Today is my birthday, the first one I have celebrated in Belize while living here rather than just visiting. And I have to tell you it has been great. The great part part is that it has been nothing special, no grand parties, no fancy feast, no presents of any sort; just good friends, good food, and a good life. In fact, I had not realized it was my birthday until I got a happy birthday email from my brother and then from my sister. I really thought that tomorrow was my birthday! But we had already planned to have Chris down for dinner. Lloydie knew we were in the market for some fresh fish, so he brought us some nice jack fish fillets that he caught and dressed this morning; only $10 Belize ($5US) for 2 nice sized fish (4 fillets) caught this morning. Dennis grilled the fillets, possibly the best tasting fish we have had in Belize. I made some conch fritters with local ginger, culantro (similar in flavor to cilantro) and lemon grass from the garden, 2 jalepeno peppers. And rice with brussel sprouts and purple cabbage and jicama slaw. For dessert we had fresh papaya and pineapple. Chris arrived bearing the lovely bouquet in the photo above. The flowers are from the garden at SteppingStones and include shell ginger, red ginger, pink and white periwinkle, a double red hibiscus, single salmon hibiscus. Simply fabulous! Looking forward to more birthdays in Belize.
