This week we brought our Global Table to Keith’s parents’ house in southwest Oklahoma, where we ate with his mom, his aunt, and his uncle. His childhood home sits under the glinting autumn sun, surrounded by dusty golden grasses and emerald green wheat. There’s a half mile (or more) in all directions between the house and any other structure, at least that’s the way it seems to me. At night the stars act as streetlights. It’s quite the retreat. Keith’s mom was able to use some of her family china to set the mood and I brought some rust-orange leaf place mats that my mother gave me. The warm autumn colors went perfectly with the pumpkin and coconut cream soup. Eating our meal off of plates and mats which have cycled through dozens of special meals made me feel connected to the deeper meaning of Thanksgiving… the importance of family. I loved seeing the three siblings come together from miles apart for this meal. While we ate the Global Table the Friday after Thanksgiving, injecting the …
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I know three things for sure: this Caribbean soup cannot wipe out old college debt, or go gift shopping for us… or even stop that dog from barking a few houses over (unless that particular dog likes soup?). That being said, I have personal proof that this soup can help you bring love into the kitchen and give your family just a little escape from the ordinary.As you whip it up, the house will fill with the scent of pumpkin, ginger and coconut cream – that’s when it’ll start. Your family will come wandering in to see what you’re doing. The neighbors will come knocking. Soon the house will fill with spirited chatter and spoons clinking against bowls. This taste of the islands is the best thing after a week of pumpkin pie and turkey leftovers (but not to0 big of a leap – it’s still pumpkin season after all!).In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (as well as all over the Caribbean), they enjoy this soup, often with some really spicy scotch bonnet peppers, ginger, and …
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Sometimes I think the holidays would go a lot smoother if everyone was handed a shot of rum and a slice of cake. How could conversation not go smoothly after that? Turns out, that’s what they do in the Caribbean… with great success. Black cake is a cousin to the British Plum Pudding and is made with an expensive array of dried fruits, like cherries, raisins, and prunes and topped off with a bit of nutty crunch (almonds for me). Before baking – sometimes for months – the fruit soaks in rum and cherry brandy until it’s so plump and intoxicated, that only good things can come from it. What version of the cake ends up on your fork depends on what island your plate rests on, although most will agree that – unlike with American fruit cakes – grinding up the boozy fruit is a must. This, along with a dose of molasses and brown sugar give the cake it’s deep brown coloring (while some also like to add a local ingredient called “browning”). …
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We’ve hit Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on our Adventure to eat the world. Consider this my way to sneak the holidays to you, Caribbean-style. This menu is for those days when you wish you still felt like pumpkin pie, but you’ve eaten three pies too many….and coconut pumpkin soup seems like the only logical answer. It’s for when you are ready to dive into a traditional boozy cake, but without the scary pieces of giant neon fruit that you find in the preboxed variety. In sum, this is the holidays on cruise control, island-style. P.S. Make the cake for friends. This is not your grandma’s fruit cake. Unless you’re grandma is from the islands. In which case, never mind. Caribbean Pumpkin & Coconut Cream Bisque [Recipe] Pumpkin and coconut milk combine forces with ginger, onion, and garlic with this mainstay of Caribbean cooking. Do you have an urge for heat? Add a scotch bonnet pepper. P.S. You can make this soup in less than 30 minutes, most of which you’re leaning against the counter sipping wine. …
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Let’s meet up in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Really. Wouldn’t it be great to carve out a sweet little spot for ourselves. A place where time can stop for a while? I love that, now that we’ve hit a cold snap here in Tulsa, our minds have been cruising through the “Saint” countries – all of which nestle cozy and warm in the balmy Caribbean seas. We’ve done two already and this week we continue to the 11-mile long, 6.8 miles wide “main island” called Saint Vincent and about a hundred scattered islands of the Grenadines. Those 100 or so other islands? Apparently the whole shebang only adds up to 17 square miles. Quaint. Neighborly. Exactly how you’d like it if you lived in the hurricane belt, which they do. But, then, where there are storms there are rainbows. Even though the weather is warm there, the islands continue with much the same traditions found throughout the Caribbean. The holidays (and every day) can be celebrated with Rum, Black Cake [Recipe] (which is, essentially, rum …
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