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Top 5, Mon

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Top 5 Tastes Of The Day

(Because deciding what to order is so hard!)

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Granola here is more like lightly toasted oats soaked in milk – sort of like overnight oats. We went to one of the sit-down breakfasts and I ordered this incredible parfait with layers of honey-lime yogurt and “granola” with fruit. LOVED it!

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It was an appetizer to my banana pancakes! Matt ordered a pizza for breakfast with goat cheese and bacon. He sure is rocking the savory!

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Have you ever sipped coconut water from the coconut?!

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Now I’m thinking I should plant a coconut tree in our backyard..

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Plopped on top of my salad bar were these lentils…….which were the best lentils I’ve ever had

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The lentils were better than all three of the desserts I tasted after lunch! Imagine that!

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This drink was on the menu as an Ocean 11. It was listed as ‘Papaya, milk, simple syrup and a hint of nutmeg.’ I asked for it without the syrup for cocktail hour snack time and it was an incredible papaya-milk smoothie. Must add more nutmeg to my vita-mix creations!

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The dessert on the right was called “Banoffee Pie.” I was expecting a coffee-banana slice of pie. But it turned out to be a TOFFEE pie served in a bowl. First smoothies in a bowl, now pie in a bowl!? Matt and I both agreed that the thick, sweet, chewy bites of toffee under layers of banana and pie crust were the best dessert we’ve ever had. We almost ordered another one, but by the time we finished the apple streusel and cherry ice cream we were stuffed.

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5 Top Moments Of The Day

Swim #2 in the ocean. We went for two separate dips and crab-walked around. I tried to swim laps but ended up just hovering in the surf :mrgreen:

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The Hunger Games was just too intense and dark of a book to read in the sunshine. Thanks to my phone’s Kindle app and resort wifi, I had a new book ready to go in 2 minutes! So many of you recommended She’s Come Undone in your favorite book of all time comments, so I downloaded it. LOVE it so far. Lamb has this magical way of transporting the reader back in time. The book is lots of description – which I love too. Wonderful characters!! Can’t wait to read more today!

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After hours of lying in our chairs reading, we went on two beach walks, one in each direction. The first took us through some of the other resorts and the second took us through Negril’s beaches. We got to see some of the local flavor. I wish I had money to buy some jerk chicken from a stand. I am glad I had no money though so the ganga dealers didn’t harass us too much ; )

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TIGRE SIGHTING!!!

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Orange cats follow us everywhere.

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Of course our final top 5 moment was cocktail hour!

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Matt’s reaction to his Mint Julep. [Best drink he had all week, he said]

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Dinner followed. It was not a top 5 moment of the day, but it was pretty tasty.

The sesame salmon I ordered for an appetizer was great

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As was Matt’s jerk pork

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The pumpkin soup was pretty disappointing. It tasted more like peas than pumpkin? Which I guess is a good thing since I love peas!

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The wines here aren’t all that exciting. They only have one red [Cab] and one white [Chard] so as wine lovers we were a little sad that they have Grey Goose Vodka in the bars but only one wine. One plus: your glass never goes empty! They keep filling it up until you tell them you’ve had enough.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Last time I was in Jamaica, the groundskeepers at the resort I stayed at would just give them to you as they chopped them down! We brought them to the bar and had them add some rum after we drank about 1/2 the water.

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  4. I want to recreate that banana toffee thing ASAP. I love bananas in dessert and especially with that toffee!

    She’s Come Undone was a great book – I read it years ago and still have pages marked just because I love the way Lamb phrases things.

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  5. I giggled a little when I saw that She’s Come Undone is your “lighter” read—from what I remember, it’s pretty intense! But glad you’re enjoying it : )

    Soak up that sun—I’m already jealous of your tan!

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  7. I just LOVE the first pic of Matt, especially contrasted with the last photo of Matt! The photos of the food are awesome and make me hungry, even though I am eating breakfast. Enjoy your last day!

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  11. If you’re loving She’s Come Undone, you HAVE to read “I Know This Much Is True” his other book that I thought was way better. It actually was my favorite book for a good 10 years until Hunger Games gave it a run for it’s money 😉
    Enjoy your last day!

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  12. I agree with you about the books — I went to Hawaii last year and brought Mockingjay with me. Bad move! Wally Lamb is a much better choice, I love that book.

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  15. Isn’t it fun getting cooking ideas at resort buffets? I can’t believe you never tried banoffee pie when you were in the UK! I even had banoffee flavored yogurt–so good! Enjoy your last day, Kath!

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  17. Oh wow, Kath, this looks like heaven!! I absolutely adore banoffee pie. One of my mum’s friends makes an amazing one and I haven’t had it in far too long. And speaking of nutmeg in smoothies, I’ve got some in my green smoothie right now – you’re right, SO good! Enjoy your day!

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  18. what a lovely spread of food!! how wonderful! oooo and my 6 year old would be so jealous she has been dying to drink out of coconut!! lol lol it’s the little things in life! have a great New Year

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  19. I first saw Banoffee flavored things all over London and fell in love with the combo there! It’s funny that they have that in Jamaica as well as I have never seen it anywhere else! I think I might need to try a banoffee pancake or something sometime 😉

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    • Its not really that odd… considering Jamaica is part of the Commonwealth, hence still has some British influences in their culture harking back to the Colonial years. Definitely seek out some banoffee cheesecake if you ever make it back over to the U.K!

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  20. I love the food and I especially love your beach cover up. Where did you get it? It’s the green/aqua/blue one. Thanks! (Don’t forget to share which resort you went to, it’s perfect, despite the cig smoke!)

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  22. Haha I went to Jamaica for spring break my senior year of college and remember the ganga dealers well. It was always: “weed? weed?” and then we’d say no, so for some reason they’d assume that well, if they don’t want weed, they probably want: “cocaine? ecstasy?” Lol.

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  31. I want a coconut tree in our backyard!

    Looks like you are learning some new ideas on what ingredients to use more of in your recipes.

    The.Best.Food.We.Ever.Had.Vacation 🙂

    I am telling you, Kath… The orange cats like you, because they know you like pumpkin (LOL) You exude pumpkin 🙂

    http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/

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  32. I looooooved She’s Come Undone! By far one of my favorite Wally Lamb books (though The Hour I First Believed was also really good).

    All the food looks so incredibly fresh and delicious – I can’t get over it. I think your posts have convinced me to take a Jamaican vacation in the future (though I don’t know that I could handle the open smoking at the resort so I might stay somewhere else)!

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  33. I remember being let down from the beer and wine at an all inclusive before. I have never been much of a liquor drinker, but they really seem to stock up on that and forget about the wine and beer lovers! At least they make up for it in the food! Glad I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

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  36. Ok, I think I’ve said this every day of your vacation, but…your dresses are so cute! If you like the Wally Lamb book, read his others – they’re all good. Oh, and so odd the way you two attract the orange cats… 😉 Keep on having a great vacation & happy New Year to you, Matt and your families!

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  42. You are going to love “She’s Come Undone”! I’m actually on my third copy since I first read it in 2000. Wally Lamb’s second book “I Know This Much Is True” is pretty wonderful, too. After one more read through it I might need a new copy of that, as well.

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  44. One time we were hiking through the jungle in Costa Rica and Tate kept hacking the tops of coconuts off and drinking them. Let’s just say that he found out the hard way that coconut water is a great laxative if you drink enough!

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  45. I hope you let us know what resort you’re staying at in a later post! (Maybe you mentioned it in the comments section but there are so many posts to look through at this point.) I never thought an all inclusive resort would have such healthy, delicious food! Suddenly I’m feeling the lure of the tropics…

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  48. So jealous! I know I shouldn’t be since I’ve seen a lot of Europe this year, but I <3 tropical vacations. Must convince Irish husband that the beach isn't bad!

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  51. ‘She’s Come Undone’ is one of my top five favorite books of all time. It DEFINITELY gets darker as the story progresses, but yes, aren’t the characters, description and writing just amazing? The most incredible thing about the book to me is that a male writer is able to so accurately depict a woman’s life and her reactions/emotions…. Ah, I could go on and on 🙂

    Love seeing the bites and drinks of your vacation.

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    • Is it a serious, romantic book? “deep”? I can’t believe I haven’t heard more about it and want to check it out now!

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  52. Hey Kath, you’re vacation looks amazing! but, im from Malaysia so we ALL drink coconut water from the coconut itself so its really weird if we drank from a can or bottle here. hahah its funny how we do things in different countries! 😀

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  53. I think it’s funny that you said you’re switching from Hunger Games to She’s Come Undone because Hunger Games is too intense/dark for the sunny beach. SCU is one of my favorite books, but it is SUPER intense/dark, haha…made me laugh.

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  57. I would also recommend ‘The Hour I First Believed’ by Wally Lamb, as well. You’ll find his books to be very thoughtful. I remember having to put one of his books down one or more times just to sit and think about what he wrote in a deeper sense. He’s incredible.

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  58. I had one of those coconut drinks in Honduras. Aren’t they fantastic????? I’m sure you are getting lots of ideas of things you can try to replicate back home.

    Those foods all look sooo delicious.

    Too funny about El Tigre being there. What are the odds of that? You guys constantly running into orange cats must mean something. (haha)

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  59. So much delicious food! And how interesting that their granola is actually more like voo! I’m sure we’ll be seeing the re-make of that on your breakfast menu soon!~ Right? 🙂 And a horse at the beach! That’s awesome, and I’ve always dreamed of galloping on the sand, but first I gotta learn how to lol.

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  62. I’m so jealous of your unique journey! What fun you guys seem like you’re having, and you both most certainly deserve it 🙂
    And yes, there really is NOTHING like drinking out of a fresh coconut. You’ll never go back to packaged again, promise :).

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  65. Everything looks amazing! There’s a new fiction book coming out in January called 150 pounds by Kate Rockland. It’s about two food/fitness bloggers who paths cross when they meet on the Oprah show, and one outweighs the other by 100 pounds. I can’t wait to read it – looks like a fun and easy read.
    Have a wondeful rest of your vacation. Its cold and rainy here, so I love looking at your pics!

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    • I just sent that to Kath! Read a review in PW. I also sent it to my agent, since I’m writing a kids’ blogging novel We’ll all need to read 150 pounds and discuss!

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  67. I just came back from Thailand where I had a fresh coconut like that with every meal. Best thing ever! I love that your vacation meals are still very healthy. Have fun!

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  68. Both your breakfasts looked amazing! I like the idea of lightly toasted granola with milk and fruit – looks delicious, and how can you go wrong with banana pancakes. I think I’ll have to make some for… dinner tonight!

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  69. The views, the pace, the food, all the pictures..thank you for sharing it all.

    Makes me feel like my vacation is still going…at least a little bit 🙂

    There is something about smoothies, too, when in the Caribbean that I could drink nonstop. But blogging about them in December when most people are shivering stops me from going too overboard but sometimes I just have to. Lol

    Glad you’re having a great time!

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  71. Kath- Where are you getting your outfits? I’m loving the laid back adventure travel island look. I’m going to Mexico for a wedding in May and have no clue where to get some beach wear.

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  73. matt’s face! hahaha. the first photo of him is one of my favorites. hilarious. and that papaya drink sounds delightful.

    i don’t care for the coconut water drinks, but we hacked into a real coconut a few years ago, and it was so amazing! i haven’t done it since… it was way too tough. haha.

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  75. Ha, I guess you’ve never been to a Chinatown in a big city! Coconuts with a straw are a very popular snack from sidewalk vendors.

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  78. Ok, so I’ve been signed off since Christmas due to a stomach bug and It took me awhile to realize what was going on, at first I thought “oh that’s nice Kath found a coconut in winter” and “hm, wonder why she’s wearing a dress in winter?….ooooh she’s not here” I’m a little slow but now that I see you’re in Jamaica I hope you and Matt are having a great time with all that great food and weather!! : )

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  82. So, I am not sure about Jamaica, but my husband is from St. Vincent, and we have a pumpkin vine there…the taste of pumpkin there is just totally different… Much more squashy…slice, steam and add salt and pepper kind of squash… but I digress… Maybe u come to St. Vincent next time, stay in our guest house and have permanent tour guides??? Any excuse for a trip to the islands!!!! 😀

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