Saturday, December 11, 2010

Saturday, December 11, 2010:

A good sunny day. Still cool – but I’m not complaining. We are getting close to the end of our time here, so it’s time to take a look at the provisions we have and use them up before we go. That means we will be having some interesting meals!

Linda (who lives downstairs and owns Coco Locos) said she would let me borrow her wooden spoon so I could make some pralines today.  She bought her daughter an electric bike for Christmas.  It was SO cute! Bright yellow like a little bee! It is as quiet as a mouse too!  It looks like a cross between a little motorcycle and a vespa scooter.  And the best thing is you just plug it in to any 110 outlet to charge! And if you go too far and run out of charge…just start peddling! CUTE! I WANT ONE! They even have a bigger one that is more like a motorcycle…!

I finally made my first attempt at pralines.  Taste wise…not so bad, but between dropping 2 spoonfulls and then pouring the rest in a pan, the texture changed and it ended up being more like a soft brittle or fudge.  Like I said, they taste good…it’s just a bizarre texture…oh well.  Not bad for my first attempt without a candy thermometer. Gerald’s eating it…so it can’t be too bad…but then again, he likes hotdog soup! =)

We hear a Mexican diplomat is coming to San Pedro sometime soon and is supposed to be taking a tour of the island.  Which explains why they are grading all the dirt roads and even fixing the road up North.  Don’t do it for the people…do it for a politician.  Anyway, they have been working 7 days a week on it, from early morning until late at night.  Even driving into town you see that the homes along the main road have been cleaned up! Wonder if they paid them?

We also heard that a diplomat once stayed here at Reef Village…bet they fixed the orange water then!

Nothing much else happened today. Messed around on my computer and worked on the blog page.

Friday, December 10, 2010 - UPDATED

Friday, December 10, 2010:

Another cool sunny day.  We hear that the temps back home are 89°, nice to know the weather will be warm when we get back! =) 

Testing the crackers I made last night…they are yucky and taste like moth balls.  I tried to bake the taste out…but it’s still there. ew. That’s one of the problems with food here – everything must past the sniff test!  What a waste of time – and a trip in to town last night!  Guess we have some fish bait!  Now I need to figure out what to make for the dinner instead…and something to do with the havarti cheese I bought.  I love toasts, havarti and caramel with nutmeg…I could do that…but now I have to get bread to make the croutons, caramel and nutmeg!  Here we go! We’ll probably have to go to 12 stores before we find it all!

I’m looking for a way to put music on the web page too.  I swear it takes me hours to research and get this stuff done! No wonder web page designers charge so much money to do this! But time is slipping away and I have to get to the stores!   

Back again… we only had to go to 3 stores! Nice! I won’t have time to make the pralines today…will have to do that tomorrow! Looks like rain clouds to the east…hope it holds off until late!

Gerald has showered already and is taking a nap...better go get my shower done before the breeze quits and I lose my hair dryer!  

Off to Coco Locos!  Unfortunately the breeze went away (so my hair is still wet) and there is no wind to blow the skeeters away…and they are attacking! Which means we have to grease and spray down! Ugh!!

The appetizers were a hit! One guy was making layers of the caramelized onion dip with Ritz crackers and called them “Big Macs”!

Another guy was standing in the corner with the tray of havarti and caramel toasts! But he did make sure everyone else was done!  We were so busy talking and stuff that Gerald didn’t even play his guitar!

I only ended up getting one bite of Linda’s stew but it was good.  Luckily I did get some of the fish Ken brought – it was good too, but not as good as our barracuda in Placencia! =) (course I’m a little prejudice about that!).

Everyone started going home, and just in time…a little rain started coming down!

Thursday, December 09, 2010 - UPDATED

Thursday, December 09, 2010:

No luck downloading the videos last night.  I think they are too large to upload directly to the blog, so I’m going to have to upload to You-Tube and do a link.  Sorry guys!

Weather looks decent.  A little thin layer of clouds and cool…but better here than home for sure!

Another gazillion dead skeeters on the deck again this morning … the cool weather is definitely good for that anyway!  Today’s weather: high of 79°, low of 59°!

We need to go pick up our laundry this morning in town. Maybe pick up some cornbread mix since I’m making beans and rice today.

So other than uploading videos – nothing planned so far today, but I'll keep you posted on any new or exciting happenings...and knowing me...there's bound to be something!

Turned my iPhone/iPod on and am listening to Kenny G’s Miracles album – one of my favorites.  It reminds me of a wonderful evening I spent at the Ritz with friends! The memories bring a smile to my face!

UPDATE:

Got an e-mail from Nancy with pictures of Kathy’s Christmas Cubical!  How I miss seeing that!  Thanks for sharing with me Nancy (and Kathy!)

We go into town to run errands.  The first stop is to pick up the laundry.  When I get there and show her my receipt, she asked me if I hadn’t already picked up my laundry this morning! That’s a bad sign isn’t it?  She starts looking around, but is not finding anything, so the other girl starts looking too.  They are speaking Spanish, so I can’t tell what they are saying (should have called Amy) …except I can tell by the puzzled look on their faces, it’s not looking good. I’m trying to ignore the fact that they can’t seem to find my laundry, lest I come unglued, in hopes that I’m having a day-nightmare and they find it.  But after about 10 minutes…it’s hard to ignore any longer.  I take a deep breath and hope that when I speak it’s not screams that come out! I look over at them, and she comes to me and asks if it was a quilt that I dropped off.  I said no…clothes. And just then, my eyes look up on the shelf in the other room and I can see an opaque white bag with clothes…and the prints look familiar. Then I see a small piece of tape that has my name! YAY!!!!! It’s my clothes! Phew… catastrophe averted!

Now back to the other end of town to take my rayon house dress to the seamstress. I have a little summer house dress that I got on St. Martin several years ago.  I love it, and have wanted to get some more for some time now but the girl who I bought them from is nowhere to be found. That means I’m out of luck, and these things are wearing out! I saw the sign last week that they can make anything so I asked about my dress.  But I had to wait until I got it back from the laundry.  So I dropped it off, picked out a couple of materials and will get to pick them up tomorrow! Nice!

Our next stop was going to be the grocery store, but I want to try to find some provel cheese to make an appetizer for the gathering at Coco Locos tomorrow night. I bought some Provalone…and it is too much like swiss! There is a wine and cheese store south of town and surely they have some there! Unfortunately they don’t have provel…but they do have a nice creamy havarti and I get some of that.  Should be ok!

Back to the north end of town now for groceries! I wanted to make some pralines with the cashews I have left, but I need sugar.  I don’t have a candy thermometer, so I’ll just have to remember what Martha taught me about making caramel when she was in the Holiday Cookie Weekend mode! (better back that up with some internet research too, cause I’m sure I didn’t pay that good of attention – unfortunately … I was a teenager you know!).  This grocery store doesn’t have crushed red pepper flakes and I need them for tomorrow night, so now I have to go back downtown to The Greenhouse. They have lots of spices there, and I am able to pick up a small portion, not a whole bottle.  Should be set now, so back to the condo.

We stopped at the local bakery up the road to see if they have cornbread, and they had big pieces for $1 … that’s way cheaper than I could make it…not to mention easier! Sweeeet!

Back to the condo I can start cooking the beans and rice for dinner. Shouldn’t take me long since I soaked them overnight. After just a few minutes, it’s smells yummy already! And good too!

I pull up Kathy’s cracker recipe and it calls for canola oil and ranch dressing mix. DARN!  Two things I didn’t get!  Now we have to go to the other side of town again! We pack up real quick and rush down to the cart because it’s 4:30 and will be dark soon.  A FLAT TIRE!   ARG!!!!   We have to call the cart company and explain where we are so they can come fix it!  And you know that won’t be soon! While we are waiting for them to come and fix the car, we go over to the bar to see what movie they are showing tonight.  It’s Home Alone.  That’s a real old movie we’ve seen a hundred times, plus they still don’t have it yet! Doubtful it will be crowded! 

I see that they have put up a Christmas tree at the pool too.  It’s really cool, made out of palm fronds!  HOW NEET!  I WANT ONE!

Still waiting outside for the repairman to come.  We say hello to Freeway.  He’s the resort adopted dog.  Everyone feeds him - nobody owns him!  HE'S A GOOD BOY...!!!!

I’m guessing we’re not going to get the tire fixed tonight, so might as well go back into the condo and eat!   

Gerald had to call Crystal Golf Cart again. Someone is coming over “in 5 minutes”! An hour later, they get here and plug the hole in the tire. We can now head to Island Grocery. It doesn’t take us long…only 45 minutes round trip – and that includes the shopping!

I get the crackers done then start on the caramelized onion dip. It takes a while to caramelize the onions, but it really smells good, and tastes YUMMY!  I love doing these new recipes! I need to find something to do with coconut milk now… I was going to make pina coladas, but the blender is too icky…I’m not touching it…and I’m not buying one either!

Tomorrow I’ll do the pralines … It’s midnight and I’m starting to get pretty tired and need to go to bed!

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - Touring San Pedro Town

Wednesday, December 08, 2010 - Touring San Pedro Town:

Looks like it might be a sunny day.  Finally.  They were out grading the road this morning before daylight! Gawd this place is noisy – I can’t get any sleep. There are villas and condo that aren’t on the road like this one, and I understand they are much quieter. Too bad I didn’t pick one of those! (really none!)

Today might be the day to go into town and get those videos done.  Plus we need to pick up some groceries, take some laundry in to be done and find a barber for Gerald…his hair is getting long!

Off we go. We had to take several segments of video since we made stops on the way. I’ll try to identify the parts of town we went to.  Hold on to your hat … Gerald goes fast, and the roads are not smooth…except they are really like glass compared to what they were before!

Here is the first video.  This one takes you from our resort, across the toll bridge and down Middle Street to the laundry service.

** Middle Street - Video**

This video takes us from the laundry service south by the airport and to the gas station.

** South to Gas Station - Video **

This video goes south from the gas station. We haven’t gone past the cobblestones until today because of the bad muddy roads. We found some very wonderful places in the South of San Pedro Town. There are positives about staying down here, primarily no toll bridge and peaceful tranquil days and nights.  If I were to pick a place to stay again, it would be down there.  Although there are lots of places north of town or even in town that are WAY nicer and quieter than Reef Village. Caveat – I understand the developer is still in charge of the resort and the owners are anxious for him to conclude his business here so they can take over, as their contracts stipulate, and take care of the issues (water etc) that need to be taken care of properly. I digress!

** Gas Station to South of Town - Video **

This is why you should not walk around at night…croc bait is not a good thing!

Here are some beach front properties for sale! 

 (Hard to see in pictures - but this is a log cabin! I LOVE IT!)

I almost rented this little house, but it doesn't have a pool! It's also not got a view, but is cute as a button huh? And it's for sale! =)

We stop on the way back to town to get Gerald a haircut!

 (G-Cuts for G-Man!)

(G-Cuts Guard Dog!)

This video takes up at the airport and goes down Front Street by Central Park.

** Front Street - Video **

We ended up stopping at the Tres Pescados to get some fishing equipment for Gerald, but Jim only has fly fishing equipment.  He suggested we go to Captain Jack’s over by the airport, so we headed back that way and picked up some stuff there.  Gerald is going to try to do some hand fishing like Kenny and Francisco!

We then started our store tour to pick up groceries. We started at The Greenhouse, but was sidetracked by hunger.  There is a little spot across the street from The Greenhouse that sells falafels and Lebanese food, but that’s not for Gerald, so we ended up at Elvi’s on the corner. It’s a local restaurant with traditional Belizean and Mexican food.  It has a sand floor and a BIG tree trunk in the main area of the restaurant that looks like they cut the branches and then built the palapa around it. Lots of really neat character and nice people. The food was really good and gets 5 stars for one of the nicest bathroom’s I’ve seen.  We even saw a couple that we spoke to at Nautica and met some new people who have got me thinking again about learning further to scuba!

We finish and head back down to The Greenhouse to get some fruits, veggies and stuff (stuff meaning golden Oreo cookies with a chocolate cream center … we’ve been craving a Twinkie or vanilla Zinger so bad!).  We saw Joy and Cindy at the Greenhouse shopping too and gave them a ride home. After a quick stop at another store to get paper goods we head back. We were going to go down the beach road to video that for you, but we took Middle Street home instead, because we have Joy and Cindy, it is smoother – and the beach road is a little rough! 

We’ll video the beach road, and go up North hopefully in the next couple of days…It will probably take that long to upload the video we have now!

That’s it for today.  I better start downloading this video! It’s gonna take a long time!