When you buy food at the store here, it is very expensive. Many things are shipped here from other places. 

We have bought fresh pineapples and avocado at the local fruit stand. They are delicious. Mangoes grow here but are not in season right now. We have seen them on the trees but they aren't ripe. We buy bread and buns from the store that are made at the local bakery. One bun is called a coconut bun. Freshly grated coconut is mixed with almond flavoring and put inside sweet bread dough. It is baked in the shape of a small calzone. It is very sweet and delicious. Also, the bakery makes a raisin bun that is like a jelly roll but with sweet pastry and raisins rolled up inside.

Rice and chicken seem to be very popular. We are buying groceries and eating at home. We are drinking a grapefruit soft drink called "ting".

We went to a local ice  cream place. The store is called "Soft Freeze" and serves really good  ice cream. We talked to the owner who said that he calls it "Soft Freeze" because it  has 2% fat instead of 29% fat. We had locally made mango "Soft Freeze". It is very good!! Also, we have had passionfruit and guava juice. We go to the store almost every day to try new flavors. So far, we've had mango, soursop (a local fruit that is a cross between a peach and a pear), pistachio, rum &raisin, french vanilla, strawberry swirl. Every Friday the owner puts small packed containers of "Soft Freeze" in a cooler in the back of his truck and drives around to sell to anyone that stops him. You know he's coming because he plays music on a speaker from the car. You have to wave at him to get him to stop, then you can buy whatever flavors he is carrying that day.

A local recipe is "Goat Water". We will put the recipe here when we find it. It is goat stew, but we haven't had any yet. Here is the recipe.

Goat Water

1 leg of goat or sheep
2 onions, cut up
Chible (local name for scallions and fresh thyme)
1/3cups cooking oil
1 oz. fresh marjoram
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons whole cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon mace
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 hot green pepper, whole
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the meat into 2" cubes.Keep the bone. Put the cubes and the bone in a large pot an cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer covered, for 5 minutes. Skim the top and add all remaining ingredients. Simmer until meat is tender. Combine 1 cup flour with cold water to make a smooth paste. Stir into simmering meat until desired thickness is reached. Continue to simmer until meat is cooked. Add 1 teaspoon of rum if desired. Serve hot.

Here is another local recipe that we've just heard about.

Fried Mountain Chicken

Wash skinned drawn (gutted) frogs and cut into quarters. Rub the pieces with salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, chives and scallion. Let stand 1 hour. Roll frog parts in flour and sprinkle with paprika. Fry in deep fat until golden.

Sat Dec 14
Today we had ginger beer, which is a juice drink made from fresh ginger root. It isn't real beer. It has a nice fresh taste but tickles the throat because it is a little spicy. We had passionfruit juice again too!