A "Voices of Haiti" Cruise Around New York City
I always enjoy meeting enthusiastic children who are eager to learn.
Last weekend, I was invited to speak at a very special “Voices of Haiti” cruise around Manhattan. The event, co-hosted by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, and Jet Support Services Inc., was part of a week-long series of activities for the “Voices of Haiti” children’s choir. The group is part of ABF's Break The Barriers initiative, aimed at supporting education, promoting community development, and fighting poverty in less fortunate nations. JSSI partnered with ABF and provided the flight for the choir’s first excursion to the United States.
I was honored to participate and to share my knowledge with the young, energetic crowd. I made a delicious salad for everyone using a recipe from my newest book, “Martha Stewart’s Vegetables”. I talked about nutrition and the importance of eating fresh, wholesome foods. And, I spoke about my travels to Haiti and all the delicious exotic fruits I tried there. Here are some photos.
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- More than 125-people attended the event aboard the Motor Yacht ‘Atlantica’, which was docked at New York City’s Chelsea Piers.
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- I brought various fruits and vegetables with me – some were more traditional American favorites such as apples, oranges and grapefruits.
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- I also brought more exotic foods such as this jicama, a round, fleshy taproot vegetable. Its underground starchy root is one of the popular vegetables grown in Central America, South Asia, and the Caribbean. The crispy, ice-white tuber can be eaten raw or cooked.
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- Here is a mamey, or mamey sapote, a unique, tropical tree fruit that is creamy and sweet, and a soursop, another sweet tasting fruit similar to the pawpaws I grow at my farm.
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- Other fruits included coconuts, green plantains, lychees, papayas, and mangos.
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- There were 15-tables set up for the large crowd.
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- I spoke about my newest book, “Martha Stewart’s Vegetables” – a wonderful and useful collection of recipes, tips and ideas for using nutritious veggies all year long.
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- I also did a short demo using one of the recipes, a citrus-jicama salad with grapefruit, orange, apple, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper and of course, jicama.
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- I showed our guests how I section the citrus, and invited some of the children to help me.
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- The children gave me a lovely gift – this wall sculpture is made from a recycled steel oil drum. It shows a traditional ‘tree of life’ design.
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- Sitting with the glasses is Italian classical crossover tenor, and singer-songwriter, Andrea Bocelli. He is the founder of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, which focuses on empowering populations in developing countries challenged by poverty, illiteracy and illness.
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- The luncheon celebrated the ‘Voices of Haiti’ choir, which is also performing several concerts while here in New York City.
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- Guests included 35-chidren from the choir, and their teachers. It got a little chilly on the boat, so the children put up their “hoodies”.
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- The choir members are Haitian children aged nine to 15.
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- They were all very energetic and eager to learn.
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- The yacht was full, but everyone enjoyed the cruise around Manhattan that included a brief stop at the Statue of Liberty.
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- The boat passed several points of interest. Here is a lovely view of New York City’s skyline.
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- The tall building is the Freedom Tower, One World Trade Center, the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the sixth-tallest in the world.
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- The menu included mini brioche rolls with egg salad and pumpernickel with tuna salad.
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- Avocado on toasted whole grain bread was also on the menu.
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- And here is the citrus-jicama salad I prepared.
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- An assortment of fun desserts including key lime popsicles, fresh fruit skewers, dark chocolate banana bites and Italian cannolis.
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- The desserts went pretty quickly!
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- The US flag, the flag of Haiti and the Italian flag were displayed on the tables.
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- Here I am with caterers from Marcia Selden Catering & Event Planning, Jeffery Selden and his sister, Robin Selden. It was a fun time. http://marciaselden.com
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