Photographed by Alex Shalman
Okay, I was in the kitchen frying some plantains and was too lazy to use the fork to turn them over, so I used the knife in my hand. My grandmother’s voice echoed in my ear as my husband peeped over my shoulder and said you will make the knife dull. My reply was no I should not use the knife in a hot pan because mama said doing that would giving me ‘cutting in my stomach.’ He said that he is sure that is not the reason why she didn’t want me to use the knife for cooking. He said maybe she just wanted you to use a spoon and that was the reason she gave you. Who can tell if that was her real reason or who can tell how far back generationally this ‘cutting in your belly’ tradition goes back? When you really think of it I was dependent upon and trusted my grandmother and her advice was written in stone. I did not think what she said was invalid or even question the concept. I adapted anything and everything from her. This story is like that ham story where people for years have been cutting off the ends of the ham because of tradition or habit, but the real reason was that originally both ends of the ham were cut to fit in a small pan. As my friend Susan puts it so eloquently “how rich our lives become as we learn each day, from our assumptions, lack of knowledge, oversights, and even mistakes.”
Photographed by Brenda L. McCartney
It is the end of Easter holiday, thousands of Bahamians and Bahamians residents are returning relaxed and enthused from spending their holiday abroad and in particular the family of Islands. The domestic airport attendants are very busy. The conveyor belts are working overtime with suitcases, ice boxes of fish and conch harvested from the waters of The Bahamas. The long term parking lots revenue has sky rocketed. There are flashes of million dollar smiles from passersby. The hot cross buns have all been eaten, the mini regattas wined down. Some have spent time in reflective moments on endless spaces of white sandy beaches. Others strolled onto shallow banks of the oceans for miles while some enjoyed beach picnics of fun and frolic. For many children the Easter baskets had their favorite treats. Easter weekend was a weekend underpinned by sharing, encouraging and sacrificing where our thoughts, deeds and words were mostly motivated by love. I hope that this refreshing pause helps us to become focused and energizing.
As today marks the centennial blog post I thought that I would delight your taste buds with beta carotene, vitamin A, C, pectin, fluorine and potassium. As your presence and energy has fortified Acacia on many days, I pray that this blog’s ‘thoughts’ have truly been a source of inspiration. I pray that the post were special to read, provided some depth and that they brought back wonderful recollections (childhood, adulthood.) I look forward to continuing to inspire you in some way. I pray that this blog continues to “pique your interest and tempt your palates” with more posts.
Here is my personal recipe for carrot drink:
5lbs of carrots
1 large can of Evaporated milk
1.5 liter of water
1 cup of sugar
A Pinch of salt to taste
A Pinch of cinnamon
A Pinch of nutmeg
A touch of vanilla extract
Carrot slices to decorate
Juice the carrots. In a 2 liter pitcher add milk, water, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Mix well.
Serve it chilled.
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Recipe by Brenda L. McCartney
Photographed by Anthony Asael
The term ‘school bruk up’ was a term that we used every summer to mean ‘school is on break.’ At one time I literally thought they had to break down the structure and rebuild it then later I learned the actual meaning. It was the hurricane season but hurricanes never came until September or after.
Looking back at the end of the term in Primary (Elementary) School all students/pupils were happy and looked forward after exams to the two months holiday. Officially this time of the year all schools in the Caribbean are on holiday; the commencement exercises, the speech days, the prize giving ceremonies have all climaxed. Children looked forward to going away to spend holidays with their relatives on the islands or the United States or explore their own island. The ones who remained home looked forward to Vacation Bible School, the mango season or simply to have adventures up and down the river; to catch Cray fish or play games like we were Huckle Berry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
A treat for me was to visit my Aunt in another village and spend most of my summer with her and meet other cousins from her village.
Sometimes my excitement of sharing summer with my cousins was short lived as I had an Aunt who loved telling her children the night before they were due to travel take down their suitcases because they were going away the next day. I vividly remember my cousins protesting. I lived in the country looked forward to going to town often with my aunt, godmother or grandmother. I also look forward to play lawn tennis as my aunt had a tennis court among many other treats. ( I still have what is left of my Arthur Ashe Tennis Racket from back then.)
Another memory was visiting my paternal side of the family and getting to know them. I recall my grandfather milking the cows, whisking the cake batter by hand and my grandmother baking or preparing a meal for someone who did not have it. My brother always had to visit some relative or friend of my paternal grandmother to carry some of the delicious treats she prepared. Sometimes he had to walk or take a bus. I am so blessed to have her as my only living grandparent. (She just celebrated her 94th birthday.)
Another highlight of the summer as well was to go to the Village Post Office. The interesting thing about attending the Post Office was that all the people in the village gathered around a particular time when the postman was expected. When the postman came we all assembled outside a house they would call the mail out one by one. If any mail came for your family or even you, you had to say loudly “please pass it.” Of course the children would always go to Post Office about an hour before roll call to meet up with one another and play roundus, cricket or doge ball in the road; and of course we were always interrupted by traffic. (Traffic on the island is not like how it is now in the busy streets.) We were so thankful when the postman was late so we could have extra time to play. Occasionally we would go to beach as a treat but under the supervision of a trusted adult – maybe an out of town relative who was visiting.
We may have not had much but we did not know that then because we enjoyed every moment of life and the experience of summer was such a joy.
Looking back at it we should live free as children and enjoy the simple things in life.
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