Hope everyone is having a great weekend! This was my first time using a pressure cooker to make my oxtail stew. It was delicious, so I think I did ok, lol. I saved about 3 hours of cooking time using the cooker. It was easy to prepare the oxtail but once you close the pressure cooker lid, that's it, you can't taste or add anything until it’s done.


​Oxtail Stew Directions
​Served with rice and peas.
Serves 4.
​
3 1/2 pounds of oxtail in lime and vinegar water, wash oxtail thoroughly then drain water. Season to taste, add to the oxtail (1 1/2 teaspoons each garlic salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, basil) along with 1/2 cup each chopped ingredients - onion, garlic, green pepper, red pepper, ginger and 2 stems thyme. Then add my recaito recipe mix of blended 1/2 onion, 1/2 green pepper, 1 scotch bonnet pepper, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, 2 stem thyme, 5 pimento seeds, 2 stem cilantro, 3 garlic cloves. Add your secret ingredients, 2 tablespoons ketchup and 2 tablespoon Gravy Master Browning.
 
Put gloves on and mix everything together and place in the refrigerator overnight or 1 hour. Sear the oxtail - in a large nonstick pot over high heat, add a little olive oil then oxtail and cook, stirring, for about 2 to 3 minutes, until they are dark browned. 
 

Pressure Cooker Directions
Seasoned to taste, marinaded overnight and seared in a separate pot, I placed the oxtail in the pressure cooker and poured in 2 cups of water. Then added chopped carrots before closing the lid. I cooked the oxtail with all its juices in an Elite Platinum pressure cooker for 50 minutes and sat for about 20 minutes without releasing the pressure from the exhaust on the top of cooker. After 20 minutes release the rest of the pressure and carefully open the lid. 

Nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, refreshing summer drink. The past two months have been very challenging for me – carrying difficult and unpleasant loads. Trying to recover. Trying to find the time to practice the things I love to do, like drinking my favorite wines and making cool cocktails, lol.

I would like to share with you a homemade drink I call Jade Skirt Mojito. A delicious and satisfying mojito made with fresh mint leaves, lime, Kiwifruit, white rum, sugar, Midori Melon Liqueur and club soda.


Jade Skirt Mojito

6 mint leaves
1/2 Kiwifruit
1/2 lime (freshly squeezed)
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon of Midori Melon Liqueur
1 1/2 shots of white rum
1/2 cup of club soda
Ice (optional)

​Muddle the freshly squeezed lime, sugar, Kiwifruit and mint leaves in a mortar and pestle or you can use the end of a wooden spoon and small jug. Pour into a glass of ice. Add the Midori Melon, white rum, club soda and stir. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.

Monarch #3. April 2023
-"Grown-ups underestimate kids."​

My wife and I traveled to Orlando, Florida last week to see our daughter during her college softball tournament, The Spring Games. Luckily, on the day we arrived there were no scheduled games, so we went straight from the airport to her team’s hotel in Winter Garden, FL. We were extremely excited to see her and definitely made the most out of our visit. While the tournament started earlier in the week, we did have a chance to catch a few games. The games were held at two field locations, Legends Way Ball Field in Clermont, FL and Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, FL. I should tell you, watching softball games can be exciting and extremely stressful at the same time.

​Here are a few photos from our trip…