Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas! For those of you who celebrate the birth of a little Jewish baby today, may your day be full. For those of you who only know the day as a year long awaited Santa does or doesn't fulfill your wish list (I, for one, do not see a Viking 8 burner stove anywhere on the property, perhaps a reflection that I was not always nice), I can only say, take a deep breath and make your own wishes come true. For those of you whose cups are full of a holiday inspired poignant longing for those no longer with us, or lives radically changed for the not so jolly, check your cup, it might be fuller than you think. Then go take a walk, a bike ride, a run; take a camera along if you have one. Find something, one thing, beautiful in your world. Call me in the morning. Dr. MJ. For the rest, who find this a day that is a day that is a day, may your day as well be full!

One beautiful thing I found yesterday

I have a lot of photos to sort from a whirling round of parties and just a plain gorgeous day in Paradox, so for now, here is how it looked a bit earlier in my part of the world on this Christmas day.

And now I have to go. I hear the beat of many horses hooves coming around the bay and I want to see what happens next!

A little egg nog and smile music

Have a moment of silence for all the gifts we do have, no matter what our creed, Sunday. Do something so full of glad.

A Caroling We Go, Culebra Style

Cwim & I preparing for the evening ahead

(disclaimer: I didn't go caroling. I try to confine my singing in public to joyful inebriated moments that I sincerely hope no one will remember the next morning and that I'd seriously consider a lobotomy to forget)

Tis the season! Last night the Culebra carolers were in fine form around the town; we caught them, or they caught us? at Susie's, where I was sharing a birthday dinner for Sue, with her husband Keith. As the years have gone by the group gets bigger and better. Wish I'd video'd the first song, but...oops! I didn't!

Maria getting ready for opening at Susie's. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ~ Let the games begin!

And suddenly, they were there!

More and more and more, it was like a very cool circus car, carolers replacing clowns

With Amy Jo on guitar and a violin! We're getting pretty classy around here! Will we see Mary with her harp next year?

All in their places with bright shiny faces

One topic of conversation was the sailboat that is now firmly attached to the reef at Mangalar. With a fine view of it, this is a report from above, with photos. Apparently another boat went aground off of Cayo Norte last night as well. It's blowin' out there, sailors! Read your charts and don't try to take any shortcuts!

Ask and you shall receive! The carolers help celebrate Sue's birthday 

(terrible video skills here, but that's how it goes!)

This afternoon, I THINK around 2, Santa will be at Milka's for the annual gift giveaway. I love going and seeing the children. What I like even more is hoping to find the coquito stash for the over 4 feet tall set.

The wind is still blowing, not as hard as the other day but pretty unceasingly, with an occasional spit of a shower. So if you are out and about tonight at the various parties going on around the island, bring along something more than your spaghetti strap top. Women should also wear something extra.

Have a Santa-filled Saturday! Do something silly.

Culebra Free Range Friday

As the music truck goes by in the wee hours, traditional Christmas music in steel pan form wafts in my windows, softly at first, then loudly and finally fading away, When I lived on St. Croix, I used to be able to hear a steel pan band a couple of times a week from my apartment on the hill, whether it was playing in town or over on Protestant Cay. A lot of memories come with sounds, and all of those are good ones.


It is hard to believe, in the stillness right now, how incredibly windy it was yesterday. It was a wind assault, even while the sky was blue and the sun was out, it seemed like a winter day and I was reminded of other places I've been where the wind never seems to stop. I'm glad I'm here, where every kind of weather, except for beautiful, doesn't last long.

Traveler Palm in bloom by the Arte Fango shop

One of my favorite of small places on Culebra

This beautiful wooden boat was hanging strong in some wicked winds

Oh, are we at the food part already? I saw this recipe this week and if I had access to some good Stilton cheese - there are bad stiltons, trust me, I know this; it's one of the few things where the price usually does have something to do with the quality of the product - I'd have made it in a second. Of course, if I had access to Stilton, I'd probably weigh too much to move around and do anything, so I guess it's a trade off of sorts.

When I think of shortbread, Walker's comes immediately to mind. Mainly because when my mother was still alive, that was one of her consistant Christmas presents to us (along with barley sugar lollipops, never mind that I was long grown before getting my last one from her). I can't describe a Walker's shortbread cookie really, because its crunchiness was soft, its sweeetness was almost not there and its pale, unadorned fatness can only be compared to a sugar cookie, but nothing like that at all. I think I could be given one in the dark and know exactly what it was without a thought. Ah, digressing down memory road, am I? English cheese, Scottish cookies... Ok, back to the recipe of the day.

This is a savory shortbread, using one of the ingredients I'm putting in my bread each week, so it is easy to mentally taste the combination of rosemary and Stilton together (I'm drooling here and it not attractive). The entire recipe and article is from Closet Cooking, one of the more interesting food blogs I read. He comes up with really different ideas, some I like, some I don't. But this one said, WOW! With such a very basic recipe , I'm not going to adapt it at all for the sake of form, just remember where it came from!


Stilton and Rosemary Shortbread

A buttery savoury shortbread with tangy stilton cheese, rosemary and a touch of pepper.

Servings: makes 18-36 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup stilton, rooms temperature and crumbled
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse grain pepper
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped

Directions

1. Cream the cheese and butter.
2. Mix in the flour, cornstarch, salt and pepper.
3. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients followed by the rosemary.
4. Shape the cookies as you like an place them on a parchment lined baking sheet with an inch of space between them.
5. Place the baking sheet in the fridge and chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until they just start to turn a light golden brown, about 8-14 minutes, remove and let cool. (Note: The shortbread will still be rather soft when it is done but it with crisp up as it cools.)

If you have any Stilton leftover, get some good port. Get some walnuts. Sit down someplace really relaxing, best done with a very good friend or so, and imbibe. Think of me; I'll know. Really.

We have parrandas, in the Virgin Islands, they have tramps. This is a traditional song sung at many a front door, where treats of the season await the singers, especially a demi-john pour of Guavaberry liqueur.

Have a fling of a Friday! Do something at its finest.