1. Hostess Wedding Cakes Huh? Wha? Apparently brides in search of non-traditional cakes are turning increasingly to cakes made of iced and stacked versions of twinkies and hostess cupcakes. YumSugar provides various visual examples of this growing trend, which I gotta tell ya is -not- for me at all Should I decide to go non-traditional (as far as Trini culture is concerned) then I’d... 

I was unable to handle solid food the other night and instead of Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge, this time around I was in the mood for French Onion Soup. I usually make mine using a recipe from Cooking with Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food, Easy as 1, 2, 3, however since I am still going through my copy of the Good Home Cookbook I thought I would use the recipe in there this time around. As I’ve... 

This was the last item in my Blogging by Mail package. I bet you thought that box was bottomless! I thought these ‘Jacques Pure Chocolate Hagelslag Granules‘ were just ‘sprinkles’ but they’re not! They melt in your mouth! (All the sprinkles I have ever tasted were firm, these are soft). I was very confused (and slightly grossed out) by the cover image which promoted... 

No words necessary! These were the last to be consumed, but they are not the last in this series by any means Customs sliced the bottom of this (and one other box) checking for ‘contraband’! So creamy and light inside!!! Tweet  Read More →

I expanded this one dish meal from a recipe in one of those little checkout aisle booklets that my mom has held on to from the 70′s We served it with a crisp vegetable salad on the side. I think it’s a pretty flexible recipe and if there are chopped vegetables you want to use up and throw into the layers you should totally do that, I know I will This post was originally published... 

I’ve never been a big fan of ‘thin mints’. My only memories of them were in the boxes of US Girl Guide cookies that would appear from time to time in the dorms during college. I believe I’ve also had them locally but I don’t think they are very popular. I’ve never been a big fan of mint in candies, and always thought it felt clashed with the chocolate coating. So... 

Bovetti Artisan Chocolate! I had never known about this company (surprise surprise) so I went online and found Bovetti.com You know you are dealing with a French website when you click on “English” and the language is still French Fortunately some of my CXC (high school) French was still rolling around my head and I was able to navigate to some pages that were actually in English! Here... 

This chocolate bar was as divine to unwrap as it was to consume. It came in a plastic sealed package that reminded me of my father’s old school tobacco pouches I am a huge lover of dark chocolates, so I was in 7th heaven with this bar! What was most peculiar about this bar was that although the cinnamon smell was intense, you didn’t actually taste the cinnamon until the chocolate had... 

These eggs were so rich and decadent and delish! Some were dark chocolate, some were white. All had what seemed to be a creamy hazelnut filling. I couldn’t tell the name of the brand, it seemed to start with R, but I was too busy peeling the wrappers off YUM!!!! UPDATE: Thanks to Eva for letting me know that the chocolates are Easter eggs from a company called Galler! Tweet  Read More →

Callaloo is a fond memory for many Trinidadians, myself included, however I did not know that many foreigners consider it to be our national dish! My mother told me that the first thing she often did for visiting friends (her first 10 years in Trinidad) was take them for some of this dish. She says that even though Jamaica has a dish called callaloo with basically the same ingredients the final result... 

I have always been intimidated by soufflés. No, that’s not quite true. I had never thought of a soufflé� as something that should intimidate me, until I saw the horrors that Lucy Liu’s character had with them in one of the Charlies’ Angels movies. Ever since then, I had been intimidated by soufflés. As one of my resolutions for 2007 was to overcome my fear of dishes that deal... 

When I originally found this recipe on Peppers.com I was instantly wary. You see I keep stumbling across recipes that begin with the word Trinidad or Caribbean that then go on to have little resemblance either through ingredients or methodology to what I’m familiar with. So when I clicked on this recipe titled ‘Trinidad Hot Baked Fish’ I was pleasantly surprised to see that it passed... 

This is what I made for dinner last weekend Trinidad Hot Baked Fish, “Bang Bang’ Salsa (kudos to Marsha for putting me back into a Dave Koz frame of mind, and Caribbean Rice and Peas (from a recipe that I developed for Nandita at Saffron Trail). My parents loved it. I will upload the relevant pics and link to all the recipes in the coming days This was how I put it together though.... 

Barfi is one of those traditional Indo-Trinidadian sweets that one consumes when attending many a Hindu or Moslem celebration. I have seen it referred to (on websites) as an East Indian fudge or Indian cheesecake. Maybe these descriptions accurately capture the East Indian version, however they fall short of capturing the taste and feeling of Trinidadian barfi. Here in Trinidad, barfi has a distinctly... 

Here it is, the last in my Ole Year Offerings series. And it is the ultimate in ‘last-minute’ entertaining. Neither of the dishes requires any cooking! That’s right, just combine and serve! It doesn’t get any easier than this In keeping with the ‘ ‘still secret’ Black & White Theme of January’s Blog Party I decided I would make 2 bottles of... 

So far I have only shared savory dishes for New Year’s so I thought it was time to mix it up with something sweet! Especially since the theme of this month’s Sugar High Friday was Sugar Art! Goolab jamoon is a sweet finger food that is commonly served at Indian weddings, pujas and other celebrations here in Trinidad. It is made from a creamy fragrant dough that is deep fried and then... 

Pizza is the ultimate crowd pleaser and this ‘up-scale’ vegetarian version is sure to be a hit with whatever crowd you have over for the New Year. I replaced the fontina with cheddar (much cheaper and also the traditional pizza cheese here in Trinidad ), I don’t think it was any the worse for the wear. I also replaced white flour with wholewheat (in the sauce and in some of the... 

Trini blogger (and apparent Carnival addict) Fit4Mas recently posted a guide to creating a Cheese Plate. I love cheese plates and have never known how to go about putting one together! Were there dos? Were there don’ts? Well.. now I know! And now you will too! Continue reading: Creating The Perfect Cheese Plate Tweet  Read More →

Mom’s macaroni pie, callaloo and ginger beer Tweet  Read More →

I made these cookies for my mother’s birthday several weeks back. They are a first place winning recipe from the 1994 Chicago Tribune Annual Food Guide Holiday Cookie Contest. Made with really trashy rum they really packed a punch. Since there are not many ingredients I really recommend using a high quality butter, and watch the bases carefully, they can brown really quickly! Tweet  Read More →