A few weeks ago I promised a full recap post of Carey, Ice (short for Aysegul), and I’s First We Eat workshop in the British Virgin Islands, and today I’m here to deliver. It always takes me a while to get recap posts together, I start going through the photos from the trip, a flood of memories comes over me, and I just end up sitting there reminiscing instead of actually editing and writing. And it’s always a little bittersweet, because you know that you’ll probably never be altogether with that exact same group of people again, and you miss everyone because they were all awesome. It’s been true for all the workshops I’ve done, and it was especially true for this one. We were joined by Lauren and Jake of Red & Brown, who make amazing small batch craft cocktail ingredients in upstate New York. They taught us how to use our West Elm barware to make drinks like pros, gave us a little history behind the tasty tiki cocktails we were making, and kept us hydrated. Aysegul Sanford of Foolproof Living also joined us for this workshop, and she took us all around Virgin Gorda. She guided us through The Baths, where we went for a swim at her favorite nearby tucked-away beach. We also stopped for some beers at Hog Heaven, the highest point of Virgin Gorda, and had lunch on the smallest of the Virgin Islands.
Our home base for the workshop was a beautiful house called Pelican Peak that was perched atop one of the highest points of the island of Tortola. Back on the main island, we visited Good Moon Farm, the largest single organic farm in the island chain. Frederica the farm co-owner, and Drake, the groundskeeper and farm manager, took us all around the farm, showing us the beautiful tropical produce (the sight of a 3-foot long flower stem with bananas growing out of it is something I will never forget), and giving us tastes of fruit and veggies that we’d never be able to try straight from the earth anywhere else, like fresh-picked starfruit or bright green fresh coriander pods. Carey, Ice, and I stayed at the cottage on the farm and drove over to Pelican Peak each morning during the workshop, and I can honestly say that watching the sunrise over the Caribbean from the hills of the farm was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. We took a giant crate of produce back to the house to cook with, since Carey and I had planned a menu of traditional Caribbean dishes for the whole workshop, and the farm-fresh ingredients made for the most delicious workshop we’ve had so far. I have the menu listed below with links to the recipes we used as the base for the dishes, and Carey and I were so lucky to have Ice (Aysegul) cooking these tasty dishes with us, too!
We had so many adventures during the trip, I won’t dive into them here because I’d be writing for days, but you can listen to them in our ‘British Virgin Islands’ First We Eat podcast episode where we recap the workshop and talk about all the bits before, during, and afterwards.
We had the best group of people here, and I’m so lucky I got to meet and spend time with all of them. Thank you Kaleigh, Ellen, Corie, Sean, Gwen, and Lauren for coming all the way to the islands for our sunny workshop. And a huge thanks to all of our sponsors below, without whom none of this would have been possible.
We also have another photography workshop coming up in New Mexico in June that I’ll be posting about soon, but registration just opened so I recommend securing your space while you can. Hope to see you soon! And if you want to know about registration for upcoming workshops a few days before registration opens to the broader public, you can sign up for our email list to get first dibs on upcoming workshops 🙂
It looks like you had a great time!! Such a beautiful place to be. Can't wait for Iceland xx
Thanks Shannen!! I can't wait either, it is going to be SOOOO crazy beautiful there 😀
oh wow, this looks heavenly!
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Thanks Miranda 🙂
Awww Eva.. Such gorgeous photos and great memories. It was so nice to meet you and Carey in person. Thanks again for inviting me to your workshop. <3
Hope to do it sometime again. Cheers!
It was an experience I will never forget, thank you SO MUCH Ice for all of your hard work and amazing attitude. We had so much fun with you, and I hope to see you again soon here in the states <3
I recently finished listening to the podcast about this workshop so it's pretty amazing to see the photos of it too! Are there any plans to come to Australia?
Thanks Josie!!! I am actually in the process of planning one for next year, probably will be around fall 2017. Really excited about it!!
Amazing table, amazing place, amazing decoration! Oh, I should definitely visit Iceland <3
Thank you my dear!! The Iceland workshop is all full, but we have a couple spaces left for New Mexico, and we'll be opening up registration for our Croatia workshops soon, too!
Pretty amazing table.
Thank you!
What an interesting blog. Stunning photos! The food, place and decoration all look gorgeous
Awwww thanks Tina!! <3
Wordlessly, Eva … just wonderful <3
Thank you so much my dear!! <3
This looks divine – a lovely setting for such a wonderful trip, everyone looked like they were having a fabulous time.
It was really amazing, the scenery there was so, sooooo pretty and the farm we visited, and the beach…it was all pretty much perfect!
Eva, I write for my food blog "Thyme" here in New Hampshire. I just wanted to compliment you on your beautiful workshops and photography. I've been seeing your work for awhile and everything is so well thought out. I look forward to listening to some of your podcasts soon!
Thank you so much, Sarah!! That is so sweet of you to say 🙂 I'd love to have you join us at a future workshop, I think you'd really enjoy it!
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