Ramblings from Texas

Wow, wow, wow! Life has changed and I've neglected this blog. I am going to try to post once a week. Now that summer is here, that should be doable... yeah, sure.

So, we moved - and then we moved again.  We are still in Texas, but rather than being south of Austin, we are now north of Austin in a little bedroom community called Cedar Park.  I got a job, we bought a house, bought a dog, planted a veggie garden, A joined a swim team - or two, C is going to preschool, S stays home and is raising kids, cleaning house, being a taxi for the kids, shopping, taking car of any loose ends that I have left behind, and in short being a fantastic house husband, AND we have been exploring Austin!

C admiring a buffalo statue near Johnson City

There is SO much to do here - Capital tours, Austin sightseeing, pioneer farms, parks, Native American Pow Wows, music festivals, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, dog parks, shopping, movie theaters where they serve food(!), parties, GIANT book stores, kite festivals, etc.  We have yet to scratch the surface, go past the tip of the iceberg, etc. in terms of what there is to do here. We like it, it feels comfortable. I can see how we will have to strive to maintain our island vibe though what with all there is to do, I can see us getting over extended. In fact, most weekends we manage to build in home time where we hang here and do stuff like paint, make flower crowns, ride our bikes, cook, etc.

Crucian peeps and others at the Dirty Girl Mud run

Scarf dancer at Powwow @UT

Do I miss St. Croix? yes. Do my kids and husband miss St. Croix? yes. In fact the other day, C asked Stephen when we were going back and NOT for vacation. When we told him we didn't know, he got very upset and muttered something about going back to his island and selling this house for sixty five nine dollars - sorry kid, we need more money than that for this sucker!

I discovered Crucians here in Texas! We are EVERWHERE!!!! Big Up Crucian massive! I need to have a real Crucian party here this summer, play some Violators, Stanley, Quelbe, and even toss some Daddy Yankee in that mix to really let the new neighbors that "we deh here, meson!" So, if you find yourself in Austin this summer, look us up and "Leh we jam!"

These boots were made for walkin'.......

deep sea explorer

In about February, my friend Anna was leaving island and while at her house I saw these über cute cowboy boots that I thought would be super fun and super cute for C to wear. She gladly gave them to us as handme downs. I think we were the 3^rd child to get them.  They were some well loved footwear by the time we got them.

beach boots!

These boots have been used as cowboy boots, firemen boots, astronaut boots, exploring boots, and most recently fisherman boots. They have been used for stomping on gongolos, running, climbing, holding swords, hiking, hiding things like toys and leaves, cars have ridden in them, they have been worn to town, the grocery, to the beach, to see horses, on boats, and to bed. THANK YOU ANNA for providing fun hand me down footwear for my kid for the last 7 months.  I can count the times on one hand that C has worn other footwear in that time frame – umm, 5 times. HE LOVES those boots!

During this whole time that C has been wearing the boots, it has been without socks so you can imagine the stench that emanates from them when they are removed. They must be taken off outside and they never come inside anymore.  Even the bugs that get put into them come out gasping for air! He has sweated in them, put dirty feet into them, had pee accidents in them…. You get my drift.

boot love!

It has gotten such that when people see C and he doesn’t have his boots on they ask him what happened to the boots? He will answer I left them at home, or they needed a rest.  He hears EVERY reference to his boots when we are out(EVERY SINGLE ONE) and answers with a “Tanks! I love my botas”. He even asks complete strangers if they like his boots.  He would sleep with them on if I let them come into the house off his feet.  He models them - naked.  When I ask him if he wants to wear his shoes and am holding the boots, he says “Not papos mami, botas(not shoes mommy, boots)”! The kid cracks me up!

garbage boots going
on assignment!

Sadly though, the age of these particular boots must come to an end.  On Friday he decided to go wading into the sea to catch fish while wearing the boots.  Salt water, sand, and fish are not friends of leather boots.  Not sure how I am going to explain to him why the boots must be trashed, but would you want to wear something that has foot stench, salt water, fish, and sand smell? He probably wouldn't mind but I and the rest of the family on the other hand.......

So Adieu dear boots, adieu. It has been fun, and one day we will get another pair, but for now – out you go.  Enjoy your well deserved rest in boot heaven where all well loved boots must go.

       

The Summer of Ice Cream!

Pure ingredients

It seems like in years past each summer has had a theme. Last summer was jams and jellies. This summer has been ice cream!  When I was little my Dad made homemade ice cream every once in a while.  I don’t know why he didn’t make it more often, but I do remember that we had an old White’s Mountain hand cranked ice cream maker. It was the kind you had to put rock salt and ice into.  Maybe we didn’t make it more often because my Mom didn’t like the egginess of homemade ice cream, or maybe because finding rock salt on the island was hard back then.  Who knows, but I do remember being sad when Hurricane Hugo destroyed it.

The secret to tropical ice cream!

A few years back, my Dad got a new Cuisinart ice cream maker that was electric and had a freezer bowl. It was genius! He started making ice cream again, and since he usually had an excuse to make it when we came for dinner, it became tradition for A to tell him what flavor to make. He started making Cinderella and Ariel ice cream….. what is that exactly? It’s vanilla ice cream or almond flavored ice cream that has been dyed the appropriate color to match the Princess in question’s dress. Hence blue ice cream for Cinderella and pink or red ice cream for Ariel.  My niece L also got into and started asking for Aurora ice cream, and then later Pocohantas ice cream. I am sure that is Disney got a hold of this site, they would make an even larger fortune!

Mixing

Anyway, I have an attachment for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer that promises to make ice cream. I tried it once and it worked marginally. This summer, I was determined to figure it out and make it work!  So, I experimented – a lot J

Tricks to using a KA ice cream attachment in the Caribbean:

1.     FREEZE your bowl for at LEAST 5 days.

2.     Chill in the freezer your cream for at least 2 hours before you mix it into your base

3.     After mixing your base, CHILL for 2 days in fridge or FREEZE for 8 hours.

4.     Start mixing as EARLY in the morning as possible(5 am is NOT too early in this case)

5.     Cover your KA with a fluffy bath towel while it is mixing.

6.     Once mixed and soft serve consistency, place into metal or ceramic bowl and put back into freezer at least overnight

7.     Eat with friends and family outside while admiring the lingering heat of the day

Basic ice cream recipe:

1C whole milk*

1C sugar

2C cream

4-6 egg yolks(large)

flavoring

*The more whole the milk you use, the creamier the ice cream

Scald milk and sugar in pan. Beat yolks in separate bowl. Add scalded milk to yolks once milk is slightly cooled. Mix continuasly so yolks don’t cook.  Return to stove top and stir until the mixture coats the back of your spoon. Once it is thick and coats spoon, mix into super chilled cream, add flavoring and chill in fridge or freezer.

Some notes: If you are using whole flavorings like mint leaves, cinnamon, rosemary, etc steep those in the scalded milk for at least 30 minutes then rewarm milk and add to yolks after removing flavoring(or not – your preference)

Some of our favorites this summer were:

Mango and Morita Chili

Rosemary, Blood Orange Olive Oil, and roasted Pepitas

Chocolate Decadence with Cocoa Nibs

French Vanilla

Mint Chocolate Chip with real mint leaves

Mamey, Cinnamon, and Piloncillo

Mango

Mamey

I have a few other flavors up my sleeve but will not tell you about them just yet!

We enjoyed this summer’s theme. Did your summer have a food theme?

Thursday Thanksfulness

It's the little things, right?  Last year, our neighbor's Mango tree was EXPLODING with mangos. This year, it looks like there won't be any :( On our way to town, we found:

Life is good when you can grab a free range Mango and rescue it from getting run over. It was literally laying in the middle of the road. So as any good Crucian would do, I sent A to cross the street and grab it up before a car could squash it.  It is perfect. It is one of the prettiest mangos I have seen in a LLLOONNGG time.

C has been jonesing for a Garbage truck since Christmas. Every night(no, really, EVERY night) before he goes to sleep he asks if HOHO(Santa) will bring him a garbage truck. I know Santa can work miracles, but I am not sure he knows where to find a garbage truck. I have looked because I thought that maybe we'd take over HOHO's job and get C one for his birthday, but haven't been able to find on on internet land.  Well, what to my wondering eyes should appear at the St. Croix Animal Shelter Flea Market today, than a big orange Garbage truck! So, thank you, thank you, thank you to whomever dropped that guy off and boy am I glad and thankful that I can stop looking now :)

Be thankful. It's the little stuff that counts.

Is it the weekend yet???

All photos from the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience
unless noted

Some weeks living here on St. Croix is just mundane, mundane, mundane. Other weeks, you have to remember to sleep things can get so busy! This past week has been one of those busy weeks where on top of the regular things that we have to do; school, laundry, cooking; we were busy with meetings for the June Swim Invitational, starting a blog for the homeschooling families on St. Croix, going on a field trip, etc. Then there was the best part of this week – the events surrounding the St. Croix Food and Wine Experience.

Volunteers helping in the kitchen at Pearl B.

This is a week long event that consists of famous chefs from all over the US, and some international ones too, who give of their time to bring scrumptious food, wine, and fun to St Croix.  There are private dinners at villas here on St. Croix,  “food fights” where celebrity chefs “fight” local chefs for bragging rights, wine dinners and tasting, BBQs, cooking classes for kids, etc.  I would hazard a guess to say that this event is the BEST food and wine event in the Caribbean for both it’s variety of offerings as well as the caliber of chefs that come to cook for us Crucians and visitors. The biggest event for this week is the Taste of St. Croix, which is held at Divi Carina Bay Resort.  The tickets for this particular event sell out within about 4 hours.  We went to this last year and it was great. Everyone dresses up, dances, and eats scrumptious food from our local restaurants.  The bragging rights for winning this event are tremendous.  We thought about going to this again this year, but decided that with everything that we had been doing last week it would be just too much.  I was sad L

Acting as sous chef with Ana Sortun

This year however, I volunteered to help with the Kids Cooking Classes and the Wine in the Warehouse event. I had never even attended the Kids Cooking Classes event – possibly because last year we were so busy that one more thing was just too much. This year, I was asked to help out and I did so gladly. My background is in event management and I have been wanting to get back into events on a part time basis so this was fun to do.  My part was small, but totally fulfilling. I gather my volunteers and on the day of, provided support to the chefs. 

Let me tell you, the classes were AWESOME! The chefs were so friendly, and it was so much fun to do.  Of course, one of my volunteers was A, and she LOVED it. She loved meeting the chefs, helping to prep the food, set the tables, “work” in the kitchen and then play with her food.  She is so excited about everything that they did, that last night she made the special iced tea that Ana Sortun from Oleana made with the kids during the class for her babysitter! She also got to know Evelyn Paul, another great chef that actually grew up here.  By the end of the afternoon Chef Paul had become Auntie Evelyn! A is so enthusiastic about the whole day that she wants to help next year and do more – like maybe the shopping for the chefs or having them stay at our place so she can be at their beck and call!  She is so cute I could just eat her up J

enjoying her Moroccan sandwich!

The attendees all had a great time fixing food with the chefs. There was laughter, smiles, and best off all full tummies by the time the classes were over.  Everyone that I spoke to had such a great time, and some kids got to try new types of food. Ana Sortun made Moroccan sandwiches which consisted of mashed potatoes with cheese, spices, hard boiled egg, scallions, and salt.  It was very tasty if I do say so myself.  Evelyn Paul made Southwestern Chicken wraps and short cupcakes with buttercream frosting.   Who wouldn’t like a wrap and cupcakes?! The filling for the wrap was so yummy I could have eaten it for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner and still wanted more.  It had black beans in it.  Really, almost anything with black beans in it will make my heart beat faster and make my stomach happy.

After cleaning up from the Kids Cooking Class, I dropped volunteers at their houses, grabbed the babysitter, and got home with enough time to change and walk out the door to go help serve wine at the Wine in the Warehouse. This event is a wine tasting where people come from all over to taste some fantastic top wines and eat great food.  This is our 4^th year helping out at this event and it is always fun.  We talked to people from St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Chicago, etc…. I was serving wines from the Hoffman wineries and each bottle had such a great story that it made serving and “educating” tasters a blast.  S was helping to hand out water, and empty spit buckets. I am pretty sure I had the better job J There were tons of people at this second to last event, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. 

If next year you have a few hours to spare, and you have children I would highly recommend attending the Cooking Classes. They are fun, support a great organization, and you get to meet some wonderful chefs that otherwise you wouldn’t see unless you were watching TV or at their restaurants.  The classes are on time (a rarity here), and just plain FUN! Plus, you don’t have to clean up after your child plays with their food – we do it!

See what I mean? St. Croix is just plain hopping these days and so super busy! If you think our island paradise is sleepy – you would be right. Not, however because there is nothing to do here. But because there is so much to do that we can’t get enough sleep!

Isn't she just adorable?
Photo from Evelyn Paul

Altoon Lagoon play date

 The other day another home schooling mom and I were talking about how we wanted our kids to get out and do MORE exercise.  Don’t get me wrong; both of our children are active. A swims 4-5 days a week, plays in the bush, participates in all the kids biking, running, swimming races, etc; but I just don’t feel that she gets out there and is active enough.  Apparently, my friend feels the same so we decided that we would get together once a week and let the kids, bike, run, or whatever as long as they were outside and DOING.  During this time, we get visit and C has a friend over to play.  We decided to meet at Altoona Lagoon because it is between both our homes, it is flat, and where they hold most of the kids’ races.

Altoona Lagoon is another one of our undiscovered St. Croix areas for many reasons.  There is a whole fishing community of old time Crucians who grew up swimming in the inlet to the lagoon, jumping off the bridges, fishing, and generally having a good time there.  It is a great place for walking, running, biking, limin’, and generally just enjoying the views of Christiansted from a different angle. Altoona Lagoon also has a GREAT playground and fun exploring beach for little ones.

Our day started early with us in the car, the trike in the trunk, and the bike(new big 26” bike) racked on the back of the red SUV. Water, and snacks were packed in the reusable shopping bag, and I had had at least 2 cups of tea by 7:30! We were set. Once at Altoona, and unloaded – I really do think we are related to Gypsys since we cannot seem to go anywhere without the entire contents of the house and the kitchen sink ---- Oh wait! It’s because I’m a Mom not related to Gyspsys!!!  ANYWAY…. A got con her bike and as soon as her friend showed up away they went. The two kids did about 10 loops, which I think translates to just about 2 miles! Then they took a break to go explore the beach, whereupon they stuck their heads together and decided that they needed to go fishing! Crazy kids!

The two kids, my wonderful mom friend and her equally wonderful hubby walked down with C to the inlet by the bridge. Once I got there, which was about 15 minutes later – I had to re-rack the bike, put stuff away, etc. I found both kids wading through the inlet, with fishing nets in hand, HUGE self satisfied grins on their faces and COMPLETELY, soaking wet.  During the course of the day, they caught Lizardfish, Coral Banded shrimp, regular shrimp, and Blue Crabs. We saw Blue Herons, a Great Snowy Egret, fishermen coming in with their catch and then it happened… the kids spotted a Lionfish! Turns out there wasn’t 1 Lionfish, but 3.  They were hiding in the Mangroves.  My friend’s hubby shucked down to his shorts and got in the water and caught 2 of the three. At first we though maybe we could eat them, but they were too little. What actually scared us was that the Lionfish were in the Mangroves, which are breeding grounds for other fish, and we all know Lionfish eat EVERYTHING so they were in the worst place possible for our native fish. Not, that having Lionfish anywhere in the Caribbean is good, but in a breeding ground it’s like an A bomb ready to go off at any moment. 

Photo by Jill Updyke.

One of the things I really liked about this day, was that both kids ended up wading around in only their shorts and never even batted an eye. They are the same age, and look exactly the same chest wise and for them it was super natural and not embarrassing to be that way. I love that our island still allows our kids to be kids and doesn’t make them aware of the opposite sex until later.  We are able to keep our children innocent of the societal pressures that other children face elsewhere in the world. 

We decided that the kids had such a good time – even C, that we are going to make this a weekly occurrence. We hope to go kayaking into the Lagoon next week. I’ll keep you updated J Sorry for the lack of personal photos but we were so busy having a good time that I didn’t think of taking pictures until the end.

I’ll leave you with a word from our kids: "Lionfish.. they taste like Chicken."

Vinegar Walkers

Ever since I was a little girl, I was fascinated by Vinegar Walkers.  We used to find them on our playground at school(our playground was sand) and on the beach.  When we had a few of them saved up, we would take them to our teachers and they would pull out a flat plate, a few tablespoons of white vinegar and a hush would descend upon the gathered children as the little guys did their things.  Occasionally there would be oohs, and aahs as a few Vinegar Walkers made spectacular jerky movements across the plate.  It was a magical and thrilling moment every time it happened, and it is one that I have shared with my children many times over.  

So, what ARE Vinegar Walkers?  I had no idea exactly what they were until a few days ago.  Imagine, 30+ years of not knowing something, not knowing where to turn, and most of all, being ok with my ignorance.  Turns out that Vinegar Walkers actually have a very cool Latin name: Operculums. 

Operculum means little lids.  Apparently these semi-rounded coin shaped things with a beautiful spiral pattern on the flat side is a type of door that small mollusks or snails close when they are exposed to air.  Pretty cool, huh? Thanks Deborah for the links and info.  Without you, it might have been another 30+ years before I got that info.

For cheap thrills, go out to your local beach, find a few Operculums, head back home, grab some vinegar, and sit back and enjoy the simple joys of life. It is an experience that you and your kids will remember for a long time to come. Simple, pure fun.