Posted October 2026

Yes, even adults like to play dress up. We can act silly and eat a Caribbean-themed menu.

The guest’s invite stated: “Ye be summoned aboard fer a pirate feast. I’ve plundered the Caribbean and returned with a bounty of delicious grub. Prepare to feast, swill a bit o’ grog, and tell tales taller than a ship’s mast. Pirate attire be highly encouraged.”

I hadn’t made any of the Caribbean-type recipes I’d researched and put together, but I had a safe crowd supporting my experiments.

Ye Pirate’s Fare:

Dead Man’s Rum Punch

Buccaneer’s Coco Bread

Blackbeard’s Treasure Salad

Calypso Rasta Pasta

Jolly Roger Jerk Chicken

X Marks the Sweet Spot

The rum punch was a NYT recipe and I used a good Caribbean rum. The rum punch saying goes: "1 [part] of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong, 4 of weak.” The guests grimaced with the first sip of the tart mixture of fresh lime juice, rum, ice, and simple syrup, but soon the plastic coconut cups were emptied and refilled between Yo ho ho’s.

Blackbeard’s salad turned out to be a delicious hit, simply made with sliced avocado, very thinly sliced white onion, and topped with a dressing of red wine vinegar and olive oil. No lettuce or other ingredients.

Rasta Pasta is a creamy pasta salad with lots of colored peppers.

I attempted an air fryer method for the jerk chicken, which are spicy drumsticks. Next time, I would bake them as they didn’t cook properly.

Coco bread is a buttery dinner roll.

The sweet spot dessert I chose was a pineapple coconut upside down cake. Pineapple and coconut seemed appropo.