CARIBBEAN MON!

CARIBBEAN MON!

Lily the manniquin

As a brief diversion from my many postings of the trip I took last month to the UK, I decided to post the dinner party our Little Supper Club had just before I left in June. For those of you who may have just tuned in, I belong to a themed based supper club in which we alternate gatherings at members homes. June was my turn and since I have a swimming pool, we decided to do Caribbean.

My garden was in order, my pool was in order and Woodloft was in order. I knew members would take care of providing the feast.

Woodloft pool

Another view of the pool

Front deck garden

"Great room" at Woodloft

Leis awaiting guests. I realize this is more of a South Pacific tradition but we went with it anyway

Stratton (Wayne) St. Clair unselfishly started our Little Supper Club as a gathering of friends he already knew and –get this-he gave an invitation to some “friends” on his Facebook Page, asking them to attend the first gathering, which was about a year and a half ago. We now have about sixteen regulars.

I feel extremely lucky and privileged to have a friend who is a chef. Wayne will tell you he is not a real chef because he is self-taught, but believe me, if you could taste his cooking you’d know he IS a chef! I also consider myself very lucky in that Wayne has agreed to be the resident chef here at Woodloft (my home) next summer when I give my sculpture classes. My students are in for a real treat.

Wayne at the grill

One thing really special about the Supper Club is that Wayne has actually been teaching all of us how to cook. Now, I must clarify, we all knew how to cook but Wayne is teaching us to take cooking and dining to another level. What a generous man! Just the other night he had a few of us over for a multi-course dinner which brought back my memory of true European dining. If you have never tried James Beard’s 40 Clove Garlic Chicken you might want to give it a whirl. Wayne served this, with his usual changes to the recipe. I’ll probably post the recipe in the future. It’s a lovely dish that brings into play slow dining.

Now, back to our Caribbean party. There were so many delicious dishes presented and to be honest, since I was away for a month, I now can’t remember all the names of these specialties.

Stephanie prepares a variety of Caribbean concoctions

Elizabeth

Coconut Flan

Rum Punch

Caribbean Shrimp

Plantains with a Chocolate Sauce

One dish that stands out in my mind above the rest though, was the Rum Raisin Pudding that Trish made. Trish decided to make this dish because her oven was not working and the recipe calls for the stove top method. Being my usual skeptic self, I was leary of how this would turn out.

What a surprise. It was fabulous.

Trish's Rum Raisin Pudding

Below is the recipe and a few more party pictures. Hope you enjoyed the Caribbean atmosphere because we will probably be traveling back to Scotland, where it was veeeerrrry cold, on my next posting.

Rum Raisin Rice Pudding

2 Small boxes raisins
6T. Virgin Island Rum
1 C. Milk
1 C. Sugar
1 C. Heavy cream
3 T. Cornstarch
1 Egg
1 t. Vanilla
1 C. Overcooked rice

Soak raisins in rum about ½ hour before cooking. In large pan, combine milk, sugar, cream and set aside.
Dissolve cornstarch with 1/4th of milk mixture. In another bowl, beat egg, add vanilla and cornstarch mixture and beat well. Set aside.
Heat original mixture, add cornstarch and egg mixture and whisk. Continue cooking, stir constantly till mixture thickens. Remove from heat and enjoy!

Dean with ice cold margarita

Jason works in the Tiki bar

Mark gathers fresh mint for the drinks

So much fun!

Grover, the party animal

A special thanks to Stephanie Oliver for taking most of the pictures shown.