic cup). He said it was perfectly cooked and delicious. For dessert, they brought out a huge tray of things to choose from: various tarts, mousse, tiramisu, and pastries. We decided to indulge and split a creme brulee Then we walked back to the Grace Bay Club for a cup of tea by the windy and chilly fire pit We will probably be doing lunch somewhere instead of dinner today because of the Super Bowl. The Club was planning on hosting a watch party of the lawn if it’s not too cold. We will see what the day brings.

They were terrific. Not greasy, spicy, and full of conch. We also bought a slice of their key lime pie to bring home. I had it for breakfast this morning 😀 Yesterday we went for one last walk on Taylor Bay We found a big flame box crab hanging out on the shore Last night was supposed to be our last night on the island, so we booked dinner at Vita at Rockhouse, which is known for its spectacular setting. It’s built into cliffs, which makes it unlike the other properties on Turks and Caicos. It’s certainly beautiful. Here’s the view from the pool deck The menu Cocktail/mocktail And the restaurant. It filled to capacity moments after I snapped this picture. I had the zucchini Parmesan for an appetizer. It was so light Husband had the tuna tartare He he chose the lemon lobster spaghetti for his main And I had the snapper. The moment my entree arrived I was joined by a guest. This is Rocky, the mascot of the Rockhouse. He must like snapper because he sat next to me the entire dinner. He considered jumping up in my lap a few times, but settled for batting my leg to try and get me to feed him 🤣 I was told by our server that feeding Rocky is definitely allowed, so he got some of my snapper after all 🤣 We shared a pistachio affogato for dessert The weather back home is terrible, with 40-50 mph wind gusts and -20 real feel, so we decided to extend our vacation a few days. We had to leave the rental house, so are now at the Grace Bay Club for a few days. When we arrived to check in this morning there were two parties ahead of us that were also scheduled to go out on our flight home and changed their minds. I guess we were not the only ones with this idea!

Believe me, I have tried! It is just tooooo cold. 😂 Yesterday we went over to explore the area where another house we can stay in is located. The beach was very pretty. It was good for walking because it was flat and the sand was packed in There’s a little restaurant on the beach called Da Conch Shack. As you get closer the conch shells start to pile up in the water The restaurant The menu We shared some conch fritters And some blackened grouper tacos After linner we went back to the Bight for a long walk And then back to the house, where the Sound was like glass

Yes, it is definitely all the same system. It’s just bad luck, and you cannot control the weather. One year we went to St. John in June for 21 days and it absolutely poured for 20 of them! There was so much rain that the roads flooded and cars were floating down the streets. We could not leave the rental house. It was nuts. We just turned up the music and danced in the living room every afternoon. We never got I. The water other than the villa pool, but it actually ended up being a nice break! Yesterday turned into a decently warm and sunny day. We decided to check out another beach near the house, Sapodilla Bay. This is known as the “relaxing party” beach. You can rent chairs and umbrellas, and there are little beach bars. Low key reggae plays, and you can rent water toys like kayaks and even jet skis (yikes). Everyone working at the beach was really friendly, but it was too crowded for us, so we just walked the length and then went back to quiet Taylor Bay. Here are a few pictures of Sapodilla Later that day we went back to the Bight to walk on that beach. It was nice and calm. We found another washed up US Coast Guard buoy. The one we found earlier in the week was green, and this one was red. They are really huge. I wonder what storm washed them ashore? For dinner, we went to the Marine Room, which is across the street from the Bight. Menu Cocktail/mocktail Husband had the tuna tartare to start. He wanted the lemon shark but they were out of it. I had the yellowtail crudo Husband had the squid ink pasta and I had the prawn risotto We shared a slice of the key lime tart for dessert There’s some more unsettled weather moving through this morning, but it is supposed to clear up this afternoon. We have plans to go investigate another area of the island that we might stay on for a future visit (if we decide to come back, the jury is still out on that question) and then we want to find some more conch salad or similar for dinner.

I second this fish recipe. Everyone in my house really likes it, and it’s hard to come up with something that everyone in my group really enjoys!