When you get to the end of a trip to the Bahamas you have to get a little creative with meal cooking. Most of the produce is usually gone, you're down to canned fruit, there might be an onion or one single potato hiding away in a basket somewhere, all of the store-bought bread, buns and chips are long gone. Dinner ended up being cold meatloaf sandwiches on homemade buns (we almost always have flour and yeast), and homemade potato chips. Creativity is the key.
For once, we brought enough beer along, having stashed a bunch of cases of cans in the bottom of a locker behind the settee. Not so much luck with milk though. Yesterday we went to the store in Fox Town and scored the last two half gallons of milk ($6.00 each). Tim dug into the cookie stash and poured himself a glass of milk, only to discover it was spoiled. It was more than a week out of date, a fact that had escaped our notice at the store. We trudged back there today to exchange it only to find out that there hadn't been any milk on the shelf at Marsh Harbor where they go to resupply. "Hmm", she said, "Maybe that's why it was all pulled from their shelves." Indeed. Since Tim is not a big fan of boxed, instant, or canned milk, he's opting for tea with his cookies tonight.
As long as you're willing to adjust your likes and dislikes and stretch your pallet a little, you can do fairly well in the Bahamas. It does require a good bit of cooking, though, as all of the pre-packaged things like cookies, crackers, chips, etc. are all unbelievably priced. Some things, like eggs for instance, are only about 20% more. Other things like cereal and chips are at least 100% more. When you can find it, the Bahamian coconut bread is to die for, but finding things consistently is very difficult. Take a lot of flour and practice your bread kneading.
Now what can I make with a half a pound of bacon, some rusty lettuce and half a pear...
For once, we brought enough beer along, having stashed a bunch of cases of cans in the bottom of a locker behind the settee. Not so much luck with milk though. Yesterday we went to the store in Fox Town and scored the last two half gallons of milk ($6.00 each). Tim dug into the cookie stash and poured himself a glass of milk, only to discover it was spoiled. It was more than a week out of date, a fact that had escaped our notice at the store. We trudged back there today to exchange it only to find out that there hadn't been any milk on the shelf at Marsh Harbor where they go to resupply. "Hmm", she said, "Maybe that's why it was all pulled from their shelves." Indeed. Since Tim is not a big fan of boxed, instant, or canned milk, he's opting for tea with his cookies tonight.
As long as you're willing to adjust your likes and dislikes and stretch your pallet a little, you can do fairly well in the Bahamas. It does require a good bit of cooking, though, as all of the pre-packaged things like cookies, crackers, chips, etc. are all unbelievably priced. Some things, like eggs for instance, are only about 20% more. Other things like cereal and chips are at least 100% more. When you can find it, the Bahamian coconut bread is to die for, but finding things consistently is very difficult. Take a lot of flour and practice your bread kneading.
Now what can I make with a half a pound of bacon, some rusty lettuce and half a pear...
2 comments:
If you haven't already tried it, Consider substituting almond milk in lieu of actual cow milk. The boxed version doesn't require refrigeration until after being opened, I think it may be healthier, and you may come to actually prefer it. It may not be available in the Bahamas, but would make a nicely stackable provision next time you are in an area that stocks it.
Max, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm married to the pickiest eater/drinker on the planet. We have a long history with alternate milks since my grandkids are all allergic. I've tried rice milk, almond milk, boxed cow's milk, even the best powdered milk available and they all failed the test. He dislikes it all so much that he would rather go without. When we can get milk in the Bahamas it's about the same price as beer so I guess it doesn't much matter which we buy, no? I do keep a couple boxes of the milk in the pantry for cooking with in case we run out.
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