Banner Day at the Cabrelli Household

What's with ricotta and strawberries? Let me explain...

When we started this blog we were excited at the prospect of sharing this big scary adventure with our family and friends. We would post brilliant insights on Bahamian life and share the thrill of living on the ocean in a sun-drenched country. We would regale you all constantly with wonderful stories of doing something so very... different.

Well - as of today we have been living on Water's Edge for about 6 months and it hasn't exactly turned out that way. After the initial nightmare of our actual move and our adjustment to the island style, it turns out that we live a very quiet life. Apart from missing Emily we are nicely settled in to our routines of daily walks, swims and (now that Emily is gone) accidental 10 hour working days - it's very easy to sit in an office overlooking the ocean, working away, and not realize that it is all of a sudden 7:00pm and you are still sitting in front of the computer. There isn't much of a rush to get home and relax since we are already there, and already doing it.

So it with that in mind that I request you not laugh at our Banner Day. The plan was to get up early and walk to the grocery store for breakfast. Well early turned in to Sunday morning late and with the European Championship Final looming and some work to do this morning, we decided to drive instead. The grocery stores only open for a few hours on Sunday morning and are always packed. This morning was no exception and we were also treated to the store sound system blasting out the crazy sermon of an evangelical preacher. I won't share with you the details of today's sermon as it is not appropriate for public reading but let me just tell you that Bahamians are not shy about expressing their views on sexuality.

I digress - we walked in to the produce section and a heavenly sight stood before me. It was a tray of recently delivered strawberries and they weren't moldy. Let me repeat that... they were not moldy. A very unusual and exciting find that turned our average day in to a day that we could spend looking forward to strawberries for desert. I will tell you that I was unable to create the planned guacamole, as unfortunately the $2.99 tiny Haas avocados were moldy... oh well. But wait, the day got amazingly better... ricotta cheese! They had ricotta cheese! The only other time we have managed ricotta cheese is when we drove all the way across the island to the tiny gourmet market and bought a teeny tiny tub for $9.00.

So our banner day has begun - a drive, a swim, scoring at the grocery store, the European Championship Final and later tonight, with a glass of wine in hand, strawberries and ricotta cheese out on the patio overlooking the ocean.

Calm down. Please try and control your excitement.

She's Off!

Well Emily has had her fun week with Nanny & Grandad and she's of on her trip across America! Tom has started a really nice looking blog (man sometimes I wish I was a Maccy) to track their adventures. It's here...

Tom's Blog

Through the Lens

Lisa here... one of my favorite bloggers Hallie, who blogs at From the Rubber Room is graciously hosting a photography class on her blog. One look at her photos on her site and you will want to do it too. The first assignment was to "read your camera manual" which I did last night. And... surprise, surprise actually learned quite a few things I didn't know.

Now I am still very much of the belief that you can know everything in the world about photography but if you don't have Hallie's or Keith's eye you won't be able to take good pictures. But feeling inspired by my new knowledge I decided to tackle the Desert Rose. This is my favorite plant in out garden. It has these bare, vulnerable, silver branches that randomly and sparingly sprout these gorgeous flowers from the very tip.

Here's my go... I know I didn't do it justice but I certainly did better than I would have yesterday thanks to Hallie's first lesson. I can't wait for more.

New Family Members

We have a pretty diverse household here at Water's Edge. A Scotsman, an English woman, an American girl, a big fat black cat, a skinny fierce tabby cat, quite a few guest lizards, the occasional ant invasion, the resident stingrays... and now we can apparently add sparrows to our household tally. A pair of sparrows have very decidely chosen our patio plam tree as their new home and they are making it very, very clear. Even as I sit here typing I hear them calling to me through the open french doors. "We are here, we are here!" They have been perching on the roof of the bar, swinging in the palm leaves and sitting on the sea wall shouting for about 3 days. Well, OK one of them flies around shouting while the other works extremly hard on building a nest - flying in every few minutes with another branch or piece of useful fluff. Guess which one is the man and which one is the women. We only hope they don't fly low enough for toothless Ow to gum them to death.

Ch...ch....ch...changes....

Turn and face the strange!

Well when things happen around here it seems they happen very quickly. It feels as though we only just moved here and now Emily is off for her summer Holidays. She left on Friday and laughed at Lisa when she cried at the airport. How did super emotional Lisa end up with such a confident and independent child? Now Emily is safely ensconced with Nanny and Grandad and is having a grand time swimming in their pool and showing off her new swimming skills, sharing her amazing end of year school report, as well as watching too much television and being completely pampered - just her style. Emily's Dad has promised some sort of blog or accesible record of their summer adventures, so we are looking forward to that.

The business is changing too. Mark and Lisa are off to China next month to get product for Emily Rose. This is a big step for us and we are really thrilled to be moving forward sooner than we had expected - but an opportunity arose that we just couldn't pass up. Lisa's Dad is already scoping business spaces nearby after Lisa's request of this morning (he doesn't waste any time)! Michelle is trying to adjust to her new schedule and we are asking her to adjust yet again. Michelle and Ryan take it all in stride and I think may be secretly thrilled to have their house back :-)

We'll keep you updated. Ch...ch....changes!

I'm Lame - Michelle's Not...

I must admit our posting have been pretty lame over the last few weeks. Business has been absorbing most of our time and Emily's end of year activities the rest of it.

I'm stealing today. My sister Michelle wrote a post for the Emily Rose business blog, Raising American Girls, and I so enjoyed it I wanted to share it with everyone who has been bored to death by our posts over the last few weeks but are polite enough to continue reading :-).

You can read it here.

Counting Down...

So Emily is off on her adventures on Friday and Mark and Lisa are struggling (OK, especially Lisa, she's the emotional one). Emily however, is not struggling at all. The count down for the end of school and for her departure has just been a non-stop party. Starting with last Friday night when the PTA had a BBQ party out at the Rugby Club (the field where Mark also plays soccer). It was $15 to get in and was billed as a great party with bouncy castles and slides. Turns out the fun wasn't included in the entry fee - every turn on the bouncy castle and slide cost $1-2. Oh well. The next day Emily had an evening party at a classmate's house (mansion) over at the Ocean Club. They had trampolines, a pool, jacuzzi, catered picnic, and the whole staff from "Club Rush" (Kid's Club) at the Atlantis to manage further entertainment. Sunday we had some friends over with their kids (who are in Emily's class) and she spent the day swimming and playing in the pool. Monday she had a party with her advanced class where they ate bacon sandwiches and orange slices. Tuesday she went to the aforementioned "Club Rush" for her class party. Today she is allowed to swimming at the school pool as much as she wants. Tomorrow we are taking her (after school) for a last hurrah on Cabbage Beach. Friday she arrives at Nanny's for a summer filled with fun. It's tough to be Emily :-)

Her life is definitely very different from Lisa's or Mark's at her age. Yesterday - when Lisa asked her if she was sure she knew what time she needed to be picked up, she told her if anything changed she would call me from the phone in the library. "It's one of those really old-fashioned ones Mommy - you know the ones with that curly wire and the handle". And here was Lisa thinking she was going to tell her it had a dial. Nope - that would be pre-historic.

Parle Italiano?

It's probably pretty obvious with a name like "Cabrelli" that Mark is of Italian descent. People often get very confused when he speaks with an unmistakable Scottish accent after they hear his name and look at him. Both his Mother and Father's Parents went to Scotland to seek their fortune at the turn of the 20th century and there they stayed. But - every summer Mark and his family returned to his Grandfather's home (above) in a little mountain village in Italy, driving all the way from Scotland - the whole family in a single car. Now the house belongs to Mark's family and we try and go once a year, although it doesn't always work out that way. The indomitable Sundie is there at this very minute after leaving for Italy only days after she returned from the Bahamas. Lisa struggles in Italy as she does not speak Italian (as do most of the Cabrelli family) and there is very little English spoken in the mountains.

So... what is one to do. Lisa and Mark had invited their new friend Sara over for coffee to help her with her English conversation skills. While she was here she made a great suggestion... how about we learn Italian (well Mark practices and Lisa learns) while she learns English. Great idea! Now we will be meeting twice a week to see how much Italian Sara can squeeze out of one language Lisa. We'll let you know how it goes.

We Were Walking

Wow - We just looked at the last post date and realized we have been very delinquent in our updates. We blame in on the preparation for Emily's imminent departure back to the good old U,S of A to have summer with her Daddy. She is very much looking forward (and who wouldn't be) to hanging with Daddy as they visit her cousin's in Kansas City, explore the Rocky Mountains of Colrado, traipse through Yellowstone National Park and then chill for a week in the Adirondacks. She is also thrilled to be starting and ending her trip with a two weeks at Nanny's house where she will be sufficiently pampered and spoiled. We will miss her terribly but she won't miss us - which is a good thing :-)

In the mean time Mark and Lisa have embarked on some new health habits they hope to continue throughout the summer. A long walk around the "block" followed by swimming laps EVERY morning - either in the ocean if it calm enough or in the pool. The swimming laps part is Lisa's favourite as she is usually soaked through when they finally get back to the house. It's hot here! Lisa is a regular reader of Tammi's blog who walks her morning walk through the Canadian prairie. Tammi has been posting regular photo tours of her surroundings which inspired us to post photos of our morning walk - if only so Tammi could see how different the view is from here.

Could the view be any better?

Yes - when you add a rainbow!




We had a lovely, relaxed dinner with our friends and neighbours, Michael and Cindi last night. Michael grilled some amazing filet mignon and we had baked potatoes and a delicious arugula salad with goat cheese. Emily was in heaven as she always is when it comes to filet mignon. It was a fabulous evening.

The weather around here has been questionable this week. The sun is shining but it has been very, very windy. It poured down with rain last night but we need it (plus we got a rainbow). We have a rain water tank in the house that provides us with water and can be "topped off" by city water when it gets low. We have been praying for rain as we don't want to "top off" at all. Apparently we had some kind of leak in our city water pipes and our first quarterly bill was for $1,300!! Now we are afraid to turn the city water back on. We may need to resort to boiling the ocean or drinking the pool.

Una Bella Notte

Just when we were posting about the merits of Italian food we had a lovely home-made Italian meal at our new found friends Sara and Thomas on Thursday night. It may sound blasé but its true, we met on the set of the movie we were doing together....the extras on Duplicity! Sara is Italian from Florence and has joined her boy friend in the Bahamas. Thomas is more complicated - Bahamian born with a French Dad and German Mum and has lived in France, Italy and Switzerland. The advantages are that he speaks 4 languages fluently.

Like all good Italian women Sara is gastronomically well-versed. We were treated to lasagna with spinach and ricotta (a North Italy specialty filling for pasta) followed by home-made tiramisu. All was marvelous especially the tiramisu which was filled with cream and mascarpone on a bed of coffee sponge. The coffee really gave it a spark - tiramisu in Italian literally means "pick me up".

After dinner we played on Thomas’ Mac with some weird lenses. Here are some pictures; both regular and weird.

Speed Trials

Emily has been swimming for 3 and a half months. She loves it! She could swim before but really only underwater or doggie paddle. She has always been very comfortable in the water but didn't know any official strokes. The swimming program at St. Andrews is excellent. It is run by a married couple (Nancy and Andy) who are just amazing teachers. Apparently their son is an olympian and we think that Andy might have been too but we haven't been able to get the whole story.

A few weeks ago Nancy told Emily that she should come to "Speed Trials" which we assumed was a test to see if the swimmer was fast enough to swim on the St. Andrew's swim team. Emily was very excited at first, we got all geared up to go, and then she woke the morning of the trials with reservations. She didn't want to do it. We decided that although we couldn't make her swim that she should at least go to the trials and watch. We all went and she regained some of her initial interest and decided she would go next time. That next time was on Wednesday.

Emily swam in the 25M butterfly, the 50M breast and the 50M freestyle, the heats were set up like races to encourage faster times. Although Emily didn't make the times for the strokes(although she really wasn't that far off in any of them) we discovered that the times weren't to place for the swim team at all. The trials were to place for the Nationals.

The best part about the entire experience was Emily's attitude and approach. We have a little perfectionist in our midst. After the 25M butterfly (her least strongest stroke by far) when she placed 3rd and did not make the time, we kind of expected her not to want to swim again since she wasn't the "best". But - all she was interested in was running over to tell us her time. She didn't care what it was she was just so pleased that she had swam the race. Her comment to us coming home was "well most of those people have been swimming a very long time and I am only just learning."

We could not have been more proud of her.

Prima La Cucina

Being of Northern Italian extraction Mark is something of a food snob. Unless the parmesan is Gran Pedano or the salami Felino or the mushroom porcini or the wine Chianti etc. then all Italian food is sub standard. There is some logic to this as the region his family is from is Emilia Romagna which is renowned for its simple, pure and flavorful ingredients. In fact Mark's view of food is to use good quality product and keep it as simple as possible. It was with some trepidation then when Mark's Mum brought over a cookbook that claimed 3 generations of Italian cooking. However what a gift this turned out to be. The author's family came from Northern Italy and most of the recipes are rustic, basic and authentic. The book is "Angela Hartnett's Cucina" and she is a protégé of Gordon Ramsay (who you either love or hate).


Of particular note is her Mushroom Ragu. You see Mark is a mushroom nut and since he was a bambino he has been addicted to their flavor, especially porcini mushrooms. Throughout Emilia Romagna and particularly the town his family is from, Borgo Val Di Taro, pasta with a mushroom sauce is pretty much a menu ever present. A special trattoria in Borgotaro called Maria's made the best! Pasta, porcini sauce, parmesan grated on top, bread and vino rosso - perfect. The recipe was kept fairly secret as Maria was the "old nonna" type of person who was not apt to share it. Anyway she has now retired and the trattoria has changed hands and unfortunately gone downhill. But as Mark told her, she will always be his "donna de mie sogne" - the woman of his dreams. Well, she may have met her match in Angela's sauce. For the record here it is:


2tbl olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
100g dried mushrooms (porcini are best but portobello are good), covered in hot water and soaked for 20 mins
25g butter
2tsp tomato puree
50ml white wine
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Heat oil in heavy-based pan. Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and herbs and cook for 4/5 mins., until soft, but without coloring.


Drain mushrooms, reserving the soaking water.


Add butter and mushrooms to the pan, season well and cook for another 2/3 mins. Add the tomato puree and cook for 2/3 mins. Pour in the wine and allow to bubble and reduce completely. Strain the mushroom liquor and add to the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 45-60 mins., until the mixture has a thick, rich consistency. Remove the herb sprigs before serving.


Tip: the longer the sauce simmers the better the flavor! Enjoy.

Anton, Showboy and Emily

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Birthday BBQ

We have been hearing complaints about our lack of posting so we offer our apologies. Our last scheduled visitors leave today so we will be getting back in to the swing of things. Lisa's long-time friend Lou Ann and her boyfriend Steve have been with us for the last few days and we have really enjoyed their company. Emily especially enjoys the fact that Steve can throw even higher than Mark (see photo above). Lisa and Lou Ann have known each other since they were 11 when they met at the bus stop on Lisa's first day of school in the USA. Obviously they bored Mark, Steve and Emily with re-told memories and lots of laughter that only included the two of them. We had old friends and new together for a BBQ for Lisa's birthday. Our friends Michael and Cindi (our neighbours) came over as well as some new folks we have just met. Sara, who just arrived from Italy 3 months ago and is learning her English (she didn't know any when she got here) and her boyfriend Thomas. We had the great good fortune of meeting Sara on the set of Duplicity.