While I was on Playa Sol, a lovely and rare thing occurred on North Beach-Hortencia took time away from her dress shop, to visit our gang with her gorgeous grandchildren.   Even though her family lives on one of the most beautiful islands in the world with one of the most exquisite beaches, an afternoon swim is a rare treat for her grand-kids.

Waiting for them on the beach was a whole pack of would-be grandparents to play catch, frolic in the water and buy them treats from the ice cream man.

The little angel depicted below has my heart.  I think that she must looked exactly like Hotencia when she was this age.

The kids were so polite and appreciative and I think that they had almost as much fun as my family did entertaining them.

Later, I met up with everyone, back at Case el Pio,

The sun was just about to set on another gorgeous day.

I love to be on the beach for sunset but it is as beautiful in its own way, from anywhere you watch it disappear.  Sister #3’s guacamole and ice cold Dos Equis, make the whole experience….complete.

I was really looking forward to that evening’s dinner and not just because we were dining at our old friend Fredy’s, but because we were finally meeting up with Jackie (a new friend from Winnipeg who is now a true Islaholic) and her traveling companions, Julie and Evelyn!

But to the food!  There were Fredy’s famous two-bone pork chops requested by many.

Sister #3 is totally hooked on Fredy’s Mexican platter.

My beloved Sis-in-law loves Fredy’s chicken bruschetta.

Paula chose the chicken enchiladas (what an amazing presentation).

Sister #2 couldn’t resist the garlic shrimp.

Last but not least, Evelyn tucked into Fredy’s shrimp.

You know, I am having a revelation as I write this.  My family and I say that being on Isla is like coming home;  I always thought as if it was the island itself, that made us feel this way, but I realize just now that it is the people!  When we are on Isla, we are surrounded by the locals that we have come to know and love as family and this day was one where we had the pleasure of spending special time with them.

Kath’s quote: “Best things in life: Friends that are like family, and family that are like friends.” –Unknown

Love-that is all.

Today’s post will be more of a pictorial than a literary accounting.  Day four started with another colourful walk around Centro.  I get such a kick out of the way Islanders use colour to freshen and preserve their homes.  The salty sea air must take its toll after a while and regular paint touch ups seem to be a fairly regular occurrence.  Interestingly, the painters don’t seem to enjoy the clean up (neither do I) but they have discovered an easy solution-they simply abandon their rollers, brushes and paint trays where they completed the task.  I have seen this occur a number of times in some of the most scenic places on the island.   There is a stretch on the uninhabited west border of the airport property along Rueda Medina, where you can spot discarded paint gear amongst the tropical plants.

I wondered if this variety of colours were planned or if there was a sale on small cans of paint.

Isn’t this house, fresh and clean looking?

And I love, the peeling turquoise paint on this corrugated metal wall!

The sky had cleared and made way for another beach day but the humidity was a little higher and there was no breeze.  I attempted to spend some time with the gang at North Beach but just couldn’t mange staying put.  I was craving the breeze of Playa Sol.  So I packed up and relocated around the corner.

This solitary palm was the perfect place for me to plunk my stuff and I quite obviously had the beach to myself.

Or did I?  There was a constant stream of beach vendors getting a work out, trudging through the gorgeous white sand.

Turns out that the Islanders selling their beach ware wasn’t my only company.  At one point, I looked up from my book to see my brother in law paddling by in his kayak.  He has a inflatable type that he can easily transport wherever he goes.  He and Sister #2 like to stay on the southeast end of the island and by the time I spied him, he had paddled a considerable distance.  He still intended to navigate around the northwest point of the island to visit the family assembled on north beach.

Then, of course, he had the long ride home.  When I saw him later that evening, he confessed that once he got out into the bay, the breeze, the waves and the wake from the ferries crossing back and forth, gave him more of a work out than he had bargained for.

Well I suppose 20+ photos is enough for one post.  Stayed tuned (soon, I promise) for the rest of Day Four.

Kath’s quote: “One of the best gifts we can give ourselves is time alone with God.”-Unknown

Love-that is all.

 

Just in case you need some suggestions for your last minute preparations for the weekend.  Here are Lori’s Mom’s Easter Nests.

These are Sister #3’s Easter cupcakes.

She uses a cake mix (white cake with pastel colour confetti sprinkles inside) and a butter cream (1/2 c butter, 1/2 c shortening, whipped with 4 c icing sugar and two T milk) and adds lots of sprinkles and treats.

If you are looking for a fun twist to an Easter Egg hunt, think about including Two Hens and a Rooster from the World Vision Canada Gift Catalogue at worldvision.ca/gifts. This will provide a family with nutritious eggs and income.  What a great moment to teach your kids about helping others. Simply donate the gift online and print the e-card (or select the card to be mailed to you) and hide it with the chocolate the Easter Bunny leaves (he won’t mind, promise).

Kath’s quote: “Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.”  Clarence W. Hall

Love-that is all.

On Easter Sunday I depart for Thompson to teach courses in culinary and hospitality.  Thompson, (I am embarrassed to admit) is the furthest north that I have ever been. I understand that the north is breathtaking and yet even though it is perched on my doorstep, I have yet to explore it.

In the mean time, a friend of our family has made me aware of a movement and an event that she and a working group are spearheading.  Brilliantly titled “The Price is Wrong” it sheds light on the issue that food security is a basic human need and right but in the north that right is negatively impaired by a number of factors that can be altered.  Since this is my brief exposure to this issue, I do not want to risk misrepresenting the facts and defer you to this press release that I received last evening.

 The Price is WRONG: Confronting Food Insecurity in Northern Canada
WINNIPEG- Southern city dwellers are appalled by the high price and availability of food in Canada’s northern and remote communities. On Monday, April 1st 2013 beginning at 11:30 a.m. university students, Northern and Southern Canadian residents, as well as guest speakers Tina Keeper and John Fox will be gathering at the newly opened Neechi Commons (865 Main Street) to share personal experiences, showcase real food prices, petition the Federal Government, and roundance in protest. A theatrical game show will also be incorporated with visual representation of the issue. Northern and remote communities in Canada are more likely to be food insecure due to inflated food prices and cost of transportation than those located in Southern Canada, and which are close to large city centers. This need not be the case. Communities can be self-sufficient and food secure based on the abundance of wild/country foods. Close proximity to roads and large city centers allows communities increased food security only in that they have dependency on corporate food supplies and agribusiness, and not necessarily food self-sufficiency. Therefore, we are petitioning the federal government to remove many of the systemic barriers in place that limit a community’s ability (particularly those in the North) to be food secure and to have food sovereignty. Currently, Northern and remote communities are forced to be dependant on corporate monopolies to supply their food. For instance, there is a lack of subsidization for local country food hunted by local community members. Additionally, “public health” restrictions do not allow for local country foods to be widely provided in the Northern communities (specifically in the public institutions such as schools and hospitals). We agree with the statement made by Food Secure Canada in their Food Sovereignty in Rural and Remote Communities discussion paper: “The capacity of remote communities to harvest and trade (locally or regionally) their own traditional food (including fish, game, berries, etc.) is undermined by the current regulatory system. This system inadvertently makes these communities dependent upon the long distance import of less-healthy market food in exchange for natural resource extraction” (Food Secure Canada)

In my mind, the timing of this event is no coincidence.  In our family Easter is acknowledged as a time of resurrected life, rebirth an reawakening.   Many of us will assemble this Sunday for a time of feasting.  The sharing of an abundant table is a tradition that transcends many cultures-life is celebrated with food so that life itself can continue and thrive!  But there are people in our own province and our own country that do not have the opportunity to break bread with their loved ones.  This is a wrong that can be made right.  I encourage you to learn more by checking out these resources: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Price-Is-Wrong-Confronting-Food-Insecurity-in-Northern-Canada/313161272146564?ref=notif&notif_t=page_new_likes

https://www.facebook.com/events/352415714877244/

Kath’s quote: “It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it; and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied; and it is all one.”- M. F. K. Fisher

Love-that is all.

I spotted Tio’s Mexican Restaurant as I was heading south on St. Mary’s Rd. (754 to be exact). one afternoon and made a mental note to put it on my “must try” list.  Unfortunately, my list is very long and there are only so many times that I can justify going out for dinner.  But, if a new friend suggests that we meet at a restaurant that she thinks that I would enjoy, the decision is made for me.  I just had to go out again, didn’t I?

Even though the sun is changing locations in the sky and sticking around for longer in the evening, it is still not spring time in Winnipeg.  This, I believe is the perfect time to savour the tastes that remind you of warm places like Mexico!  For me, the combination of tomatoes, limes and cilantro transport me to a place and time where the sun is warm and always shining.

It was cold and blustery, the night that we met, but the tidy and cheerful décor was warm and inviting. The helpful server was truly glad to take care of us and shared her stories of warm places that she has traveled to.  Dinner started with chips and salsa and we ordered guacamole just for good measure.

Tio’s makes their guacamole to order only when avocadoes are in season, which I think bodes well for their commitment to quality.  We agreed that the recipe needed a little bit more zing so we added a pinch of salt and more lime juice.

My supper mate chose the Combination Plate and was cheerfully accommodated when she requested a mix of chicken and beef items, instead of one or the other.  Her platter of a beef burrito, chicken taco and chicken enchilada came with a cheese quesadilla, Mexican rice and re-fried beans.

I went with the Shrimp Tacos and both of us had to take leftovers home for lunch the following day.  The next time we meet for chips and salsa again, it will be in Mexico (I am counting the sleeps)!

Post Script:  I obviously wrote this a little while ago because I have been to Isla and my tan has already washed itself down the shower drain.

Kath’s quote: “Grilling is like sunbathing. Everyone knows it is bad for you but no one ever stops doing it.”-Laurie Colwin

Love-that is all.