Lori, Author at Fake Food Free

Baking Bread and Handmade Pottery

January 3, 2011

I’ve mentioned before that I lack skills for baking bread. I can come up with creative ideas and I can knead and shape dough like nobody’s business, but when it comes to pulling a light, fluffy, crusty loaf out of the oven I fail just about every time.

However, something is telling me that my luck may improve this year.

Way back in August, I went to the Woodland Art Festival. A fantastic event, by the way, if you happen to be in the area when it is hosted. There were booths full of handmade pottery and I’m quickly learning that this may be my new thing. I find pottery so interesting – both how it is made and the gorgeous end products.

Baking Bread and Handmade Pottery | Fake Food Free

About halfway through my browsing I found these bread baking bowls from Neal Pottery out of Lebanon, OH. I simply could not pass them up so I bought one for myself and one for my mom which we just gave to her for Christmas.

There are two reasons that this piece of functional art is so outstanding. It is super easy to use when making bread and it makes a small amount. Just about right for 2 to 3 people.

Mine has been sitting in the cabinet all autumn, but my mom was on the ball as soon as she received hers. She also happens to be an expert baker, if I haven’t mentioned it before, so it was no surprise that her loaf turned out great.

I wasn’t convinced that I would have success, but I thought it was about time I attempted. Since we had pasta for NYE, I decided to bake a loaf to serve with our olive oil and herb dipping sauce.

The baking bowl came with 8 recipes, some more complicated than others. I decided to take the recipe that was originally for Greek olive bread and omit the added ingredients. So basically, I wanted to make a loaf of unbleached white bread. I also added a little bit of sugar, because I have a hard time grasping bread recipes without sugar to feed the yeast and have little success with them.

The steps are so simple. Mix the bread dough, knead the dough by hand for a few minutes, place it back in an oiled mixing bowl, rise for an hour. Punch down, knead again for a few minutes, place in the oiled bread baking bowl, let rise to double.

Bake for 45 minutes and viola! It turned out perfectly! It was a really unexpected surprise given my history with bread.

If you need bread for two, this is a great option. You could easily substitute a small loaf pan or a casserole dish or large ramekin for the bread bowl. However, if you come across one of these bowls, it is a great buy. It bakes some great bread and looks darn cute sitting out in the kitchen.

Basic White Bread in a Bread Baking Bowl

Makes: 1 small loaf, about 2 to 3 servings

Ingredients

1/2 pkg dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp mascavo sugar
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour, plus extra for kneading
1 1/2 tsp olive oil, plus extra for the bowl
1/2 tsp salt

1 small bread baker pottery bowl, about 6.5 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches deep

Prep

In a small bowl combine the yeast, water and sugar. Let sit a 5 to 7 minutes, until it blooms.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, olive oil and salt. Add the liquid ingredients and mix until a dough is formed. Add a more water by the teaspoon if it is too dry to form into a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth, about 2 or 3 minutes. From the dough into a ball. Coat the inside of the mixing bowl with olive oil. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Place the dough on a floured surface, punch down and knead for about 2 to 3 more minutes. Roll into a ball. Lightly oil the pottery bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled in size again.

Place the bread and baking bowl in a cold oven, set the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 45 minutes. Mine was perfect right when the timer went off.

I checked out the Neal Pottery website and they have started selling some of their products (bread baking bowls included) on their Etsy site. You can check them out there if you are interested, or check out their art show appearance listing to purchase one in person.

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New Growth in 2011

January 1, 2011

One really wouldn’t be able to tell how excited and motivated I feel about 2011 by looking at me today. With holiday time off from work it has been permanent jammie mode around here. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been unproductive. Jammies just happen to be the preferred clothing for productivity, or so it seems.

We’ve cleaned out our back bedroom which has been sitting full of boxes since we moved into our house last February. It is now a place where I can take pictures, and should we have more than two guests, he or she can actually sleep in there without fear that a giant spider may climb out of a box and swallow them alive. Kentucky spiders are huge, by the way.

We took advantage of the warm weather and took down all of the Christmas decorations, organizing our storage tubs and storage space in the process. I even went through my piles of magazine recipes, categorized them and created a binder.

I know. We’re really on top of our game around here.

So even though I look like a lazy bum today, I’m feeling rather organized and inspired to start off this new year. Of course we can set goals any time, but there is just something about the beginning of a new calendar year that makes things seem fresh, new and motivating. And I have to admit that starting it on the day 1.11.11 makes it that much more interesting.

2010 was a good year even though there were times I felt as though I was simply sitting and watching it pass me by. That has a lot to do with readjusting to the US. This was our first full year back in the States and the adjustment was much more exhausting and emotional than I thought it would be.

Despite that, we got our house. I ran my first half marathon and authored my first book which will publish this March. I gardened, learned how to can and began a new job in September. In December, we topped off our year by rescuing a new pug, Dixie. She and Macy Mae are slowly, but surely becoming best buds.

In 2009, I really rocked my resolutions (or goals, whatever you prefer to call them.). However, in 2010 I barely remember what I set out to do. Life seemed to take over and I went with the flow. In 2011, I’m ready to get back on track so that this time next year I can check off all that I had hoped to accomplish.

It feels like a year of new growth to me, and in honor of it I’m doing a little growing of my own in our back room which is now clean and spacious. This summer I bought two dwarf Meyer Lemon trees that are doing quite well. Now they have their own private space in the sunshine. Hopefully in a couple years, I’ll have some lemons to show for my efforts.

My brother gave us a small AeroGarden as a house warming gift this past spring. Since it was just about garden time when we got it, I decided not to take advantage of it until winter. Now I’ve got basil, chives and thyme that I hope will sprout any day now.

With all the growing going on in our back room, I think I need to plan for a little growing myself this year. My main priority when it comes to blogging this year will be less stress. I got really concerned, and honestly, stressed out when I started my job back in September. I had less time to cook exciting food and when I did, I had no light to take photographs. When our weekends were busy with races or travel, I couldn’t even catch up with posts then. I had trouble keeping up with my own blog, and those I once loved to read on a daily basis.

This year I’m not going to let it get to me so much. If I have a busy week, there may not be a post, but some other weeks there may be 4 or 5. I’m finding that I need to relax the pressures I put on myself so that I can continue to enjoy my favorite hobby.

In addition to that, here are a few other things I plan to do in 2011. How about you? Care to share your goals for the New Year?

If 2010 was the year of running, 2011 will be the year of yoga. I plan to do yoga at least once per week, preferably more, and deepen my knowledge.

But I won’t be giving up running. In 2011, my goal is to run at least two half marathons.

Weight lifting is one thing that has fallen to the wayside when it comes to my fitness program. I will be incorporating a lot more of that this year as well.

I will focus more on ethnic cooking. I’ve tried to do this in the past, but seem to constantly fall back on the standards. I really want to challenge myself with Indian, German and Thai cooking from finding the ingredients to perfecting my results.

In addition, I will focus on utilizing all the great cookbooks I have. In 2010, I tried to make a lot of recipes from other food bloggers. This year I really need to explore all the great resources I have in print.

I want to learn to knit in 2011. Please still act surprised when you get your scarf for Christmas next year.

I want to begin to learn German. This is something I plan to focus more on in the summer and fall.

I will submit to one writing and one photography contest this year. I have no plans of winning, but I think identifying some contests and submitting will help me challenge myself to keep learning when it comes to my writing and photography.

I will recommit to my Flickr 365 projects for food and everyday living. I sizzled out about July/August in 2010, but I really enjoyed doing it and looking back so we are going to give it another go.

Finally, I’ll revisit my goals in April and October to see how this year is stacking up.

Happy 2011!

Bobby Flay’s Brussels Sprouts

December 31, 2010

My addiction to Brussel Sprouts has reached epic proportions. I can’t seem to get enough of the veggie. As a child, it wasn’t even fair for me to say I didn’t like them because I had honestly never tried them.

In fact, it took fellow food bloggers raving about them and some local pastured pork bacon to convince me I needed to try them as an adult. Now, I could have them every week without complaint and I’ve been fixing them almost that often throughout the holiday season.

Even though I love the tiny cabbages, I’ve fallen into a bit of a rut regarding preparation. Bacon and freshly grated parmesan cheese is the standard. I decided it was finally time to break out of the rut when I saw Bobby Flay’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter on the Thanksgiving Throwdown episode. I was intrigued by the sweet, salty and nutty combination.

Back in the summer I received some POM Wonderful juice and never found the time to post about it, so I used POM to make my pomegranate molasses. I looked up a few recipes, but just ended up combining a small bottle of the juice with 2 tsp of sugar. I cooked it down until it was thick and syrupy.

I also used pure vanilla instead of vanilla bean. I realize this is likely a culinary sin, but I’m not ready to break the bank on vanilla bean just yet. I find cooking with quality ingredients on a budget is all about priorities and vanilla bean just hasn’t hit my list yet.

The recipe was really quick and easy and would be even more so if you already had the molasses made up. It was one of the most interesting flavor combinations I’ve had in a while. Tart, rich, savory, sweet, nutty, crunchy – you really can’t use one term to describe it all and with me around there were no leftovers!

Bobby Flay's Brussels Sprouts with Vanilla Pecan Butter and Pomegranate

You can find the recipe for Bobby Flay’s Brussels Sprouts on the Food Network website. Let me know if you give it a try. This may be one I keep in the books for every holiday season!

This is my last post of 2010! It was a fabulous year and I’m so ready to see what 2011 has in store. Thank you to each and every one of you who read my blog. I appreciate each view and comment I receive. It makes this exciting hobby so much fun! Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: POM Wonderful sent me juice free of charge. I was under no obligation to blog about it and received no compensation for doing so.

Cherry Nut Cookies: The Last of the Holiday Cookie Tray

December 30, 2010

I really like fruitcake, but I know that not everyone is a fan. These Cherry Nut Cookies take all the best parts of a fruitcake and put them into a dessert that everyone will love! They are modified from one of my favorite cooke recipes by Ina Garten.

I’m not one to complain about food often, but I have to admit, I am so tired of cookies. Give me a couple weeks and I’m sure I will welcome them once again, but right now, I don’t want another bite.

Do you get that way with holiday cookies?

Even though they have worn out their welcome with me, I still wanted to share a recipe with you since I did not get to before Christmas. No worries though. These cookies are perfect for New Years and Valentine’s Day too.

I’ve made this recipe before; the original is called Dried Fruit Cookies by Ina Garten. They are delicious unaltered, but this year I put a little twist on them using less fruit and substituting my favorite lesser refined sugars and whole grain flours.

The result was just as tasty, but was changed just enough to create a whole new cookie. They have a festive holiday flavor because of the cloves, but they really are perfect for any time of year. Add some dried blue berries for a patriotic holiday, or keep them all red for Valentine’s day.

I tried like crazy to find candied cherries without HFCS this year. I ordered from a company online which did not have HFCS on the ingredient label posted. Got my order and HFCS was the 2nd ingredient. They refunded my money, but what a disappointment. If you have a resource, please pass it on!

Be sure to start these cookies ahead of time. The fruit and nuts need to soak and the dough needs to be stored in the refrigerator for at least an hour before baking.

Cherry Nut Cookies
Adapted from Dried Fruit & Cookies by Ina Garten

Makes: 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

½ pound candied cherries, halved
1 tbsp local honey
2 tbsp spiced rum
1 tbsp orange juice
½ cup pecans, chopped
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ tsp ground cloves
½ cup Demerara sugar
1/3 cup muscavo sugar
1 egg
¼ tsp salt
2 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour

Prep

Combine the cherries, honey, rum, orange juice and pecans in a small bowl. Cover and let sit at room temperature several hours or overnight.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, cloves and sugars. Cream until smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the egg.

Add the salt and gradually add the flour, mixing just until combined. Mix in the fruit and nuts along with any liquid. Separate the dough into two portions.

Place each piece of dough on a sheet of plastic wrap. Shape into a log and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Slice the cookies with a serrated knife, about ½ inch thick. Place cut side down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned and cookies are firm. Cool on a wire baking rack.

Chipotle Turkey Salad

December 29, 2010

After Christmas passes and before New Year’s parties begin, I always have my cooking focused on the double L – leftovers, but lighter.

You likely ready about our abundance of turkey blessings just before the holidays. We will be consuming this leftover blessing for weeks to come. Even when we can no longer bear a bite of smoked turkey, I’m determined to get our money’s worth out of the massive Tom we tackled in the guest bathroom.

Sorry, if this seems strange and confusing it would probably help if you read the previous post.

So the first thing I needed to make use out of was turkey.

Last week, just after an ice storm hit the area, I came home to a box of Chobani Greek Yogurt on the front porch. I was thrilled to see the yogurt, but was feeling pretty bad for our UPS guy. The sidewalk and drive were covered in a solid sheet of ice so I hope he didn’t bust his bum delivering it.

Despite the ice storm, the timing of the yogurt’s arrival was perfect for two reasons. I have time off to do some creative cooking over the holidays, and the ice cooler the yogurt came in is what we used to thaw that massive turkey in the guest bathtub. Yes, back to the turkey again. Sorry.

When I was offered to try out the yogurt in cooking and baking, I noticed Chobani has a lot of 0% fat yogurts, but that they also have a few 2% fat varieties. I happen to feel that yogurt was meant to have fat so I requested the 2% and that is what I got, along with a few others to try.

So the second thing I had to use was yogurt.

After craving something mildly festive, filling with some added spiciness, I decided to turn a traditional turkey salad into just that – Chipotle Turkey Salad.

I was really happy with the results. I used Herdez Chipotle Salsa for the spicy flavor, but you could just as easily use a little sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo or use chipotle powder. When topped with dried cranberries this turkey salad is delicious on crackers or as a sandwich.

Chipotle Turkey Salad

3 to 4 cups chopped turkey meat
¼ cup Chobani 2% plain Greek Yogurt
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp chipotle salsa
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup pecans, chopped
Parsley for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the turkey in a bowl and add the yogurt, mayo and salsa. Mix well. You can add more or less of each depending on how dry you like your turkey salad and how spicy.

Stir in the cranberries and pecans. Add salt and pepper if desired. Sprinkle with fresh or dried, chopped parsley. Serves 4.

Disclaimer: Chobani yogurt was sent to me free of charge. I was under no obligation to post about it and received no compensation for doing so.

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale & Pretzel Caramels

December 23, 2010

These caramels need few words, so I won’t provide you with many.

I found this recipe several months ago and have kept it tucked away in my arsenal of holiday baking ideas. I decided to make them this week and use one of our favorite beers brewed in downtown Lexington – Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. It is an ale aged in oak barrels that were previously used to age bourbon.

This was my first time making caramels and I practically did a happy dance in the kitchen when I realized they were setting up correctly.

These caramels are nothing short of perfect – soft, sweet, salty – it doesn’t get any better.

Bravo to Sprinkle Bakes which is where you can find the recipe.

Merry Christmas!

Blessings to you and your family this holiday season!

Smoky Turkey and Kale Soup

December 22, 2010

I thought it was about time I do a post that shows we eat something other than cookies, breads and waffles around here. Lately I feel like Buddy the Elf with the four main food groups – candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup. Well, we do in fact eat veggies, fruit and meat.

My husband’s coworker from Brazil is traveling in the US and he brought his wife along with him for her first trip to the States. We spent time with them while in Brazil and they always showed us the best hospitality so we decided to return the favor and invite them to our new house for dinner. We recreated a Thanksgiving/holiday meal with turkey, cranberries, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, Brussels sprouts and holiday cookies.

Flash back to about 2 months ago…

I ordered our turkey from a friend here who has a small homestead. She had about a dozen turkeys – natural, free range on her property and organic. They were processed by an Amish community nearby.

Great, right? I knew the source of our turkey. I think I even met it. It might have been the one that pecked me on the butt the day I went to visit her alpaca. I’m not kidding!

The problem? The processed turkey weighed 34lbs! Yes, 34!

I could barely carry it to the car. We thawed it in a foam cooler in the guest bath tub, and then we got up at 6:00am on Sunday to battle it.

Honestly if you were keeping score, the turkey won.

We finally decided we had to do our best to cut it into pieces. We managed to get two breasts, the wings and the legs. I cut off other random pieces and made turkey stock out of them. The rest went to the grill.

Nothing like grilling in the winter.

We weren’t sure how tough the meat would be with such a large turkey so my husband had the idea to baste the breast in beer and butter in a pan on the grill. We added about a 7 lb turkey breast with 1 bottle of ale, 1 stick of unsalted butter and 1 sliced onion to a pan. It cooked on our ceramic grill for about 90 minutes at 300 to 350 degrees F.

It turned out great! It was juicy with great flavor. I highly recommend winter grilling!

As you can imagine, we’ll be eating turkey for a while. To lighten things up before our feasts this weekend, I decided to make some soup with the leftover turkey.

If you have smoked turkey, it adds such a complex flavor that makes the soup. I cut some breast meat and then I also placed a turkey leg in the soup to reheat for about 5 minutes, removed it and cut off some of the meat to add back to the soup.

You can do this with any leftover pieces, or you can simply add cooked and shredded or chopped turkey meat at the end.

Smoky Turkey and Kale Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 button mushrooms sliced
½ tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
7 cups turkey stock
5 cups kale, chopped
Cooked turkey leg or wing (if you have one leftover)
2 cups cooked turkey meat, shredded or cubed

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot and add the carrot, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the poultry seasoning, salt, black pepper and red pepper.

Add the turkey stock and stir in the kale. Increase the heat slightly and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and if using, place the turkey leg or wing in the soup. Partially cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Remove the turkey pieces, continue to simmer the soup. Allow the leg or wing to cool slightly to touch and cut off any meat. Add this meat and the additional cooked turkey meat to the soup. Continue to cook until the turkey is heated through and the vegetables are tender, about 3 to 5 more minutes.

Serves 6 to 8

This post has been submitted to the weekly Souper Sunday roundup at Kahakai Kitchen.

Last Minute Food-Inspired Gifts

December 21, 2010

Have you looked at the calendar yet? If not, maybe you should just avoid it all together. I’m so excited it is Christmas week (even more excited that I’m off work until the New Year), but I can’t believe it is already the 21st!

I had planned to do 10 leisurely posts throughout December highlighting some of my favorite things to serve as gift ideas. Well I’ve done 2 and there are 4 shopping days until Christmas. Yeah, the math doesn’t work out so well.

So let’s scratch that plan with the countdown and I’ll just give a few more of my favorites. If you are anything like me you still have shopping to do. Today I’m a baking machine, tomorrow, I’m headed out to brave the crowds and finish up the gift buying.

If you need a stocking stuffer, I love these little kitchen scrubber shaped like fruit from Loofah-Art. I picked one up for a friend and I think this watermelon is the cutest. The scrubbers are described as eco-friendly and bio-degradable. The company works to support impoverished farmers certified to grow loofah in developing cultures. I picked mine up at Harry and David’s.

I can’t get over how cute ornaments are these days. Hallmark has so many series out now and a couple are kitchen and food-inspired. I picked up this one for $10, an adorable tray of cupcakes, frosted and ready to serve.

I read The Spice Necklace: My Adventures in Caribbean Cooking, Eating, and Island Life by Ann Vanderhoof this summer for a book review I did for The Lost Girls World. This is such a great book about Ann’s adventures with her husband to sail the Caribbean islands with a mission to learn all she could about cooking the local foods. It is adventure novel, documentary and cookbook all in one! Check out my review if you’d like to learn more about it.

We returned from Jamaica last week. Considering how my interest in cookbooks has spiked over the past year, I had my eye out for a souvenir that would teach me more about Caribbean cooking. I found it in Eat Caribbean by Virginia Burke. There are recipes for traditional foods from around the Caribbean islands such as Jerked Chicken with Avocado and Papaya salad and Pepperpot Soup. It is also filled with recipes for spice mixes, rubs and dressings, not to mention gorgeous food and travel photography.

I also reviewed several cookbooks this year that top my list.

Canning for a New Generation – A must if you want to preserve foods that are a little more adventurous and creative than the traditional things grandmother used to make.

Good to the Grain – If you like to bake with whole and alternative grains, you need this book!

Good Meat – A guide for the home cook about small scale meat production and sustainable methods; how to find it and how to cook it. It’s an excellent resource.

Jonathan’s Bluegrass Table – The best of Kentucky cooking with a gourmet twist. The recipes are some of the best southern fare you will find.

Do you still have holiday shopping to finish up?

Holiday Cookies – A Recap of the International Blogger Recipe Exchange!

December 17, 2010

Cookies, cookies from around the world!

When Adrienne of Gastroanthropology and I set out to do an international holiday cookie recipe exchange via the food blogging world, I had no idea what to expect. It started when Adrienne asked if I would like to do a cookie exchange with her. Um, partner with a fab food blogger and pastry chef, I think yes. I have enjoyed Adrienne’s blog since I discovered it when I was still an expat myself.

We brainstormed a bit, first thinking we could ship cookies. Then we decided we wanted to keep it international and customs might pose a problem. But what’s the next best thing to getting actual cookies? Cookie recipes! Well, at least if you are a food blogger.

What followed was an exchange of delicious recipes and memorable stories. Once the cookies were baked and recipes posted it got even better. Beautiful photographs, blogger introductions and baking creativity were just a few of the things inspired by the recipe exchange.

We ended up with 19 participants from across the world. That is 19 cookie recipes just in time for your final holiday baking! When you browse the blogs below this is a sampling of what you will find.

Chocolate Peppermint Patties photo by Kathy of A Good Appetite

Mango-Coconut Biscotti photo by Jen of Domestic Divas

Russian Tea Cakes right here on Fake Food Free

Thanks to all those who participated! I hope we can make this exchange an annual event!

Cayenne Chocolate Dipped Pfeffernusee made by A Day in the Life

Penny’s PB&J Cookies made by Mindy’s Mouthful

Lemon Whippersnappers made by A Nutritionist Eats

Brazilian Jubilee Cookie made by French Fries to Flaxseed

Chocolate Peppermint Patties made by A Good Appetite

Coconut Mango Lime Biscotti made by Domestic Divas

Triple Ginger Cookies made by My McDonald Meal

Snowball Cookies made by Eats Well with Others

Maple Brown Sugar Cookies made by Ancient Fire and Wine Blog

Russian Tea Cakes made by Fake Food Free (yours truly)

That’s not all! Head over to Gastroanthropology to check out the other half of the holiday recipe exchange participants. It just keeps getting better from here!

Back Home in Jamaica

December 15, 2010

Welcome home!

That is always the first response we hear when we arrive in Jamaica. Well, after they ask us how many times we’ve been there. This time was number five and after traveling to Antigua for our yearly Caribbean trip last December, I was glad to be back on one of my favorite islands.

If you’ve read my blog for a while you know that the trip we just returned from last night (delayed and minus one bag) is one my husband and I have taken since our honeymoon in 2003. We moved the date to December which happens to be an awesome time because there is nothing like Christmas ornaments and palm trees in lights in the middle of the tropics.

We switch resorts each year and often islands as well. While we consider most all of our other trips travel (which to me means exploration), this trip is vacation. We sometimes do go off the resort like our private tour of Antigua last year, but this year, we just sat, and read, and ate and drank.

Did I mention we ate?

The weather was unlike anything we have experienced in previous trips. We only had a few days of sun, lots of clouds and some pretty fierce wind. Despite that, it is hard to be disappointed when you can watch the ocean, touch the sand, talk to people of one of my favorite cultures, and eat amazing food.

We aren’t buffet people, but depending on the resort are sometimes forced into that at breakfast. Breakfast is where we have to exercise the most restraint and pace ourselves. If you are too tempted by breakfast, then you won’t be hungry for a jerk patty at lunch. If you eat too much at lunch then say good-bye to enjoying your 4 course dinner.

Jerk Chicken Caesar Wrap

Jamaican Beef Patty and a Red Stripe

I guess one could say we’ve learned over the years and try to avoid rookie mistakes. Passing on pancakes is well worth Jerk Pork Roti or Beef Wellington stuffed with spinach and mushrooms and paired with grilled shrimp.