Thanksgiving Haitian style

 In the midst of Thanksgiving preparations and dealing with family and working, I decided to take some time and look up different Thanksgiving menus because I was curious about how different groups (ie Italian-American) incorporate different dishes along with the traditional plates. So I thought that someone should document our standard Haitian-American Thanksgiving menu so why not me? Well this is my family's Thanksgiving dinner this year.

All the desserts were store bought lol...

Macaroni au gratin

dinde farci ( a l'haitienne) stuffed turkey

fried chicken

baked Ham w/ pineapple and deviled eggs

riz djon djon ( duri noir)

pikliz

beet salad ( salad russe)

potato salad

Not pictured: bannan peze ( fried plantains) and collard greens
here's my plate

This is Thanksgiving A l'Haitienne :)
Now I'm thinking about writing down the recipes for all of them and maybe some other common Haitian food for a holiday/regular party menu... I wonder if anybody is interested...

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Carnaval des Fleurs Haiti 2012

So I said I would post some favorite pictures that I've found around the net.  Here are some of them! 

I didnt have an objection to the Carnaval nor was I a strong supporter. I don't even enjoy going to Carnivals but I love colors and flowers and beautiful Haitian people so that's that lol. 

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A l'Haitienne Interior Decorating: Interieurs d'Haiti

A while ago, RuttyBee from Blurred Canvas had a post about this book called Interieurs d'Haiti by Marie Louise Fouchard and Roberto Stephenson.
I loved the pictures she showed on her blog and I thought about looking for the book but for some reason, this idea totally escaped me until i randomly decided to google some Haiti interior design stuff today and stumbled upon the book again. I was happy to find that the authors uploaded pretty much the whole book on the photographer's site. Oh. my. word. I love it!
I'm gonna post the link so you can take a look... right after i show you some of my favorite
*click on the pictures to see them better*

this room feels like home to me... seriously it looks like it was designed for me lol

Perfect relaxing place

So love this dining room!

check it out!

Phew that was a handful. Now I couldn't decide if I was going to figure out how functional my awesome bathroom really is (ie do I even have water?) or cook up a storm in my cozy kitchen so I decided to chill in my work of art library. See you guys later, thanks for checking out my future crib hahaha

Seriously though, the colors, details, character of those rooms are amazing to me and exactly how I would want to decorate my future place. Props to the photographers/ authors for capturing these great rooms.I think I'm gonna hunt down a physical copy of the book because I'm in love :)
check out more at http://www.robertostephenson.com/i/index.htm

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Kenep: Summer Stories Series

My fondest childhood memories in Haiti are lodged in the summer.
In the summer we had time for mischief, time to be creative, time to discover all kinds of things. Well at least that's how it was for my best friends and I.

Every summer was different in the amount of freedom we took, the things we discovered, and how scorching hot the weather was but one thing never changed.
Starting in July, when my mother would be doing her usual summer teaching and side hustle activities, she would leave a couple of dollars on the table for me and my best friend/cousin every morning. Without fail, we would be up bright and way earlier than kids should get up in the summer. We would grab the dollars and marched on to roam the outdoors market nearby for one thing; the sweetest kenep we could find. Later with satisfied smiles,  hands full, and sometimes a seller calling us out for sampling without buying, we would make it back to my front porch to sit there and enjoy our kenep while we  people watched.

To this day I can hear warnings from our neighbors "timoun nou manje trop kenep, yon pye kenep ap leve nan vant nou wi" We would giggle and shake our heads no, there is no such thing as too much kenep and no a tree cannot possibly grow inside our stomachs and if it did well, more kenep for us lol.

Now that i'm older and certainly not in Haiti every summer, I relish every chance I get to savor this fruit. It's amazing how I never tire of it and I'm forever telling people to try it. I'm a kenep pusher lol. I could eat it every day for the whole summer. I get ridiculously happy when someone brings me some as a gift. As a matter of fact, the bunch that my grandma brought me from Haiti last week inspired this story. 

If you're looking for it, it's usually called mamoncillo around here and sometimes you can find it in Publix stores in Florida and also different Caribbean stores everywhere else. Once I found some at a local health food store in Central Florida, so just keep your eyes open and enjoy if you find some good ones :)

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Map li ak ke kontan: Summer Stories Series

Le Jardin d'Enfant I remember those days of reading and reciting lovely poetry, drawing with chalk, singing French nursery rhymes, carefree.

 When physical education was playing non-stop tag, jump roping with cousins and friends - double dutch. The days of "M'ap Li ak Kè Kontan", listening to the grownups tell folktales, feeling sorry for Bouki while being entertained by the wits of Malice (Bouki et Ti Malice).

 The days of Alouette and dancing sur le pont d'Avignon - wondering where the "pont" was located. Every now and then, it is necessary to take a trip down memory lane. Take a journey. Bon voyage!

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Ansy Derose

Ansy Derose

Birth: 1934

From: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Genre: Folkloric

Years Active: 1963-1998

Biography:

Arntz Derose (1934-1998), better known by his artist name Ansy Derose, was a Haitian paint artist, song writer, musician, poet, designer, architect, and teacher. However, more than anything else, he is mostly recognized for being a successful singer. With the help of Mrs. Elizabeth Mathy, a French vocal teacher, Ansy debuted with his musical career at a very young age, and began by learning classical music by composers such as Beethoven, Frantz Schubert and Schumann. To further his education, he obtained a scholarship to Germany in November 1963, but unlike many of us would do, Ansy did not neglect his talents. His popularity spread to other parts of the world when he competed in the “First World Song Festival” in Mexico, in November 1970, and won the third trophy. After this big award, Ansy got many offers from America, but he refused them all because he never forgot where he came from. In other words, he went back to his country to give back to his community.

 Accomplishments:

Wife: Yole Derose (coming soon to A l’Haitienne)
 

Albums:  “Ansy, Sa Musique et sa Poesie” (1972) with great songs as Ginou, Ne pars pas, l’attente, Laura, Regina, Chacun Por soi, Inqietude, and Manvi al Lakay mwen. “Quo Vadis Terra” (1974), with his songs symboles d'espoir, Amour et fraternité, he had became one of the most successful Haitian singer. “Nou vle”(1987) , “Quand mon Coeur Bat La Mesure” (1989),  “Anakoana”, and his last album “Haiti Melodie d’Amour”.

After serving as Teacher and Principal at J.Damier for over 20 years, Ansy constructed his own school of art (L'atelier-école Ansy Dérose), which later gave birth to CECAP (le Cercle d'Etudes Culturelles et d'Actions Philanthropiques). He performed at many concerts in different regions in Haiti, as well as in the US and other parts of the world. With the help of some colleagues (Raoul Denis Jr, Lionel Benjamin, Boulot Valcourt, Henri Célestin), he created “l'Association Nationale des Auteurs Compositeurs et Interprètes de Musique” (ANACIM) with the intention of educating song writers and artists.

Ansy said goodbye to the world on January 17, 1998. Throughout his career, he transformed the art of the Haitian music industry for the better; until today, Ansy remains one of the best Haitian artists that ever lived.


This song "Nou vle" is very inspiring. The video just takes me back whenever I watch it....R.I.P. Ansy Derose, Haiti miss such talents

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Rosy Cadet - Africa

Rosie Cadet, one of the best Haitian Divas!!!! I always used to listen to her songs when I was in Haiti; As for this song, I knew all the lyrics. Sooo what really happened was that I had forgotten if this song existed, since ya'll might notice that America makes people forget their roots sometimes (lol). Anyway, thanks to my friend Estefania Celcius who reminded me of this song, it brought me a lot of memories, it reminded me of how fun Haiti used to be (Tearzzz) and I miss that…. A lot… I can’t help it now, but to listen to my Haitian music. Hope you guys like it, enjoy!!!!!
-Esthere-

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Third World Girl

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Featured Movie : Jen Manman

I haven't watched a good Haitian movie in a while. Recently I've only watched a couple of worthwhile ones by a couple I mean La Rebelle and Oasis II and those have been out for a while now hehe. Anyways I accidentally stumbled upon this movie called Jen Manman.

I'm sure I've gone past it many times because it's been out since 2008, but I sat down and watched it and I gotta say it's a very good movie. It's a very simple but effective movie, I think Haitian Parents and teenagers alike should watch. It's not full of obviously terrible actors like most Haitian movies and the story line is easy to follow but it packs in some surprises.

The plot was a little predictable but for some reason I really love this movie. I gotta say that the ending is sad but it says a continue... so I have hope lol. Have you watched it? What did you think about it? What newer Haitian movie is a must watch?

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