And the Eat Goes On..

Day six on the island...Monica and Crissy have to leave us today. We started up and at em early for another hike, this time around the northern tip of the island. Jan, our competent guide, saxophone player, and all around island rep, took us on an amazing walk with some spectacular views. There are places you just can't drive to, you have to see by foot. Sometimes it feels like you are literally at the end of the earth, with the fields of cacti and rock formations with quartz and granite. Here are some of the views:

 



 

We also saw the beach where Tommy Hilfiger, Mick Jagger and Bryan Adams have their villas. No, I'm not putting a picture of them up, that's not kosher here in Mustique.

 

We got back for our usual wonderful breakfast. Today, with our fruit, we had French Toast and bacon. I am amazed at the amount of food I can pack away when it's being prepared for me..We then took Monica and Crissy to the airport, and waited until their slightly less itty bitty plane took off for Barbados. Then, it was time to hit the beach again. We went back to Endeavour Bay, the Cotton House beach. Sat and baked on the chairs a bit, did a little swimming...then the rain arrived. In full force. We ran to the beach bar, where we had planned to have lunch anyway. They battened down the hatches (well, the tent sides) and we settled in with some pina coladas and rum punches. Lunch was very good. I had a tuna "burger", a slab of grilled tuna on a Hawaiian type roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and a spicy tartar sauce. Mmmm...some other choices were a panzanella salad, and a grilled veg plate with shrimp. And then more punch. Why not, on a rainy day in paradise? We returned to White Cedars, and pretty much lazed around for the rest of the afternoon. Showers and cocktails were next. We needed to put a dent in all of the booze we had purchased. So we did. Dinner was at 7:30, as always. Another masterpiece. We began with a small dish of a marinated salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce, avocado and anchovies with a Caesar type dressing. The entree this evening was a Marinated Steak with potato gratin, broccoli and creamy cauliflower. Somehow I am surviving this onslaught of dairy without feeling bad..Dessert- amaretto crème caramel. Yum.

 

Then we fell into bed..

And now it is Friday. Our last full day of vacation. In this wonderful place called Mustique. It's raining off and on. Mostly on. We don't really care, though. We get out between squalls to see things for the last time. This morning, after breakfast (yep, fruit, eggs, bacon, and toast) we went back to Lovell Bay to the village to see if we could catch the fish market in full swing. Apparently, there is no such thing as full swing. As a boat comes in, the fish is cleaned and put away. We basically just saw the people hanging around, waiting for another boat. The fruit stand was full, though and that was pretty. I'm including one last picture of the teeming metropolis that is the main shopping area of Mustique.

 

 

 

We got back to catch a few rays, before lunch. Our last lunch made by Chef Junior. Sigh...today was a salad with all the usual wonderful stuff, plus some baby asparagus. The main course was grilled fish kebabs, with tuna, mahi, peppers, onions and tomatoes. They were perfect. Full and happy, we are now sitting in the great room digesting. In a few minutes we are heading down one last time to Macaroni Beach to walk the rocks and maybe grab a swim.

 



 





See you after dinner, folks...

 





Good thing We're Exercising..

Where did we leave off? Oh yes, we had just left for cocktails at the Cotton House. Well, as the British say, it was lovely..we all chatted up some different folk. Some were the people living and working on the island, some guests at the hotel, some at the villas. It is VERY off season right now, so I guess there were about 20 people there, all told. It was nice to see some new faces, though.

We went back to the villa for dinner. Junior had done his usual magic. Dinner was Shrimp Creole over Pasta, salad and Banana cake with homemade vanilla ice cream. The simplicity of it all was perfect.

 

After a good night's sleep in the salty air, we were ready to seize another day. As I have mentioned, every morning begins with fresh local fruit. I have never seen or tasted anything so perfect. Here is what we begin our day with..

 

 

Following that was individual cheese omelets, and the ubiquitous bacon. We decided to spend the morning over by the Cotton House, on Endeavour Beach. We managed to get everyone to try snorkeling. Our original plan had been to spend 1 1/2 hours in a power boat heading to Tobago Key to snorkel with the turtles, but it was way too rough, so we stayed local. We did not regret it. Just off the dock at Endeavour Bay was a fantastic coral reef teeming with fish. We all spent some time floating around, then had some pina coladas and set off back to White Cedars for lunch.

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I didn't take any pictures of lunch, but Junior had made a beautiful pizza for us. He really is a master chef. I can't say enough about how he works in this climate.

 

The afternoon held tennis for some of the girls, and a run for me. I had to sweat off some of the food and alcohol I had been consuming. (to make room for more!) After a shower and some cocktails, we met, yet again, in the dining room for dinner. Tonight began as most did, with soup. There is something very calming and nice about having soup in a warm climate. Junior did a broccoli puree this evening. Once again, simple and delicious. The main course was Chicken Curry, with rice and vegetables. The table is always set beautifully.

 

Dessert was Junior's Piece de Resistance: His Low-Cal (so they say) Chocolate Souffle. Oh my. It was so very good. We all scraped the ramekins. Every night leaves me so full and happy.

 

 

So now, I have you almost caught up. I am heading to bed, but will get you through Thursday and into Friday come tomorrow morning. Sleep well. I know I will...

 



More Love from the Island

Mustique is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I am convinced of that, even though I have seen very little of earth. The flora is so diverse and abundant, the fauna is strange and wonderful. Every morning at breakfast, little yellow birds come to visit us at the table. Today, we saw a frangipani caterpillar, and enormous fellow, crawling along the decking. Driving around the island is and adventure, because goats wander freely, grazing everywhere. And then there are the tortoises, who seem to prefer the road to any other place for walking, sunning, and just generally getting in the way. Lisa has gotten very good at shooing them out of the way. There are some strange long tailed marsupials that run around at night. The water is crystal clear, and you can see fish, sea urchin, and the occasional nasty stinging thing. (Suzanne found that for us.) We have private access to Macaroni Beach, considered the most best beach on the island, and one of the world's most beautiful. It is down a staircase/pathway that is impossibly steep, and has become our daily workout.

We are learning our way around the island by car. There are no street signs or other markings, because the villa owners and visitors are the type who enjoy their privacy, so we have done some loops and circles, but have enjoyed the adventure of it all. It's hard to really get lost on an island, especially one 3 miles around. We are on the windward (Atlantic) side, so have perpetual breezes, and a bit rougher surf. Today, we ventured to the leeward (Caribbean) side, and plopped down on Endeavour Beach, which is part of the Cotton House, the hotel on the island. They were gracious enough to allow us to use the beach chairs and avail ourselves of the bar, where we had fresh fruit smoothies. We spent about an hour and a half swimming and sunning there, then went back to Macaroni Beach, where Junior, our chef, met us with a picnic lunch. We were expecting sandwiches. We got BBQ ribs and chicken, rice salad, green salad, and coconut butter cake. So good.

But I am ahead of myself. Let's catch up on Sunday night and Monday, shall we? After our soufflé lunch Sunday, we got all dressed up and went to Firefly, considered the best restaurant on the island. We had some lovely cocktails in the bar area, then repaired to the dining room for dinner, where we were the only patrons. Did I mention it is rather off-season here? We all agreed that the food was nice, but rather unremarkable, and that Junior was a better chef. Typical tourist spot. Small portions, high prices..oh well, we have fun wherever we go.

 

Every breakfast begins with coffee. Now, I am a half-caff drinker, but for some reason this coffee is not giving me the jitters. It is strong, but smooth and not bitter at all. We have fresh squeezed orange juice, and then a platter of fresh fruit. All of the fruit comes from St. Vincent, and is at the peak of ripeness. Banana, pineapple, mango, papaya, and melons. I didn't think I liked papaya, but now I realize it is because I never had really ripe fruit. One morning, we had passionfruit. Bitter, but intensely flavored. Junior has made us eggs, bacon, banana pancakes, toast...all fantastic and simple.

 

Yesterday's lunch was a simple meal of pasta with homemade marinara and salad. Junior was saving the big bang for dinner. He made lamb chops, whipped potatoes, fresh peas and carrots, steamed local squash, and passionfruit cheesecakes for dessert. It was perfection. Oh yeah, and I forgot about the starter. Callalloo soup. It's a green with a flavor somewhere between spinach and sorrel. It was so good.

 

 

 

You may wonder if we are getting a little rotund at this point, but no, we are staying very active. We go on nature hikes, swim, and walk up and down that crazy beach path. I'm trying to run, and a few of the girls played tennis today. Tomorrow we are taking a snorkeling boat down to Tobago Key to swim and snorkel with the sea turtles. Right now, we're headed to the Cotton House for cocktails (by invitation only, woohoo!) Then back here for another Junior creation.

 

Be back tomorrow, my friends. 





A Feast for the Senses

I am officially in paradise. This is the island of Mustique, a little mountainous plop of land where people go to disappear. It is made up of private villas, tucked away into the hillsides, and two boutique hotels, a beachfront bar (we're going tonight, details to follow), a few shops, and one of the world's top rated beaches (to which we have private access from a very long, steep stairway path).

I am here with 6 of my best college friends: Colleen, Crissy, Suzanne, Monica, Shari, and Lisa. Colleen's husband won this week in an auction and presented it to her as a gift for all of us to celebrate turning 50. We all flew into Barbados, met up and took a teeny, tiny prop plane on a 50 minute ride to Mustique. We were met at the airport by our driver, who took us up to the villa, White Cedars. Here's the entrance.

 

The house manager's name is Junior. He is also the chef. Junior was born and raised on the island of Bequia which is the next island over. He came to Mustique and worked in a few of the restaurants before he landed the job at White Cedars. He prepares 3 meals a day for us. When we arrived, we were presented with a beautiful dinner: Pumpkin soup with ginger and tamarind, Grilled Mahi with Lime, Rice Pilaf, Ratatouille, and Key Lime Pie for dessert. So simple. So wonderful...

I ate the pie before I could take a picture...sorry.

We went to bed early. It had a been a long day, and we all crashed. Poor Colleen came from London and was still on Europe time. No air conditioning, just island breezes...

 

Woke up Sunday morning and figured I'd take a run. Monica and Lisa decided to join me, even though they weren't really planning on running so far. We set out down the hill, no problem. Then the uphills began. Oh my. Long story short, we ended up walking, gasping up hills, stopping only to take pictures of turtles on the road, and beautiful houses. We made it back in time for a lovely breakfast of eggs, bacon, and local fruit. I discovered that I really do like papaya. All of the fruit we are eating comes from St. Vincent. It is wonderful. We then made our way down to Macaroni Beach and spent some time in the crystal blue water.

 

Junior took us on a field trip to the market to get provisions. The fish market was closed for Sunday, but we did some grocery shopping. I will take pictures later in the week when it is open.

 

Lunch. Oh my. How often do you get soufflé presented to you midday? Cheese and spinach soufflé and a wonderful tossed salad with cabbage, greens, tomatoes and avocado, with a grainy mustard vinaigrette. Junior is famous for these soufflés, and I will join the cheers for his culinary prowess.

A storm has blown in. We are relaxing and having some rum punch and chatting. We are having dinner this evening at Firefly, which is a Conde Nast 5 star rated restaurant and boutique hotel. I will take pictures. We'll get together again tomorrow.

 

Time to refresh my drink. Hope you all can share a bit in this vacation of a lifetime with me. Talk to you all later, folks.

 



I was out running this morning with Snickers (my dog) and starting to think about a few conversations that I have had with people over the past couple of days regarding fitness and weight loss. Everyone seems to have a "plan", whether that is exercise, diet, or some combination of the two.

The "paleo" diet sounds interesting. You eat like a caveman. Hmmm...why do we think the cavemen were in such good shape? Because they had to run around all the time looking for food! They didn't drive to Wawa for a shortie hoagie and a bag of chips. We are not cavemen. Well, most of us aren't. I am very wary of diets that prohibit certain foods. If it is something you are used to craving, then you are bound to boomerang and eat it. Tell the average person they CAN'T have something, and they will instantly crave it.

And the workouts...every guru has a combination workout for you guaranteed to shed the pounds, tighten you up, blah blah blah. You can't just run, you have alternate speeds to really burn calories. And so on...

Here's the truth, in the simplest possible terms. The truth according to Dr. Lewis Halin:
To lose weight, you have to EXPEND MORE CALORIES THAN YOU CONSUME. Woot. There it is.

Now that you have been enlightened, let's talk about how you can accomplish this difficult task.

1. Carbs are not your enemy, however, SIMPLE carbs are dangerous. These are the immediate gratification foods; chips, donuts, cookies, breads, etc. You know, the things you are eating now. Calories are units of heat, carbs are fuel to burn. Simple carbs burn quickly, giving you the burst of energy to get to the next snack. The more you eat, the more of them you want, because your body wants more of the quick energy. THIS is the one big habit you have to break-eating too many simple carbs. What you need are COMPLEX carbohydrates. These are found in whole grains, oats, brown rice. If you are a follower of my blog, you know how I feel about whole grains versus processed foods and ingredients. Not only do the whole grains burn slower (giving you energy over a longer period of time), they are also better because they provide more nutrition, and less...how should I put this..crap for your system. Whole foods are better for you, and for the environment. (We all know I'm a tree hugger, too.) Less processing=less energy used in factories, less chemicals released into the water, less pollution in general. Have you tried a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast? You feel full for hours! You can still have your sandwich for lunch, just have it on whole grain bread. If you eat a salad, put beans and lentils and peas on it to stay full until dinner. Are you getting the point?

2. Now, let's look at the exercise portion of our program. I try to run every day. Note the word "try" in that sentence. It's good for my head and my body. I plug in the headphones, rev up Pandora 80's cardio mix, and I'm off. But not every one has the time, or the inclination to run or even go to a gym. That's cool. But you have to find other ways to keep your body burning the fuel you are putting in it. If you work in an office building, ALWAYS take the stairs. Walk wherever and whenever you can. Hell, even fidget at your desk. Every movement burns calories. Stop taking the easy way to everything. WALK. Stuck in traffic? Do butt squeezes. Watching TV? Do some ab crunches in the chair, or leg lifts. I'm serious. Stop sitting still all the time. There are a million and one ways to keep your body in motion.

3. Drink water. Constantly.

4. Alcohol is made of sugars and carbs. Simple carbs. It's fattening. I write this to remind myself, because this is my downfall, not ice cream or chips. Oh....and STOP DRINKING SODA and see what happens to your body. It will shrink.

I don't diet. I try to eat in moderation. It works. Don't punish yourself. You still have to eat. Just put a little more thought into what you are eating. And get a move on. You'll like what happens.

Thanks for listening. On Friday, I will be leaving for a week of sun and fun. I am taking the laptop, because I plan to blog my meals, which are being prepared for me by a personal chef. More details to follow, folks. Keep reading. Tell everyone you know about the blog. See you soon.