Different, but Merry

So, my last post was about our "Very Merry Christmas" It truly was wonderful! But, celebrating a holiday for the first time in a new place can be a little different. Different isn't always bad, though. These were good "differents!" I thought I would share just a few. I love to bake lots and lots during the holidays. This time it was hard to find everything that I usually have so easily at hand. I couldn't find mint extract, but I posted that in my cookie post. I couldn't find chocolate chips...that's okay, candy bars work great! No cream of mushroom soup, or cream of chicken. But, I did find Cream of Asparagus. I sort of thought "yuk" when I saw it, but when we tried it, it was actually quite nice and worked well for our Christmas Casseroles. The only chocolate covered cherries were super expensive! I'm used to buying the Walmart 96 cent pack! No eggnog either :o( No candy canes (except for colored ones), No Christmas tree lots.
BUT...they do have some really cool things here for Christmas. They have lots and lots of chocolate! I mean HUGE boxes full of all kinds of Chocolate! Now that's good! The Super-Mega Yachts that they have come in are so fun to go and watch. They are soooo shiney! Downtown was all lit up and super busy with tourists. It definitely gave it a "festive air!"
The traditional desserts here are definitely different. Two of Patrick's Aunt made us the Pudding that is very well loved here around Christmas. It's a very long and tedious process. You add White Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin, raisins, and I'm not sure what else. It was good. The above picture is one way of cooking the pudding. It was inside of this Sea Grape leaf and then tied with string. The below picture is the one baked in the oven.

We also felt very french when we sampled Smoked Salmon on toast with fresh Lime. Also, it's really big around here to have Duck Liver Mousse served over little breads. I really liked that! And you know iron is good for a pregnant girl! :o)

So, even though it was different, it was really great! We felt french and very islandy! The cool thing about St. Barths is that it is soooo french European, but very Caribbean at the same time! I love the place God has called us to!