liamsaunt

We were planning on getting dessert, but we ended up being just too full, even with taking half of everything home. Yesterday we planned to spend the day at Hawksnest Beach. We arrived, got all set up in our favorite secluded cove, starting reading books--and then it started looking like this Rain on the beach is never a problem, but there was thunder. Lots of thunder. When the lightning started we left very quickly and went back to the house. It cleared up in a couple of hours, but we decided to just stay at the villa and relax until it was time for dinner at La Tapa. Menu Drinks Restaurant view We ordered a special of tuna tartare and another of pork belly and I really wanted a salad Nephew got the soup of the day too, which was a tomato mozzarella. He's been getting this since he was a kid, every time they have it. Four of us had the tuna entree (excellent) and my nephew chose a special entree of Iberico pork with roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts dessert options We were way too full for dessert though. The sunset last night was stunning

I have seen pictures of stingray city and friends that have been there have said it is a good experience. I have actually never been to the Bahamas. We were thinking of going to Little Exuma in November, but the house we would stay in was only available for six days, so we are just coming back here instead. Not that I am complaining. Yesterday we had a boat charter booked to take us to the floating taco bar, but our captain got into a car accident early in the morning, so asked if we could reschedule. I think we might be going Sunday instead. It turned out fine, because weather moved in and we had some pretty heavy rain off and on through the afternoon. My nephew asked if we could go out to eat again, and also asked if he could choose the restaurant since he had no real choice on what to eat the night before. I do feel bad for him. He has not been back down here since the hurricanes in 2017, and his favorite places, all of which were good with his allergy, were destroyed and did not rebuild. So we are in a bit of uncharted territory with his allergy this visit. He decided he wanted to go to Lovongo Rum Bar since they have no crustaceans on the menu at all. Pizza again, but OK. The view in town while we waited for a table to open up The menu Drinks. A martini for my husband, and I am not sure what my nephew got, actually. Something with rum I am sure. We decided to deliberately overrode and bring half of everything home to eat after our rescheduled boat to the taco bar. Nephew wanted the meatball appetizer. Niece wanted the cheesy bread and the chicken wings Restaurant view Too bad the power pole is in the way of the sunset. We ordered the fun guy The mermaid margarita the pig overboard (this was my nephew's choice, but we all stole his arugula. It's grown on St. John and it is delicious) We all enjoyed our pizzas and are looking forward to the leftovers, so it turned out to be a good take. One quirky thing did happen with the bill though. When they brought it out for review, it was itemized with included 20% gratuity, which is fine. When they brought it back to sign off on, it had another tip line, with suggested gratuities underneath it based on a percentage of the total bill that included the already added 20%. If we had not noticed, and added the gratuity again, it would have been a 44% tip, which is kind of nuts for a pizza place! I'm sure it is a quirk of the software they use, but it was odd. Today, beach, and our first upscale restaurant of the trip.

Trunk Bay is in the National Park, so it is illegal to feed any of the wildlife. Some tourists do it anyway, which is probably why this stingray was hanging around. Yesterday we spent the day at Cinnamon Bay My sister wanted to go to Longboard for dinner. I did not, because they have an extremely small kitchen and I thought they would not be able to deal with my nephew's allergy, but she was insistent, so off we went. As I suspected, he could not have most things on the menu. In addition to the obvious no gos, they were running a fried shrimp special which is not normally on the menu, so anything that touched the fryer was off limits. After some discussion with the waiter, he was able to find a couple of things (literally two) that he could eat and was interested in, and he liked the cocktail menu, so we stayed. Cocktails Food Drinks. Left to right, my herb n' legend mocktail, nephew's sailor's warning, sister's sun shower, and husband's mi boi lilikoi. Niece stuck to plain water. niece ordered chips and queso sister wanted fried calamari (too salty) nephew ordered a cheese quesadilla My sister, husband and I all had fish tacos (again, too salty) Nephew had beef tacos and niece had a poke bowl My husband and nephew had a second drink. My nephew got the same one my husband had on the first round, and my husband got this froserita, which was apparently a margarita with a frose float. Sounds weird to me but he liked it. After dinner it was time for dessert at St. John Scoops Cookies and cream, chai tea latte and coffee. I had a scoop of mango and my sister had a scoop of coffee in a cup that didn't make the picture.

We got a fairly late start again yesterday. I am an early riser, but most other people get up a few hours later. Oh well, it is a group vacation I guess. We had agreed that we were going to have lunch at Miss Lucy's, which is almost as far away on the island from our house as you can get. I timed it, and the drive took 45 minutes. They are only open a few days a week, and are closing for the season soon, so we figured we should get there while we could. The view The menu is quite small. For appetizers, they have fried plantains, conch fritters, and callaloo soup. For entrees, they have a burger, chicken fingers or a hot dog for little kids, a fried grouper sandwich, a grouper reuben sandwich, or a West Indian fish fry plate with seasoned grouper, rice and peas, fried plantains, and whatever vegetables they have that day. We got the plantains the conch fritters (our favorite on the island) then the guys got the crunchy grouper sandwich and my sister, niece and I got the West Indian fish fry plate It was all tasty as usual. It's a very slow experience though. They only have one cook and one waiter for the entire restaurant. I think we were there for about 2.5 hours. After lunch we stopped by beautiful Trunk Bay for a swim When we went to get out, there was a stingray patrolling the shore. Everywhere we walked to exit, he would swim over and block our move. This went on for about 10 minutes. He was trying to make us stay all night haha. The picture is not great since I just stuck my camera underwater in its general direction. Back at the house, my nephew wanted "a light meal" so he raided the cheeses and meats we brought from home. Oh to have the metabolism of a 24 year old again 🤣 Here's his plate And finally, a picture of last night's supermoon over the bay we are staying on

Jet Blue Mint BOS-STT breakfast service. Not champagne and caviar, but acceptable 😀 Menu options Non-alcoholic grapefruit spritzer (quite tasty) Iced cappuccino Watermelon, frittata, chia pudding and bacon. Everything was quite tasty. (I did not have the bacon, I ordered it to give to my niece the bacon hound across the aisle). The frittata was custardy and nicely seasoned, the watermelon had a small kick from the espelette pepper, and the chia pudding was mildly sweet. Can't ask for much more on a plane.

That's funny. I downloaded the Merlin bird ID app a few months ago and have been having fun with the birds in my backyard. It's having some trouble down here with the sound ID feature due to lack of comparison data, but has been able to ID things I see that I can get photos of. Yesterday I was able to add a green heron that was sitting on the edge of the pool to my life list. The conch fritters were a bit dark, but its also the lighting. We were tucked away in a corner outside and it was dark out. I also only had my cell phone with me. I used to bring my DSLR to dinners, but got out of the habit a few years ago. It feels awkward to use it in restaurants now. St. Lucia looks gorgeous. Enjoy! Sunday was a recovery day. My husband and I did have to go to the grocery store. Here are a couple of photos to give you an idea of prices. That's pack of two paper towels... This is when you question if you really want that full sized jar of mayonnaise.... We basically spent the day at the house reading and going in the pool. We decided we were too tired to go to the beach. We also decided we were too tired to cook, so went in to town again for dinner. I let my nephew pick the restaurant, and he wanted to go to the brewery. We are here for two weeks, so even though this is not where I would have chosen to eat, everyone will get their choice. The brewery has been very successful. They make all of their beers and sodas on the property. I grabbed a picture of the menus, but I forgot the beer menu! They have about six beers on tap at all times, then four or five that are temporary offerings. Here are the drinks. Nephew chose the mango pale ale, which he really liked, my sister had a margarita (not sure why at a brewpub since she does like beer), and my husband tried their latest permanent offering, Juicy Booty. That one's a hazy IPA. Nephew chose the appetizers. Pretzel Chicken wings (VERY spicy) Cheese garlic bread (so intensely garlicky that we all had to eat some to tolerate being around each other later) Niece had a pulled pork sandwich, which she devoured in about two minutes Sister had a mani sandwich Husband had mahi tacos, and nephew had a steak and cheese wrap. I don't seem to have a picture of those. I just ordered a pizza, which made nephew happy because he knew he would be getting at least half of it for lunches later. My sister, husband and nephew all wanted a second drink, so my niece and I left and went downstairs to St. John Scoops, where my niece got a chai tea latte ice cream in a waffle cone Yesterday we were still tired, but at least decided to go to the beach. Francis Bay The pelicans were out in force We did not stay as long as I would have liked because my nephew was starving and of course didn't bring any food with him. I used to carry food for him when he was a child, but he's a young adult now and responsible for hauling in his own snacks, darn it! 🤣 We went to town and by some miracle actually snagged a free 30 minute parking spot. I've been coming here for 20 years and have never gotten one of the free spots! Free parking is essentially impossible to find in town, and if you park in a non designated spot, you will get booted pretty much immediately. It's $300 to get the boot off. Better to just pay to park in one of the pay lots. 30 minutes meant we only had time for ice cream. Irie Pops Soft serve twist cone Vanilla twist with sprinkles (already melting because it is HOOOOOT) We cooked at the house last night, but just made tacos with grilled steak and chicken, so I did not bother with photos. I'll try and do better going forward 😀

techni ice It comes in flat dried out sheets that weigh basically nothing. You rehydrate it by squeezing it underwater, and then freezing it. I am happy to report that despite flight delays, it kept everything frozen. It was a very long day getting here. We had to get up at 3:30 AM to make our flight. I don't know who gets the good times for non stop flights, but it's not Boston! Every time we fly, the flight is somewhere between 6:30-8:00 AM. It always takes me the entire next day to recover. Once we got to St. Thomas, it was a quick taxi ride to the ferry to St. John. We were accompanied by this brown booby on the boat over The house is waterfront, but the area in front of the house is rocky, not sandy. We'll probably snorkel out there someday soon. The upper level of the house has a pool with a ledge for sitting and watching the boats go by. The residence management company left us a fruit bowl, which was nice. There's a banana tree in the yard that has about 100 bananas on it too, but they are pretty green. I am not sure if they will ripen while we are here or not. It's mango season right now also, so I'll be buying some of those once I get out and about. None of us felt like cooking last night, but we did not feel like going anywhere fancy either. The kids wanted to go to High Tide, since they associate that with arrival day. Menu Niece wanted chips and salsa Nephew wanted a quesadilla, thinking he could save half for lunch on another day and my husband, sister and I got the conch fritters. They had big chunks of conch in them, which was nice. Cocktails for my nephew and sister--a margarita and a mezcal guava cocktail. Niece had the tuna Sister and I got the mahi mahi Husband had a special of local lobster and nephew got the pasta alfredo with chicken We tried a piece of their key lime pie for dessert. It was decent, but not limey enough for me.

It all looks amazing! I would love those ginger cookies. The spicier the better. Most ginger cookies are too sweet for me. Last night, coconut rice bowls with chicken in peanut sauce and cucumbers.

All of the stone fruit in MA was killed this winter by a brief but extremely cold Arctic blast. I'm in a sweet corn and fruit share offered by my CSA, and typically the fruit part is large amounts of nectarines, peaches, and apples, with smaller amounts of other fruits. We got a note saying that due to the freeze, they were working on growing their own melons for later in the season, and they'd be supplementing with other fruits as they could, sometimes relying on nearby farms. The first delivery came yesterday. We got a quart each of strawberries and blueberries, and 19 ears of corn! It made me laugh because last year customers were complaining that there was not enough corn in the corn and fruit share. It does not seem like that is going to be a problem this year!

I have had good success in prior years with the techni ice, so I'm going to stick with that. The dry ice could be more trouble than it's worth. I don't know how I would vent it, for one thing. The biggest issue is just hoping all the bags make it to the island. I have only had a cooler go missing once in twenty years of visiting. They did find it eventually--the airline called me to try and deliver it three days later. I don't think even dry ice could have saved those contents! I told them to pitch it out without even opening it. I would not normally be planning to cook so much at the house, but my nephew is coming this time. I know I have mentioned his allergies many times before, but he has an anaphylactic allergy to crustaceans, and there are a number of restaurants on the island that cannot accommodate him. It's off season as well, and quite a few restaurants are closed for that, which limits his options even more. We will still be eating out at some of the places that are open that can handle his allergy. But, you really don't want to have a medical emergency of any kind on the island--unless you don't mind being medivacced to Miami--so we have to be careful where we go with him in tow.

Miso salmon with clear out the fridge fried rice.

We are heading back on Saturday for two weeks. This time I am planning on cooking dinner at the house about half of the time. I'm bringing down some food because quality and selection at the island groceries can be pretty limited. You can bring in anything you want. There are restrictions on what you can bring back out, so I always plan our meals carefully when I do this, to try and make sure everything gets used. Plus, you also can only bring as much as will fit in a regular freezer, with room leftover for ice. I prep and freeze everything at my house, then pack into Polar Bear Coolers with techni ice right before we go to the airport. On prior trips, everything has always stayed frozen. This time, we are leaving the house at 4:30 AM, and, if there are no delays, we will be getting in to the house about 12 hours later. It's so very hot right now, but hopefully stuff will stay frozen. Here's a picture of the house kitchen. It should be fine for the cooking I am planning on doing. There's a grill outside too.

Tuna with noodles, bok choy, and spinach

Spaghetti with zucchini and lemon sauce. A good use of three massive zucchini I got in my CSA box.

I like your recycled glass countertop. I was looking at those recently. Not that I am planning another kitchen renovation soon. A friend of mine just had her kitchen island resurfaced with a hand crafted mosaic of sea glass she has collected over the years suspended in resin, and it got me thinking about other similar looking options. Last night we just did a bunch of dips and flatbread. My sister made the hummus (too thick, but my fault because I forgot to soak chickpeas the night before, so she made it from canned beans), my nephew made the roasted carrot dip and the charmoula, and I made the baba ganoush and the flatbread. We could have used a salad too, but I didn't have any greens and we are trying to clean out the fridge before leaving for vacation. My sister also contributed this lovely fruit tart. We do not normally eat dessert, so I am not sure what possessed her to make it, but my niece and nephew were very happy!

Davio's brand hot Italian sausage. Exactly! Oh, me too. The worst kid-parent food battle I remember was a summer day when my mother gave me a hot dog for lunch. I hated hot dogs, and she had given me hot dogs for the prior two days. I flat out refused to eat it. I sat at the table for hours before she let me leave. At dinner, the hot dog was back. I still refused to eat it, and was promptly sent to bed. Breakfast was normal, but at lunch, the hot dog was back. I still refused to eat it. Things continued with the same drill as the day before including hours at the lunch table, the return of the hot dog at dinner and straight to bed routine. This went on for three days before she gave in. To this day, I have not eaten another hot dog. My childhood trick at large family dinners at my grandmother's house was to hide the meat under my mashed potatoes. It was OK to leave mashed potatoes behind, but not meat, so it got the plate into the kitchen without issues. Once the plate was in there, there was no proving which cousin did it. None of us would rat each other out. My oldest cousin had me beat for ingenuity though--there was a little drawer in the table by his chair, and he stuck his meat in there. He also put it behind the radiator that was behind his chair. Don't ask me how, but he didn't get caught for months. Last night, mutter paneer, naan and maharajah rice.

Ha! They are old enough now that they can also just cook for themselves if they don't like what's coming out of the kitchen. I'm not going to fight with them. My parents tried to fight with me about food. I outlasted them every time. Plus, sometimes they even cook for me! Last night, my nephew grilled some yellow peppers, onions, yellow tomatoes, and garlic, and blended that into a pasta sauce with fresh mozzarella cheese. He grilled sausage on the side and added that to his bowl and my husband's. My sister, niece and I opted for a vegetarian version sans sausage. My only contributions for the evening were chopping up the parsley garnish and helping to clean the kitchen after. Here's his plate:

Last night I made a recipe from the current Cook's Country magazine: Spicy Chile-Honey Glazed Eggplant with Burrata and Greens. My nephew hates eggplant so he grilled a pork tenderloin to eat with the salad (minus the eggplant). He shared the pork with his sister and my husband got a little bit too. My niece usually likes eggplant but disliked this recipe because she said it was too spicy. My husband, sister, and I thought it was a tasty meal. It's hard to please everyone in this house!

Chicken katzu, smashed cucumber salad and rice

I second the recommendation for this dish. I think the last time I made it, I served it with hummus too, which was a big hit. Next time I will add in the chicken, since we all like chicken shawarma so much. Hot sauce is also good for adding a pop of color. Last night, chicken tinga tacos. My nephew grilled a flank steak for people who wanted steak tacos also, but I didn't get a picture of those.

Last night was supposed to be grilled tacos, but the weather did not cooperate. Instead of attempting to grill in the torrential rain, I took Monday's planned menu and made it last night. Creamy summer squash and basil pasta for four out of five people My nephew really hates summer squash, so he had raw tomato and basil sauce. Yes, he ate all of that pasta himself. Don't ask me how.

Pizza night. Margharita Pepper and onion

Yes, indeed. All non profit teaching does actually, after 10 years of service. His teaching job that he starts in the fall will also count, though he's actually getting paid now! I usually don't mind making multiple meals, but sometimes it is wearing. I may or may not have mentioned this here, but I also prepare all of my father's dinners since my Mom passed away last November. He has an entirely different set of dietary preferences and restrictions! At least for him, I prepare a week's worth at a time and freeze, so it's not a daily thing. My brother, who lives with him, reheats the food and supplements the entrees I make with salads. Last night, chicken shawarma.

He's actually here for a while now. He was in Montana for two years, but has moved back to Massachusetts now. He's planning on living with me for a year or so while he saves up some money. The cost of living in our area is really high, and he's spent the past two years living on a very small stipend while volunteering as a math teacher on the Crow Reservation. I actually like kale, both raw and cooked. The things that go to automatic compost for me are kohlrabi and swiss chard. I dislike them both! Last night, just burgers. Beef for my nephew and husband, tuna for my sister and me (pictured here). My niece pivoted off menu and had a gruyere, fig jam, and prosciutto panino. The days of multiple dinners have returned!

It was not rare, but it was not dry either. The tuna was ground and highly seasoned with cumin, coriander, and lemon. I only had a bite of it as we were sharing. I thought it was interesting, but would not jump to order it again.