Potato chips don't have to come in a bag bought at the store. You can make your own. And if you make them from sweet potatoes, they're more healthful, especially if you opt for baking instead of deep frying.

If you or someone you know competed in Sunday's annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament on St. Thomas, then you might be lucky enough to have some fresh kingfish. There are a lot of ways to fix this popular food fish, and coated in beer batter and crispy fried is one of the tastiest.

If you like to play with your food, here's a creative opportunity: carving a watermelon into a basket and filling it with a fresh tropical fruit salad. This project takes a little hands-on discipline, but the result is a self-contained table treat that's pretty, tasty, high in nutrition and low in calories.

For a tasty way to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, serve a flag cake. Use your favorite yellow cake recipe and butter-cream frosting, and then decorate the top with an Old Glory design using fresh strawberries and blueberries.

The Virgin Islands' annual celebrations are traditional times to enjoy foods flavored with savory local seasonings. Jane Johannes, who for years has overseen the Village at the St. John Festival, is famed for her secret blend of herbs and spices. The recipe here isn't her secret version, food writer Carol Bareuther reports, but it's a tasty one, nonetheless.

If you like traditional guacamole, or even if you don't, this islandy twist might have extra appeal. Fresh diced mango and pineapple, crunchy coconut and piquant pepper mingle with mashed avocado in Caribbean-style dip as pleasant as an ocean breeze.

The taste of freshly ground cinnamon makes ordinary muffins come alive, as food writer Carol M. Bareuther discovered after a friend returning from a trip to Grenada brought back some fragrant pieces of the island spice in stick form. Here's a recipe easy enough for youngsters to use, with supervision.

The Tottering Taster and company headed east to the Seafood Jungle at Cabrita Point, where they found that the fish was tender, the wine was something different, the service was superb and the pricing was a bit much.

A highlight of May's spring charter yacht show on St. Thomas was the Captains' Blender Competition. A lip-smacking fruity rum-laced punch concocted by Laura Lewis aboard Sea Chateau won first prize. It's easy to make on land, too. All you need are a can opener, a measuring cup, a blender, some ice and ingredients available in any supermarket.

For Memorial Day, or most any day in the tropics, there's nothing like chicken barbecued on the grill. Here are some tips on marinating and basting the meat -- and a suggestion for giving it a unique island-y flavor.