5 Favorite Things: Island Life

We moved to the Caribbean nearly two years ago so that my husband could attend medical school here.  Currently, we are lucky enough to live on the beautiful nature isle of Dominica {pronounced dom-in-eeka} where everyday is an adventure.

Here are my five favorite things about island life:

1. The tight-knit community.  Dominica is a small island, measuring about 290 square miles with a total population of about 71,000.  I volunteer at several local schools and community organizations, and I love the small community here.  On any given day, I see a handful of friends, neighbors, students, and other familiar faces, and this is one of my favorite things about the island.  I love knowing the cashiers at the grocery store, and then seeing them on the weekends when I go to town or spend an afternoon at the beach.  These familiar, smiling faces are what make Dominica feel like home.

2.  We have fresh fruit here everywhere, all the time.  These papayas are from my neighbor's tree across the street.  Our garden is laden with grapefruit, star fruit, guava, passion fruit, banana, and plantain trees.  During mango and avocado {locally called pear} season, my husband and I collect fruits that have fallen off nearby trees, or climb a tree in our yard or up the street for some fresh fruit.  You can buy all of these treats at the store or the market, as well, but you can't ignore the fresh goodies straight from the tree, either! {Also, the fruits and veggies here are abnormally large.  Sometimes I yell at them...}

3.  Dominica boasts 365 rivers, one for every day of the year.  There is no better way to spend a hot summer day in Dominica than by hiking in the rainforest to one of the island's many rivers and waterfalls for a refreshing swim.  Some of my favorites are Bense Pool {pictured above} and the Seven Waterfalls Hike. 

4.  Island Hopping by plane or ferry to one of many nearby islands makes for an easy adventure and an exotic vacation.  Ferries travel from Dominica to nearby islands like St. Lucia, Guadaloupe, and Martinique on a daily basis.  It's also easy to hop a quick plane to other nearby islands like St. Maarten, Barbados, or St. Vincent {above}.

5.  The laid back, island lifestyle and attitude is one of my favorite things about Dominica.  This photo of happy, carefree Rastafarian dancing on the beach at sunset sums this up perfectly.  Life here is simple.  People here are happy and they live with much, much less.  This is one of the greatest lessons that we have learned while living here, and I hope that we continue to appreciate this simple lifestyle even after we return to the U.S.

So there you have it, my five favorite things about life in Dominica.  

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Photos by Clare Wilkinson for C Squared W.

Blog Café

Recently, a few of my blogger friends here in Dominica got together for a little blog café.  It was a fun morning: we enjoyed coffee, made a breakfast treat, talked blogs, did a little blogging, and just hung out.  

All of these friends are also excellent cooks and bakers in the kitchen, so it was especially fun when Chris taught us how to make mulasadas, a favorite donut-y breakfast treat that he and his family enjoyed when he was growing up in Hawaii.  Mulasadas, fresh fruit and delcious coffee? Yes, please!

Rachael has worked in kitchens and was a pastry chef for a while, so she and Chris talked technique and figured out how to fry up the mulasadas to perfection.  Crystal, also a wizard in the kitchen, is an awesome photographer, so she documented our morning with some gorgeous pics, in addition to lending a hand making the yummy treats.  Katie shared her knowledge about blogging and design with the group.  And I did the dishes, because I'm so domestic.  It was a great morning, spent with creative and interesting friends.  Thanks so much, Chris, for having us!

If you are interested in the delicious treats that are malasadas, check out the malasada recipe on Chris's blog.  Crystal also posted a great step-by-step photo tutorial for the Malasadas on her blog!    

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Cool Stuff

Arrow Brushes from Creature Comforts

Photo by Crystal Durrant

Island Life

It's hard to believe that in nearly two months, we'll be packing up to move back to the States and saying goodbye to island life.  As of August, we will have officially lived in the Caribbean for two years.  Crazy, huh?  New friends, did you know that we lived in the Bahamas for four months prior to our twenty month stint in Dominica?  

{via}

I recently updated the Island Life section of the blog and added this fun map showing our island homes.  I also included some of my favorite/most informative Dominica posts, just in case you are wondering where in the world we live or are interested in learning more about life in Dominica.  Here's a small snippet of some of those favorites, just to get you started:

Apartment Tour  //  What we'll miss most when we leave  //  My favorite hike: 7 Waterfalls

I also just imported my blog posts from the blog I kept while we were in the Bahamas and had a good laugh revisiting some of my favorite old posts, like this one, titled Where does the devil live?, that describes a typical, hilarious day spent volunteering in a Grade 1 classroom at the local primary school.  Aren't these little friends precious?  I miss them!

Good times in the islands!

Oh my - living down in Dominica, I am really out of the loop... and I just realized that it's Memorial Day Weekend back in America.  Enjoy the long weekend and have so much fun! 

Spreading Sunshine

Thank you to my dear friend Hilary from Artsdevivre for nominating me for a fun little award called the Sunshine Award! 

Sunshine Award Questions {aka, My Favorite Things}:

• Favorite Color?   Turquoise or any color in that family.  So peaceful! 

• Favorite animal?  I love pretty much any animal!  Dominica is home to some of the sweetest dogs ever...

• Favorite number?  767, our area code here in Dominica. 

• Favorite non-alcoholic drink?  Mango smoothies or Passionfruit juice.  All the wonderful fresh fruit is one of the best things about living in the Caribbean!

• Prefer Facebook or Twitter?  They are both fun in their own ways, but I think over both of those, I prefer Pinterest! 

• My passion?  Reading, creating (the abstract painting pictured is by yours truly!), blogging, cooking, and traveling!

• Prefer getting or giving presents?  Both.  I love a receiving a great gift as much as the next person, but I also love picking out something perfect for a friend that they absolutely love.  Clementine in Richmond, VA, is my favorite boutique for gifts.  They always have awesome jewelry and accessories! 

• Favorite pattern?  Ikat!  {Does it get any better than turquoise ikat?!?

• Favorite day of the week?  Sunday!  One final day to enjoy the weekend.  Lately, we've been all about good breakfasts and Sunday Fundays!

• Favorite flower?  Heliconia.  I love the colors and how crazy and different they are.  There are so many different varieties here in Dominica.

And now, I'm passing this award along to some fantastic blogs & bloggers:

• Katie: Priceless Adventure
• Emily: Hope Squared
• Kate: Stripes and Polka Dots
• Supal: Chevrons and Eclairs
• Brynn: This Lovely Life
• Emily: Emmy June Born in May
• Torie: Lattes and Love
• Joy: Frock Files
• Emily: Ever So Emily
• Lindsay: Trial by Sapphire
• Paige Meredith: Approaching Joy
• Marissa: Everyday Lounge Act

Housewarming!

Welcome to the new and improved C Squared W!  

We're loving the beautiful new blog design, courtesy of my good friend and talented blog designer, Katie!  Seriously, it's so pretty!  {If you're viewing this in a reader, click over, or click here, to see the magic.}

Right now it's a little lonely over here, so if you like what you see, please join this site and/or sign up for an email subscription (Mom, that’s for you!).  We’ll consider it a housewarming gift!

 {We're C Squared W.  We like to kick back and enjoy ourselves every now and then!}

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO, C Squared W

Sistahs

Have I ever told you how cool my little sisters are?  Well, they are really, amazingly cool!

Margaret is in her junior year at Sewanee: The University of the South where she is a history major.  She is currently spending her spring semester studying abroad in Rome, Italy.  She is loving it, and spent last weekend visiting friends in Nice, France for Carnival.  Pretty awesome!

Frannie graduated from Sewanee last May with a B.A. in Global and International Studies and a minor in Spanish.  Frannie spent her summer working at A BarA Ranch in Wyoming.  A few weeks ago, Frannie joined the U.S. Peace Corps as a Community Education Promoter in the South American country of Guyana.  She will spend the next two years there, and is jumping right in to her experience - eating chicken feet and taking bucket baths!  She is brave and so impressive!

In addition to being world travelers, they are also smart, hilarious, and very artistic.  Frannie has traveled to Ecuador, Haiti, and Honduras and is fluent in Spanish; Margaret speaks French and is learning Italian.  They both have awesome fashion senses, and I love to steal borrow their clothes and get fashion advice from them when I'm home.  They are also gorgeous and adventurous... be sure to check out their blogs (click on their names, above)!

So there you have it, the world traveling sisters, currently all living in three different countries.  Thanks, Mom, for passing along your adventurous streak to us!  Fun fact: my mom, Katrina, lived in Germany for two years after college.  She has some awesome stories!

Craziness!

I love this little island.  I really do.  But sometimes things around here are just pure craziness.  Like what?  Check out this story on my friend Mark's blog.  You'll see what I mean!

My new fave meal...

{The Pioneer Woman}

Need a new recipe for dinner this week?  Try these Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas.  I made these a few nights ago and they are so delicious!!!!

I seriously love Ree, The Pioneer Woman.  Not only are her recipes to die for, but she's absolutely hilarious.  Plus, she explains everything very thoroughly, so you're never confused.  She rocks.  Last night I made her Grilled Chicken & Pineapple Quesadillas and was literally drooling over them they were so delicious.  So I had to share!

Notes {mainly for people in Dominica with limited ingredients!}:

• I didn't have cilantro, but did have sour cream which I think is essential!  
• The jalapenos made this really tasty, too, so I wouldn't skip those unless you can't stand them.  
• I also omitted Cajun spice/cumin and just used BBQ sauce on the chicken.  
• I used sliced, canned pineapple from IGA and just grilled the slices on my George Foreman.  It was perfect.
• I also just used 1 large chicken breast and it made 3 huge quesadillas.  
• I marinated the chicken in BBQ sauce for about an hour and then threw it on the George Foreman.  
• I also didn't follow her directions on how to put the quesadillas together and cook them... I just did it my way.
• Before I put the top tortilla on the quesadillas, I spread about a tablespoon of barbecue sauce on the top for some extra flavor.  OMG.

Real Housewives & Merrie-Woode Girls

[caption id="attachment_314" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Kristen, Rebecca, me, Brandi, Tanya, Katie, Nicole, Meagan, Taylor, Emily, Heidi, Megan"][/caption]

My friends here on the island are pretty amazing.  Not only are they beautiful women, but they are also all extremely talented.  Sometimes we call ourselves The Real Housewives of Dominica.  That makes me laugh.  It has been so much fun getting to know all the girls here.  For example, check out our cooking blog, Spouses' Kitchen.  We all contribute, and the computer/design savvy girls make it look good, and we all use it as inspiration for deliciousness.  Love it!  We all come from so many different backgrounds, states (Alaska, Kentucky, Minnesota, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, California, Florida, Kansas, Arkansas, New York), and are talented in so many ways.  We are teachers, artists, nurses, yogis, spinners, cooks, bakers, counselors, fundraisers, hair stylists, designers, sewers, athletes, dancers, decorators... the list goes on and on!

[caption id="attachment_319" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Katie, Tracy, Emily, Heidi, Meagan, Taylor, Brandi, Casey, Jen, me, Megan"][/caption]

Sometimes this island reminds me a lot of Merrie-Woode (my summer camp growing up!), but with wine!  Here are some reasons why: wonderful girls who you get to know better and better each day... learning so much about each other quickly, because you spend so much time together...  signing up for trips and taking long rides in vans, with windy, bumpy roads, carsickness, and Dramamine... cool mountain mornings and evenings...  costume parties...  game nights... snakes and bugs, often in your apartment... refreshing afternoon and evening rainstorms... swimming in waterfalls, rivers, and swimming holes... saying goodbye to close friends leaving the island at the end of the semester...

[caption id="attachment_318" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="On our girls' trip to Barbados! Me, Tanya, Megan, Kristen"][/caption]

While I miss my family and friends from home, I have loved getting to know all the new friends I have made here in I cannot imagine what this experience would be like without all of the wonderful friends I've made here.  Thanks to all of you for making my first semester such a great one!

[caption id="attachment_317" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="At Cabrits! Kristen, Heidi, Mary, me, Tanya, Emily, Taylor, Rebecca"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_316" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Barbados! Megan, Tanya, Kristen, me"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Afternoon on the dock! Rebecca, Tracy, me, Katie"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_311" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="At Red Rock at the beginning of the semester: Katie, Emily, Megan, Taylor, Heidi, Tracy, Brandi, me, Meagan"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sunset at Cabrits! Emily, Brandi, Nicole, Megan, Francis (aka "the black Michael Jackson"), Meagan, Heidi, me, Katie, Tracy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="An afternoon in Glanvillia: Katie, me, Tracy"][/caption]

Culinary Creations

OMG, I just made creme brulee.  I'm not gonna lie -- I'm pretty proud of myself right now.  I've been on a cooking streak and have tried out dozens of new recipes in the past few weeks, most of which have been pretty darn delicious.  Take dinner tonight, for instance: Chicken en Papillote (actually, in foil because where or where is parchment?  You've got me...) with garlic, onions, basil, and tomatoes over lentil pilaf.  With rosemary scones.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  I made rosemary scones and they are delicious.  So good I am having a hard time saving one for Charlie!



And for dessert, creme brulee.  Which I am going to try momentarily.  After I finish bragging.  For the chicken I used my quarter of a chicken from Bernard, the local chicken man I met at the market on Saturday.  The chicken was delicious, although I did have quite a time hacking it apart with a knife; it was fun to play butcher for a few minutes.   I hacked through some chicken bones and everything. Quite an experience.  I'll have to ask Bernard for some tips next weekend.

Earlier this week I made braised and roasted chicken thighs with leeks... another WOW recipe.  I suggest trying all of these, because not only were they as good as meals from your favorite gourmet restaurant, but they were actually really easy, which I always appreciate.  Then there were the oatmeal cranberry muffins I made -- my new favorite breakfast.  You should make those too.

Okay, now I am eating the creme brulee and it is insane.  I caramelized the brown sugar on the top of it by sticking the whole darn thing in the toaster oven and broiling it for a few minutes until it looked dark and bubbly... and it turned out perfectly!  I just cracked it with my spoon (I agree with Amelie, it's so fun) and boy was it exciting.

It is fun to have time to make anything I want... And with a free bus to Roseau (the capital city, an hour away) on the weekends, I can go to the good grocery store there (Save a Lot) and stock up on basics that are more expensive here in Picard and get treats that are not available anywhere else -- like asparagus, portobello mushrooms, cream cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta, cream, yogurt, real milk, and meat.  I usually pick up a few random treats from the list above and then spend the next few weeks figuring out what tasty treats and meals I can make with them, using my pantry items and fresh market produce.  It is a good challenge, and I know Charlie appreciates the good food.

Last night I made enchiladas and they were yummy.  You should try them.



Spinach, Green Chile, Black Bean and Cream Cheese Enchiladas

These are my own adaption of AKPB's turkey enchiladas she used to cook up on the Boulie and on Hanover... minus the turkey and enchilada sauce + green chiles for fun.

Ingredients:

• tortillas, flour or corn, whichever you fancy or have handy (or make your own if you're an overachiever -- I'm not.)


• black beans


• 1 package of cream cheese


• 1 package of chopped frozen spinach


• 1 can of diced green chiles (not a big deal if you don't have them or like them, just a fun addition)


• green onions, sliced


• salsa


• enchilada sauce (optional)

Cook a package chopped frozen spinach.  I did it in the microwave because it involved not lighting burners with flames, but the stove top works too.  It's frozen spinach, there's no trick.  Once the spinach is cooked add a block of cream cheese and stir, so that the spinach melts in the hot pan, and you get a good cream cheesey spinachy mixture.  Add a can of chopped, dice green chiles with their juice and stir in.  Stir in some cooked, drained black beans or a can of black beans, drained.  Mix it all together, careful not to smash the beans.

Spoon mixture into some tortillas, flour or corn.  I used corn tortillas last night because I had them, but flour tortillas work too.  Fold tortillas in half and place in a baking dish.  (Here is the part where you can pour some enchilada sauce on top of them.  I searched the island for enchilada sauce and none could be found.  I prepared myself to make some from scratch, but the only chili powder I could find in town had bugs crawling on it.  So we passed on the enchilada sauce.  I supposed you could also add some cheddar cheese, but with all the cream cheese inside, I think it sounds a little excessive.  But hey, tomorrow's Valentine's Day, so just follow your heart).

Stick the casserole dish in your heated oven.  My oven is crazy and confusing and in degrees Celcius, so I just make stuff up -- last night I turned it to 200 (whatever that means) and cooked them for about 10 minutes, until the torillas got slightly brown and crispy on the outside.  When they look good, remove from the oven.  I am always too ravenous to let anything cool, so if you're like me, grab your spatula and plop a few of those suckers on your plate.  Top with salsa and sliced green onions.  YUM!

If you are in a cooking rut and need some new recipes or just feel like making something delicious, I also highly recommend the recipes below.

[caption id="attachment_124" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Chicken en Papillote with onions, tomatoes, garlic and basil. Serve over rice or lentils."][/caption]

Chicken en Papillote with Basil and Tomatoes -- I didn't have cherry tomatoes so I just used regular heirloom tomatoes.

Rosemary Scones -- make. these. now!

Creme Brulee -- make the day before, they must chill overnight.  Ceramic ramekins probably work best, but you can also use a shallow pan, or I found some little metal, heart baking dishes which worked great.

Pan Roasted Chicken and Leeks -- YOWZERS, this was good!

Beets with Toasted Walnuts and Grapefruit over Watercress -- I used pink grapefruit because the regular ones make me gag.  I also just used some store-bought balsamic vinaigrette and added a little honey to it instead of making my own because 1) I was lazy and 2) I didn't have any straight up balsamic vinegar.  Do what you like!

Portobello Mushroom and Red Pepper Pizza on Homemade Thin Pizza Crust*  I am obsessed with basil and like to add so much of it to everything that you could probably overdose on it.  SOMEHOW I forgot to add the basil to this (what!?!).  It was delicious without it.  But probably would have been extra delicious with it.  So don't stress if you don't have basil...

*If you have never tried the pizza dough from Trader Joe's, you must ASAP.  In their refrigerated section, by the hummus and deli meat, they have bags of fresh pizza dough (wheat, white, and herb) for 99 cents (I think) that you take home and roll out and cook yourself... it makes ridiculously good pizza.  If we had a Trader Joe's here in Dominica, first I would die, and then I would just buy that dough.

Oatmeal Muffins -- I think these are fairly healthy, as far as muffins go!  I loved them and Charlie did, too.  I added chopped walnuts and some dried fruit mixture from Trader Joe's (shipped in our barrel).

P.S. -- I have become totally hooked on some of the fabulous food blogs that are out there, and find that I am finding most of my recipes these days from them.  I am also a huge fan of some of the easier recipes from Food & Wine Magazine, which are always insanely delicious, provided they aren't too complicated and the ingredient lists don't get too wacky.

Food blogs I love:

• The Kitchn


• The Fromagette


• The Pioneer Woman


• David Lebovitz


• Stay at Stove Dad


• 101 Cookbooks


• Orangette


• Mark Bittman


• Pictures and Pancakes


• Chef Chloe


• What Katie Ate


• Smitten Kitchen


• Food & Wine Magazine -- If you go to amazon.com I think you can get a $10 mail subscription to the magazine... so worth it, except that you will drool all over yourself and possibly put on a few.

Bon appetit!

Settling in

Today we have been busy exploring the island, getting student IDs, dropping off computers to get configured to the campus network, etc.  We woke up this morning to find that when we turned on our faucets, the water barely dripped out and then stopped running altogether.  We checked with some friends and learned that when it rains a lot here (it has been raining for the past 2 days), the water automatically cuts off, because when the water table gets too high, the water gets all kinds of funky stuff in it.  Or something like that.  So, no water today.  No washing hands, dishes, or ourselves.  Ick.  We walked around all day like grease-balls.  When we finally came home later, the water was back on, so Charlie and I were both excited to take much-needed showers.  Charlie showered successfully, but when I hopped in the water cut off again, mid-soap.  I rinsed off the soap with a water bottle.  Very fun.  This reminds me of Ann's recent bathing adventures in France, which she and Monsieur J call "playing Little House on the Prairie." This is exactly how we felt today.  At least I am now quasi-clean.  The water was the not-cool thing of the day.

But there were some cool things:  Hiking up a "road" called Moo Cow Trail (we saw at least 3 wandering cows, 6 egrets, 12 sheep, a few lizards, and one teeny, tiny, inch-long lizard who I dubbed Kareem Abdul Jabbar because of his insane jumping skills) to a beautiful vista until we were scared off by a pack of angry dogs;  Checking out the black sand beach with its super smooth, round pebbles; Scoping out the Seaside Deck where they hold yoga classes (it's as cool as it sounds!); Filling up at least 8 water bottles from the purified water on campus since we aren't supposed to drink our tap water; eating delicious curried potatoes/lentils and chicken kabobs from a local cook at one of "the shacks" (the shacks are right next to campus and are a bunch of little shacks/stands that serve all different kinds of food); playing with a really cute kitten who I may have to steal.

Right now Charlie is at his first session of orientation, and I am off to meet him shortly to hear a local historian tell us all about the island.  Coming soon:  our barrels (filled with kitchen supplies, books, clothes, food; arriving Wednesday Thursday);  photos of our apartment (inside).  For now you can check out a few more photo of our first few days in Dominica.