Bella Eats Tamales

It's a holiday today. The banks are closed, the bars are closed. The government offices are closed. IT'S ELECTION DAY! The bars re-open at 6 o'clock!

Off to "The Greenhouse" yesterday for the "you-can-only-carry-four-bags-if-you're-walking" grocery purchase. Tom and I get to do the walking part whilst Shelley does the cooking, cleaning, and organizing. (I don't have to say "whilst," but things are so British here, and, besides, it's fun to say!)

Who cares, you may ask, but you need to remember the Greenhouse when you come to visit if you're looking for the good, hard-to-find stuff. Okay, so it is air-conditioned, but our friend Anna's sister, Avella, owns it, so we do make exceptions to the don't shop air-conditioned stores, especially for lettuce! The produce, though not plentiful, is of high quality, and they have lots of specialty items (read "American food") you won't find elsewhere. 

We hoisted the food back to Shelley who started preparing for the five o'clock potluck dinner and party upstairs. The Belize Yacht Club party folks started arriving at the usual hour bringing tons of goodies with them. Ribs, Mestiza-style tamales, baked chicken, deviled eggs, chips and guacamole, mixed salad with fresh lettuce (the big deal) and ranch dressing (the even bigger deal), and lots more. Dessert, in honor of Dr. Bob's birthday, was carrot cake and German chocolate cake with coconut and/or rum raisin ice cream. Eat lots of ice cream before you come to the Island; $17.50 USD a quart here! We waddled home--all the way downstairs! Yikes! Thanks, Ken and Jenny, for being the perfect hosts and introducing us to so many wonderful new friends.

The Perfect Belizean Tamale

By the way, tamales in Central America are different from their Mexican cousins. The maize (masa) is ground to a fine paste, filled with yummy beef or chicken, placed in banana leaves or, nowadays, aluminum foil, and steamed. (Yes, Bella knows these things.) The gooey consistency surprises you at first (not that any food source surprises me), but, yum, they are delicious! The source of these authentic tamales were guests George and Maria of George's Kitchen, a "must stop" across from Corona Del Mar--particularly for breakfast.

Waiting for the Garrison Girls

Even the rainy days are beautiful here.

Tonight is poker night at Pedro's Inn and karaoke at Roadkill's Bar. It's also the evening that the wild girls, Holly and Honey, arrive! I wouldn't be surprised if their first stop was Pedro's for a little Texas Hold'em!

Y'all come visit. We'll eat real tamales and maybe play some poker. You're gonna love Belize!