worldly wednesdays: spiny lobster spring rolls a visit to anguilla

Being the first in the chain of the Leeward Islands, located in the Eastern Caribbean, Anguilla sits east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Today Anguilla is an internally self-governing British overseas territory whose Head of State is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor. However, the Amerindians that originally inhabited Anguilla were the Arawak and Carib peoples. And, according to Anguilla Guide, recent archaeological research tells us that “Anguilla was first occupied by indigenous peoples as early as 1500 B.C…were attracted to the area by the prime fishing provided by the extensive reefs nearby.” Prior to Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the new world the Caribs, a fierce war-like and cannibalistic people eradicated the island of Anguilla of the peaceful Arawaks. When Columbus sighted the island in 1493 he called it Anguilla for its eel-like shape. Anguilla is the Spanish word for eel. It is likely that... Read the Rest →

 

tartlicious tuesday’s: pumpkin pie tartlets

In an earlier post entitled “It’s all about the Pumpkin” I wrote about cooking down your own pumpkin. For me, the day my father would peel and cut the pumpkin for my mother to cook down was one of great pleasure for I knew what the end result would be. I mentioned that my mother rarely, if ever, baked. She didn’t care for baking so having a freshly baked pumpkin pie was a treasure and greatly anticipated each year. I’m not really sure why my mother chose pumpkin pie as the one thing she would bake year after year. My mother passed on three years ago and so I won’t have the chance to ask her, but I do know it wasn’t a recipe handed down from mother to daughter as my grandmother was from Sicily and pumpkin pie was not in her baking repertoire. I am going with the... Read the Rest →

 

tartlicious tuesday's: pumpkin pie tartlets

In an earlier post entitled “It’s all about the Pumpkin” I wrote about cooking down your own pumpkin. For me, the day my father would peel and cut the pumpkin for my mother to cook down was one of great pleasure for I knew what the end result would be. I mentioned that my mother rarely, if ever, baked. She didn’t care for baking so having a freshly baked pumpkin pie was a treasure and greatly anticipated each year. I’m not really sure why my mother chose pumpkin pie as the one thing she would bake year after year. My mother passed on three years ago and so I won’t have the chance to ask her, but I do know it wasn’t a recipe handed down from mother to daughter as my grandmother was from Sicily and pumpkin pie was not in her baking repertoire. I am going with the... Read the Rest →