Welcome to Aruba - One Happy Island!

Our View From Our Condo Balcony

Costa Linda Beach Resort, Aruba

May 17, 2014

Aruba is an amazing island to visit!  It is one of the friendliest and safest islands in the Caribbean.  The average temperature is 82ºF with trade winds keeping the humidity at bay.  My husband and now former friends first visited Aruba in May of 2012.  We very much enjoyed our visit so when the owner of the condo offered to sell it to us, we accepted buying it between the two couples.  Quite frankly I was against the purchase but decided to go along with it because it made good financial sense.  Unlike a time share that has a set ending causing the value to decrease, the units at Costa Linda Beach Resort are deeded with no ending date so the value will increase.  Essentially we own that unit for one week each year until such time we decide to sell.  If we don't go one year, we can always rent our unit out.  It is an ideal way of making a tidy profit.  This year it was apparent that we were incompatible for shared ownership so we are in the process of buying out the other couple.  The paperwork was on its way to us before we left Florida!  Aside of that bit of conflict, my husband and I had an amazing time in Aruba!

Our trips to Aruba are very much a vacation in that we have housekeeping services so there is no time wasted opening up or preparing for possible tenants like there is with our vacation home.  There's no laundry or maintenance aside of clearing after any meals we make.  While the kitchen is fully equipped for cooking, the kitchen equipment in minimal.  I suppose cooking is not a high priority when you have only a week to enjoy such a beautiful island.   Surprisingly, I forgot to take pictures of the kitchen in the condo that was renovated in 2013.  It is now sporting new cabinets and a granite counter top with expanded space.  I'll be sure to take pictures next year!

There are a couple of grocery stores nearby so one of our first stops was for groceries.  We generally eat breakfast and lunch in the condo then eat out for dinner.  I was up every morning just before 7 AM to do a quiet, brisk 30 minute walk then hit the gym before heading up to share breakfast on the balcony with my husband.  Just look at that view!  It is total eye candy! 

After breakfast we went down to lounge around the pool.  Our usual spot was under the canopy to the far upper right just where beyond where the person in the white shirt is standing.  My husband would take a dip in the ocean then do water aerobics at 11 AM, island time.  Everyone is on island time so the 11 AM was just a suggestion.  After water aerobics he slips across the beach for a dip in the ocean before settling in to people watch and relax. 

The largest peak to the back of the rounded peak is an enclosed restaurant Water's Edge North 12º N that replaces the former Turtle's Nest.  The larger peak on the right side is the restaurant's bar and casual, open seating area.  There is drink and meal service right to the lounges with three happy hours and live entertainment.  The many iguanas and birds are always on the lookout for any food that happens to drop to the ground.  It's a relaxing, pleasant way to spend much of the day!

The Turtle's Nest Restaurant at the Costa Linda Beach Resort in Aruba

During our spring vacation split between Florida and Aruba, we enjoyed a wide variety of great foods.  Dining in Aruba was quite delightful affording us opportunities to try Caribbean cuisine.  Caribbean cuisine has a distinctive Netherlands Antillean flavour, a mingling of diverse cultures and dishes of the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Indonesia, and West Africa.  Some dishes distinguished by their Papiamento names are exclusive to the islands.  Some of the ingredients like prickly pear, mawby bark, plantains, concomber (a light green spiny cucumber), piccalily, and aromatic herbs just tantalize the tastebuds!  Seafood in one for or another is available at every restaurant on the island.  Dining in Aruba is an experience it itself.   Tourism is the island's largest industry and they certainly do treat tourists like royalty!

Executive Chef John van Hoven completed the menu for the Turtle's Nest Restaurant at the Costa Linda Beach Resort in Aurba that includes two seafood signature dishes daily, one highlighting shrimp, the other fresh fish.  The restaurant offers a very popular breakfast and lunch menu as well theme night dinners.  My husband and I enjoy grilled foods year round so it isn't surprising that we were excited to find The Turtle's Nest  offered a Tuesday Night Caribbean All You Can Eat Bar-b-Que.  It immediately went onto our agenda as a must eat at restaurant which wasn't difficult as we were staying at the Costa Linda Beach Resort.

The Tuesday night Caribbean all you can eat bar-b-que ($19.95) consists of southern style glazed bbq ribs or grilled bbq chicken legs or grouper fritters or a combination of all three served with French fries, cole slaw, baked beans and fresh baked corn bread.  We each ordered the combination to try both meats and fish.  All were delicious!  The grouper fritters had a light, tangy lemon sauce that was quite tasty.  Both the beans and cole slaw came in small serving bowls.  The ribs were fall off the bone tender with a nice flavour as was the chicken.  The seasons were definitely Antillian, richly aromatic with just a hint of heat, yet pleasant on the palate.  The cornbread was scrumptious!  I didn't care for the fries as they weren't fresh cut which is the only negative I can say about the meal.  True to their word they refilled our plates when requested making this an excellent deal.

This BBQ menu is very much like what we would offer for a larger get together during the summer months except grill baked or camp style scallop potatoes would be substituted for the fries.  I really would like to duplicate the grouper fritters.  Grouper is a wide-mouth fish similar to wide-mouth bass (here in Ontario, Canada).  It is rather popular in Florida so we can get it when at our vacation home but so far I have not been able to find grouper here.  Both small and large mouth bass are popular fresh-caught fish here but not available in the frozen food section.  Unlike grouper that is usually breaded in Florida, it is usually pan fried with no or little coating.  Large mouth bass would likely be a good substitute fish for the fritters.

The Coconut Man

Aruba is a beautiful Caribbean island with a multitude of sightseeing opportunities.  The climate varies little from the annual average of a sunny 81ºF/27ºC tempered by the northeasterly trade winds.  It is out of range of the Caribbean hurricanes.  During our recent spring vacation, we took advantage of the sightseeing opportunities there with a side sightseeing trip made almost daily.  We visited the California Lighthouse, named after the steamship California (wrecked September 23, 1891) located just off of Arashi Beach on the northwest tip of the island.  The lighthouse sand coloured lighthouse on an octagonal base is quite impressive!  While it is no longer open to the public, the lighthouse is well worth visiting.  Adjacent to the lighthouse is La Trattoria el Faro Blanco, a small restaurant featuring Italian cuisine.  Closer to the lighthouse there is a little refreshment stand featuring frozen drinks and sodas.

The refreshment stand was really quite small, offering little shade to those working there or visiting.  Small tables were set up to hold additional beverage coolers. .  Bins of coconuts were set along one small table waiting to be opened for use in the frozen drinks.  Both the coconut meat and juice are used in these delicious, refreshing concoctions.

Coconut palms are abundant on the island which means coconut is an ingredient in many dishes and drinks.  Coconuts sell for $3 to $5 from street vendors but depending on where you stay in Aruba, you may be allowed to gather them for free.  Be sure to ask though before gathering coconuts.

Coconuts have a hard outer shell (green) that protects the inner shell (brown) surrounding the meat and juice.  A fresh coconut should have juice in it.  When you buy coconuts in North America, the green shell is usually removed.  The brown shell is then wrapped in plastic to prevent the meat and juice from drying out.  Always shake a coconut to be sure there is juice inside before buying it.  Of note, the actual coconut juice can act as a strong laxative so do use caution in that respect.  It is quite easy to become dehydrated in Aruba as it is a desert island.  It is also important to not drink coconut juice from a coconut tree that has been infected with the red palm weevil as an injected toxin taints the juice.

I was amazed watching the vendor opening the coconuts with a machete!  He was a very friendly bloke but then most are in Aruba, known for it's catering to tourism and being One Happy Island!  Here's a short video I took of him preparing the coconut while a gecko tickled my toes.




The only tools the vendor used were a machete and piece of the broken shell to scoop out the coconut meat.  It was quite impressive to say the least!

Coconut milk is available in the grocery stores in North America.  Here, in beautiful southwestern Ontario I pay about $2.19 for a 398 ml/13.5 oz can of coconut milk.  It doesn't go on sale because coconut milk is a specialty item.  However, a large coconut can often be bought for $1.79 or less.  It gives a yield of 4 to 6 c (L to 1.5 L) of coconut milk.  Here is the recipe for making your own coconut milk that tastes so much nicer and less expensive than the store bought, canned version.

Coconut Milk
source: This is the Way We Cook!, compiled by Jewell Fenzi, ProGraphics Inc, Aruba. Pp. 42

1 c grated coconut*
3 c boiling water

Place the coconut meat in a saucepan.  Pour the boiling water over it and cover tightly.  Let stand for 30 minutes.  Pour the liquid through a fine sieve while pressing all the moisture from the coconut.  Discard the coconut and reserve the coconut milk for cooking.

*Fresh coconut gives a more delicate flavour but desiccated meat may also be used.

EetCafé The Paddock in Oranjestad, Aruba

Aruba, like many popular tourist destinations offers a wide variety of culinary experiences ranging from local pubs, small restaurants, fast food restaurants, food booths and fine dining.  If you really want to experience Aruba, the local pubs are a must stop.  This is where the local eat and this is where you will enjoy home style meals, pub style.  They are very friendly and laid back, offering a nice selection of lower priced meals yet good food served in settings with lots of atmosphere.

EetCafé The Paddock in Oranjestad, Aruba is located on L.G. Smith Blvrd. #13.  Oranjestand is the island's capitol so there is a lot to see there.  It is a very peaceful and picturesque town with streets lined with Dutch colonial gabled houses and lots of modern small shops echoing the architectural style of yesteryear.  The eclectic outside decor of The Paddock with cheer, bright red roof beckons you to pop in a sit a spell.  The open air ambiance is sure to please.  The small pub is open to the street as well a a small dining dock overlooking the harbour.   The inside of the pub has hardwood flooring, a small  bar seating with the walls and ceilings decorated various paper money, business cards and anything else patrons have managed to tack up.  This really is just a fun little pub to enjoy a bit of good food and a glass of Aruba's beer, Balashi!

EetCafé The Paddock offers a nice selection of favourite Dutch platters as well as 'all you can eat ribs' on Wednesdays.  The lunch specials are written on a chalkboard adding to the cozy, friendly atmosphere.  I ordered the chicken shoarma platter with fries ($10).  Shoarma is a very popular seasoning blend in Holland.  It is used on or as a marinade with lamb, pork and chicken.  The marinated meat is fried then served with a creamy garlic sauce. 

Both the shoarma seasoning blend and creamy garlic sauce would be very easy to make at home.  I will share my clone recipes for both as soon as I make them.  This really is a nice dish that even kids would enjoy!

My husband ordered the special burger ($8.42).  This burger consists of a good sized burger pattie on a whole wheat but topped with grilled onions, and a fried egg on a bed of lettuce and pickles.  The presentation was different with the raw onion ring.  He ordered it without the pickles. 

This is a lot of protein for a burger but not as much as some of the huge burger patties that are over a pound.  While I have not had a burger with a fried egg on it myself, my husband thoroughly enjoyed his meal.  Again, this would be a very easy meal to recreate at home.  I suspect it arose from a frugal housewife who realized eggs are less expensive than meat. 

When in Aruba, do check out The Paddock.  We really enjoyed our visit there and will surely visit them during our next trip to Aruba.  Relax, watch the harbour traffic and enjoy this quaint little pub.  It is a must visit pub!

Aruba, Bahama, Come On Pretty Mama...

We arrived in gorgeous Aruba just after 4 PM on May 12.  After picking up our rental vehicle (a Hummer) we headed to the Costa Linda Beach Resort where we would be staying for seven nights.  Six of those nights were on the fifth floor overlooking the resort and Eagle Beach while the last night was on the first floor overlooking the pool area.  After checking in we went for drinks at one of their bars near the beach.

When we do rentals for any vacation, we usually get a unit with a kitchen.  This saves on the cost of breakfast, lunches and snacks.  Sometimes we enjoy a dinner or two in the rental unit as well.  Our time share unit at the Costa Linda had a small but functional galley style kitchen.  It was adequately equipped for simple cooking.  It included a gas range, microwave oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, blender, toaster, can opener and coffee maker as well as serving ware.  There was a three seat breakfast bar on the L of the counter then a full sized dinning room table with seating for six off the kitchen.

We went grocery shopping at Ling & Sons Super Center in Oranjestad, Aruba, just a short drive from the Costa Linda the day following our arrival.  It looked very expensive because prices were posed in the Aruban Florin (AFL).  One USD is about 1.75 AFL.  Factoring in the exchange rate the cost of food was not much more expensive than we pay in Florida at our vacation home.  There were four of us so bought according and although it looked like a lot of food, we had little left over at the end of the week.

One of our meals was a simple pan fried pork loin chop with corn on the cob and boiled Dutch potatoes.  At first I thought Dutch potatoes were an actual dish as they are called that on many restaurant menus but it turns out they are a variety of potato in the grocery store.  In the restaurants, they were very similar to what we would call home fries - fried chunks of peeled potato with onion.  What I did note even at the restaurants the potatoes were always peeled.  It reminded me of my late father-in-law who immigrated from the Netherlands to Canada when he was 19.  He refused to eat potatoes with skins on them as that was considered pigs' food!  I don't recall him ever eating the skins on potatoes, not even baked potatoes.

Our simple dinner was enjoyed on the balcony of our time share.  Just look at the beautiful view!  In the foreground is the resort.  To the upper left of the yellow building there is a little resort bar with stools but you can take your drinks anywhere on the resort.  To the right of the yellow building is a new bar that had it's grand opening a couple of days before we left.  There are various barbecue areas set up where you can cook your own food if desired.  To the bottom left corner out of camera range is one of the resort restaurants. The natural body of water is the Caribbean Sea.

We ate out a fair amount during our stay in Aruba.  I will be sharing some of those dishes with you as one very special foodie highlight.  Stay tuned for more of our Aruba foodie adventures!