Happy Independence Day Bahamas

The Bahamas is 37 years old today!!!

March on Bahamaland!

Watermelon Lemonade

Summer is here and that means, heat, heat and watermelons.  I absolutely love watermelon.  I have memories of visiting my aunt in Brooklyn in the Summer as a kid having all the watermelon I could eat.  You see her "friend" at that time was a manager at a grocery store. He would bring us lots of watermelon, I guess to get on our good sides. So I always look forward to watermelon season.

 My daughter and I are the only watermelon lovers in the house.  Usually a large watermelon can last for days.  Sometimes I'm over zealous and end up buying too much watermelon.  I never want it to go to waste so I make Watermelon Lemonade.

It's cool, refreshing and just another great way to enjoy the watermelon.  Although my husband and son are not fans of watermelon, they are fans of Watermelon Lemonade.

You just need the following:

1. 1/2 - 3/4 Cup Lime juice.  (I know I said lemonade but I use limes.  They are locally grown and are cheaper than imported lemons.)
2. 1 1/2 Cups Watermelon Juice. (Put the watermelon in a blender, then strain.
3. One Gallon of water.
4. 1 1/2 Cup Sugar.  ( I know, alot right?  But I like sugar...dont judge me. Adjust the sugar to your liking.)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and chill several hours. 

All ingredients can be adjusted to taste.  You may like yours more tart so use more limes or prefer to have the sweetness of the watermelon to dominate so adjust to your liking.

Linking to:

Creations by Kara

It's So Very Cheri

Blue Cricket Designs

 

The Produce Exchange

I went to The Produce Exchange on Friday.  It is a government run facility that helps farmers from the Family Islands sell their produce here in Nassau.  A variety of fruits and vegetables are sold there at wholesale prices.  Fruit and vegetable vendors come and purchase from them.  However, the public is welcome, even encouraged. You never know what they have there as the produce are seasonal and fresh.  

First, let me say that it is pure chaos in there. The facility is small, so there is barely walking room in there.  The Exchange is only open from 8am-12 noon, so it's crowded and hot. Everyone's yelling trying to be heard above all the noise.  But it's a great experience. 
I really went there in the hopes of getting some mangoes, but look what I scored:

Papaya

Watermelon

Onions

Thyme

I had some of the papaya and watermelon with breakfast this morning.  I'm thinking of making some Watermelon Lemonade later.  It was a hit last summer with the kids.

Onions and thyme are a staple for me as I cook with them regularly.

I don't go as often as I should. I really prefer to eat locally grown produce. I'll make a trip once a week.  Hopefully when I go next week, the mangoes will be in.

Apple Struedel Muffins

Apples have been on sale for a few months now. At first, the apples were sweet and crunchy. Just the perfect snack. But lately, the apples haven't been their best. I kept purchasing them hoping to get some good crunchy apples, but with no luck. As a result, no one's eating them and the apples have piled up. I couldn't throw them away. I started my search for recipes using apples.

The recipe had to have ingredients that I already had on hand. Applesauce? Nah....Apple Pie? No refrigerated crust (not brave enough to make one either)....Apple Juice? Not Pretty.....Apple Muffins? YES.....Why not? They're simple enough.

I found an Apple Muffin recipe, but while going over the ingredients, I noticed that it was made with butter. I had butter on hand, but I have this thing when it comes to muffin recipes. I believe that muffins are not made with butter. I should not have to cream butter and sugar. I'll be making a cake or cupcake doing that, not muffins. I wanted real authentic muffins.

That's when I remembered that I had a tried and true muffin recipe stored on my computer. I want to say that I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but I really can't remember. I've had the recipe since July 2008. The original recipe is a basic muffin mix. I made a few modifications to make it an Apple Struedel recipe. 

They turned out great.  Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Apple Struedel Muffins (makes a little more than a dozen)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup grated apple 

Struedel Topping: 

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).

1. Stir together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and sugar in a large bowl.Make a well in the center.
2. In a small bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, beat egg with a fork. Stir in milk and oil.
3. Pour all at once into the well in the flour mixture. Mix quickly and lightly with a fork until moistened, but do not beat. The batter will be lumpy.
4. Fold in grated apple. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups.
5. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Linked To:
Blessed With Grace

 

Summer Activity #3 - Nature Walks

 Kids are constantly "connected".  Television, Wii, Internet, Ipods, DSi's have all stolen an essential part of childhood.  Playing, sleeping and reading outside are some of the greatest memories I have as a child.   I wanted to get the kids out of the house for a few hours and decided on taking them on a Nature Walk.
We went in the early morning before the heat reached its peak.  It was quiet and peaceful.  The kids enjoyed looking at the different plant species, fish, insects and birds.

The Bahamas has 25 National Parks throughout the country.  Harold and Wilson Ponds encompasses 250 acres with more than 100 different species of birds. 

Unfortunately we only saw 2 different species.  I think we scared all the birds away. The kids weren't exactly quiet.

Summer Activity #2 - Balloon Painting

Today we did balloon painting:

All you need are:

• Small Balloons
• Paint
• Paper
• Foam Plates

Inflate the balloons, not too big, just big enough for the kids to hold in one hand.  Put blobs of paint on the foam plates.  Let the kids dip the balloons  in the blobs of paint.  Make sure they dip the balloons in more than one colour at a time.  Then let them roll the balloon all over the paper.

     

That's it!

It sounds simple, and it is.  I'm surprised that the kids enjoyed it so much.

So give it a try.

Summer Activity #1 -Trip To The Beach

This is our second week of Summer Break. The kids are here and they are great.  Yes, they scream, shout, argue, cry and make a mess but they are still great.   We did not do much last week as I was preparing for the Yard Sale.

By the way, the yard sale was a great success! People were here at 6:30 in the morning.  By 10:00 a.m. it was pretty much dead, but we made more money than I ever thought we would!  My sister and I plan to do this twice a year.

Back to the kids.
I took them to the beach on Friday.  It was like the official start to Summer activity.  There were 12 of us including myself.  Six ranging in ages of 2 through 9, and 5 teens.  While at the beach we found this little guy:

The water was unusually warm.  It was as if it came from a tap. 

We all had a great time as you can see from the pic below:

Okay, MOST of them enjoyed themselves. The kid in the bottom left corner had a different experience I guess.