MY DIY Weekend

The weekend I decided to tackle a problem that has been bothering me for a couple of months. The brown leather sofa we had bought second hand had started to “shed” off the leather. This is what one of the cushions looked like: I had tried patching it with tape but soon realized that I …

Tang of Tamarind

Tamarind is a fruit that is widely used in Indian, Caribbean and East Asian cooking but foreign to most cooks in North America. The fruit has a fleshy, juicy, acidulous pulp. It is mature when the flesh is colored brown or reddish-brown. The fruit pulp is edible. The hard green pulp of a young fruit …

Fiesta Latina in North Miami

Above: Dominican dancers in front of Alcazar de Colon (Columbus’ palace) in Santo Domingo. Last Saturday was a busy day, as Saturdays usually are. We spent the afternoon bike riding in the park after running some errands, waiting for my son to finish Science Camp. Then we loaded all the bikes on the back of …

10 Ways: Miami | Santo Domingo

Above: Well organized signage from my local market, Presidente Floridians say Miami is not really a part of America, that in fact it really is an extension of Latin America. I have only lived in one Latin American country, the Dominican Republic, so I’m no expert, but I did live there for 8 years… Now …

Coconut Crazy

Above: Coconut tree in my backyard from which we have harvested fresh coconut. I have to remind myself daily that I’m not living in the Caribbean because so much of my life now in North Miami echos back to when I lived in Santo Domingo. Sure, the infrastructure is way better — power stays on, …