My great-aunt sent me a cookbook. http://www.totallybarbados.com/barbados/About_Barbados
It arrived in the mail this week. I have been anxiously awaiting my tax return, so I opened my mailbox hoping to see a nice little check but instead, I pulled out something or other to add to my junk mail collection and a ta-da! a package. I love getting mail--real mail you know--and surprise packages are the best. My brothers and sisters and I used to compete over who would get the mail first. The mailman came at about the same time every day, so if you timed it right, you could get down to the mailbox before anyone else then nonchalantly stroll back up the driveway, flipping through the bills and letters that were not addressed to you, knowing that disgruntled siblings were staring at you through the windows. HA HA! In Connecticut (I always want to say "connekt-ee-cut) where we used to live when I was very young, the mailboxes are attached to the house, just beside the door. The mailmen (and mail ladies) park their trucks at the corner and walk from house to house--rain, shine or snowstorm--carrying huge bags of letters and postcards. I thought--and still think--they must be terribly strong to walk about all day with those heavy bags. At college my friends and I would send each other cards and notes via campus mail. Except many of the notes I sent were pranks. I sent a letter to one friend from the (nonexistent) Dean of Academic Commitment, Mr T.R. Jameson I believe. I typed it up on official school letterhead and placed it in an official school envelope so it looked very authentic. I even practised signing the letter so that the signature wouldn't look like a girl's. It basically said that if our friend didn't start coming to class regularly, he would be kicked out of school. Isn't that awful? My roommate and I giggled gleefully and dropped it into the mail. We didn't know what happened until weeks had gone by. Turns out this poor guy was extremely upset and not realizing that it was a prank, he went to all of the school administrators to argue his case only to be told that Mr. Jameson did not exist. Of course, when my partner in crime and I found out we felt terrible about the whole thing so we promptly typed up a new letter on official letterhead From: The Office of Academic Commitment, Re: An apology for the recent misunderstanding and any distress it may have caused, and signed by Mr. Jameson's secretary. My big brother told me that I could have gotten in a lot of trouble for forging signatures, but I don't suppose you can forge the signatures of people who don't exist...Ah, well that was the last prank letter I've ever sent. Lesson learned. When I pulled the surprise package out of the mail 2 days ago, I couldn't guess what it might be so I hurried back inside, not bothering to shut the door, with Charlie the dog romping around and getting underfoot. A book titled "Caribbean Cookbook" and several typed sheets with additional Barbadian recipes (read my other post, Kiss Me I'm Irish). I was thrilled and I danced around the living room for a while. "How cool is that!?" I asked Charlie. I recently bought a Greek cookbook (I went to a Greek Festival recently and the food was ridiculously delicious. The guys were cute too) and a book of recipes that only require 3, 4 or 5 ingredients.
4. Cook something. I'm curious to see how it will all turn out!
I may post some recipes once I have the chance to experiment with a few.
This is a picture of spanakopita--it's very good!
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