Squirrel Etouffe

Neither rain nor snow nor a case of sinus crud that would stop a rogue rhino in its tracks shall keep me from my appointed blog round! Come to think of it, the inside of head feels like a rogue rhino has been tromping around in it.

In addition to the Francisco Cespedes CD reviewed Wednesday, I picked up a lot of good music in the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico. For starters, there's Arroz con Habichuela (Norte 8869 702756 2) from Puerto Rico's beloved El Gran Combo. Check them out here. I also found a nice reggae CD on St Martin by Rey (see picture) called Mo Music Mo Money. Rey had a little CD store in the St Martin flea market; when I told him that I wanted to avoid tourist schlock, he recommended his own CD. God helps those who hype themselves! There's also an assortment of Afro-Rican bomba music called Raices (Banco Popular BPPR-2001-CD) that ranges from percussion solos to full band arrangements, and Rumba Buhaina (Random Chance RCD 25), a fine Latin jazz offering from Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band.

Finally, for all of you who have been waiting for this -- and there are a lot of you -- here's the recipe you've been craving. You can find the cage-free, all organic main ingredient right in your own back yard with no worries of harvesting an endangered species. Feast away!