Today, after a walk on the beach, we cooked for most of the morning and then ate for most of ten minutes.
I know I promised "a million pictures," but I saw all the marvelous food, and could only snap one before going at it like the Tasmanian Devil in those old Looney Toons.
The menu was:
Quorn (fake chicken) that we breaded Cajun Style and fried.
Tossed Salad with toasted Pumpkin Seeds.
Local Breadfruit roasted with fresh thyme and garlic.
Local Pumpkin roasted with more fresh thyme and sweet onions.
Local Callaloo sauteed with sweet onions.
Sauteed Local Plantain. (not pictured, yes devoured.)
Kristi's Multigrain Cornbread
We were going to make the Jamaican Festival fritters for dessert, but neither of us could move well after the culinary onslaught.
Now, in true Thanksgiving style, we're going to eat some cold leftovers and watch MU roll KU up and smoke them on (inter)national television.
We don't have a TV, so we have to go to Legendz Sports Bar to do it. Nothing says "Thanksgiving" like 7 dollar rum and cokes.
Oh, and here's a picture of a chicken high up in the tree across the street.
I know any Thanksgiving message is supposed to have a picture of a Turkey, but there are no turkeys here. The photo above is of "Pomme Pomme," the newest addition to the (flock? gaggle? swarm?) uh... group of chickens that lives in our yard.
Pomme Pomme's mother is a beautiful black and white hen that looks like she's straight out of some European still-life painting. We named her "Frenchie Poulet" immediately upon moving in. Here's a picture of Pomme running to steal a morsel of bread from Frenchie:
Get it? Chicken n' Taters? Anyway..
We're vegetarians, so there was no chicken OR turkey for our Thanksgiving day festivities. We both had to work, but celebrated the holiday by eating Falafel sandwiches and Fatoush salad on 7 miles beach just before sunset. The only way in which the evening could have been improved was if we were joined by our families and friends whom we miss so much.
When we arrived home from dinner we noticed a couple of things that were different than when we'd left.
First, there was a cow tied to a tree across the street from our house.
I think it's a baby bull, but it was ill-tempered and I didn't feel that a full inspection was needed.
Another thing we noticed was this car.
It was about 50 yards from our driveway, and was drew a very lively crowd. I almost ran inside to grab a bottle of rum in an effort to spawn a spontaneous block party, but the Cops didn't seem in much of a "dancing mood." Maybe another time.
At some point I'll have an entire post about Caribbean Drivers, but until then let me think of a way to describe them....
Have you ever gone to an arcade in which they have a whole row of Car Racing games, and there's ten or twelve children screaming and swerving and driving as fast as the cars will go?
Imagine them a little taller and with accents. And on PCP. That's about right...
Anyway, the black car hit this guy's car when it was stationary, resulting in Ambulance rides all around and one very upset cow. It also caused the first-ever traffic jam in our tiny little corner of the island, so that was exciting.
We even got to see a real Caymanian Firetruck.
It's just like the ones I draw in the sand while "exercising."
Anyway, I guess we're thankful that we weren't in the accident, and they neither of us were tied to a tree, and all that....
We're also thankful that all of the marvelous people in our lives are safe and sound, and we'll keep all of you in our prayers.
...and check back over the weekend. We're doing our big Thanksgiving meal on Saturday, and I'll have about a million pics to post.
Kristi and I go out to the beach almost every morning. She runs and I walk. Usually.
Sometimes I wait until she's out of sight and I sit down and draw firetrucks and stingrays in the sand.
But I WAS walking when I found a lobster leg on the beach. I looked around, finding more legs, and eventually came across the object in the pic above.
It's a section of the exoskeleton from a Spiny Lobster's tail. They're usually brown, but this one was bleached out by the sun, revealing all of these beautiful pastel pinks and purples. I thought it was pretty, so I picked it up to show Kristi.
The membrane underneath the tail, as well as the swimmerettes, were intact, so I know it wasn't a human that ate this lobster. It probably washed ahore dead, and was hollowed out by the ghost crabs that keep the beach clean.
Either way, my taking it must have disturbed the Animalian Spirits, causing them to release the Arthropodic Fatwah that has plagued me since.
You remember the KILLER BEE sting, right? Well, that felt like an Angel's Kiss compared to the FIRE ANTS that attacked me at the beach on Sunday.
I had picked up a piece of coral and placed it on our beach blanket to keep it from getting blown away by the Christmas Breezes. I laid down to read, and about 4.2 nanoseconds later I was on fire.
I don't remember if the realization that I was covered with ants preceded my hellish screetching, but both were of no comfort to those around me.
I ran into the water for relief, which never came.
Within about 5 minutes, I had 30-some half-inch welts all over my arms, all of which felt like a cigarette was being pressed into them. Hard.
I jabbered about "mortal f'ing pain" until Kristi took me home. I spent the evening whimpering into my Chana Masala until bedtime, telling Kristi to look at my arms no less than 50 times.
When I started to tell her how it felt, she smirked and told me to save my energy, she'd just read about it on the blog.
I think I'll leave a banana peel in her bed so she can have her own Fire Ants story.
Anyway, I'm taking the Lobster Shell back to the beach tonight. Hopefully it will reverse whatever bad Crustacean-juju is vexing me.... I'll keep you posted.
Did you know that Cayman has Africanized "Killer" Bees?
Well, we do.
I'm not sure if the bee that stung me this morning was Africanized or not, but it felt like a searing bolt of liquid-laser lightning slamming into my hand, and I can still feel my heartbeat in the sting site. So, until it stops throbbing, I'm telling everyone I see that I got stung by a Killer Bee this morning. HARD!
It started on our morning swim. I see all sorts of bugs floating in the water, but almost never stop to examine them (unless I accidentally suck one in while taking a breath.)
I saw the KILLER BEE struggling in the water, and for some reason completely devoid of any merit whatsoever, decided to try to help him. I scooped him out of the water, and held him on the back of my hand so that he could dry out. I waited a few minutes, and was going to deposit him onto the top of a buoy floating nearby so he could fly off when he had warmed up.
I figured that I would save his life so that maybe he could pollinate more mango flowers or guava blooms, and I could pick up a little karmic recharge for the day.
Instead, the little EFFER STUNG ME as I paddled toward the buoy.
So, in a nod to my first grade teacher, Miss Jackie Price, I reinacted the "Mashing Up the Baby Bumble Bee" song, punctuated with curse words so foul that the water around me began to BOIL.
Not really boil, but I did cuss a lot. HARD!
By the end of the swim, my hand swelled up to look like one of those 30's-style Baseball Mitts.
It's back down to normal now, which is more than the KILLER BEE can say for his condition.
Anyway, enough about him. I want to talk about callaloo and bok choy.
Have I mentioned Callaloo before? I can't remember... either way, it's a type of green, leafy plant that is eaten wilted, like turnip greens or collard greens. The stalk is also edible, and has an asparagus-like texture. It's full of iron and fiber, and tastes lovely. It's also a huge pain in the ass to clean, so we buy it pre-chopped whenever possible.
Bok Choy here is the same as Bok Choy anywhere, and is eaten in the same manner as the callaloo. (That's the Bok Choy above... they also call it "Chinese Cabbage" here...)
This was the first week that Bok Choy had finally gotten big enough to harvest, and so we bought some at the Farmers' Market on Saturday morning (while still reeling from almost crushing a baby to death.)
The Caymanian manner of preparation goes like this: you sautee some garlic, onions, and peppers along with the callaloo and/or bok choy stalks until tender. Reduce the heat, season, and add the chopped leaves. Stir occasionally, and it should be ready to serve in about 25 minutes.
It steamed up the lens in this pic, but this is how it looks when it's done:
We had it last night with roasted potatoes and pumpkin, and it RULED. HARD!
...and I'm having a pumpkin-greens-and-garbanzo burrito as soon as I hit "publish post."
We'll have some when you come and visit us, so c'mon down.
Here are the REAL Pirates Week 2007 Kickoff Party Fireworks from Hog Sty Bay in Georgetown.
Okay, first off - blogging is kind of like journalism, right? Journalism, I hear, is big on "getting the facts straight."
I must then faithfully report that the fireworks that we saw in the distance the other evening (vid below) were NOT for the Pirates Week Kickoff Party. Those were for Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights marking the birth of some Goddess that Destroyed some Evil King a zillion years ago or something.
This would help explain why they were way off in the distance instead of AT THE KICKOFF PARTY.
Anyway, my apologies to any Hindus that may accidentally stumble across this blog. If you knew full well what those fireworks were for and feel slighted, I am very sorry.
Diwali didn't make the cut on my planner calender for some reason. I can promise, though, that I will not mis-label the fireworks displays for Boxing Day, Columbus Day, or National Take Your Daughter To Work Day. All of those are in there.
Anyway, moving right along - these Pirates are driving me bananas. They're everywhere, with their "Arrrg's" and their "Shivers," "Avasts," and "Lubbers." I've had it. I've been a good sport so far, but aren't we a bit old for a whole week of this?
There are no local pirates. They're all (in my experience) American, Middle-Aged, and Drunk.
My apologies again to any Hindu Pirates with whom I've not had contact.
They've got elaborate costumes, and mill about the crowds firing blanks and swinging dull cutlasses. It's funny for about 15 minutes, then you want to say "Listen, Dude, you've got a 'Omaha Music Boosters' t-shirt showing from under your coat. Go sit on the beach or scuba dive or something. Stop wasting your vacation sweating on me."
I know it's all in good fun, but "Fun" for me stopped around the second hour of standing in the sun when someone spilled some red drink all over my feet and legs. Fun Over.
Oh yeah, and getting bumped by a Pirate last night, losing my balance, dropping my cornbread, and FALLING ONTO A BABY was not fun.
I looked back just in time to grab the stroller handle and hover menacingly over the baby instead of actually crushing it, but it was close. One of my legs was in the air off and everyone was screaming in that embarrassing "He's killing that baby" kind of way.
Nothing like nearly killing a little Jamaican baby to take the "Funny" out of the next "Walk the Plank" Joke.
Anyway, that's it for me and Pirates. Tomorrow is a Beach Day, and if see a pirate I will feed them sand. HARD!!!!
The parade was actually really fun, sticky legs notwithstanding. There actually was one marching band:
There were also several Steel Pan Groups (most of which were from schools. I think Steel Pan Ensembles are what Cayman Schools do instead of Symphonic Bands.)
..and some very colorful parade participants. Here's some giant parrot-man:
...and here is Sparky, the Cayman Utility Company Turtle:
I must admit, I almost went after Sparky with a broken bottle, since CUC rapes us every month on our power bill and then apparently uses the money to buy parade floats and sound systems and giant turtle costumes.
There's only one power company... I can't figure out why they feel like they need to advertise.
Maybe they're scared that we might hook this handsome fella's stationary bike up to a generator and power our whole block!
That's Graham, one of Kristi's friends and training partners. He's been a Barrister for 25 years and said that Cayman sees more that it's fair share of "Crushed Baby/Dropped Cornbread" suits. They're never pretty.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll calm down tomorrow and feel bad for talking so crazy about Pirates tonight. Maybe some Pirate Wench will save me from drowning with her giant feather boa....
But until that point, this Dog shall remain Salty.
Check back shortly for some video clips of what we saw in the parade.
WELL, Pirates week has officially begun here in the Cayman Islands.
I think I understand the concept, but won't tell you the whole deal just yet. There's a big party and street dance tonight in Georgetown, and I think I'll be able to explain it better afterwards.
My initial impression is that it's Cayman's version of Carnaval or Mardi Gras, but without any religious undertones. And really, really Disney.
Kristi and I went to the Kickoff Party at the Wharf Restaurant last night. Our first mistake was showing up an hour early to get a parking place. "Start time 7pm" translates to "Start time whenever the comstumed pirates show up" which happened at about 9.
We ended up chillin' at the waterfront bar for two hours, sipping the fruity drinks that Kristi likes. Slowly, because they're 12 dollars each.
The pirates showed up in full regalia, sexually harrassing the women and all trying really hard to be Johnny Depp. It was good fun to see the tourists who were just out for dinner picking firecracker ash out of their Island Style Mahi-Mahi.
I don't have pictures of the pirates because I used up all of my camera battery taking pictures of the enormous tarpon that gather around The Wharf's waterfront for the nightly feeding.
There are about 100 4 to 6 foot long Tarpon that school in the evening, waiting for a waiter to ring the feeding bell. The sound ignites a feeding frenzy that includes acrobatic leaps from the water for kitchen scraps and fish carcasses.
(Yes, they're supposed to look that way. I'm trying to be "artsy," or something.)
It's really exciting, and we'll all go see it together when you visit us.
So, I'm charging the camera battery right now for tonight, so check back tomorrow for pics of the pirates and street dancing and all that....
WELL, I'm sad to report that the trip to K.C. came and went far too quickly.
Bryan and Tina were married on Saturday in a beautiful service, and time spent with them before and after the ceremony could not have been more enjoyable.
They were married at St. Something's in Leavenworth... I remember that it was beautiful and one of the only Churches in the midwest that are of the Carmelite Order.
You can learn more at www.ocarm.org. Or not, either way....
The Chapel had just undergone a complete renovation, and it was by far the most beautiful church I've seen in the U.S.
I was only in town for a couple of days, but still got to see family and a few friends. It was so great to see everyone that I barely noticed that is was ABSOLUTELY FAH-REEZING in Kansas City.
There was one extremely pleasant and completely unexpected surprise that I should report. I had the honor of meeting a very nice lady named Lisa Walters. She is, according to my Dad, "the kind of nurse you wish you had a whole hospital full of."
She is also, according to Lisa herself, a fan of this blog.
I know, I know.... it defies all logic to think that a real, live Medical Professional would actually READ this blog, let alone enjoy it, LET ALONE admit (in public) to be a "fan."
Lisa presented me with an incredibly thoughtful gift - an Ergonomic Mango Slicer.
It even has oversized, non-slip rubber handles
(See? Always thinking about safety... what a great nurse....)
So, I have one fan.
Kristi just wondered aloud if Lisa will be a fan of the dirty dishes I'm ignoring to write this.
Now she's wondering aloud how Caymanian divorces work.
Now she's threatening to throw hot tea on me if I keep typing all of the things she says to me while I'm blogging....
SO, until then....
OH, and P.S...... I ate my lunch in the Royal Bank of Canada parking lot again today, and look who came CRAWLIN' BACK!!!!!!
