From England to the Caribbean

This picture was taken from my grandfather's porch. That streak on the mountain on the other side of the valley is an avalanche run. Did you know that houses in an area of many avalanches are built with the peaks perpendicular to the mountain side so the avalanche will slide down the peaks? There is often a vee shaped structure between the house and mountain also. There will be many ramps and diversion structures built above a village.

Yesterday I felt the Kashmir Rose, while good and interesting, was missing something that would make it more appealing to more people. I added a bit of cinnamon to my last cup and wow! I thought it really brought it all together, making it warmer, somehow.

Today we're gonna zip over to an English style tea - Queen Mary from Culinary Teas. This is billed as a breakfast tea and indeed it is. After brewing it for less than 4 minutes, with boiling water, it nearly knocked my slippers off. It definitely reminded me of the tea I had the summer I worked in England. I used to run for tea break, hoping I could get some before they put sugar in it. This is a very straightforward tea, with not much in the way of nuances. Dry it smells a bit of chocolate and wine, but that doesn't come through in the cup. It is pretty tannic, which I am not crazy about, either in wine or tea. For me, I will keep it as a morning tea, especially on those mornings when I am just not waking up.

My husband and I came up with something that might do very nicely as part of the goodies for tea. We called it Plantains a Deux. We had 2 ripe - dead black - plantains to use up. We just had them for supper, with some ham.

2 very ripe plantains, mashed and beaten up with
about 1 cup chopped peanuts
about 3/4 cup coconut
2 eggs
1/4-1/2 cup flour, so the batter is about like that for potato pancakes
Lime juice to cut the sweetness a bit,
salt to taste
Sour cream for garnish, with a little sprig of something green or some toasted coconut

Fry in medium hot oil, making the little cakes pretty flat and being careful not to burn them. They should be cooked through, so they'll be a dark tan. Small ones will make about 24. Keep them warm in a 200 degree oven, on a paper towel until ready to serve.

For variation I think you could add a bit of curry powder or a little chili or some fresh coriander/cilantro, whatever sounds good to you.

Enjoy!