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What do you like to cook at your villa?
What do you like to cook at your villa?
I don't mind the idea of cooking on vacation but I just don't like it to feel like "home" so I'm always looking for something different and easy to boot.
So for you experienced villa goers, what do you like to cook? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, anything!
So for you experienced villa goers, what do you like to cook? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, anything!
Breakfast is the meal we eat most often at the house. Cereal is popular 
Followed closely by a simple breakfast sandwich - bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted english muffin.
For lunch we split between trips to Skinny Leg's, Island Blues & a must stop at the Deli in Mongoose with things made at home consisting of hotdogs on the grill & chips or sandwiches (pbj and lunch meats being the most popular). Nothing fancy there.
Usually when we travel with a group we alternate nights of cooking with nights out with each couple taking a night. Typically ending up eating out more often then in. Last trip we did burgers on the grill and a salad one night, a pan sauteed shrimp and scallops with rice on night and a night of spinach salad and chicken. Pasta is easy to whip up too.
Another fall back is pizza from Ronnie's ... absolutely DIVINE!
Followed closely by a simple breakfast sandwich - bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted english muffin. For lunch we split between trips to Skinny Leg's, Island Blues & a must stop at the Deli in Mongoose with things made at home consisting of hotdogs on the grill & chips or sandwiches (pbj and lunch meats being the most popular). Nothing fancy there.
Usually when we travel with a group we alternate nights of cooking with nights out with each couple taking a night. Typically ending up eating out more often then in. Last trip we did burgers on the grill and a salad one night, a pan sauteed shrimp and scallops with rice on night and a night of spinach salad and chicken. Pasta is easy to whip up too.
Another fall back is pizza from Ronnie's ... absolutely DIVINE!
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Bob & Anita
- Posts: 611
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:20 pm
- Location: Charlotte, NC
Like Flip Flop, breakfast is the meals we eat most at the villa, which typically consist of bagels and/or eggs. We buy Canadian bacon so we can cook it on the grill to minimize dishes to clean. Bob typically handles any breakfast cooking.
For the few dinners we have eaten at the villa we planned them so the entire dinner can be cooked on the grill in order to minimize dishes to clean. Bob does the grilling, which he likes to do and helps keeps Anita out of the kitchen – wouldn’t be much of a vacation if Anita had to spend much time in the kitchen. We've grilled different types of fish, bacon-wrapped scallops, scrimp, chicken, steaks and vegetables. We like to use the grill rubs from St John Spice for the fish, scrimp and chicken dishes.
We usually eat lunches out or bring a picnic lunch.
For the few dinners we have eaten at the villa we planned them so the entire dinner can be cooked on the grill in order to minimize dishes to clean. Bob does the grilling, which he likes to do and helps keeps Anita out of the kitchen – wouldn’t be much of a vacation if Anita had to spend much time in the kitchen. We've grilled different types of fish, bacon-wrapped scallops, scrimp, chicken, steaks and vegetables. We like to use the grill rubs from St John Spice for the fish, scrimp and chicken dishes.
We usually eat lunches out or bring a picnic lunch.
Bob & Anita
I was cooking tuna tonight which I think made me post this. Even though I've never been there I was wishing I had some STJ Spice for my fish!
We often have an appetizer night on a Friday - drinks and nibbles - so I can see us doing that some nights or afternoons.
But agreed, doing dishes is not where it's at!
Thankfully Charlie is up early and gets the coffee ground
and brewing before I rise 
We often have an appetizer night on a Friday - drinks and nibbles - so I can see us doing that some nights or afternoons.
But agreed, doing dishes is not where it's at!
Thankfully Charlie is up early and gets the coffee ground
and brewing before I rise 
For dinner, we eat in about half the time, then out the other half. John is the resident griller...if I am in charge of the grill things end up really charred! I am especially lucky in that John is also the kitchen cleaner!
Last trip we enjoyed grilling shrimp for dinner a few nights. I served with a simple garlic aioli for dipping--just mayo doctored with lemon juice, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. We did grilled chicken a few nights too, with barbeque sauce. Another night we had a tasty pasta with grape tomatoes, asparagus, and bacon. Veggies are whatever we can find that looks OK at the market: when we've been there we thought that the spinach was usually good looking, as were the squashes and broccoli.
Breakfast is always just some toast, sliced fruit, and a cup of tea.
Lunch is usually leftovers from the previous night's dinner.
Last trip we enjoyed grilling shrimp for dinner a few nights. I served with a simple garlic aioli for dipping--just mayo doctored with lemon juice, chopped garlic, salt and pepper. We did grilled chicken a few nights too, with barbeque sauce. Another night we had a tasty pasta with grape tomatoes, asparagus, and bacon. Veggies are whatever we can find that looks OK at the market: when we've been there we thought that the spinach was usually good looking, as were the squashes and broccoli.
Breakfast is always just some toast, sliced fruit, and a cup of tea.
Lunch is usually leftovers from the previous night's dinner.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
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StJohnRuth
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:42 pm
- Location: St. John, VI
Mary Beth, Mary Beth....
It's hard to answer this, not knowing what you and your beloved like to do.
I think it's obvious from the posts so far that everyone has different preferences on vacation.
We're no different. I LOOOOOVE to eat out and Ron loves to eat at home.
I will suggest that this trip for you will not be typical of future St. John trips (I know there will be many!), since you will be resting from and reliving many months of preparing for and anticipating a major wedding event.
I can offer our tips for when we stay at a villa on St. John, which we actually do a few times a year and which is the closest thing to a vacation we get lately. Our experience is not typical in the sense that we still go to work every almost every morning and try to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. The situation is like yours in that we don't want it to be "like home" (two miles away) and we really want it to be restful.
Not knowing if you'd prefer to be out and about and checking eveything out or if you'd rather be by yourselves and just have everything you need at your fingertips, here's what I suggest.
I think you already have the coffee thing covered.
We never cook a full breakfast at home. Too much work for us. We get muffins or cereal at Starfish Market. We get a bunch of sandwich meats and rolls and some potato salad. If we decide to hang by the pool all day we're covered. If we want to pack sandwiches for the beach, we're covered.
I get lots of snack stuff. Chips, stuff for salsa dip (cream cheese, shredded mozzarella, sour cream), cheese and crackers, olives, baby carrots, more cream cheese (I could eat cream cheese with dirt, I love it), a raspberry jalapeno spread. Some fruit. Snacks are covered.
We buy meat or chicken to grill a large meal if you feel like it(leftovers good for another lunch) and of course(!) bring our own grill rubs. Some salad stuff. Potatoes for the microwave and butter. Easy stuff. A meal is covered.
Then you relax and decide what you want to do every day. Repeat as necessary.
Don't get so much food that you have to stay home and eat it all, but don't buy nothing so you have to go out even if you don't feel like it. Plan on going to the grocery store a few times. Don't do it all at once and commit yourselves to what you have to consume.
Relax!!!
See you soon.
-Ruth
It's hard to answer this, not knowing what you and your beloved like to do.
I think it's obvious from the posts so far that everyone has different preferences on vacation.
We're no different. I LOOOOOVE to eat out and Ron loves to eat at home.
I will suggest that this trip for you will not be typical of future St. John trips (I know there will be many!), since you will be resting from and reliving many months of preparing for and anticipating a major wedding event.
I can offer our tips for when we stay at a villa on St. John, which we actually do a few times a year and which is the closest thing to a vacation we get lately. Our experience is not typical in the sense that we still go to work every almost every morning and try to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. The situation is like yours in that we don't want it to be "like home" (two miles away) and we really want it to be restful.
Not knowing if you'd prefer to be out and about and checking eveything out or if you'd rather be by yourselves and just have everything you need at your fingertips, here's what I suggest.
I think you already have the coffee thing covered.
We never cook a full breakfast at home. Too much work for us. We get muffins or cereal at Starfish Market. We get a bunch of sandwich meats and rolls and some potato salad. If we decide to hang by the pool all day we're covered. If we want to pack sandwiches for the beach, we're covered.
I get lots of snack stuff. Chips, stuff for salsa dip (cream cheese, shredded mozzarella, sour cream), cheese and crackers, olives, baby carrots, more cream cheese (I could eat cream cheese with dirt, I love it), a raspberry jalapeno spread. Some fruit. Snacks are covered.
We buy meat or chicken to grill a large meal if you feel like it(leftovers good for another lunch) and of course(!) bring our own grill rubs. Some salad stuff. Potatoes for the microwave and butter. Easy stuff. A meal is covered.
Then you relax and decide what you want to do every day. Repeat as necessary.
Don't get so much food that you have to stay home and eat it all, but don't buy nothing so you have to go out even if you don't feel like it. Plan on going to the grocery store a few times. Don't do it all at once and commit yourselves to what you have to consume.
Relax!!!
See you soon.
-Ruth
Funny Ruth.. you sound like us! We don't plan to "plan" meals as that is what I mean about being too much like home! More likely we will go out one night and on the way back stop at Starfish to get the next night's meal .. or something like that!
We really have NOTHING planned for this trip... just taking it as it comes!
We really have NOTHING planned for this trip... just taking it as it comes!
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StJohnRuth
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:42 pm
- Location: St. John, VI
Beer can chicken, jerk pork, buttermilk pancakes...
When we have a group we cook in most nights. Our gang loves to cook, so we usually have a couple of folks working on something every day. This may sound like a lot, but if you are good in a kitchen it goes fast.
Beer can chickens and a jerked pork butt rubbed with Jerome's hot sauce and then coated with St. John Jerk is a favorite. The pork takes 4 hours and the chickens 2 hours on a low gas grill. Just start before happy hour and dinner is ready to go after sunset. Serve with rice and peas; the easiest recipe in the world is 4 cups rice + water as directed with a can of pigeon peas and enough Sazon seasoning to give a nice color. I love having Sazon packets in the cabinet here in Virginia with a Starfish Market price tag.
Buttermilk pancakes are always a breakfast hit. The recipe in the original Joy of Cooking tripled makes enough pancakes for 8. Breakfast for 8 would be about $10 if we did not go through 3 bottles of champagne and a half gallon of orange juice for mimosas followed by a round of bloody marys (our bloody mary expert sleeps late).
For a special snack I'll make pommes frites belgian style (vlamse frites or flemish fries). Peel and slice the potatoes and soak them in water; they will keep 24 hours in water if refrigerated. Cook in 265F oil until limp, cool to room temperature while you cook the rest, then crisp at 375F in small batches. Serve with fun sauces. Make sure you protect the bits while cooking this.
Oh, and we use the bone from the jerk pork and any left over bits to make black bean soup (Pine Peace Market has dried beans).
Hell, I almost have to wait until Thanksgiving to do this again. We used the last of our stash of our St. John Jerk Sunday of Labor Day weekend to cook 3 big beer can chickens for 10 people. The Jerome's is down to a titch, but our homemade homegrown habanero papaya hot sauce is pulling the weight. My homemade Jerk Rub is not as good as what I buy Dockside at St. John Spice!
I've got my kitchen utensil fetish under control. The only thing I bring down is a good water stone to sharpen the poorly used knives in the villa.
Cheers, RickG
Beer can chickens and a jerked pork butt rubbed with Jerome's hot sauce and then coated with St. John Jerk is a favorite. The pork takes 4 hours and the chickens 2 hours on a low gas grill. Just start before happy hour and dinner is ready to go after sunset. Serve with rice and peas; the easiest recipe in the world is 4 cups rice + water as directed with a can of pigeon peas and enough Sazon seasoning to give a nice color. I love having Sazon packets in the cabinet here in Virginia with a Starfish Market price tag.
Buttermilk pancakes are always a breakfast hit. The recipe in the original Joy of Cooking tripled makes enough pancakes for 8. Breakfast for 8 would be about $10 if we did not go through 3 bottles of champagne and a half gallon of orange juice for mimosas followed by a round of bloody marys (our bloody mary expert sleeps late).
For a special snack I'll make pommes frites belgian style (vlamse frites or flemish fries). Peel and slice the potatoes and soak them in water; they will keep 24 hours in water if refrigerated. Cook in 265F oil until limp, cool to room temperature while you cook the rest, then crisp at 375F in small batches. Serve with fun sauces. Make sure you protect the bits while cooking this.
Oh, and we use the bone from the jerk pork and any left over bits to make black bean soup (Pine Peace Market has dried beans).
Hell, I almost have to wait until Thanksgiving to do this again. We used the last of our stash of our St. John Jerk Sunday of Labor Day weekend to cook 3 big beer can chickens for 10 people. The Jerome's is down to a titch, but our homemade homegrown habanero papaya hot sauce is pulling the weight. My homemade Jerk Rub is not as good as what I buy Dockside at St. John Spice!
I've got my kitchen utensil fetish under control. The only thing I bring down is a good water stone to sharpen the poorly used knives in the villa.
Cheers, RickG
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Tracy in WI
- Posts: 1624
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:39 am
- Location: Wisconsin
Wow Rick - I think I'll join you too! Everything you mentioned sounds delicious.
We usually keep it very, very simple. Breakfast in - cereal or eggs and bacon with bagels, lunch is out 3 or so times and PB & J sandwiches with fruit and snacks 3-4 times (funny how I never have them at home, but they are so good on STJ!) and we eat out almost every dinner. My husband is not a cook and I prefer not to cook on vacation. This too we keep simple - Uncle Joe's, the Beach Bar's blackened mahi sandwiches and we'll hit the Lime Inn at least once.
We usually keep it very, very simple. Breakfast in - cereal or eggs and bacon with bagels, lunch is out 3 or so times and PB & J sandwiches with fruit and snacks 3-4 times (funny how I never have them at home, but they are so good on STJ!) and we eat out almost every dinner. My husband is not a cook and I prefer not to cook on vacation. This too we keep simple - Uncle Joe's, the Beach Bar's blackened mahi sandwiches and we'll hit the Lime Inn at least once.
Tracy, Seaside Properties at Grande Bay
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Jan&MikeVa
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:32 pm
- Location: The Chesapeake Bay
ME TOO!!! I'll start with beer can chicken. Rick can you give me the recipe?? Sounds interesting.
WHAT do we like to cook at our villa....anything! We tend to snack a lot and have Happy Hour while on STJ, so we're not always really hungry at dinner. We usually throw something on the grill and have salad or grilled fruit. I marinate chicken and pork to take with us along with steaks and burger meat. We'll add rice or a potato with some meals, we prefer to keep it simple but fresh. We eat dinner out a couple of times and look for seafood.
Lunch is out or sandwiches on the beach. Breakfast is usually hit and run, although hubby will cook up a BIG one a couple of times while on Island.
LOT's of GOOD tips here, thanks for the question.
Jan (aka Charlie)
WHAT do we like to cook at our villa....anything!
We tend to snack a lot and have Happy Hour while on STJ, so we're not always really hungry at dinner. We usually throw something on the grill and have salad or grilled fruit. I marinate chicken and pork to take with us along with steaks and burger meat. We'll add rice or a potato with some meals, we prefer to keep it simple but fresh. We eat dinner out a couple of times and look for seafood.Lunch is out or sandwiches on the beach. Breakfast is usually hit and run, although hubby will cook up a BIG one a couple of times while on Island.
LOT's of GOOD tips here, thanks for the question.
Jan (aka Charlie)