Christmas in Florida

Not only has this been our first Christmas in Florida, but it is our first Christmas as an old married couple. And since both of our families are on the other side of the country, we really wanted to establish some of our own traditions - beyond decorating a kitchen chair. And looking back, I thought we did a really good job. For the longest time I have wanted to make homemade tamales on Christmas, so I figured, why not start now. And in this month's Cooking Light, there was a recipe for Beef Tamales - I took it as a sign. But, I modified the recipe a bit and made grilled chipotle chicken tamales and spinach and jack cheese tamales. The spinach tamales were real good, and Lisa said the chicken tamales were also tasty.





Surveying the damage done. We made way too many tamales for just the two of us. Seriously, we will being eating them for a week.

No fiesta is complete without some traditional postres. Lisa and I became addicted to these while in Mexico on our honeymoon. We went to the mercado to get the corn husks for the tamales and they had a case full of these - we couldn't resist.
Lisa's gift from me - new luggage. If you have seen her old luggage, you'll know this was sorely needed.
Unfortunately the box did not contain Hot Pockets. Alicia, why did you trick us so? Check out the link.
Boo loves his present from my parents. Just like a little kid - he would rather play with the box then the item in the box.

Lisa totally surprised me with a Canon XTi. Monica and Dad - don't be jealous. I also got the telephoto lens.
Boo impatiently waiting for the stuffed french toast.
I have a problem - I sometimes obsess about food I am going to be making. Breakfast yesterday, was no different. I had been planning it out in my mind for weeks. Stuffed french toast (with cream cheese and apricot jam), roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes, and scrambled egges with salsa & cheese. It lived up to expectations. It was so good.

Stephanie - notice the mug Lisa is using.

Our second "new" tradition of the holiday catching some movies we have really wanted to see. This isn't really a new tradition, because both of us have gone to movies on Christmas before. Sometime you should ask me about seeing Titanic on Christmas Day (I won't divulge any names). This year Lisa and I saw Juno and Enchanted. Juno was OK and Enchanted was real good. Juno just didn't turn out like I had expected it to. It was a pretty serious movie. Granted there were a lot of funny lines and scenes - especially when Juno tells her parents she is pregant. I was laughing pretty hard.

And finally, our third new Christmas Day tradition. When in Florida, do as the Floridians. Lisa made some homemade Key Lime Pie.

O Christmas Chair, O Christmas Lamp . . .

This being our first Christmas in Orlando we have decided to start some new traditions. Trees are so Pacific Northwest.


Please Note - Boo was too busy chasing a frog around our patio to pose for a family picture.

Bajan Thanksgiving Experience

Lisa has been working with the Ministry of Health of Barbados for the last several months. They had scheduled the pilot for the training program over Thanksgiving and since it wasn't Thanksgiving in Barbados, and I had some extra vacation time that I needed to use before the end of the year, it was only natural to leave the nice weather of Florida and head to the even nicer weather of Barbados. It was my first time in the Caribbean and we will definitely be going back. So while Lisa was busy working, I explored the southern part of the Island and the capital of Bridgetown. We were able to spend one day touring the entire island. Some of the highlights include, the George Washington House, Bardados History Museum, Fort Charles, Graeme Hall Natural Sanctuary, St. Lawrence Gap, Speightstown, the Blowholes, St. Nicholas Abbey, and St. John's Parish church. Barbados was so pretty and everyone was so nice. We even found a fantastic authentic Italian pizza place right next to our hotel .

I think this is an Amaryllis - these are allover Barbados. This particular one was at Fort Charles.


This is St. Mathias church - I discovered it on one of my many strolls near the hotel.
"Look kids - Big Ben, Barbados Parliament"



Scenes from downtown Bridgetown.

Brain Freeze!
The Barbados History Museum.
The young George Washington and his ailing brother Lawrence resided in this historic plantation house, also known as Bush Hill House, for two months in 1751. Barbados was the only country ever visited by the future “First Father” of his country and Bush Hill House the only house he ever lived in outside of the continental United States. The visit is a little known but very important chapter in the life of the then unknown 19 year old man, who would go on to become, as later described by Light-Horse Harry Lee, “first in war, first in peace, first in hearts of his countrymen” - from the website

Lisa found this little visitor one morning while getting ready to hop in the shower.
This guy was fishing for abalone or some other shell fish at the the base of Fort Charles.

A great little roti place not far from the hotel. Roti is a pretty popular fast food item with it's origins in India. You can find it all over Barbados. I loved the sign on this place - Curry in a Hurry.

A Spoonbill at the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary.


St. Lawrence Gap. This place is very touristy, but has a great Mexican restaurant and a nice bay full of little fishing boats.

Our chariot on the trip around the island. We met a nice couple from York, England.
I think this is called Organic Architecure. This was at the St. Patrick's Parish church.

In Speightstown.

The Blowholes. A definite stop if you find yourself on the northern side of the island. Absolutely amazing.
St. Nicholas Abbey - another definite stop. I think this was my favorite stop. I probably should have posted more photos. This place was really interesting. It is the oldest standing building in Barbados, built in 1650. A local family purchased it a couple of years ago from the relatives of the original British owners.

This is Chefette. Can you believe that there is not a single McDonalds on the entire island. This place had decent Roti, but awesome milk shakes.