Showing posts with label honeymooning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label honeymooning. Show all posts
December 10, 2012

Honeymoon Eats

I had planned to share this with you on Friday (since Friday and Food have this handy first-letter-in-common thing), but what with all the decking the halls and cleaning out the refrigerator and preparing for a rather large spruce to invade our cozy home and chasing after a puppy that went on this weekend, here we are at Monday. Try to look past the fact that "Monday Food" just doesn't have quite the same ring.
We ate such amazing meals on our honeymoon that I'll be blaming them for the drool on my pillow for months. Sadly the pictures don't always do the meals justice, but trust me when I say that just about everything I put into my mouth in Barbados was absolutely heavenly.

This meal (in all its fuzzy glory) wasn't consumed on the honeymoon, but was actually my birthday dinner. We didn't have set plans for the evening, but ended up downtown and decided to try this new burger place that serves mostly local/organic eats. I toasted 25 with a "Citizen 75" (sparkling wine, gin, simple syrup, and lemon juice -- so good and only half a century off... ha!), we started off with way too many truffle fries, and my burger started with local grass-fed beef and included onion, sauteed mushrooms, and rosemary aioli. The whole meal was excellent and I'm happy to add this restaurant to our date night rotation.

This lunch happened twice in our time on the island -- crab salad wrap, fries, and frozen drink, all served poolside. Quick and reasonably priced at the resort's little bar & grill, but so good!

Dinner at the best restaurant in Barbados, which happened to be right at our resort: Dan (left) had teriyaki beef and chicken from the Japanese menu, and I had beef tenderloin, onion, and mushrooms in an oyster sauce (right) from the Thai menu.

Dinner at Mullins Restaurant on the west coast... sadly the only picture I got was of our bread and the yummy olive tapenade they served. After that, I was too busy eating: we started with beer-battered shrimp served over creamed leeks, corn, and chorizo, and my entree was a bouillabaisse-like dish with mahi mahi, shrimp, mussels, oysters, and squid. Everything was delicious except the calamari, which was super over-cooked and terribly chewy :(

Two of the best drinks we had all week (at Mullins before the above dinner). Mine had Malibu, melon and banana liqueurs, and lime and pineapple juice -- although you can't tell from the picture, it was a pretty bright green. The resort had a long list of mixed drinks served at all of their restaurants, bars, and even right to your room, and we tried so many great combinations. Bajans are particularly proud of their rum -- we visited their Mount Gay factory, which is the oldest rum in the world, and brought some home with us. I was also pretty impressed by their wine selections and had a few great reds with dinners. I drank more in a week than I do most months, but never felt sick or regretted anything the next morning -- definitely a sign of a successful vacation!

The best okra I've ever tasted. We Dan cooked dinner in our little kitchen on Wednesday, and this was definitely the highlight for me -- fresh and super cheap at the grocery store.

Not exactly a meal, but how cute is this??

Dessert one night: a chocolate milkshake that was, according to my chocolate-milkshake-connoisseur hubby, one of the best ever, and an absolutely incredible "mud pie" tart.

Our last night on the island, we headed out to a Mexican spot and enjoyed huge margaritas, amazing nachos, and a cilantro/dill sour cream to die for. I had a burrito that beat any I've had in the states, and Dan will be talking about their cheese sauce for years, I think.

Notable meals that escaped my camera:
 -- Two excellent breakfasts at the resort with eggs, blueberry muffins, banana bread, and the best hash browns I've ever eaten.
 -- Our first dinner on the island at the resort's Italian restaurant: Tuscan pizza that might have been Dan's favorite meal of the whole trip, and an incredible wild mushroom risotto for me.
 -- Wednesday's lunch was served on the catamaran and included chicken, flying fish (a Bajan specialty), pasta salad, au gratin potatoes, and lots of rum.
 -- After leaving Barbados, we stopped for an overnight layover in New York City. Although I had plans for a fancy dinner in the city, we were both exhausted and it was late, so we opted for a few slices of New York style pizza and an early bedtime. Still delicious!

Several times over the week, I groaned to Dan "I'm not eating a single thing from now until Christmas." Of course, I broke that promise on the way home from the airport when we stopped at Wawa...


   Love,

    Meg
December 6, 2012

Photo Blitz

This blog is officially so-far-behind-I-don't-know-where-to-start. So-far-behind-it's-overwhelming. So-far-behind-I-don't-know-if-I'll-ever-catch-up. I keep thinking that if I wait long enough, I'll get so-far-behind-that-I-look-around-and-find-I'm-actually-ahead... but it appears that this is not a circular course. Bummer.
You see, a few weeks ago, there was this little holiday called Thanksgiving (remember that? so long ago!). So I lost a few days pulling my head in and out of the oven, trying not to let anything burn. And then we barely had time to take a breath before my birthday had arrived, and although it was a quiet and relaxing and wonderfully low-key day, it didn't leave much time for blogging. And then, right after my birthday, piling up like the best train wreck ever came 8-ish days of glorious vacation. And then there was a little recovery phase, in which I spent lots of time wishing I was back on the beach and grumbling about the gym, work, and my dirty house. Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted to hear from me during that fun few days. And that, my friends, equals two weeks that, while not so silent in real life, resulted in a little cricket music around here.
So here we are, entirely too many days into December already, and I'm behind.  So I'm catching up the only way I can think of: in pictures. Lots and lots (and lots) of random pictures. Sorry about that.
[Disclaimer: All of the following came from my iPhone, meaning 1. many are too dark, overexposed, fuzzy, or otherwise low-quality... this is not an art exhibit, and 2. this doesn't include a single shot of most of the fun things we did, because I didn't have my phone on or even with me the majority of the week. The better pictures (in terms of both quality and excitement) are on Dan's camera, so I'll share them another time.]

taken on my birthday... definitely my new favorite picture of us
the Dunkin Donuts that made arriving at the airport at 3:30 in the morning (after a 2.5 hour drive) absolutely worth it
boarding the plane
sunrise flight to Miami
our first view of the island -- Grantley Adams International Airport


part of our incredible suite at the resort
a bathroom too beautiful (and huge) not to share -- enormous walk-in shower, gorgeous jacuzzi, and a closet big enough for me to live in. nevermind the awkward angle of the picture... I was busy balancing my phone and a rum punch.
the view from our incredible balcony
balcony and our private plunge pool to the left
view from my nap the first afternoon (Sunday)
Monday morning on the beach...
... Monday afternoon by the pool. (Are you tired of my toes yet?)
This guy joined us for dinner Monday night in our private room at the resort's Japanese/Thai restaurant Zen (the best restaurant on the island according to Zagat). He seemed to like the food okay too.
beautiful sunset from Tuesday's oceanside dinner at Mullins Restaurant
rainbow on the island following a signature Bajan 10 minute downpour
One of the six gorgeous resort pools...
... and another. This one was built into the cliff overlooking the resort's beach:
... so this was the view below (although taken later in the day).
sunrise over the beach
my attempt to capture the panoramic view from our balcony
a very sad goodbye from our plane
our view from the hotel on a very foggy night in New York City (that's one of the 9/11 reflecting pools in the top left)
... and despite being politely asked not to, someone grew a bit while we were gone.....
At some point, I hope to write a more complete recap of all the fun and exciting things we did in Barbados -- a great catamaran cruise, swimming with sea turtles, riding horses on the beach, and getting flooded out of our apartment on the last night (there's fun and then there's fun). Tomorrow, I'll share some of the yummy food and drinks we enjoyed!

    Love,

    Meg
 

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