I miss, miss, miss food blogging. It’s not that I haven’t been eating and cooking all sorts of yummy things and trying some wonderful new foods. My sailing blog just seems to demand all my free time for writing. I think this is probably how I started my last few-and-far-between MuffinEgg post. Oh well.
Look at that papaya – I realize it looks a little sultry in that light. It’s so delicious though, especially with a generous squeeze of lime juice and some plain yogurt. I eat papayas half at a time but the other half never sticks around long. It’s usually gone by the end of that day.
I think that’s a snowdrift-sized pile of bananas but some of them might be plantains, which are much easier to come by here in the Dominican Republic than bananas. I think my jaw dropped to the pavement when I saw that pile in Santiago’s street market. Every street in about a three block area was lined with pile after pile of fresh fruit and vegetables. I think these bananas beat everything else out in terms of volume. Everything was beautiful. The air smelled like mangos. I wanted to eat everything!
Now the bunch of mangos in my fruit net are filling the boat with their sweet perfume. Lee and I have been eating them for the last few days and they are the absolute best mangos I have ever tasted. Ludicrously sweet and so juicy I find myself slurping juice off the cutting board, these mangos came from our last shopping trip in the Dominican Republic.
Other than marveling at tropical fruits, my main food interest of late is baking bread. I bake all kinds now. I even came up with my own, quick, pizza crust recipe! I promise to share that soon. Mostly, I just wanted to share my excitement over all the fresh and cheap produce we’ve been enjoying. The Dominican Republic built a reputation as an inexpensive fruit and veggie wonderland before we even arrived. We heard it from everyone and the more I heard the more my mouth watered! When we finally got to the DR we found that all the stories were true. Mini-marts sold produce like their U.S. counterparts sell candy bars. I left the weekly street market with two huge bags of fresh-picked vegetables that I paid less than $5 for. I was in heaven!
Still, I’m looking forward to getting back to the mainland to cook, eat, and just live for a while.
