At Forty Winks, we strive to start our guests’ days off right. That’s why ensuring that they are greeted by a hot pot of coffee or tea and a made-to-order breakfast is high on our priority list. We have become famous for our breakfast fare, always fresh, always exciting and always delicious. And now we’re taking that to the next level with freshly baked breads and other goodies, made in-house.

Our team recently enjoyed a session with a local chef, who helped enhance our  baking skills. We made white bread and raisin-oat muffins. Both turned out really well and were delicious. Our guests loved them, and of course, there were many requests for seconds! Since that session, we have been baking up a storm. In 2012, our guests can look forward to more yummy, freshly baked goodies. Bon appetit!

The ingredients for raisin-oat muffins.

Forty Winks owner Pam gets the baking session started.

Mixing the muffin batter with a smile.

The ladies get the muffin batter just right.

Freshly baked raisin-oat muffins out of the oven.

Yumm!

We are especially worried when we have no contact with the guests before, for instance if they book through a booking engine or travel agent and we don’t get their information. When this happens, we have no way of contacting them directly to assist in making arrangements for them prior to arrival, which is essential before a big holiday. Getting anything down on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day when people are eating, drinking and making merry is huge task.

So we remember all too well when we got the booking for the folks who wrote this wonderful review. Firstly, they were our first ever visitors from Estonia, and we really wanted to ensure they enjoyed their stay. But we couldn’t reach them to find out what sightseeing plans we could make for them; and we could scarcely find things for them to do on Christmas day. Needless to say we were nervous. So it was amazing to see what Eve, a member of the group, posted on TripAdvisor.

Have a read:

“We were stupid enough to plan our stay on Trinidad during Christmas. Only when it became impossible to rent a car for those days (and then we were not aware yet, that finding a place to eat is almost impossible also), we understood that we are in trouble. The staff of Forty Winks saved our holidays. They managed to book us a taxi with driver – Lester, who was actually to be a wonderful guide, and did not leave us to die from hunger. The hotel itself was clean and cosy. The rooms fine to have a good rest after exciting day looking round in Trinidad. The breakfast was delicious, exactly as was promised: “will be served nice and hot when you come out of your rooms”. I would definitely recommend this hotel to stay in Port of Spain due to its friendly staff, good location and good value.” - Eve from Estonia

Dec 1: International World Aids Day Activities

Dec 1- 4: Assembly Day (Tobago)

Dec 4: Come to La Laja: A Herb Walk with Francis Morean & Friends

Dec 4: National Parang Competition Preliminaries in Tabaquite

Dec 6: Hosay Festival

Dec 10: National Parang Competition Semi-Finals in Lopinot

Dec 17: National Parang Competition Finals in Port of Spain

Dec 18: Naparima Girls’ High School Grand Reunion

Dec 25: Christmas Day

Dec 26: Boxing Day

Dec 26: Tobago Flying Colours Kite Flying Festival

GOT AN EVENT you’d like to share on our calendar? Send upcoming events to howtostay@fortywinkstt.com; Subject: For Event Calendar

A Traditional Trini Christmas spread - baked ham with chow chow, pastelles, black cake, sorrel, apples and grapes.

Our history books claims that Christmas was first celebrated in T&T in 1967. Six Catholic priests of the Order of the Constantine introduced it, going from village to village engaging villagers in festivities that included sharing large meals. As Catholicism grew, so did the observance of this festival. Over history, several cultures have contributed to the growth and variety of our local Christmas traditions now observed. The Spanish and Latin Americans brought parang and pastelles, the French gave us the crèche, the English left us Christmas cards, tinned biscuits, and the modern day Santa Claus.

The making of the Christmas Crèche or Nativity Scene was a favourite custom long ago, when families would get together and craft one for display in their homes.

Of course, there are other vibrant traditions such as preparing the home through vigorous cleaning and renovation, attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and the making of holiday staples like black cake, baked ham, sorrel juice, ginger beer and ponche de crème. However, some of our age old customs are slowly disappearing, if they are not already extinct. Some blame it on a lack of appreciation for the “true spirit” of the festival, with the younger generations embracing the purely commercial aspect of the season.

Two favourite Trini Christmas treats - black cake and ponche de crème.

“Everything is so modern now. People can’t be bothered to make their own Christmas foods or decorations. They just buy everything,” comments 72 year old Port-of-Spain resident Esta Joseph, who fondly recalls Christmas boiling salted hams on the makeshift stove in her front yard. A Crix tin was used, and the ham was boiled, softened and sweetened up on a then mud oven or a makeshift barrel oven. “Back then we didn’t get ready-to-cook hams like what we have in the grocery now,” she remembers.

A Christmas must have, pastelles were brought to T&T by the Cocoa Panyol people of Venezuela.

Black cake was baked in a similar fashion, which was functional at the time since most Trinbagonians didn’t own a large stove with an oven. It was the common practice up until the 1960’s and still is in some rural areas. While today baking your Christmas goodies in the yard is unnecessary, the elders insisted the practice was not simply a means to an end, but it was a way bringing together members of the family and community. “Christmas was a time for the family. Christmas was for the children; they were the most excited ones in the preparations,” recalls Miss June, a respected school official. She laments the loss of local holiday traditions and attributes their demise to the neglect of family activities during the season. If you ask the average teenager about some of our local holiday customs, you may understand why.

The iconic Christmas tree.

Many young people today think nothing of eating apples and grapes year around, but before the late 1980’s these fruits were only enjoyed at Christmas time, when they were temporarily removed from the Customs negative list of imported goods for the holiday season. Neither do most youth know about sancoche. Before it became the name of a local cooking show, this hearty soup, made with beef and root vegetables, was a meal to keep you up on Christmas Eve during last minute household preparations that usually lasted until Christmas morning. Most young people never made a crèche or nativity scene, which was a favourite family customs of long ago. Nor do they know the fun of going house to house paranging.

The poinsettia or Flower of the Holy Night has become entrenched as a popular Christmas decoration and symbol, as it is in full bloom during the holiday season.

This brings us to the story of parang and the commercial evolution of the paranderos. While parang is still popular, with local paranderos performing at seasonal parties and functions, the traditional house-to-house paranging, which was responsible for the rise of the art form, is becoming obsolete. Parang, like many others Christmas traditions, is quickly becoming a commercial enterprise.

Some traditional parang instruments.

“There is almost no need for real players in a parang band anymore. The music is electronically stored and played in the background, and the use of box bass and guitars, and bottle spoon is not needed,” explains Kimberley Salvary of the Santa Cruz-based paranderos Sanracas. Only a few places like Paramin and Lopinot observe traditional, early Christmas morning parang. This, Salvary says, is because parang is now primarily a moneymaking business, with recent moves to incorporate different genres of music such as chutney, reggae, salsa and soca, into the art form.

A typical parandero with traditional parang instruments.

This deviation from tradition facilitates more commercial performances. Is the modernisation of parang and other Christmas traditions simply a natural progression or is it being done is the face of competition? Some believe that our annual Carnival celebrations take precedence over our observance of Christ’s birth. As such, Christmas has become a stopover festival on the way to Carnival. Traditional practices and customs have had to become commercial in order to remain relevant. Whatever the reason, it is fair to say that many people are missing out on Christmas practices that have, over generations, helped to strengthen our sense of community, culture, co-operation and overall enjoyment of this festive season.

This article has been republished with the permission of dougla Magazine (www.douglatt.com).

Here’s the review they posted on TripAdvisor.

“This is a place that I will never forget! Clean, Cool and great food! We stayed at the Forty Winks Inn for over a week and we just loved this place! It is located in a great location by many restaurants, supermarkets and not to far from downtown Port of Spain. Pam the owner is so hospitable and friendly unlike anyone else that we have ever met. If you want a piece of Trinidad this is the place to stay!”

Extravagant light displays are characteristic of T&T's Divali celebration.

Divali is celebrated by Hindus in India and around the globe. Divali, known worldwide as the Festival of Lights, derives its name from the Sanskrit word deepavali. Deepavali refers to a display of lights or deya (small clay lamps). It connotes victory of brightness over darkness and good over evil on what is believed to be the darkest night of the year. In T&T, the festival is celebrated by the young and old, rich and poor with colourful events and extravagant light displays. This year, the largest Hindu festival on the island will be celebrated on October 26.
Hindus in Trinidad celebrate Divali with a host of activities in the home where various dishes and sweets are prepared and a pooja (prayer) is performed. At dusk, everyone joins in lighting and placing the deyas around the home. The sacred festival is known to bring about positive feelings in the community and is marked by unity, cleanliness, harmony, and festivity. Although Divali is a Hindu celebration, in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Trinidadian society it is celebrated as a national holiday by people of all denominations.
Divali celebrations in Trinidad begin nine days before the actual event. During those nine nights there are dance performances, theatre, displays by various Hindu religious sects and social organizations, nightly worship of Mother Lakshmi (goddess of wealth), lighting of deyas, and partaking in Indian culinary delicacies. The festival culminates in a spectacular fireworks display.

Article taken from www.caribbeannetnews.com

A deya, the symbol of light over darkness.

An elephant-shaped bamboo structure is brought to light by hundreds of deyas.

Divali may be a Hindu festival, but in T&T everyone participates, especially when it comes to lighting deyas.

Sharing a meal with family, friends and neighbours is a traditional part of Divali celebration

1 – 2: Tobago International Cycling Classic
1 – 4: T&T Film Festival
2: International Day of the Elderly
2: Living Waters Charity Gold Tournament
6 & 7: President’s Award Golf Championship
7: Chaguanas Borough Day Celebration
9: Store Bay Open Water Classic (Tobago)
9: 2011 T&T National Triathlon Championship
9 – 15: National Fire Prevention Week
10 – 16: Junior Chamber International host West Indies National Convention
12: Chinese Arrival Day
15: World Food Day
16: Blue Food Festival (Tobago)
26: Divali
26: Breast Cancer Awareness’ Day
29: The T&T Group of Professional Associations host Annual Professional Culinary Classic
30 – 6: Animae Caribe Animation and New Media Festival

GOT AN EVENT you’d like to share on our calendar?
Send upcoming events to howtostay@fortywinkstt.com; Subject: For Event Calendar