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Orange almond cake

They are already calling hurricane Dorian an historic hurricane. Sadly it will be part of the Bahamas history. We were spared in South Florida this time. Living here since 1999, I had my share of trouble with storms. A few years back a big mango tree fell on my roof during an hurricane, another time it was the fence that was destroyed. Well, you learn to take it all in stride, you repair, you rebuild. At the end of the, this is where I want to live. I love the weather, the landscaping, the people. It is home.

So what to do during the passage of an hurricane? Instead of being glued to the tv for the latest updates as I usually do, when it was clear that Dorian would take the turn north before grazing the coast of Florida, I decided to turn off the tv and make an orange almond cake.

I had all the ingredients and it had been on my list of things to do for a while. But I am a procrastinator until a propulsive sense of despair get on my feet and give me the energy to act. This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe with some modifications. I used a mini springform pan bought at Aldi. I am a big fan of Aldi, mainly because they don’t use those plastic bags.

Orange almond cake

3 large eggs

1/2 cup of sugar

1 1/2reaspoon of orange zest

1/2 teaspoon of cardamon

1/4 cup of orange juice

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 cup of almond flour

1 tablespoon of butter

confectioner sugar for garnish.

Preheat oven at 350 degree. Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until they form soft peaks. Add 1/2 of the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until they form stiff peaks. Set aside.

Beat egg yokes with the remaining sugar until pale yellow and creamy for about 3 minutes. Add orange zest, cardamom, orange juice and extracts. Continue to beat until combined. Fold in the almond flour ( I used almond meal which I obtained by grounding whole almonds in a food processor). Spoon 1/3 of the egg whites into the mixture and gently fold until combined.

Prepare the springform pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the bottom and the sides of the pan. Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes and until the cake spring back when lightly touched. Cool the cake for 15 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. continue to cool the cake 10 minutes longer, sprinkle with the powdered sugar and serve.

This cake is gluten free, low sugar and so delicious with some fruits. Try it. I know I will make it often.

GRAND CAYMAN GREEN SEA TURTLES

The Hare and the Tortoise was one of my favorite fable. In the race in question, of course I rooted for the tortoise. The slow and steady pace of that tenacious creature carrying his heavy shell appealed to me. When I went on a cruise that was stopping by Grand Cayman island, I booked an excursion to visit the Cayman Turtle Center known as the Cayman Turtle Farm until 2016 to see the tortoise marine life brother, the green sea turtle.

Needless to say, there is more to the Grand Cayman island than their Turtle Center. The Cayman Islands are a group of three islands, Grand Cayman being the largest. Discovered in 1503 during the last voyage of Christopher Columbus, he called those islands, Las Tortugas, because of the large amount of turtles roaming on those lands. Sadly, the turtles were later on hunted and eaten to near extinction. The islands were renamed Cayman because of the large number of caiman found there. Grand Cayman has the beautiful Seven mile Beach, white sand, calm, turquoise water and uncrowded. The Grand Cayman Hell with the black limestone formations is a tourist attraction too.

The green sea turtle is an endangered specie today and the Grand Cayman Turtle Center is the only facility in the world raising turtles for consumption. In the wild the sea turtles are solitary creatures except when mating, they can swim 1400 miles and dive up t0 500 feet. In the Grand Cayman Turtle Center the turtles are kept in shallow concrete tanks sometimes packed and tourist are allowed to pet them. There are concern that e. coli and salmonella found in turtles could be transferred to people.

Going to the Bahamas

I was inspired to go to my first cruise to the Bahamas a few years back when talking to a coworker during break. She would tell me that she would take some mini vacations to Nassau from time to time and how relaxing it was. Soon I was looking for a bargain cruise and on my way to the Bahamas

The Bahamas are a spray of about 700 small islands near Florida. Christopher Columbus first touch America on one of those islands. Nassau the capital of the Bahamas located on the island of New Providence is a frequent stop of the cruise ships. That was my destination on that first cruise

It is really an exhilarating moment when you go in the morning to the breakfast area overlooking the port with those fresh painted in many shades of blue houses with pink roofs. The air seems fresher, it is a nice feeling.

As I had not booked an excursion, I hopped in a mini van with a respectable looking local tour guide with a few fellow passengers from the cruise ship. Our first stop was Fort Fincastle witch overlooks the city of Nassau and the bay. That fort played a strategically important role in the defense of the island during colonial time.

Then our guide drove us to the nearby Queen 66 staircase. Those steps were carved in the limestone more than 100 feet deep seemingly to connect the fort to the city in case of attack. Later on a manmade waterfall was added on one side of the landmark to make it more attractive.

We were then driven to Paradise Island via the Sydney Poitier Bridge named after Bahamas most famous son. Our driver dropped us at the main entrance of Atlantis where he would pick us up two hours later to bring us back to our cruise ship. Needless to say that we didn’t see much of Atlantis that day. Atlantis is so big that you really need a guided tour if your time is limited. Subsequently that is the approach I took in a different cruise later on. I got to admire the luxurious accommodations of the resort, the whimsical theme displays. My favorite part though, was the meticulously maintained aquariums. The walk in aquarium was quite impressive.

The people I met in Havana

When traveling what is really meaningful is the heart to heart meeting with the people of the land you visit. Because I planned my trip trough Airbnb, I got to be close and have an intimate view of a few people in Havana.

I was in a home in old Havana that was 40 minutes walking distance to Calle Obispo. I booked two tours trough Airbnb experiences. The groups turned out to be small. In the first one my tour guide had 3 customers: me and a young couple from Colorado. In the second one it was me and a young man who was on a business trip and took a personal day to tour the city. It was definitely a plus to have better opportunities to ask about the monuments and life in Cuba in general.

The tour guides themselves were, charming, vibrant young people in their twenties. One was a young lady who majored in languages, spoke perfect English, was fluent in French. The other was a young man who majored in History. Even though they were frustrated by the economic situation of their country they were obviously nationalists proud of the accomplishments of the Revolution and quick to point out that education was free in Cuba at all levels, health care was free for all. Strangely enough they were nationalist, yes,but with an eye on the USA. Our male guide shared with us that his father was living in Texas and talking about the difficulties to get an american visa nowadays. Because of the closing of the American consulate, cubans have to travel to other countries like Mexico to obtain a visa. Of course it is very costly and there is no warranty they will even get the visa. Meanwhile his dream is to save enough money to buy a classic car. Those classic cars are big money makers as they charge about 40 CUC an hour. Both of the guides were big fans of Game of Thrones.

My host explained to me that he was the son of a diplomat, he studied in Hungary and was an Hungarian translator. Obviously now he was relying more on his Airbnb business with the help of a friend in met in school in Hungary. The friend living now in Switzerland refers many europeans visitors to his Airbnb home and since he has no internet service, help also in that regard.

I would see those two friends play chess every evenings during my walks. One day, I stopped to watch their game. It seems like such a nice way to rnd the day. In my opinion a better way than watching tv.

With citizens like this the future of that beautiful island can only be bright.



How I dealt with money during my trip to Havana

Let’s talk about how I dealt with money in Cuba.

First of all, you cannot get Cuban currency until you are in Cuba. They have 2 currencies, the CUC and the CUP. The CUC is equal to the USD although when you exchange your money with the fees and taxes you will get less. As for the CUP, 1 CUC= 25 CUP.

Of course, when you are perceived as a foreigner, a tourist any money talk is referring to the CUC. Get yourself some CUPs anyway, you might be able to pay with them in a few occasions

I remember this street vendor selling braids of garlic. When he saw that I was interested{ I wanted to bring some to my host who was kind to me}, he would not let go one braid for less than 2 CUC. At the same time he was selling some to a local for a few CUPs.

That’s the thing, as a tourist be ready to be taken advantage of in that way. Hey, this a country where the average salary is 20 to 30 CUC a month but in the stores they are selling an oven for 779 CUCs.

My Airbnb experience

I recently retired. I had always wanted to travel, see this beautiful world of ours. When I talk about those plans, my son sometimes quipped ” why go to the trouble, with the internet now you can see the world now without leaving your chair”. Sure, but of course he knows that that there is nothing like the real thing. Travelling is about getting a feeling of the places, seeing for yourself, meeting the people.

When you retire, ok you get the time but now for most of us we are on a modest fixed income. I’ve always been thrifty and resourceful. ,Hey. I’ve raised a son who is kind, mindful of others and has a master’s degree as a single mother. When I was still working, living in south Florida, I went on a few Caribbean cruises for under $500, excursions included. Nowadays, though it seems that those opportunities are drying up. As a fellow yoga classmate put it, on the cruises you’re getting penalized for travelling alone. And for obvious reasons. I’ve heard of Airbnb, it seemed like a good idea, safe enough. So, I gave it a try. I went on my first ever trip to Cuba.

I decided to test the water, living in Florida by visiting the nearby island of Cuba. It was easy enough to plan my trip on the Airbnb site. My host was gracious enough to help me get transportation from and to the airport. It was comforting to have someone with my name on a board greet me at the airport my Spanish being very limited. The apartment that I had rented was really small but spotless.

I have to say that Airbnb does penalize the single traveler too. The host even with a single room will charge by bed even counting the couch and charging accordingly. on the positive side you get an intimate view of the real life in the country you are visiting. I had made arrangements to share their meals except for the lunch. It was a wise choice. I visited old Havana, rich in well preserved history, got a glimpse of the rehearsal of ” El fantasma” during my 5 CUC visit of the ” Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso”. In my view any day you get to see a Cuban ballet performance is a great day. Not that I am a connoisseur in anyway but you see, every year I have this tradition, I start my Christmas celebrations with going to see the Nutcracker at the city theater. One year they had invited a couple of Cuban dancers to perform and it was truly magical and a for me a cherished memory to this day. The Cubans value their talented ballet dancers. Their beautiful Gran Teatro building so meticulously maintained can attest to that. I was lucky to have guides who had small groups, were knowledgeable and couldn’t lavish enough of that knowledge on us. I do think Airbnb is a great concept and will use it again in future trips

I have this goofy story that still makes me laugh. I was waiting for my tour guide sitting on a bench at Central Park, when a toothless man came near me. With a grin, like a magician doing his tricks, he drew a shiny coin from his back pack, showed me the Cuban heroes on it, gave it to me stating that it was a gift. A bit perplexed, I thanked him politely. Then it was a paper bill and at last a cigar. He finally came to the point. He simply wanted a thousand CUC. I returned his items to him and we both laugh. I wonder if he ever makes any money with this skim.