I love food and Things Jamaican

Things Jamaican - do you remember that place? Was it downtown Kingston, near to the sea? The Caribbean Sea. They sold woven baskets, placemats, coaster sets, irie island clothing, very cool artwork, carvings, bottled spices and the list goes on. I hope that I am not wrong because I remember going there to get some treasures before returning to my insane first world life some years ago.

What a sweet piece of view of the water when you drive along the harbor to where Things Jamaican is man! I am salivating right now for some Caribbean water, landscape, sun, sea and sand. Actually they can keep the sun, I'll take the rest of it. Pardon me loved ones who can't recollect because you have never been, simply put you need to go and get your own sun, sea and sand, bottle it and bring it back with ya dwl. 

So let me tell you this, on Good Friday I drove myself to the farmers market and as usual I went crazy picking up all things Jamaican. On this trip I had a chance to read labels. I made some discoveries that leveled me. More than half the items on the shelf are not products of Jamaica. They are not made in Jamaica or packaged in Jamaica.  They are NOT products of Jamaica. I became sad. I felt deceived. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. Anyway, I picked up the ones that I believed were really things Jamaican. I intended to have a nostalgic Easter weekend including a Jamaican meal on Easter Sunday and bun all weekend. After I left the market and in a somber mood, I concluded that I need to go home - to Jamaica that is.  Gosh, I love Jamaica. I love things Jamaican!

Now you know, ilovefood.com lol. On Easter Monday I decided to do a juice fast. I was off from work and I figured I would do it on a day when all 999 of my 1,000 stressors were temporarily removed from me. It started out very well. I looked at all 6 bottles of juice and wondered how the day would really go. let me tell you, it started out on a heavenly high. The first drink was an orange pineapple combo. I licked my lips every which way after I downed 16 oz in only 2 gulps.  I felt great. So 2.5 hrs. later I had to move to the Detoxifier which is a combo of cucumber, celery, lemon and cayenne pepper. I wasn't rushing towards this one. That madness was as green as the rainforest on a typical day. Fear crept in. My daughter cheered me on. I opened the bottle and took a sip, allowing that half mouthful to sit in my mouth for a few minutes like the juice lady recommended. That would warn my stomach that the mean green was on its way and they'd send back up dwl - okay they'd send the right gastric juices to do their job efficiently.

I swallowed and told KC that this was one would "take some getting used to". In my mind I thought I was going crazy. I had 4 more bottles of that hulk-colored thing sitting on my counter. That's my meal for the day! Immediately I thought of mixed nuts, trail mix, raisin bran cereal, HTB spice bun, Golden Krust chicken patties, honey wheat bread with butter and apple jelly, Costco cranberry Chicken salad, Chick-fil-A  freshly squeezed lemonade, quaker instant oatmeal with too many spoons of nestle sweetened condensed milk, boiled yellow yam, fried plantains, ackee and codfish and all the other things that made my snack and mealtimes so climactic over the weekend. I didn't finish the second bottle of juice for another hour. The third bottle was delayed and all other bottles after that.

Near midnight I was determined to get to the last bottle of Carrot Ginger so I gulped the last Detoxifier. Whoa! I solemnly declared that i don't want to see another bottle of that meanness for a long time. Carrot Ginger was smooth. Carrot Ginger was good to me. I finished her while blowdrying my hair. Way to end the day, sigh.

In retrospect, my will power is quite good. I did not eat anything all day. I did not reach for any treats. All the smells and aroma of the evening's dinner did not sway me. I held up! I proudly said that I will do it again for 3 days the next time. The Detoxifier with those ingredients? Heck to the no but juicing? Oh yes, I am ready to give my digestive system a rest. But friends, in those few hours of drinking only, I got reacquainted with the fact that I .....LOVE..... FOOD!

I grew up with the best food items. Some of my best memories are from Saturday soup days, Sunday morning breakfast smells and Sunday afternoon coconut aromas mixed with fried or steamed fish. Weekdays smelled of curry and brown stew chicken. I learned how to prepare these food from the best - chef mom! 

Well cheers to all things really Jamaican and to .... good nutritious food! What are your food memories? I want to hear them.