Catching Up: Heroes, Food, Flame, Rum

It's been busy around here, but that's no excuse. Sorry. I'll try to catch up.

HEROES – This may be the coolest thing that's ever happened to me in 40 years as a reporter. I got to shake hands with three members of the Tuskegee Airmen, three genuine American heroes.

TASTE OF ST. CROIX – Covered this for the Source. Seems like every place on the map has a “taste of” or “Bite of” kind of event. But who knew Forbes had named Taste of St. Croix one of the top 10 food events in the world?

It was pretty great, even though I was working. I didn't get to eat much, but what I did … Wow. The very best thing I had was the slider from Fort Christian Brew Pub. It looked like a little burger. It was ground lamb that had been marinated in the pub's Jump Up Stout, which is the best beer available on the island, then garnished with a little Wasabi.

Here's the story I wrote. And a pic of the guy who invented the Bonfire Old Fashioned – rum, fruit joice, smoke, yes I said smoke – and served up catfish that did NOT taste like catfish! The restaurant is called , John Eddie's Lowlife Bar and Refuge, a new place on the Christianstead boardwalk.

Who has been hiding this from us? I have heard of carbonera before, but never had any clue what it was. Then about a month ago we were watching some celebrity of the day being interviewed and he happened to mention cooking spaghetti carbonera, it was his “go to” meal that everyone loves and it's really easy. Then we found out what it is – pasta with cheese, bacon and eggs. What's not to love about that?

We made it, and it was great! There were ni leftovers. And so easy. Made it again a couple of weeks ago. Almost as good! Here's a hint – don't skimp and buy cheap bacon. It really makes a difference. And the first time the bacon had been frozen, so it was really easy to dice before cooking.

Anywhere, here's the recipe I used. Ohmigod it's good! I can't believe I never had it before, or that no one ever told me about it. Bacon, eggs, cheese and pasta? Fantastic! 

Tori has been really busy with school. Besides teaching the fifth grade she coached the high school Moot Court team, which finished fourth in the territory. Pretty good considering the school had never taken part in Moot Court before.

She was also involved in Alan Alda's “Flame Challenge.” Her class was one of 10 from around the world chosen to take part in the live global web conference. It was a terrific experience for the kids, and Tori got a personal message from Alda, who she now refers to as “My close personal friend, multiple Emmy winner Alan Alda.”

The story about her class is here. 

You can see the webcast here at the Flame Challenge's site. Abd the link to the Flickr page, on the right? Those are Tori's kids.

Oh, one other thing. Diageo opened the new visitor center to their Captain Morgan's Rum distillery. It's 7,500 square feet of the history of rum, the Caribbean and Captain Morgan – with a gift shop and a bar. When the hold any kind of ev ent at the distillery, they always bring their Captain Morgan imitator, who looks nothing like Captain Morgan but a LOT like the picture of him on the bottle, painted by our friend Don Maitz. 

I took advantage of the opportunity, and here's a pic of the Captain and Ol' Chumbucket.

Tori had some more excitement last week, the annual four-day field trip to St. John, but I'll let her tell that story. I have to finish putting together the video she brought home of “Tori's Underwater Adventure!”

And, you know, life! Been writing. Been working. Been going to the beach (although definitely not enough.)

Life goes on – Oh baby, life goes on.