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.

Margaritaville in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada has long been one of our favourite weekend get-away destinations.  We particularly love visiting Niagara Falls during the winter months.  Niagara Falls is impressive anytime but it takes on a whole new persona with the frozen mist in January. 

My husband is a mega huge Jimmy Buffet fan!  That translates into enjoying the Jimmy Buffet restaurant chain, Margaritaville to enjoy great food while listening to great music whenever we get the chance.  Margaritaville in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada is located on the corner Murray Street and Fallsview Blvd, less than a 5 minute walk from the casino.

Margaritaville is a wonderful place to while away a bit of time.  Their service is excellent, their food is quite good and the atmosphere is...well...Jimmy Buffet!  There is a bar, lower main dining area, a rooftop patio, an outdoor patio and gift shop.  

Niagara Falls is very much a tourist area which is reflected in restaurants available as well as the price per meal.  Expect to pay $25 or more per person for dinner in most restaurants.  Appetizers are in the $12 plus price range for any restaurant within walking distance of the Falls.  Many of the restaurants have outdoor eating areas, some with entertainment.  Most of them are 'kid friendly' with kids' menus and colouring pages.  The outdoor patios provide a great people watching spot while relaxing with drinks, pub grub style food or the main meal.  Be warned that during the warm summer months there will be waiting times at all of the restaurants near the Falls.

We stopped at Margaritaville shortly after arriving in Niagara Falls then meeting up with our friend with young daughter.  We ordered drinks, appetizers and I had a Caesar salad.  My husband had the seafood quesadilla ($12.25) consisting of tortilla shells stuffed with a shrimp, scallops and crab with a creamy spinach three cheese filling served on a bed of fresh tortilla chips, sour cream and guacamole.  I really liked the presentation!

The sour cream and guacamole was formed using a scoop.  The quesadilla was topped with colourful pieces of red pepper and green onion.  This would be a very easy dish to duplicate at home.  I tasted the filling so have a bit of a guideline to work with for a clone recipe.  I would omit the hard tortilla bed even though it does add visual appeal or I would leave them but add a side of salsa.  I will be experimenting with this dish as I think it would be excellent for our vacation home menu.

Old Town Amish Store in Berea, Kentucky

There are quite a few interesting foodie finds as well as other attractions along the I-75 corridor.  Most have one or more large billboards along the highway announcing what exit to find them on.  While some of them are touristy others are not.  Such is the case with the Old Town Amish Store.  While it is quite apparent that this is an Amish store there isn't much touristy about the store at all.  It really is a convenient stop to bring home bulk food supplies, home baked goods and dairy though.  You just know we had to make a pit stop here!

The Old Town Amish Store is located at 201 Prince Royal Dr. in Berea, Kentucky just off Exit 76 on I-75.  The shop opened in July of 2009 so is still fairly new.   It is quite easy to find off the exit and there is ample parking.  The store is beckoning from the outside where a large display of apples tantalized us with their beautiful colours and wonderful aroma.  Upon entering the door the amazing aroma of fresh baked breads while rows and rows of neatly stocked shelves delight the senses.  The interior is light, bright and airy has a cosy atmosphere.  To the left of the main food area is a room filled with hand crafted Amish rocking chairs, porch swings and other furniture.  To the back of the main food area is a small dining area.

The Old Town Amish Store sells a wide range of foods including bulk foods like beans, pasta, herbs and so much more.  Unlike the Bulk Barn bulk food stores I shop at, all the the bulk food has been packaged for sale in the store eliminate the problems of bulk food in bins with scoops.  While the price per pound is the same for a certain bulk product (eg. beans) there will be in weight so one bag may be a few cents cheaper than another.  The products are neatly arranged on commercial shelving.  Foods are packaged in the standard thin plastic bulk bags, small plastic tubs, paper sacks and glass jars.  A wide range of homemade jams, jellies and preserves are available.  Roll butter (not pictured), honeys, bacons, farm fresh eggs, cheeses, fresh baked breads and pies are also available as well as some commercial products like Ball canning mixes.  I did not see any Pomona's pectin or Clear Jel® but I likely didn't look hard enough and didn't think to ask.

A lovely Old Order Amish buggy serves as a visual divider between the main bulk food area and the dining area.  Despite its decorative element it also serves as a practical shelving for cases of honey.  The dining area is neat, tidy and cosy, a unique blend of quaint and modern.  The chairs would be just lovely to sit a spell enjoying a slice of homemade pie! 

The entire store is just simply a delight to spend a bit of time in.  They are very friendly!  I found the prices to be quite reasonable, in line with what I pay at the Bulk Barn.  There was less of the bulk candy but they more than made up for it in staples.

If you get a chance to visith the Old Town Amish Store you definitely will not regret it.  This store is on our list of must stops on the next trip and you can bet I will have a long list of goodies to buy!  We didn't buy much this trip.  Our purchases included a 500 ml jar of pure sourwood honey, two pouches of fish batter, dill weed (like Israeli) and dill seed.  The total came to $13.24.  The sourwood honey looked interesting.  There is a piece of the honeycomb in the jar.  According to one source sourwood honey is seldom sold outside of the area it is produced because of supply and demand.  This honey is considered one of the rarest and finest of honeys that is only havested a few days in the fall.  It has a deep, woodsy flavour so this will be an interesting honey to do a bit of experimenting with.

Sanders Cafe and Museum in North Corbin, Kentucky

I do a lot of genealogy and family history so have always been interested in how our ancestors ate and stored foods.  It is especially interesting to see what kind of equipment our ancestors used along with their methods of food storage.  Being foodies we are both interested in the history of foods and that includes restaurant foods.  We stopped at Sanders Cafe and Museum in North Corbin, Kentucky on our way home from our vacation home.  Sanders Court and Cafe is the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The Colonel Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum is located in Corbin, Kentucky off of I-75, Exit 29 then go 1 mile south on 25E, turn right on 25W one half mile.  The directions sound a little confusing but it is only because 25 bends around.  The quaint white building is rather easy to find. It is how the restaurant appeared in the 1940's.   There is a historical plaque outside of the museum that is well worth reading.  This is very much a working museum with dining tables set up amongst the various displays.  Rooms like the kitchen and motel display are blocked off from roaming through with a low glass barrier.  To the furthest side behind the rounded entrance (back middle of picture) is the restaurant where you can order eat-in or take-out.  We didn't order anything but certainly enjoyed looking through the displays!

The original Sanders Cafe kitchen like many commercial kitchens is not large but it was well organized.  Harland Sanders started Sanders Court and Cafe in 1930 where he originally fried chicken in an iron skillet.  Despite being in the trying times of the Great Depression he was quite successful.  He certainly did not use a lot of fancy equipment but he did put out exellent food.  The kitchen obviously was utilitarian with function first.  He realized that frying the chicken in an iron skillet took 30 minutes so in 1939 Colonel Sanders altered his cooking method to us a pressure fryer that would reduce the cooking time allowing him to serve more patrons quicker.  And thuse was born Kentucky fried chicken.

I work with pressure canners and cookers a lot so can really appreciate the logistics of what went into using pressure cookers as a pressure fryer.  Pictured on the top are the two 4 qt Mirro-Matics with single Wisconsin valves.  Both have weights as regulators and one has a custom made metal label for Kentucky Fried Chicken.    The lower pressure cooker is a double Wisconsin valve pressure that was in used from the 1960's until the advent of self-contained pressure fryers.

I mentioned the logistics of using a pressure cooker as a pressure fryer.  Pressure cookers are designed to operate at 15 lb pressure which is one reason they should not be used for pressure canning.  The second problem is a pressure cooker can only be filled 2/3 full so that really restricts the amount that can be cooked in a pressure cooker so at best these pressure cookers could only put out small amounts of chicken at peak time but it would be faster than pan frying.  It just boggles my mind that he was able to achieve this without blowing up a pressure cooker!

These are exactly the same types of pressure cookers I have in use and certainly the same type available to the general public during that era.  In fact very little has changed with the design of modern pressure cookers.  Modern pressure cookers should not be used as a pressure fryer though.  There are specific pressure fryers meant for home use but unless you are frying a lot of chicken they are really a bit on the expensive side at $230 or more for the unit.