Cruising For The First Time

I grew up beside the ocean and have always loved boats and owned a few myself.

So why not try a cruise for a vacation? Sounds ideal, that is until I remembered all the cruise lines commercials which proudly features dozens of plus sized adults frolicking in a minus sized swimming pool. I am not a big lover of highly chlorinated pools and I more often head away from crowds than towards them.  Therefore I doubted than any number of those frozen cocktails with the little umbrellas in them that are everywhere in the ads could get me enjoy such shipboard merriment. Cruises are for other people I would mutter as I tossed yet another glossy cruise brochure away. It is in this way that I put off taking my first cruise for far too long.

(Note to cruise lines and their ad agencies …you might be scaring away more people than you attract especially in the staid northeast with your “frolic with us” approach. just a thought)

My wife and I wanted a travel experience that was new to both of us. Neither of us had taken a cruise so we gave the idea another chance. It did not take long to learn what other cruise veterans already knew. Cruises are a great travel value. Even with my math skills I quickly determined the daily cost to us of traveling to the Caribbean, unlimited meals, a private room with an ocean view, nightly entertainment and all the sun we could want came in at about $100 per day per person.

We could easily blow that on any one of these items alone in our beloved Manhattan. I was not entirely kidding when I quipped that we “cannot afford to stay home at that price.” When we factored in that we would be exchanging a chunk of January in the northeast with its snow, ice and cold for the 80 degree trade winds of the Islands we started thinking we really could be “pool people”afterall.

We being cruise virgins we decided to play it safe and float the cruise idea past our trusted travel agent, Annette  at  Liberty travel  . She quickly calmed our fears and advised us “get a fairly new ship” and “get a balcony” both of which she thought was more important that the cruise line . She soon worked her magic on her computer with the dates we had available and found a six night cruise to the western Caribbean departing out of Miami on the Royal Caribbean’s ship Freedom of the Seas.

Rooms were being reserved even while we sat with her but we still wanted to sleep on it so we left with our credit card balance intact. The cold walk home and the local news predicting more cold on the way was all the further convincing we needed. I was Annette’s first customer the next morning and we confirmed our reservations.

We are going on a cruise!

More to follow, Miami, The Islands ,The ship, Do’ and Don’ts.

Jeff Salisbury, The Travel Guru

Cinnamon Chicken and Plantains

I was  in St. Kitts in January 2011,  I truly appreciate the island's laid back attitude, beauty and the cuisine.  I attended a cooking class hosted by Wendy and Lorraine. She  made a cinnamon chicken and plantains dish, it was delicious. I  made the recipe twice and my friend love it. I made a couple changes from her  original recipe and it is still delicious.

BEFORE

AFTER

   .

SERVES SIX

Ingredients

1 large sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 lemon
samll peice of butter 

1 tablespoon of olive oil
8 Chicken thighs
1 Tablespoon of  ground cinnamon
1 Cup chicken broth (or more if you want more sauce)
1 Teaspoon brown sugar
3 Ripe plantains, peeled and cut into 1” rounds
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Wash chicken use the juice from the lemon and a pinch of salt to seasons the chicken
Cut the ends of the plantains, slit up the side and peel. Cut into ½ inch half-rounds.

In a large saucepan Sauté the garlic, onion in the butter over medium high heat stirring often  until onion is soft . Remove from the pan and set aside.

Pour olive oil in the same saucepan add the chicken, let brown for 2-3 minutes.

Remove chicken and place into a large baking dish.

Add sauté onion, chicken broth, cinnamon, brown sugar, plantains, salt and pepper to the pan. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or more stirring occasionally. Pour the plantains and sauce over the chicken.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 or until the chicken is cooked through, basting 2-3 times.
Enjoy! 

Beautiful island of St. Kitts