What We're Eating (and more!)

What We're Eating is now My Life In Peru

2010-04-04T22:04:00.002-05:00

This is the last post to What We're Eating (and More)

It's been a good little blog, but I want more! So, I've moved it all over to

(drum roll please!!)

My Life in Peru

If you've been a regular reader here, you'll want to re-set your bookmarks and start heading over there now... go on now... Enjoy the pretty flowers I posted!!

And seriously, thanks to the people that have been coming here and reading what I write. It means a lot to me, and I look forward to seeing y'all over on the new site.

Kelly

Happy Good Friday

2010-04-02T11:32:00.004-05:00

Image by fnnkybutt via Flickr

I'm guessing a lot of you are out making the most of your long weekend. I know the streets here in Miraflores are all but empty of cars.

The lack of traffic (and work) has got us thinking it's a good day for us to get out too, so we're getting ready to take a trip up to Puente Piedra to visit my father in law - that's a picture of his house-in-progress from a few years ago.

My mom hasn't been up to the Cono Norte (Northern Cone) of Lima yet, so it will be an interesting trip for her, and a nice change of pace for all of us. We've been looking for an excuse to get out of the house, so this will be fun. And we'll take a bunch of pics to show the rest of y'all what it's like in that part of Lima.

Hint: Dry, dusty, and developing too quickly, yet not in the right ways.

Also - Big News! This is the last post on this blog. As of Monday, we'll be moving over to our new server AND web address - www.MyLifeInPeru.com. It's a bit of a work in progress right now, but I expect to have it up and running full force (minus a few kinks that may need to be worked out) by Monday. See you there!

Garlic Quick and Simple - Ajo Molido

2010-04-01T11:40:00.002-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Back in the US, I used to buy that garlic in a jar. You know, it's already peeled, chopped and ready to use in cooking. It's almost as good as fresh garlic, and miles more convenient. Well, I've not seen it here in Lima, but it's easy enough to do yourself.

Start with 2 heads of garlic, peeled. (Not 2 cloves - 2 entire heads. Yes, I know that's going to be a lot of garlic peeling)

Drop them in the blender, and add a quarter cup of whatever vegetable oil you usually use for cooking. I like to use half soy/half olive.

Use the pulse on your blender to get it all chopped up real fine. You don't want to liquefy it... just get it blended.

When you're done, dump it into a glass jar. I save all my glass jars from everything I buy, and like to use the little jars from Kraft Mayo - I love that wide top.

Add enough oil to cover the top of the garlic. The oil will keep the air from spoiling the garlic. This will stay good in the refrigerator for about a week. One head of garlic will give you about 2 tablespoons of ajo molido.

Rock in Lima

2010-03-31T08:42:00.003-05:00

Franz Ferdinand via last.fm

Over the last couple of years, Lima has started seeing a lot more concerts than it has in past years. It started with people like Roger Waters, the Cranberries... You know, people that are popular, but no 'A list' types of acts. But that's changed, especially recently.

My favorite band, Cafe Tacuba, has been here twice in the last year. Faith No More was here recently, as was Metallica. Depeche Mode played a great show, and Guns n Roses was here this past week, which of course stirred a controversy as the show started hours late. Aerosmith and Muse both have shows coming up.

Something that's got my attention lately is the group Franz Ferdinand. They're here in Lima now, and are playing a show tonight*. The reason it got my attention is because for two weeks or so, I've been seeing news item after news item about the band. Just little blurbs about how they love Peruvian music, or Peruvian food, or just in general about how they can't wait to sight-see while they're here. For some reason, I never thought about FF being a band that would be well known in Lima, so it's been a surprise to see how much press they've gotten. They went out sightseeing and shopping yesterday, and we got a daily update on their music buying while in Lima Cercado. As a fan of the band, it's been fun seeing how they're getting more press than a lot of the big, 'super bands' that have been here.

I'm excited to see what more is on the horizon for rock music in Lima, and look forward to hitting a few shows myself in the future.

*edited - oops! had the dates mixed up, the Franz Ferdinand show was last night. And apparently, it was great!

Free Cook Books!

2010-03-30T10:42:00.002-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I was surfing the web for recipes (because that's what I do) and came across this pretty cool page from Sun-Maid Raisins. They've been sharing recipes using raisins and other dried fruits for almost 100 years, and in celebration have posted this collection of cookbooks dating back to 1915. It's really interesting to read the recipes and cooking tips from back then, and see how much - and how little - has changed in cooking.

Check it out!

100 Years of Recipes

Angel Hair in Garlic Butter

2010-03-29T12:16:00.006-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I'm a nut for garlic. I'll eat it in just about anything. For a long time, the only way I'd eat spaghetti was with butter and a bit of garlic salt sprinkled on top - it's still a favorite snack for me.

Well, I made a stir fry the other night, and cooked up too much pasta, so I'm going to use up the rest of the noodles today for my lunch. I've got spaghetti noodles, but angel hair is perfect for this recipe.

This makes 6-8 servings.

1 kg (2 lbs) angel hair pasta
4 tbsp butter
4 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tbsp limon juice
2 tbsp chopped parsley
6 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Salt to taste

1) In a large pot, boil three liters (3 quarts) of water, add the pasta, stir to separate and let cook for about 5 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat and add the garlic. Cook until golden, then add the lemon juice, stir, and set aside, off the heat.
3) When the pasta is ready, drain it in a colander, then add it to the frying pan with the parsley. Mix it all well, and serve topped with the Parmesan.

If you'd like something a little more, add sliced mushrooms with the garlic. Add a little olive oil to the butter for more flavor. Serve with Italian Sausage, or a Parmesan fish main course.

Making Chicken Stock

2010-03-26T09:52:00.006-05:00

Image by Librarianguish via Flickr

I use chicken stock for a lot of things... well, not a lot of things, but a couple important things. Chicken soup and aji de gallina. In Peru, people seem to take their chicken soup very seriously, and if you want a good soup, you need to start with a good stock. This is how I do it.

Start with a pollo a la braza. If you're in the US, a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store will do.

Pick all the meat off - we usually eat the legs/thighs, then use the breast to make something else. Save all your bones!

Put the carcass minus the meat in a large stock pot. Add a whole onion, a carrot or two and a couple sticks of celery if you like that sort of stuff. (I do NOT like celery and never use it for anything.) Add a bay leaf and I like to add about 1/2 teaspoon of basil.

And a teaspoon of salt. I'd rather not add too much now, because I might use this for soup, and I might use it for aji de gallina, or ... who knows what else. I just want to have the salt content under control before I use it for something else.

Cover it with water, and bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for a couple hours.

Let it cool, then strain it to get all bones, veggies etc out of it.

What you've got now is a couple liters of super tasty chicken stock.

Why is it stock, and not broth? Generally, stock is made from boiling the bones. Broth is made from boiling meat. Stock gets gelatin from the bones, so it's better for using in sauces and stuff, dontcha know. Broth tends to have a richer flavor, and tastes more like a finished product that stock.

Speaking of stock and gelatin - If you have the feet from your chicken, clean them well, cut off the toe tips, and throw them in with the carcass. They give the stock a really nice texture - and you can just strain them out later and toss them if the idea of chicken feet in your soup grosses you out. ;)

TP or Not TP.... That is the Question

2010-03-24T07:03:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

There are two things about toilet paper in Peru that you need to know. First of all, always - ALWAYS - carry some with you. Second, when in doubt, don't flush it.

Before I came to Peru, I had read something about carrying TP with you while you traveled. I assumed, in my naivety, that meant to places like Machu Picchu, or the jungle - you know, when you got away from 'civilization'. No. It means when you go to the grocery store, or McDonald's, or.. anywhere. You're never assured of having TP available. Of course, you're never assured of having anything remotely resembling a clean bathroom available either, but I digress. ;)

Now, things are better than they were 6 years ago - as the economy here has improved, I've noticed an increase in TP provisioning. One thing to watch out for is the 'master TP roll'. At many public restrooms, instead of having a roll in each stall there will be a large roll on the wall out by the sinks. You get the TP you need, and then take it in the stall with you. This is supposed to keep people from stealing, I think... but really it just encourages them to take much more than they need.

Another thing you'll see, especially in markets, is the pay-per-use TP. There will be a person sitting at a little booth out front of the bathrooms, and you'll pay 50 centimos for a small amount of TP to take in with you. If you need more, you have to pay twice.

Now. About disposing of this TP, assuming you've been able to find some. While things are improving in the newer areas of Lima, most plumbing in Peru is very old. Pipes are narrow. I've heard some old pipes are made of terra cotta, whose interior has gone rough and 'clingy' over time. The point is, paper doesn't like to pass. I've seen the horrors of narrow pipes here in my own home. So most Peruvians toss their used TP in little waste bins in the bathroom rather than flushing. I know, it seems unhygienic - but it's a 1000 times less icky than having toilets running over in your bathroom and unholy masses of filth being plucked from the pipes by the plumber.

So, if you plan on coming to Peru my advice to you is:
Always have a spare roll of TP in your purse or backpack.
Don't Flush!

La Llorona and El Cuco

2010-03-23T12:09:00.005-05:00

Image by garlandcannon via Flickr

It sounds like some crazy pair of South American bandits, but they're actually the main characters of two Peruvian folk tales.

For those not in the know, this week is World Folktales and Fables Week, so I thought I'd tell you about a few of the tales that I've heard since I've been here.

La Llorona
(lah yore-OWN-a)

There are tales of La Llorona (the crying lady) all through South America, and it's particularly popular in Mexico. Here in Peru, the story I was told goes like this: There was an indigenous woman who fell deeply in love with a Spanish nobleman, and he with her. Although his family forbid him to marry her, they maintained a relationship and even had children. Then, one day the nobleman's father announced that they had found the perfect Spanish lady for his son to marry. When she heard the news, his lover was so distraught that she took her children down to the Rio Rimac (some people say she took them to the beach) and drowned them. When she came to her senses and realized what she had done, she killed herself. Now, her ghost wanders the banks of the river, sobbing and crying out 'Donde estan mis hijos?' (where are my children?) It's said that if she finds children out alone after dark, she'll drag them into the river to join her and her family.

El Cuco
(el COO-coh)

El Cuco is one of my favorite Peruvian folktales. It's another story that's popular in much of S. America, and is also known in Spain and Portugal. El Cuco is very much like the boogeyman of North America, in that he's used to frighten disobedient children. His appearance has changed over the years and from place to place, but in Peru he's thought to be a large hairy beast with large teeth. What's really frightening about him though, isn't how he looks, but in what he does. He kidnaps children, takes them away and most likely eats them - but they're never seen again. It's a common thing to hear a parent say 'if you don't eat your dinner, the Cuco will take you away!' (No wonder children are terrified of the dark!) It's such a well known story that Lima's main newspaper used it as the theme for a television ad.

Comercial El Cuco - El Comercio
Cargado por morris_cristhian. - Descubre más videos creativos.

(Kid won't eat his liver, El Cuco comes to take him away, the kid argues that the food's really bad. El Cuco tries it out, and is so disgusted he takes mom instead - takes her to buy a series of recipes published by the newspaper!)

Pishtaco
(peesh TAH koh)

The final tale in our gruesome threesome today is one that was actually in the news a bit lately. The Pishtaco is another type of boogeyman, this one from the Southern Andes, although it's known all over Peru. Generally reported as being a white skinned man, the Pishtaco likes to kidnap unsuspecting Indians and steal the fat from their bodies, and sometimes fry them up as chicharrones. Pishtaco comes from the Quechua word pishtay which means to behead. In the past, belief in the pishtacos has caused some problems for everyone from early Spanish missionaries to US aid programs; people thought it might be a plan just to fatten children up for later 'harvesting'. The belief in the pishtaco exists to this day, and recently made headlines when it was used as a cover-up for alleged extrajudicial police killings.

Free Pastry at Starbucks!

2010-03-22T09:50:00.003-05:00

Hey, are you one of those folks that goes to Starbucks every morning? Then tomorrow's your lucky day - go here and print out a coupon for a free pastry. But remember - it's only good for tomorrow, before 10:30 am - the early bird gets the danish!

Aji Molido, or Pepper Sauce: The Spice of Peruvian Cooking

2010-03-21T12:57:00.009-05:00

Image by TravelingMan via Flickr

There's been so much going on around here lately that I've kinda been slacking on recipes and cooking stuff. Well, that just won't do for a blog that's s'poseta be about what we're eating! So let's see if we can't start making a little amends for that.

I read an article in the news today that said that a full 42% of tourists who come to Peru make their decision based at least in part on the food! That's right - people are coming here just because everything is SO delicious! And one of the things that makes it so delicious is the wonderful spices used in cooking. The most important of the spices are the different kinds of aji (ah-HEE), or peppers, used to give the food heat and flavor. No matter what food is served, there's always a little bowl, jar or bottle of liquified aji on the side. And today, I'm going to tell you how it's made. Yay!

It takes about 12 aji (amarillo, panca or mirasol) to make one cup of aji molido.
Take your aji, and devein/deseed them.
Put them in a pot, cover with water and bring it to a boil.
When they're soft (it doesn't take long) take them out of the water and peel them.
Liquify in the blender - you can add a little of the water you used to boil them in to get the consistency right. Some people like to add a little oil for consistency instead of water.

This will last in the refrigerator for about 3 days. If you want to make a lot in advance, you can put it in ice cube trays and freeze it in single servings like that.

Finally - a lot of times when I put recipes on here, I tell people to check at their local Latin market for ingredients. But what if you live in a place where there isn't a Latin market, or if you just aren't able to find the ingredients you want? Amazon.com is your FRIEND! Check out some of the stuff I've found there:

Pasta de Aji Amarillo/Hot Yellow Pepper Paste
Aji Amarillo, Destemmed - 1 Lb Bag / Box Each
Salsa de Aji Panca/Panca Pepper Sauce

....among others. So, if you've had trouble finding ingredients for cooking up delicious Peruvian recipes, check out Amazon.com.

Speaking of School and Combis...

2010-03-19T12:34:00.003-05:00

My oldest son is now 13 years old, and this year has started in the 1st grade of secondary classes. It's the equivalent of 7th grade - middle school or junior high - in the US. The previous school the boys were enrolled in only included primary classes, so we had no choice but to look into new schools. These new school is located here in Miraflores, as I believe I mentioned before, and seems to be a really good school - lots of discipline and rule enforcement, which we have found lacking in the past.

However, it seems that in secondary school, the kids are a lot more independent. Which, don't get me wrong, is a very good thing. Except, they all take the bus to school and home. Alone. This is not something that makes me happy. And no, this isn't one of those situations where my kids is saying 'But Mooooooooom, all the other kids are riding the bus!'. No, this is a situation where my husband is telling me that we're making a sissy pariah out of our son by taking him to school and picking him up each day.

Well, the good news is that there's a combi that runs literally from our front door to the entrance of the school. In the evenings coming home, he'd have to walk down to the opposite corner to get the bus coming home, but still, it's right there within sight of the school entrance. And then get dropped off right in front of the house.

The bad news is that, of course, this isn't the ONLY bus that runs by that corner, and coming home he'll have to be extra careful that he gets on the right bus or he might end up in Chorrillos.

So, we made several trial runs, riding the bus with him, but letting him flag it down and make the decision. And then last night, he was on his own. I suppose I don't have to tell you, I was a nervous wreck. He should have been home by 630pm, and when he wasn't we called his cell phone - he was still by the road, waiting for the bus. He said the buses go by so fast, he was having trouble telling which one was the right one. By this time it was nearly dark - so we told him just to flag down every bus, and ask them if they go on our street. 20 minutes later, he was home!

This is such a huge step in the life of a parent - and of a child. On the one hand, it's great knowing that my kid is maturing, and growing and that we've taught him well enough that he can handle doing this on his own. On the other hand, as a former juvenile delinquent, my mind is full of visions of him catching the bus to the beach instead of school, or taking off to his friend's house without telling us. I guess it's just another one of those times when we've got to trust him to do the right thing... right?

I'm so Clumsy!

2010-03-18T10:43:00.004-05:00

Our dear, sweet Chance (in the picture with my son, David) had this really bad habit of laying in front of the French doors leading out of my bedroom. It's bad, because we have privacy curtains on those doors, and you can't see him laying there as you start to pass through. Well, yesterday it happened - I was leaving the bedroom, and there was Chance. I tried to stop in my tracks so as not to step on him, and got my flipflop stuck on the tv cable that runs along the door ledge... pulled it up and lost my flipflop, and then slammed my big toe onto one of the carpet nails that had previously doing a great job of holding the cable down. The nail very kindly took a big chunk of toe from me. I shall very kindly not post a picture of how nasty it looks. But... ow! :(

In other news, the kitchen makeover is coming along swimmingly (as I limp around and write articles and blog posts, my mom is doing all the real work) and my husband Arturo is working on getting all the baseboards in the house painted a nice clean white again. This house is going to be gorgeous!

Kitchen Re-do!

2010-03-16T13:03:00.007-05:00

When we moved into the house we now live in, one of the things we didn't like about it was the
color in the kitchen. First of all, most of the walls are white tile, up to about 5 feet high - super easy to keep clean, but kind of gives it a hospital/morgue feel - especially with the big stainless steel sink on one side and the big tile wall divider that splits the kitchen in half. The worst though, was the walls above the tile - they were painted this horrible, dingy burnt orange color. It was just wretched.

Well, as I've mentioned before, there was some construction being done in the lot next to us. And as repayment for the inconvenience (and damage) that they did to our house, they painted our kitchen. We chose a lovely bright color, called Ocean Sigh. Now, we're adding accent colors - and when I say 'we', I'm talking about my hard-working mom - and we chose this super cute green apple color (as you can see from the pictures!) that we got from Sodimac.

My mom has been hard at work - she painted and reupholstered the little stool in this picture, and is painting the kitchen shelves now, as you see above. My husband took apart the little cabinet in the picture and painted it. We'd like to put some new hinges on it to finish the look. My mom was lucky enough to find those cute placemats that you see under the toaster. We'll post some before and after pictures when the whole thing's done.

Buses and Micros and Combis - Oh My!

2010-03-12T14:03:00.004-05:00

Image by pierre pouliquin via Flickr

I have a love/hate relationship with public transportation here in Lima. While I love the fact that's cheap, convenient and can get me pretty much anywhere I want to go, I hate how crowded and uncomfortable it is. And dirty. And cramped. And dangerous. But apart from that, I like taking the bus! :D

You can catch a bus or combi from just about any main street in Lima, and the cost to go from one end of the line to the other is rarely more than a sol - about 35 cents US (at the current exchange rate). If you're just going a few blocks, you can ride for a 'china' - that's the slang term for a Peruvian 50 centimos piece.

Despite great prices, the transportation here is really substandard for a city of this size. Buses and vans are poorly maintained, and often carry far too many passengers. In the race for paying customers, the drivers speed and weave through traffic, trying to get to the next 'paradero' (bus stop) before the other buses. While there are laws and regulations, it's too easy for drivers and company owners to get by on bribery. Too many people are killed and injured each year.

Fortunately, it seems the city is working on it, though - the new high speed bus line is supposed to be up and running soon, and progress has begun again on the electric train system that's been sitting unfinished since the 80's. It will be exciting to see it finished - and I look forward to riding in the new buses!

Back to School

2010-03-10T13:09:00.003-05:00

Image by fnnkybutt via Flickr

School started up last week for my kids, and let me tell ya, we got off to a rough start. My oldest son is starting secondary school this year - that would be the equivalent of 7th grade in the US. It was really hard for him; he's had some tough times in school before, where he was victimized by some bullies when he was in first grade, and that combined with his innate shyness has made starting in a new school a real trial for him. Before, he was in school with his younger brother, but this year, Franco (the young one) has morning classes and David is on his own with the older kids in afternoon classes.

Without giving too much detail and embarrassing my poor baby if he ever reads this, the first day of school nearly gave him a nervous breakdown (me too!). Leaving him at that school, knowing how terrified he was, has to be one of the hardest things I've done as a parent. But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do - and in the end, it all worked out ok, and he's super happy at the school now.

So, if you're starting your kids in a Peruvian school, what can you expect? Well, our kids are in public school, which surprisingly enough doesn't make much difference in the amount of supplies we have to buy. We had to get each boy a notebook for each subject, the requisite pencils, colored pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners and so on. Also, there were things like poster paper, large graph papers (called papelographo), markers and pens for the teachers, and even 10 rolls of toilet paper each. When we had them in private school, we had to buy floor wax, pine cleaner and other cleaning supplies for the school! I think a lot of people coming from the US public school system would be shocked at the amount of supplies we buy for our kids here.

If you're putting your kids in a private (called 'colegio particular) school, be prepared to pay - monthly tuition ranges from a low end of around $100 up to $1000 or so for the best International schools. Check the Expat website for a list of schools in Lima that are affiliated with the International Baccalaureate program - they also have some schools listed for other cities in Peru.

Peru and the Oscars

2010-03-08T10:05:00.004-05:00

Last night we were all very excited about the chance of seeing 'La Teta Asustada' win for Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars. Unfortunately, it didn't win, but as my husband said, 'At least the Oscar went to South America'. (I say 'Darn you, Argentina!)

But I absolutely love how events like this pull Peruvians together as a country. People who had never watched the Oscar ceremonies before - shoot, people who had never heard of the Academy Awards before - were all excited and star struck at the fact that another Peruvian had done good and put us in the limelight. Magali Solier, the star of 'La Teta Asustada' has been featured and interviewed on news programs all week, and her trip to Hollywood for the ceremony was chronicled for those of us at home. And such a trip it was. I couldn't help but fall just a little bit in love with her, this young woman from Ayacucho who grew up speaking Quechua during the difficult years when Sendero Luminoso was making life dangerous and difficult for people in Peru. The movie (called “The Milk of Sorrow” in English) explores abuses inflicted on Peruvian women during that time period.

Here in Lima, a giant screen was set up in the main square to show the Oscars live. Even though the movie didn't win, it was a great moment for Peru, and the movie itself gives hope that we are moving on from the tragedies in Peru's past.

I Have a Carnet Again, Pt. 3

2010-03-03T13:53:00.004-05:00

So, when last we visited, I told you about all the paperwork we had and how we had turned it all in at the various windows. All the hard work was done, and basically it was just a matter of coming back to have a new (duplicate) carnet de extranjeria handed over to me. I was under the impression that I would not need to take a new picture, that they would just use the digital photo they had from before - that's what they did on my LAST duplicate carnet.

Although they had told us to come back Saturday for the tasa anual, and the next Wednesday for the duplicate carnet, we skipped Saturday and did it all Wednesday. No point in making more trips than we had to.

So, we show up Wednesday and went to the window 18 with our receipt. No. We had to go to window 6. So we go to window six, and had to give them some information - height, weight, hair and eye color stuff. Then we were told everything was ready, and to go have a seat by the little room where they take the pictures.

Wait... WHAT? I need a picture??? UGH. If I'd know, I would have, oh, I don't know, maybe washed my hair instead of just throwing it back in a ponytail.

But I digress. We went off and waited, and about 10 minutes later, they called my name. 'Yes, Senora, it seems we don't have a record of you paying the prorroga of residencia, please go to window 2, 3 or 4 and get that taken care of.'

SIGH.

Ok, we go to the window, and he tells me I owe for one year - S/.41.04, take this form (F-007, what a surprise ;)) and pay at the Banco de la Nacion, then come back here. We also needed: A copy of my passport, a copy of my carnet (we used the police report), a copy of my husband's DNI, a copy of the Acto de Matrimonio, and a letter from my husband (a carta de garantia) saying that he vouched for me morally and financially. We didn't have a new carta de garantia, and the really nice guy in Window 2 told us it wasn't a problem, just to write one out by hand while we were waiting in line for the bank. So that's what we did.

We took all that back to window 2, and were once again told to wait. A few minutes later, they called me for the picture. They took a set of digital fingerprints, and had me sign it, took the picture, then sent me out to wait again. About 10 minutes later, they called me and handed me my card.

WE WERE FINISHED!!!

Some things to take away - It didn't seem to matter that I was late paying the Prorroga, and because I'm a resident married to Peruvian, I didn't have to pay the fine for being late on the tasa anual. If you are NOT in one of the exonerated categories (MTP or religious), I would highly recommend that you pay the tasa on time to avoid paying the fine (up to $100 for the year, I believe).

I Have a Carnet Again, Pt. 2

2010-03-01T07:52:00.005-05:00

So, once I had that list of stuff I mentioned in the last post, we were ready to move.

I've found, if you aren't sure what you need to do in immigrations, the best thing to do is go to the information booth. It's the little glass walled booth immediately to the left of the door as you walk in. Tell them what your problem is, and they'll give you what form you need and tell you where to take it, and how much you need to pay at the bank. If you're Spanish isn't good, you might need them to repeat it a few times, and you might want to ask for more details if they aren't clear - they tend to be rushed and say things like 'Fill out this form and turn it in with your receipt from the bank'. So just ask them 'how much do i have to pay?' or, 'what window do I turn it into?' until you feel like you have enough info to move on.

In our case, we had to fill out 3 F-007's - 2 for two years of exoneration for the tasa anual, and 1 for the duplicate carnet. We paid the bank for all three of those, then brought the paperwork back to the Mesa de Partes - that's the people behind the windows on the first floor, to the right of the information booth as you're facing it. They gave us a ticket for the exonerations and told us to come back in 2 days. THIS is why many people feel it's better to just pay the tasa rather than do the exoneration. You can do the tasa in one day, where as paying the exoneration means you have to come back. But, since a) I was late and didn't want to pay a fine, and b) we were going to have to come back for the replacement carnet anyway, it was in our best interest to pay for the exoneration.

After that, we took the paperwork for the replacement carnet upstairs to Window 6. I might be mistaken, but I believe it usually goes to window 12, but it was so late in the day by this time, they were closing up. I guess I haven't mentioned yet - if you aren't there by 1pm, you're out of luck, because that's when they close the doors. So, we turned in our paperwork, and and were given another ticket and told to come back a few days later. No problem!

Tomorrow, I'll tell you what happened when we came back.

Hooray! I have a Carnet Again!

2010-02-25T12:35:00.003-05:00

Getting my new carnet de extranjeria was as painful as I thought it would be, but now that it's all over, it really wasn't that bad. I think the worst part was standing in the bank line with Mr. AVANZA! AVANZA!

One thing I learned that I hadn't been aware of: The annual TASA is something that everyone has to pay, but those of us married to Peruvians can file for an exemption. Ok, I knew that part, except that I didn't realize the exemption was ONLY for certain classes of residents, namely religious workers and those married to Peruvians (MTP). That little fact turned out to be golden for me, since I never paid it last year. If I wasn't MTP, I would have had to pay a big juicy fine. But since I am MTP, I just had to pay for the exoneration for last year (and for this year, since it was due again). And then pay for my Prorroga, which for some reason only cost 41 soles. I thought I would need to pay 2 years worth, but hey, whatever.

Last week, we went to make the police report (denuncia policial) to report my carnet as lost. That involves going to the police station closest to your home and also paying S/.3.60 at Banco de la Nacion so that you can have a copy of the actual report. We paid at the bank first, then went to make the report and give them a copy of the payment receipt. We had to return the next day to pick up the print-out of the report.

Next, we made sure we had all of the following paperwork BEFORE we went to immigrations:
1) Several copies of the police report.
2) A new copy of our Acto de Matrimonio - you have to get a new one, to prove that you are still married (this is assuming you have a CE because you're MTP)
3) Several copies of the picture page of my passport.
4) Several copies of the front and back of my husbands DNI
5) a "Carta de Garantia" - this is a letter of guarantee, that states the Peruvian spouse will be responsible for you both morally and financially. (I told my husband he's a brave man, to guarantee my morality :D) I was surprised to find out that this could be a simple handwritten note, as long as it has all the necessary details on it.

This is turning into a long post, so I'll make a 'part 2' tomorrow.

Apple and Quinoa Drink

2010-02-22T11:22:00.003-05:00

Image by PONCE 2007 via Flickr

While in the US we tend to drink soft drinks like koolaid and sodas and ice tea during the warm months, in Peru it's much more common to drink 'aguitas' - drinks made from fruit juice, water and sugar. Lemonade is a common aguita, as is orange-ade. I use the juice of four oranges in a two liter pitcher, then add sugar to taste. I'm trying to wean my guys off of putting as much sugar in it; they like it the way 'abuela' makes it, which is almost syrupy sweet to me.

But one of our very favorites is aguita de manzana, made with apples. It's a delicious and refreshing drink when served cold. But it's made with cinnamon and cloves, which gives it a super homey and warming flavor when served warm in winter, too. I originally made it just with apples, but later found this recipe on the internet and had to try it. It's a wonderful breakfast drink, served hot or cold depending on the weather - gives kids lots of healthy stuff and energy to get through the morning at school.

Apple and Quinoa Drink

* 1 litro de agua. (1 liter of water)
* ½ taza de quinua. (1/2 cup quinua)
* 2 manzanas cortadas en cuartos. (2 apples, cut into quarters)
* 2 membrillos. (2 quince fruit)
* ¼ taza de kiwicha. (1/4 cup of kiwicha)
* 1 ramita de canela y 2 clavos de olor. (1 cinnamon stick and 2 cloves)

Preparación:
Boil everything together for 20 minutes.
Let it cool.
Liquify in the blender, strain and serve.

This is also a really good drink to serve to someone having stomach problems (diarrhea). Cinnamon has been shown to help reduce harmful bacteria in the stomach and intestines, and membrillo (quince) is also believed to help alleviate stomach problems. Of course, in Peru, if you're serving this for stomach problems, you should only serve it warm - never serve cold drinks to someone with a stomach ache!

It's Always Something, Pt. 2

2010-02-19T12:43:00.002-05:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

So yesterday, I told you about the adventure at the immigrations office, but that was far from the end of our day!

After lunch, we went shopping at Plaza Vea, and while we were pulling into a parking spot, a woman across the aisle pulled out - - and hit us. And put a nice little ding in the back bumper. And then INSISTED that she didn't do it! The parking lot supervisor came over to mediate, and had her pull her car back towards ours.. and it was clear where her bumper exactly lined up with the ding on ours. Instead of saying 'oh gosh, you're right, I'm so sorry...' her response was 'well, I guess everyone is against me, and I don't have time to argue." So, she passed us 20 soles. :D At least we got something!

THEN!

When we got home, we found out the construction site next door to our house was re-doing the sidewalk in front of their building - and in front of our house. That's great news, because they had really destroyed the sidewalks while pulling heavy machinery over. The bad news is they completely tore out the sidewalk in front of our driveway - so deep that we couldn't get the car in. I'm not going to go into the whole story, but suffice to say it ended with a scraped front bumper and me yelling unkind words at construction workers.

I feel like I got out enough aggression in that one day to last me the next few months. But hey, I still love Peru!

It's always Something!

2010-02-18T13:19:00.003-05:00

Image by artfulblogger via Flickr

Yesterday was one of those days... you know, the kind where EVERYTHING is a hassle?

To begin with, we had to go to Immigration, to start dealing with the carnet de extranjeria problem mentioned in my last post. I expect any dealings in this building to be annoying and tedious, and generally it was. There wasn't much of an issue with my 'lateness', it's just a matter of paying fees and filling out paperwork, and getting things stamped, and taking it to this window, then returning to that window... etc. And we still have to go back! But, all that I'm used to, and it wasn't a big deal and was expected.

However - the other people there are a completely different matter. Pushing, crowding and complaining until this poor sociophobe can barely take it. It all came to a head during my THIRD wait in the line for the bank - a line that passes through a hot and sunny inner courtyard. From the very back of the line, the man behind me kept yelling 'Avanza! Avanza!' (move up!) every time the window came open. As if all the people waiting weren't just as eager to get through as he was. I asked him once to kind refrain from yelling so close to my ear, hoping he'd take a hint.

That didn't work. Peruvians seem to dislike direct confrontation, so instead my husband started a conversation with the next person in line, about how ridiculous it is to expect the people to move ahead faster, as the line can only advance as fast as the person at the window is working. Again, hint not taken.

Finally, I was at the front of the line. The window opens. I start moving forward. Halfway there, this man starts telling me 'Avanza! Avanza!' I stopped in my tracks, and turned around and let him have it. 'REALLY? Is it my turn already??? You don't say - I hadn't noticed!'

He tried to back pedal a bit, but I continued lighting into him, and by then the rest of the people in line were laughing at him.

Ahhhh... the sweet taste of ... well, getting it off my chest. :D

Carnet de Extranjeria

2010-02-15T12:09:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

The carnet de extranjeria is a identification card for foreigners here in Peru. It's pretty much the Peruvian equivalent of a US 'Green Card'. There are various ways of getting one, depending on what type of residency you have - married to a Peruvian, investor, retiree, etc. Most of them allow you to work legally in the country.

Every year, you have to go pay some taxes/fees and get a couple of stickers on it. Well, last year, I never did it. I haven't done it yet this year either. To top off the bad situation, I've lost my carnet - as well as my US Passport. So, I'm basically traveling around and living with no ID except for an expired Florida drivers license. Not a good place to be.

So, the point of this is to say - I'm going this week to (hopefully) get it all straightened out. Dealing with Peruvian bureaucracy is a pain in the tookus at the best of times. I don't have high hopes of this going smoothly. Fortunately, I DO have a photocopy of the ID page of my passport, so hopefully that will help with something. We've been searching, and can't find the folder where we had copies of everything else - my original carnet, the police report where we reported them lost etc.

I'll update as things go along, and let y'all know how it goes. I'm sure there are other people who have lost their ID, or been (considerably) late in paying the annual fees, so I hope my experience will be helpful to others!

UPDATE! - We (and by 'we', I mean my husband) found the folder with all the copies in it, so hopefully that'll make things a lot easier.

Ocopa a la Limena

2010-02-13T11:20:00.004-05:00

Image by Yogma via Flickr

Back in November, I posted the recipe for one of my favorite 'entradas', papas a la huancaina. But there's another dish that I love, very similar, called ocopa. Now, I have discovered that there are different kinds of ocopa - ocopa, ocopa a la Arequipena (Arequipa style), and ocopa a la Limena (Lima style). The kind I've learned to love is the Lima style. It's delicious creamy and with a peanut flavor that's a real switch from the typical food here.

Now, to be honest, when I'm cooking at home I usually take the short cut and buy a pack of Provenzal Ocopa mix - quick, easy, just mix it with milk and oil and it's ready to go. But, if you do want to make it from scratch, it's not that much more difficult.

1 kilo (2 pounds) of papa amarilla, boiled and sliced into half inch rounds (Yukon Golds work great for this)
500 grams of onion, diced
100 grams vanilla cookies (vanilla wafers will work)
50 grams of queso fresco (ricotta, feta or farmer's cheese can substitute)
50 grams of peanut, chopped into very small pieces.
5 ají verde, de-seeded
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
evaporated milk

1) In a frying pan with a tbsp. of oil, saute the garlic, the onion and the aji until the onion is translucent and everything is soft.

2) Put the onion mixture in the blender or food processer, and blend together with the cookies, the cheese, and the peanuts. You don't want to over-blend, just until you have a creamy sauce that's slightly thick. If it's too thick, add evaporated milk until you get the right consistency.

3) Serve the potatoes on a bed of lettuce, and spoon the cream sauce on top. Decorate with black olive slices if you'd like.

Jorge Chavez International Airport

2010-02-09T12:02:00.003-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I love Lima's airport. I barely remember anything about it the first time I came in 6 years ago. One thing I do remember is how the planes couldn't pull up to the terminal because of the construction going on, so we had to load onto shuttle buses to ride up to the terminal. Then go up a flight or two of stairs (it seemed like a million, with my heavy carry ons) to get to where they did Immigrations.

What a difference these days. Jorge Chavez is a lovely and organized airport - it was even selected the best airport in South America last year by Skytrax, an independent airline consulting company. Coming through immigrations and customs is generally easy and fast, and tends to be well organized - organization being something you don't often find in Peru!

If you're going to be flying into Lima from abroad anytime soon, visit my Travel in Peru page where you can find more info on getting through immigrations and customs at the airport.

Crime in the Streets

2010-02-06T11:53:00.003-05:00

I've always been a staunch defender of Peru's reputation. People claim that Lima is a 'dangerous' place to live, that crime is rampant on its streets. However, in 6 years of living here, I've never had a problem.

For one thing, Lima has an enormous amount of poverty, and with poverty comes crime. Desperate, uneducated people do desperate, stupid things.

However, Lima also has a serious problem with jail overcrowding. Because of this, for most theft or robbery under a certain monetary value, the police do nothing. So the crime here tends to be very petty crime, snatch and grab type stuff, because the criminals know they can get away with it. Violent crime or use of a weapon means jail time.

For the average person - like me - this means you don't go to certain areas alone. You don't walk around with large amounts of cash or jewelry. You pay attention to your surroundings, you carry bags securely, you make sure the taxi is licensed before you get in it. My husband was mugged a few years back - he was walking through a bad area, known for small time gang stuff, talking on his cell phone with his backpack hanging over one shoulder. While I don't hold a victim responsible for the crime, I do think he could have avoided being the victim of this one.

However, one of my neighbors was assaulted last week, just a block from the house here. She was walking the 3 blocks from the bus stop - 11pm at night, alone, with a purse. It's made me nervous here in my neighborhood now. I used to walk the 3 blocks to the bank, get out money I needed and walk home. Now I'm worried about who may be watching me make a withdrawal then following me home. I live in a more upscale neighborhood, and people tend to think that means you've got more money, so it does make you more of a target.

So. I still feel that Lima isn't dangerous - however, danger is relative. I don't think you stand nearly the chance of being a victim of violent crime here that you would in many other places - including most cities in the US. However, the threat of petty crime is enough to make you change your way of doing every day actions, like going to the market or paying the bills. And of course, if you're a tourist, you must be on guard for your bags, camera and so on. But don't let fear ruin your trip - be on guard, but don't be afraid.

Summer Days

2010-02-03T11:01:00.004-05:00

(Picture of a foggy day in Miraflores)

One of the things that I've always found funny about living in Lima is the way the people respond to the weather. For those that don't live here, you must understand that for a good 8 months of the year, the city is enveloped in a heavy, cool fog. While the temperatures don't get down too low (usually the low 60's), it stays that way, night and day. Cool and damp - moisture so thick in the air you can feel it in your face as you walk. Now, around mid-day, if the sun is feeling perky, we might get a little clearing of the fog. But typically, starting sometime around the middle of April up through the end of December it's cold, dark and dreary.

Like I said though the temperature never gets too awful cold - but the fact that it's so damp coupled with the lack of indoor heating means that the 60 degree chill seeps into you after a while, and I can tell you it starts feeling a whole lot colder. I spend days wearing layered sweat clothes and sweaters, with two pair of socks at night just to keep my feet warm in bed. And the Peruvians don't like the cold any more than this Floridian does - they walk around bundled up as if they're ready for an Arctic expedition - scarves, down jackets, thermal underclothes, and babies bundled so tight they're little faces are red and sweaty.

So - to bring it around to where we are, summer has finally, at long last and about a month overdue, arrived. After months of miserable, humid, moldy, cold weather, we've finally had sun! Beautiful, shiny, warm sun! And of course, the first thing I hear every where I go? 'Wow, it's hot today. I can't stand this heat! The sun is so hot!' I can't believe it!! It's gorgeous, barely 80 degrees, first real sun in months - and people are complaining about the heat!

After 6 years, I'm still waiting for the day when a Limeño looks at me and says "Lovely weather today, isn't it?"

Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

2010-01-27T18:14:00.003-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I am a huge fan of the Kraft 'Light done Right' Raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing. I used to eat a giant salad bowl full of salad with that on it every night before I ate my dinner. It was the best light dressing I've ever tried. Actually, the ONLY light dressing I've ever liked.

Well, of course they don't sell it in Peru. When I make salad here, I usually whip up something with a mix of mayo, milk, lemon juice, garlic, salt and maybe some black pepper. Creamy and good, but not very light. So, I decided I was going to try something different. I had seen a recipe for a raspberry vinaigrette that used raspberry preserves, so I took that idea and I ran with it.

I started with some olive oil and put it in the blender with some red wine vinegar. Basic vinaigrette, right? However, I don't have any raspberry preserves, so instead I used what you'll find PLENTY of in Peru - strawberry marmalade. I pulsed it on low a few times until it was all really well emulsified, and with no big chunks of strawberry left.

Can I just say - it was delicious! I put it on a salad of romaine and baby spinach with some raisins and pecans crumbled up on top. Oh my - so good.

The olive oil flavor was just a smidge too strong for my taste - next time I might use half olive and half soy bean oil.

Portions aren't exact, but 'pert near' as Jed Clampett used to say. If you try it, you might like it a little more vinegar-y, or perhaps you'll want a sweeter taste, so add more marmalade.

Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsps Strawberry marmalade (I probably used closer to three, they were slightly heaping)

Put in a blender and pulse on low until well blended.

Pizza Cutter Freebie!

2010-01-25T08:53:00.002-05:00

Do you eat a lot of pizza in your house? We love pizza here. I had one of those wheel type pizza cutters, and it always got a lot of use, but somehow I lost it! I think it got thrown out in a pizza box. When it comes to pizza, regular knives just don't cut it (haha.. cut it - get it?) - that's why I was so excited to see this free offer -

FREE Pizza Knife Sample!

Run and fill out the form and get your free pizza knife. I can't wait to get mine!

Throwing a Birthday Party

2010-01-22T18:10:00.002-05:00

It's coming up time for my son David's birthday. He's going to be 13 this year - a teenager at last! Thirteen for me always seemed like a major birthday - you're finally a teenager! But in Spanish, there is no X-teen, so 13 isn't really any different than 12 or 14.

David is a shy kid. He doesn't like having a lot of attention on him, so for the last couple of years, he's insisted on not having a birthday party. Fine with me - parties are a pain in the butt and expensive. He's happy for us to have a pizza and pick out a new DVD to watch, or to go to the movies.

Birthday parties for kids here have certain characteristics. First of all, a lot of the parents stay for the whole party, something you need to keep in mind when you're sending out your invitations. Also, they like to bring their little brother or sister.

I was always of the idea that when you throw a party, you put all the snacks in bowls on a table and have little plates where people serve themselves. No. You pass out little plates with a snack on it. Then people keep their little plate or napkin and you walk around the room over and over with the snacks. When you walk by with the potato chips, they take 2 or 3 chips. I think part of the reason for doing this is because (as I learned the hard way) if you put all the snacks out in bowls, the humidity makes them soggy in no time flat. The drinks are handled the same way. People don't choose their drink - they have a cup, and you walk around with a bottle of soda or pitcher of chicha morada and fill their cups. Generally, people accept whatever it is that you pass out. It's considered somewhat rude to NOT accept whatever is offered. Apart from the cake, there are certain foods that are expected - I was surprised to find that I was expected to make and serve Jello. I decided against it, because we were having a birthday cake made from layered jello called 'torta helada'. When my mother in law found out I wasn't going to serve jello, she made some and brought it. Asi es la vida.

Torta Helada

There's also the matter of entertainment. There is almost always entertainment - a clown, a magician or sometimes a 'party cheerleader' with music or a band. The purpose of the entertainment is to lead the party - they usually have a routine of 1 or 2 hours (you arrange the time in advance and pay accordingly) and lead the kids through games, dancing and jokes. Typically, all the kids will be involved in the games and competitions. Prizes - which you must provide - are handed out to the winners. One of the must-haves is a pinata. Although it's a Mexican custom, Peruvians love the pinata too. All the kids have little bags to fill with the toys and candies that fall from inside.

Even at a child's party, there will be lots of dancing. Usually, the entertainment will encourage kids to get up and dance, and parents will often dance too. That's one thing I do love about Peru, music and dancing is so entwined in everything they do. Birthday parties for the kids are a lot of work - but they're a lot of fun too. It was an especially great way to get to know the parents of Franco's friends when he started at a new school last year. All the same - I'm happy David is content with pizza and a movie for his birthday.

The Gardner Came Today!

2010-01-19T17:36:00.000-05:00

I have a gardener who comes every 2 weeks and cuts the grass in the front and back yard. My upstairs neighbor pays for the front yard, and I pay for taking care of the back yard. He does it all with a weed-eater, and has a large canvas sack tied around his waist like an apron, to protect his legs from flying grass, twigs and stones. Most gardeners I see here are usually in pretty grungy, dirty clothes, but somehow Vicente always manages to look clean and well dressed in khakis and polo shirts. And he never smells bad! Ok - I know that may sound weird, but I'm really sensitive to how people smell, and for someone who works outside all day, I find it amazing that he never smells dirty or smelly.

He does a great job on our garden - it's amazing how quickly it puts it into shape. After he leaves, it's as well manicured as anything you'll see at Disney World.

Anyway - we're going to be doing a lot of work in the garden when my mom arrives, probably at the beginning of February. We're going to be putting in roses in the backyard, and my mom would like more flowers in general. I'm more fond of tropical plants, like dracaenas and crotons - but there's plenty of garden for both of us to have what we want. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I'll make sure to put up lots of before and after pictures.

Turkey and Spinach Quinoa

2010-01-18T02:29:00.003-05:00

Quinoa is a grain-like food that's native to Peru. The Incas are said to have thrived on it, and called it 'the mother of all grains'. It's a very popular dish here. I say it's 'grain-like' because although it's cooked and served like a grain, it's actually a seed, and not grown from a grass plant, like the true grains are. The quinoa plant itself is actually more closely related to the beet and spinach plant than it is to rice or wheat. When I first came to Peru, I had no idea how to cook it. Here's a recipe I learned.

What You Need:

1 1/2 C of quinoa
2 C of chicken broth
1 t ground cumin
1 1/2 lb. turkey tenderloin
1/4 t of salt
2 small onions, sliced (or scallions if you can get them!)
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 C of fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
1 C of salsa

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Spray a cast iron Dutch oven with cooking spray.
Pour the quinoa into the prepared pan.
Add the chicken broth and cumin and stir it all up.
Place the turkey into the pan.
Sprinkle in the salt.
Add the onions
Layer the zucchini into the pan.
Spread the spinach leaves over the zucchini
Scatter the bell pepper slices over the spinach.
Spread the salsa out evenly over the top.
Cover and bake 30 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.

This is a great all-in-one meal. I love it when I don't have to cook more than one cooking dish, don't you? That's a Le Creuset French Oven in the picture up above, you can learn more about cooking with one if you click on the pic.

I would imagine that this can also be done in a slow-cooker, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to get one here to Lima yet. I'll keep it on the wish list. ;)

Haiti

2010-01-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I've spent most of the morning listening to news about Haiti today - my heart just breaks for those poor people. The poverty there is simply incredible - there are people there so poverty stricken that they actually bake crackers made of dirt. And now, what little they had is gone.

What I do notice (and I try very hard not to bring politics into this, but I have to say this) is the difference in the response from the US, in comparison to the earthquake here in Ica, and in comparison to the December 26 tsunami a few years ago. I'm glad to see the US step up and do the right thing.

I saw an interesting suggestion from a woman on CNN message board: If the US is going to be giving a lot of money in aid and reconstruction to Haiti, why not get skilled construction workers from the US - where so many are out of work right now - and send them over there, house them in cruise ships and pay them to do the re-building? This way we create a few thousand jobs for Americans plus help a country that truly needs help.

Eating Raw Foods

2010-01-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

So, it's like this.

I've been having some health issues - my hip is messing up on me, and worse, my heart is acting wonky. Nothing too serious, but on top of all that, I'm feeling tired and having a general lack of energy. So, I've decided that (along with seeing my doctor) I'm going to try to make some changes with my diet. I don't really eat the healthiest of foods, most of the time. I don't eat 'fast food' as a general rule, but we do have a Tuesday night pizza night, and I do love fried foods and lots of sauces.

I'd been doing a lot of research on gluten free and raw food diets recently. While I don't think that gluten is an issue for me, I do like a lot of the more natural foods that are promoted on a gluten free diet. And while I'm not sure that I can switch to a completely raw food diet, I do LOVE fruits and vegetables, and don't eat nearly enough of them.

So, I'm switching to a 'mostly' raw food diet. That means eating food that's as close as possible to its natural state. So I'll be eating lots of fruits and vegetables in their uncooked states. And the foods that aren't raw, I'll be making a big effort to eat in more organic forms - things like switching to brown rice, whole grain bread and the like. And I'll still be eating beans/lentils. No white sugar - or as little as possible, anyway. And I'll throw in some fish and chicken - but not fried, and no sauces or gravies.

I really don't expect switching to be a problem - I was 'mostly' vegetarian for about 3 years, and that was easy for me. I ate the occasional turkey and fish. I think the most difficult thing for me is going to be going without my Sunday morning 'chicharron' (fried pork sandwiches) - but I think I can just switch it up for ceviche, and I'll be fine.

Today I had a delicious smoothie for breakfast. Yesterday, I bought a bunch of fruits and veggies, and spent the afternoon cleaning and cutting up the fruit. I put it in the freezer in containers, so in the mornings, all I have to do is pull out the fruit I want and pop some in the blender. Today, I went with strawberry/mango/ cantaloupe/watermelon/spinach. Yes, you heard me - spinach! It made the smoothie a funny brown color, but the taste was delicious - like a light sorbet. I added enough apple juice (100%, not from concentrate!) to make it 'blendable'. And ate it together with a small handful of pecans and walnuts for fat/protein.

I'll keep y'all posted on how it goes, and how I feel. But don't worry - I'm still going to be posting regular recipes - Peruvian, and otherwise!

Another Accident :S

2010-01-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

This time, in our car... Oh no!

As Johnny was turning into the driveway last evening, a car behind him apparently didn't notice him with his turn signal on, and plowed into him. Fortunately the damage is slight, and the other driver forked over the money to pay for repairs. And Johnny wasn't hurt, that's the most important thing.

A Beautiful Day in Lima

2010-01-06T15:59:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Today has been an absolutely gorgeous day here in Lima. The sun has been out almost all day, making it warm and lovely, but not too hot - I think it might have hit 80. The birds have been nutso in the back yard. I've had doves coming INTO the house to drink water from the dog bowl! The whole back wall of our house is windows, which of course are open now - not to mention the big double doors - and the birds just come and go as they please.

Apart from the birds, the garden is really looking beautiful. The bougainvillea has filled back in very nicely, and I've got hibiscus and roses blooming. The peace lilies have dozens of flowers - the air just seems fresher in the backyard. Is it any wonder I never like to leave the house?

The bird in the picture is a Saffron Finch - and there's been a pair of them back there today scavenging for nesting material. Looks like their building in the bougainvillea. Let's wish them luck!

Spur of the Moment Meals

2010-01-03T23:11:00.003-05:00

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Since the boys are out of school now, they aren't spending a lot of time here at the house - they're visiting with their mother and grandmother now that they're free from homework and school. For me, that means I don't cook - I'm happy with cereal, oatmeal, tuna fish and sandwiches. Johnny eats out on the road during the day while he's working, and he's content to have something light in the evenings, too.

But today it happened that we were both hungry. That's why I always keep a few staples around for throwing together a quick meal. I usually have a few 1/2 kilos of ground beef in the freezer, various noodles, beans, tomato paste and sauces... like I said, basics. So here's what I did when we decided we wanted something to eat.

Beefy Ramen - serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 K (1lb) ground beef
2 packets of Ramen noodle Oriental flavor
2 Italian tomatoes, de-seeded and cut up into small pieces
1/2 a large onion, cut lengthwise in strips
1 pack of Maggi Sofrito, or your favorite stir fry or teriyaki sauce.

First, I put the Sofrito in my frying pan and start warming it up.
Add the sliced onions and the ground beef, stir it all up and cook it until the beef is browned through.
Add about 3-4 cups of water, bring it to a boil. The water doesn't need to be deep, just enough to get all of your noodles into.
Add in your Ramen noodles, the seasoning packs and the tomato.
As the noodles start to cook, break them apart so they can cook evenly.
Cover and let cook 3-5 minutes.

You can serve as is, I did and it was fine.
If you'd prefer a thicker sauce, you can thicken it with a little cornstarch or flour.

Johnny LOVED this - I was kind of surprised, it was so different from anything he usually eats.

If you're in the US and would like to try some Sofrito, it's available here - LatinProducts.com. If you're in Peru, it's available at Wong, Plaza Vea, etc in the seasoning aisle. It's really great for doing a quick stir-fry.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T14:16:00.002-05:00

We had SUCH a great time New Year's Eve. Not as many people showed up as we were hoping for, but the people who did come were SO much fun! Doing everything BYOB worked out great - there was lots of 'here, try this!' going on. We had a fun mix of expats and Peruvians, dancing and singing, and just general merry making until the sun came up. I really want to say 'Thanks!!' to all the folks who came by, and we are absolutely doing this again next year.

It was full daylight by the time the last guest left and the music was turned off. I hit the pillow around 7am, and we slept until about 2pm. We woke up ravenous, and decided that it was a great day for ceviche. So Johnny and I went out - just the two of us! Hooray! We went out to El Fayke Piurano, which is one of our favorite ceviche restaurants. It was so nice, having our own car to drive, too. We had a plate of ceviche mixta (fish, shrimp, calamari, octopus, mussels) and jalea mixta (same mixture - but jalea is battered and fried) , and a nice tall glass of 'leche de tigre' - tiger's milk. That's the 'juice' from the ceviche - spicy and lemony, supposed to be great for a hangover. Neither one of us had a hangover, but it just seemed like a great combination for the day. I love the leche de tigre with my chifles - fried plantain chips - and cancha. The salt, citrus and spice is such a great taste combination. It really hit the spot!

The plan was then to go home, and chill out and watch a movie - we've got about a dozen DVD's that we haven't watched yet. Well - poor old Johnny never made it past the couch! He walked in, sat down... laid down... and that was it. He was out for the night. He did manage to crawl into bed around 11pm, and snuggled in while I watched reruns of CSI and Law and Order (my favorite late night activities ;))

All in all, I don't think I could have asked for a better New Years.

New Year's Eve Is Coming

2009-12-31T00:20:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve. Next year will be the last year of the first decade of the 2000's - hard to believe this 10 years has passed so quickly. Seems like it was just yesterday that everyone was panicked about the Y2K bug. That NYE passed badly for me - I was sick in bed with the flu, so missed out on all the Y2K excitement. I vaguely remember watching the ball drop several times, as one of the channels was showing the stroke of midnight around the world.

So what will the next year bring? I haven't a clue. It looks to be exciting, my mom and nephew will be here spending a lot more time with us. They'll be coming down at the end of January and staying for 6 months. I can't wait - We're all really looking forward to it.

I'm working on improving my financial status, and have set some goals for myself, which you can read about at my 'other' blog - Ok, Internet - Make Me Money! - if you are so inclined.

I'm also working on improving my relationship with my two sons - one is turning 13 in a month, the other is closing in on 11, and things are starting to get rocky. It's not easy, being a step-parent.

And I'm also making a commitment to spend more time together with my husband this year - we both have a tendency to get wrapped up in our own stuff and neglect our time together.

So, how about you? Are you making any resolutions?

Oh - and if you're in Lima tomorrow, come by around 9 or 10 - we're having a party. ;)

2009-12-26T16:31:00.002-05:00

Image by pellis via Flickr

We ended up with a holiday worthy of 'A Christmas Story'.

Christmas Eve, I'm expected my husband's family to show up, as they have every year for the last 5, with all the food - my mother in law cooks every thing, and I typically make a side dish or two.

Around 6pm, i ask my husband who all is coming - and he casually replies 'Oh, didn't I tell you? Everyone is going over to my aunt's for Xmas eve, because she's sick and can't get out' .

For some reason, it had never been mentioned, although I'd been asking for 3 weeks what the plans were for Xmas eve.

Well, we had company in the house, backpackers from Venezuela and Ecuador, that we had invited to stay for Xmas with us instead of going on to Bolivia on the 23rd as they'd planned, so it would have been bad form for us to slide off to someone else's house. So we rushed off to Wong and got a pre-cooked turkey part, a couple boxes of salads and cookies, and what not.

Unbeknownst to me, the Venezuelan had also gone off shopping, and came home with enough food to feed a small army - lechon, more salads, more what not.

I started cooking scalloped potatoes (I had to have one favorite side dish of my own), and at about 10 pm (about the time I'm inviting people over - sadly, no one showed :() my husband says, 'I'll be back in a few minutes, I'm going to run to my aunt's house and say Merry Xmas to everyone - no more than half an hour. I looked at him and said... 'Do NOT leave me all alone on Xmas eve.'

At 10 minutes to midnight (!!!) I'm calling my husband on the cellphone - 'Where the heck are you?? it's almost time to eat?? He walked in at midnight, calmly mentioning 'I'm not really hungry, I already ate over there'.

I punched him in the arm. :oops:

The guests had gotten tired and gone to bed, but the fireworks woke them up.

Well, the fireworks and our dogs, who went absolutely berserk when the fireworks started up.

So - the food turned out being delicious, and we all ate until we were stuffed, then talked for a while, drank a bunch of wine, and finally fell into bed around 3am.

Hope your Christmas was as exciting as mine!!

What Are You Eating For Christmas?

2009-12-24T10:34:00.005-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Christmas in Peru takes place on Christmas Eve. My mother in law is doing the turkey, and most of the rest of the food. I'm going to make a couple casseroles full of scalloped potatoes - if I'm lucky enough to find cheddar cheese in the market, I'll make that au gratin. I think I might make a pot of green beans too - There never seem to be enough vegetables to make me happy.

Everyone will start coming over around 10 or 11 pm, and we'll listen to music, talk or watch a movie. Cartoon Network is showing all Christmas specials, so maybe I'll get lucky and there will be a Rudolph or Frosty - Or a Charlie Brown Christmas!

At midnight, all around us we'll hear fireworks and firecrackers shooting off. They aren't supposed to be permitted anymore, yet everyone still does it.

Then, we'll all come inside and eat. Turkey, potatoes, salad, zarsa, and of course at the end, paneton and hot chocolate.

After the food, we'll sit around and talk some more - if anyone has gifts to open, this is when we'll do it.

And then, probably no early than 2 or 3 am, everyone will go home. Anyone who doesn't have transportation will spend the night.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, isn't much different from any other day - a lot of stores and restaurants will be open as usual. Hopefully, I can go to the black market and get some deals on 'filler' toys for the boys. David is getting a camping trip, Franco is getting some Hot Wheels, and they're both getting a telescope to share. But I want to get some smaller, less expensive toys for filler - and for their stockings - things like little green army men, a deck of cards, a checker's set... things I can get for less than 10 soles. Because when you're a kid at Christmas, no matter what anyone else says, quantity DOES count!

So - to all my readers (all 25 of you!) I wish you the most joyous of holiday seasons, what ever holiday you may celebrate. And I'll see you later in the week!

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

2009-12-22T14:41:00.003-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Today is my mom's birthday, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell her how much I love her, and how important she is in my life. :)

Christmas in Lima

2009-12-18T12:37:00.004-05:00

Cover of A Charlie Brown Christmas(TM)

Christmas is getting closer, and I'm just not feeling it.

Believe it or not, I think I miss the crass commercialization of Christmas in the US! I miss seeing decorations everywhere, music blaring in every store, commercials non-stop on the TV. I did see Santa Claus in Wong (a supermarket) the other day, but my kids want nothing to do with that - even though he was giving out free candy canes. I loved that they were playing Vince Guaraldi's music from 'A Charlie Brown Christmas', though.

THAT'S what I need! I'm going to track down all the old Christmas specials - Charlie Brown, Rudolph, Little Drummer Boy, Frosty.... I'm sure I can find them online. Maybe I'll burn them to a DVD and watch them one after the other.

I'm am looking forward to my mom coming down in January - we're going to have a whole other Christmas, US style, with turkey, and green bean casserole, and sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and scalloped potatoes, and pie. :D And we'll all get up early and open presents from Santa - none of this ridiculous (sorry Peru!) staying up until midnight and eating a full meal then opening presents when everyone is all cranky and tired. And with hot chocolate? In full summer?? How on earth did that tradition get started? I love you Peru, but sometimes, you just don't make sense.

Peanut Butter, Bananas and Mayo

2009-12-15T15:22:00.002-05:00

Ok, people -

What's the weirdest food that you love?

Since I was a kid, I loved banana sandwiches - sliced banana and mayonnaise on white bread. As I got older, I started experimenting. Wheat bread was a good choice. Banana and peanut butter was good, especially with a little honey. Any kind of nuts tossed on for crunch.

But the Florida cracker in me won out - and my favorite is peanut butter, bananas and Kraft Mayo on white bread. Good, soft white bread, with chewy crust. I like to think I'm being a little bit healthy with fruit and peanut butter.

A lot of people think the combination is disgusting. Most of those people have never tried it. ;) I don't mind trying unusual foods, that's why I've eaten everything from raw fish to guinea pig since I've lived in Peru. There are some things I won't eat - tripe is one of them. Actually, most things made of intestine are off limits for me. And it's not because I think it's gross, it's because I've tried it and didn't like it. (I actually didn't know what it was the first time I ate it, I just didn't like the taste)

So tell me - what is your favorite weird food? Maybe it's an unusual exotic food, or maybe it's a combination that most people find weird, like scrambled eggs and grape jelly (yum).

Hmmm... I seem to like a lot of weird combinations.

Zarsa - Peruvian Salsa

2009-12-09T11:19:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

If there's one thing you can say about Peruvians, it's that they love onions. Red onions are a part of just about every meal. Even when they aren't cooked into the food, you'll find them served raw as a side dish. This side dish is officially called 'Salsa Criolla' , but everywhere you go, you'll see it called 'zarsa'.

2 Medium red onions
1 aji limo
2-3 limones (or key limes, if you're in the US)
salt and pepper to taste
cilantro (optional)

Cut the onions in half from top to bottom and peel off the outer skin. Slice in super thin half rings. When you've got everything sliced up, put it all in a colander, and rinse under cold water.

Slice your aji limo, also in very thin slices, so that you have little thin rings of pepper. It probably won't take the whole pepper, I usually add between 5-10 little tiny slices of it, depending on the size of my onions. It all depends on how spicy you like your zarsa.

Combine the onion slices and aji slices in a serving bowl. Sprinkle on salt and pepper, add about a tablespoons worth of finely chopped cilantro (if you like it - it's not necessary), then juice the limones over the whole thing. Stir to mix everything together. You can serve right away, or let it sit for a half hour or so, to let the flavors meld.

Great on hamburgers, hot dogs, with fried fish, fried chicken, on top of avocado slices - or just by itself as a side dish. I make this nearly every day!

¡Viva Alianza! and Other Sports News

2009-12-08T13:49:00.004-05:00

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Today is the big day between Alianza Lima and Universitario. These are the two favorite teams out of all the Peruvian teams, and they have a huge rivalry. This season, the championship is down to the two of them, and everyone is a-flutter.

In our house, we're big Alianza fans. (I say 'we' loosely, because I don't really care much ;)) So today, we're going to be partying and eating chips and drinking chelas (beer) and rooting for the 'home' team!

¡Viva Alianza! ¡Viva Peru!

In other sports news, Sofia Mulanovich, Peru's world champion surfer, is competing today for 2nd place at the Billabong Pro surf competition. 1st place has already been awarded to Stephanie Gilmore from Australia, who is so far in the lead that she can't be touched.

And of course, the golden girl, Kina 'Maldita' Malpartida won her boxing match against Britain's Lyndsey Scragg and held on to the WBA Women's Super Featherweight world title.

I make the BEST roast chicken

2009-12-05T15:49:00.005-05:00

If you live in Peru, you have the secret to absolutely delicious roast meats right in your grocery store.

In the section of the supermarket where they sell seasonings and mixes, you'll find some sauces under the brand name Piki. I've been using the rocoto molida for cooking and my husband likes to put in on his food. One day, I'm in Plaza Vea trying to figure out what I want to do different with the chicken that week, and I notice this 'Piki Aderezo para Pollo'. I figured, what the heck, and bought it.

Oh my. It made the most delicious chicken I've ever had. I put 4 leg quarters in a glass baking dish, and just poured the sauce on top and spread it around. Then I covered it and let it marinate for about an hour. Later, i cooked it in the oven at 350F for about 40-45 minutes. It came out with perfect seasoning, juicy, tender - my guys LOVE it. That with some potatoes, rice and salad, and it's a perfect meal.

This week, after such success with the chicken, I decided to try one of their other products - Aderezo para Cerdo - and used it to marinade a pork tenderloin. Now, tenderloins are very lean, so I usually wrap them in bacon to make sure they have enough fat cooking with them to stay juicy. It was not necessary with this marinate! I did add about a half cup of water, since I was cooking it uncovered, so that it wouldn't cook out completely. They cooked absolutely delicious and tender and juicy. It was hard to get the boys to leave enough for their Dad to eat when he got home!

So, if you're in Peru, I highly recommend giving the Piki line a try. And as an added bonus, if you aren't in Peru, it looks like you can buy it online - InkaProducts.net.

Swine Flu :(

2009-12-03T11:22:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday evening, my oldest son David mentioned that his throat felt a little scratchy. I gave him some hot tea, but about an hour later his mom came by and picked him up for the weekend, and I didn't think any more about it. When he came home Monday morning, he had breakfast, but seemed a bit quiet.

Then he said 'Kelly, I don't feel very good'. Uh-oh. Runny nose, a bit of a cough, congestion.

He didn't look real good, so I told him to go lay down. At that point, he didn't have a fever.

Within a couple of hours, he could hardly walk, was crying from the body aches and had a raging fever. It was obvious he wasn't going to school. He all but collapsed walking to his bedroom from the bathroom - I ended up half carrying him back to bed.

I called the doctor, who said it was definitely flu, and most likely swine flu (later confirmed). He said there was no reason to bring him to the clinic unless he started developing a rash with his fever, had trouble breathing, or any other more serious symptom.

Meanwhile, it was necessary to lower the fever - it was causing him to shiver uncontrollably, and he was having terrible body aches. He said it hurt his whole face just to drink a little water! My poor baby :( It was awful watching him suffer like that.

After a bit of a mix up at the pharmacy (they sent Johnny home with antibiotics and ibuprofen - NOT treatment for the flu!) I ended up with a decent anti-flu medicine and tylenol for the fever. By the evening, David was feeling well enough to eat a little something, and was drinking lots of gatorade and fruit juice.

He felt a little better on Tuesday, but still spent the majority of the day sleeping. His fever broke and he sweat so bad it soaked the bed sheets. I sent him off to the showers and changed the bed - and sprayed the whole room down with Lysol! (Franco has been sleeping on the couch through this whole thing)

Wednesday he still slept until nearly 1pm, but when he woke up was feeling MUCH better. Good enough to get up and start wanting to kick the soccer ball around - so I sent him to study for a couple of hours and do his chores :D

Today is Thursday, and he's heading back to school. So far (knock on wood!) no one else is showing any symptoms. So it looks like we may have weathered the H1N1 storm!

Crash!

2009-11-30T00:28:00.003-05:00

Bang!

My nephew Joe had a wreck in his car this weekend - slammed into a post. Messed up his car pretty bad - it's going to cost around $1500 to get it fixed. Fortunately no one was hurt.

About an hour after Johnny took off to go help Joe, Crash Bang!!! Right in front of the house, another accident! Some people in a VW bug crossed right in front of a taxi scooting down the street. The taxi took off hit n run style, I'm not sure why, because he didn't seem to be at fault. The passenger in the Beetle was definitely hurt though - it didn't take 5 minutes before cops, firefighters, ambulances and everything were crawling all over the place.

It was nice to see such a quick response. I felt bad for the girl, though. :(

Papas a la Huancaina

2009-11-26T00:38:00.003-05:00

Image by jasonlam via Flickr

In the central highlands of Peru you'll find a province called Huancayo. This province is known for many things - the Cerrito de la Libertad, the statue of the Virgin of Concepcion... but it's most known for it's food. In particular, it's known for a potato dish called papas a la huancaina (huancayo style potatoes... clever, eh?) This is a delicious dish, usually served as an appetizer but sometimes as a side dish that consists of boiled and sliced potatos covered in a spicy cheese sauce. It's the first authentic Peruvian dish I ever tasted, and is one of my favorites still. And here's how you make it!

vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 aji amarillo (yellow peruvian pepper) - seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups queso fresco or queso blanco (farmers cheese - I've been told feta will do in a pinch)
saltine crackers
3/4 cup evaporated milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion, aji and garlic in 2 0r 3 tbsps of vegetable oil, until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
Put the sauted mixture in a blender or food processer, and puree it with the cheese and evaporated milk.
Add crackers as needed to make it thick - this should be a fairly thick sauce that sticks to the spoon. If you get it too thick, add a little more evaporated milk to thin it out
Add salt and pepper to taste

Boil whole potatoes until cooked through, but don't let them get real soft! (If you're in Peru, you'll want to use papas rosadas for this - do NOT use papas amarillas!) After they've cooked, let them cool enough to touch then take the skin off and slice in 1/2 inch slices.

Arrange each serving like this -
- 1 lettuce leaf or a small bed of shredded lettuce
- 3 slices of potato
- sauce to cover
- decorate with a quarter of a hard boiled egg and a couple slices of black olive

Provecho!

We went to the movies...

2009-11-21T13:04:00.004-05:00

We started this new thing with the boys - a behavior chart where they get points for good behaviors and for doing their chores on time. The points they earn in a day dictate how much tv/computer/playstation they get, and if they get enough points over the course of the week, they get to go along on a family outing, if they choose to do so.

Last week, the weekly prize was going out to the movies, and we went to see 2012. Knowing that Franco has had 'end of the world' issues in the past ( he's been terrified with Christian imagery of the Anti-Christ), we talked about the story behind the movie some before hand, and I let them know that in my opinion, the whole 2012/end of the world thing is a load of hooey.

Anyway - the movie. OK, the movie is cliche ridden and has a ridiculous plot and so many completely implausible scenes it's not even funny. But on the other hand, the acting was all pretty good - and let's face it, you only go to a disaster flick for awesome disaster, right? And this had some AWESOME disaster going on! The effects were great, imo (if not often a bit unbelievable) and that's what it's all about. The kids LOVED it. David is a sucker for special effects, and here it is a week later and he's STILL talking about it. Also - we watched in English with subtitles, so it made both kids get some reading done, and helped them with learning English. They can both recite lines from the movie in English! After only one viewing!! That's freaking amazing to me - what is it about guys that they manage to memorize movie lines like that?

And anything that can have both my boys interested for over 2 hours, sitting there wide eyed and jaws dropped, literally on the edge of their seats - that's a winner in my book.

I'd recommend this movie for pre-teens, as long as they're old enoughto know the difference between movies and reality, they'll love this movie. Although there's a LOT of death (like, most of the people in the world) there's no blood and nothing gruesome to see. There are some pretty intense scenes, but nothing extraordinarily violent.

2009-11-20T23:15:00.003-05:00

Is this a gorgeous French oven or what? (well, I'd call it a Dutch oven, I don't know what's the diff? if you know, tell me!) I want it so bad!! I think of all the things I could cook with it. Ok, mainly I think of a big pot roast in the oven, but it would be awesome for baking bread, too. This Le Creuset cook ware is expensive, but man, that's the stuff of my dream kitchen. I think if I ever start making enough money, I'm gonna buy everything they make! It's cast iron, which I love love love, but it's coated with a porcelain enamel, so it's easy to clean and looks so pretty! I'm telling ya - I'm gonna have this thing one day! As much as I like the red, I think the cobalt blue would go better with my kitchen...

Fast Breakfast Ideas

2009-11-19T23:24:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Breakfast is the easiest meal of the day around here. Since the boys don't have school until 1pm, we're in no rush. Which is great - since I don't have to worry about them rushing to get out the door on time, I can let them be responsible for their own breakfast. At first it was easy, they were happy to have cold cereal with milk or yogurt every day. Yogurt is more common in a liquid, drinkable form here in Peru - perfect with cereal. But, although they said before that all they ever wanted for breakfast was cornflakes, they're now telling me they're a little bored with it. So I've started coming up with some things I can have ready in the fridge for them to do on their own. And I started thinking, most of these things are so quick and easy, they would also work for people who ARE in a rush in the mornings.

1) Have a piece of casserole. I'll make a breakfast casserole, like a quiche, during the day. When it cools, I can cut it up and put portions in freezer bags - the boys just take one out, dump it on a plate and microwave it for a few seconds.

2) Yogurt. Yogurt is a healthy, economical and fast. When you are eating on the run, grab a container of yogurt and some dried or fresh fruit. I like vanilla yogurt with bananas cut up in it, and then sprinkle it with some All-Bran cereal for extra fiber.

3) Breakfast shake. If you keep some cut up fruit in individual bags in the freezer, this is a super easy breakfast - even my kids can make it. I put frozen fruit, yogurt and honey to sweeten in the blender. Good choice if you're on the move, because if you put it in travel mug with a straw, you can take it with you in the car.

4) Pancake Rolls. Whip up a batch of pancakes and freeze them in short stacks of three. The kids can heat them up in the microwave later, spread them with peanut butter and jelly and roll them up. If you have some frozen sausage links (which I DON'T in Peru!!) you could make pigs in a blanket by microwaving a few sausage to go with it.

5) Breakfast sandwiches. In the evening, while you are getting things ready for the next day, grill up a few breakfast sandwiches. Choose whatever you like: turkey slices, ham slices, cheese, tomato, bacon, etc. When the sandwich cools, cut it into bite size pieces and put it in a container. In the morning, just grab a container; pop it into the microwave for fifteen or twenty seconds and breakfast is served.

My boys like being able to do their breakfast on their own, and it gives them a great sense of responsibility. And honestly, I appreciate the break - while they're doing their breakfast, I can work on getting a load of laundry in and making sure they have clean uniforms for school!

How to make a chicken last 3 meals (at least!)

2009-11-17T01:00:00.005-05:00

Image by 3liz4 via Flickr

Chicken is probably the most common main dish around here. There are SO many ways to prepare it - arroz con pollo, seco de pollo, fried chicken and caldo de gallina (Peruvian style chicken soup), just to name a few. I've mentioned before how I can usually get 3 meals out of one chicken, and I thought I'd talk a little more about how I go about doing that.One of the best ways is to start out by roasting the whole chicken - you can do wonders with what you don’t eat for dinner. Here are some ways to make that roasted chicken appealing to the family.

Learn to slice a whole chicken. Slicing one properly makes it easier to remove the rest of the meat from the bone. The carcass can be used to create stock. Boil it in some water with a carrot, a whole onion and some celery until the rest of the meat falls off.

You can season the broth with herbs and spices - try garlic and a bay leaf. After it cools, pour it into jars for storage. Freeze it and have it ready to use for soups and casseroles.

Do your kids carry their lunches to school? Instead of buying lunch meat, slice leftover chicken breast for sandwiches. It will be a nice change from the usual lunch fare.

On the weekends, instead of ordering a pizza or going to McDonald’s, use that chicken. Cube a few pieces to toss on top of a salad with some cheese and croutons. Combine with peppers and onions in a skillet, then stir in some chili powder or taco seasonings to make filling for fajitas or soft tacos.

My guys don't care for the breast meat as a main dish, but will eat it up if it's cooked into a tallarin saltado (stir fry) or aji de gallina (chicken in a spicy sauce). Does your family like chicken pot pie? Add some of the chicken, along with vegetables (canned or frozen) and a can of creamed soup to a pie crust and you’ve got an instant dinner that takes less than an hour to prepare. It is a quick meal idea perfect for busy families. A salad on the side will make a complete and healthy dinner.

Chicken based casseroles can be made and frozen for future meals. The family may be all “chickened out” for the week, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of the chicken you have left for future weeks.

Make your own soup with juicy chicken pieces and wide egg noodles - or use spaghetti noodles for Peruvian style.. That broth you jarred up will serve as a nice base and best of all it's already seasoned. Add noodles and sliced vegetables like carrots, celery, and onions to your soup. When the noodles are tender, add the chicken. Since it is already cooked it just needs to warn up. Ladle up a bowl for a light weekend lunch, or for 'lonche' in the evening with some fresh pan frances from the panaderia.

What are you doing with your chicken after dinner tonight? Try some of these ideas to make that chicken do double and triple duty to save on your family’s grocery bill. The best part is that the new meals are just as tasty as the original dish.

Arroz con Pollo

2009-11-14T00:56:00.006-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Today I cooked arroz con pollo for my guys - that's rice with chicken. It's a staple of pretty much every Latin American country, although they've all got their own special take on it. In Peru cooking style, it's sometimes called 'arroz verde' or green rice, because it contains a LOT of cilantro (also called coriander). It's usually served with papas a la huancaina, and often an avocado salad. Here's how I make my arroz con pollo.

4 chicken thighs (you can remove the skin if you like)
3 cups of rice
vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup of aji amarillo (yellow chili pepper - check your Latin market) finely chopped or liquefied
1 cup of cilantro/coriander - liquefied (see the recipe for seco de pollo for directions on doing this)
2 large handfuls of green pea pods - shell them, and use the peas, not the pods!
About a half a cup of carrot cut up into cubes
2-1/2 cups of chicken stock/bouillon.
1/2 cup of beer
Salt and pepper

Put about 1/2 cup of oil in a dutch oven or stew pan.
Salt and pepper your chicken thighs, then brown them in the oil.
Remove them from the pan, and then add the onion, garlic, cilantro and aji.
Stir it around a bit until the onion starts to turn golden and translucent.
Add the chicken back in and pour in the beer. Let it cook until the chicken is cooked through.
Take the chicken back out and set it aside covered where it will stay warm - in a very low temperature oven or on the back of your range top is good.
Put the rice, shelled peas, carrot and chicken stock into the mix.
Add salt and pepper as necessary here, then cover tightly to cook the rice.

Serve the rice together with the chicken.

Ok - now for the truth - I can NEVER cook rice right on the stove top, so I do my chicken on the stove top, then throw everything into the rice cooker at the end and let it all cook together there. It comes out perfect every time.

If you are opposed to cooking with beer, just replace it with chicken bouillon. If you're short on time, don't feel bad about using a small can of peas and carrots instead of fresh. For more Peruviness, (that's like grooviness, only Peruvian) throw in a handful or two of Andean corn (choclo) if you can find it.

You might also want to add a little bit of thinly sliced red bell pepper. I don't because everyone in my house just picks it out - but if you look around on the internet, you'll find that a lot of recipes and pictures show it.

provecho!

reBlog from internetmarketingformommies.com: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Backlinks

2009-11-08T17:15:00.002-05:00

I found this great source for anyone who's looking for ways to get backlinks to their blogs/lenses/hubs etc:

This page is going to be a great resource to find all the information you need on how to build backlinks. I will keep adding to it as more linking resources are created. Remember ~ this is a comprehensive resource ~ not all of these ideas will be right for what you are doing. If you have questions about whether something in particular will work for you feel free to ask in the comment section of the particular post or resource. (make sure you bookmark this page so you can find it again ~ and hit the retweet button to share with your friends)internetmarketingformommies.com, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Backlinks

You should read the whole article.

I know this is a really bizarrely off-topic post for me - but the above website has been so much help to me in learning my way around the internet, I wanted to share it with other people.

Strawberry Smoothie Recipe

2009-11-07T13:50:00.005-05:00

Image by Poldavo (Alex) via Flickr

I love smoothies. I love strawberry smoothies the best. Especially with banana. I like to make them for me and the boys for breakfast because it's so yummy, and so healthy. And so easy!

For your strawberry smoothie, start with a pint of strawberries. I rinse them, cut off the stem and then cut them into smaller pieces - it doesn't have to be real small, because it's going in the blender anyway. I put them all in a tupper and then sprinkle a little sugar over the top - just a dusting. Then, I put them in the freezer and let them freeze solid.

Meanwhile, I peel a couple bananas, cut them up and put them in a plastic bag and freeze them too.

Next day, everything's ready for breakfast!

Get the blender out, drop in all your cut up, frozen fruit. Add enough drinkable yogurt to come to the same level as the top of your fruit (I hope that makes sense!) And then blend! If it's too thick, you can add more yogurt or cut it with a little skim milk to thin it down.

If you don't have drinkable yogurt, you can make your own. Or, add in a 8 oz cup of regular vanilla yogurt, and add skim milk as necessary. Or instead of milk, add a little orange juice.

If your smoothie isn't sweet enough, add a little honey.

I like to put my smoothie in bowl, and sprinkle it with some muesli or puffed wheat.

If you love smoothies like I do, you'll want to check this out - Amazing Smoothies

AND - Speaking of strawberry smoothies, MAN - I want this so bad!!

Vita Mix 1300 Turboblend 4500

It looks so awesome - We make a lot of smoothies and fruit drinks, and I'd LOVE to be able to sneak in some veggies like spinach or kale. I know the boys need more raw foods and green veggies, but David in particular just doesn't like them, and I refuse to force them to eat things they really don't like. (I make them take a forkful, but no more than that) My blender is a good little Oster, but it's just not strong enough to really blend in tough green veggies. I'd love to get a Vita Mix, and give my kids some SUPER powered drinks before school!

Seco de Carne - Peruvian Beef Stew

2009-11-04T23:50:00.004-05:00

Image by chez pim via Flickr

I'm gonna cheat here today.

I was checking out the search phrases that have brought people here, and it seems that about 99% of the people who find my blog on Google find it after doing a search for seco de pollo or Peruvian chicken stew, or some variation of that.

So - for all of y'all that have shown up here and tried my recipe for seco de pollo - thanks, and I hope it was delicious!

And I'm going to give you an extra bonus on that today - If you like the seco de pollo, you can do seco de carne also. It's the same recipe - just substitute stew beef for the chicken! My boys prefer it to the chicken, actually.

So - click on the linkie here and go to the seco de pollo recipe - and instead of browning chicken, lightly flour some stew beef and brown it. Then follow all the rest of the directions just like they're written. It's yummy!

I couldn't find a picture of any seco de carne, so I put a picture of some pretty Peruvian purple potatoes. I'll cook up some stew this week or next and put up a picture of it.

Halloween in Lima, Peru

2009-11-01T11:19:00.004-05:00

Last year at Halloween, we were still living in Surquillo. Surquillo is one of the poorer districts, as far as residential status goes - but it's still a nice place to live! Now we're living in Miraflores, which is one of the best residential areas in the city. The difference it made in trick or treaters was huge!

Last year, I had two groups of mostly teen-aged kids come by - no costumes, just plastic grocery bags and yelling 'Halloween! Halloween!' They haven't quite got the 'trick or treat!' part down yet.

This year, we went through two bags of candy! We had group after group of little kids with their moms - in all sorts of adorable costumes. We had a lot of princesses, some ghostface masks, an awesome dinosaur - and even a Teletubby!

We had carved our little pumpkin and put it out on the front step, hoping to let people know we were giving out candy. It was very popular with the little kids. My husband said we were the only ones that had a jack O Lantern out - not really a surprise, since it's not a custom here.

The truth of the matter is, Halloween itself isn't a custom in Peru. When I first arrived, there was no sign of Halloween. But each subsequent year, I've seen more and more Halloween goods in the stores. Some people don't like it - they say that it's an American custom and is usurping Peru's own culture. But I think, if people like it, and adapt to it and make it their own, it becomes their culture. The United States didn't invent Halloween, it was a mixture of customs from various cultures that came together and became what we have now. Just in my lifetime, Halloween culture has changed in the US. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for it to change in other cultures. As more North Americans move to Peru, we - as immigrants, just like our forefathers were up north - are bringing our cultures here, and our new home is adapting to us.

I think that's an awesome thing!

A Man (or a Woman) Needs a Maid

2009-10-27T17:09:00.005-05:00

Image by avlxyz via Flickr

Sorry Neil Young, I know my problems aren't exactly what you were singing about, but dang! I could sure use a maid here.

I'm so busy writing and working my affiliate stuff, I feel like every second away from the computer is a potential dollar lost. I miss my Ana - she was the best. But I'm glad she got a job she's happy with, and making more money than she did cleaning house, too.

My mom was a HUGE help while she was here, but I don't want her to be stuck doing housework all the time. That's not really fair for her.

Johnny and the boys help out, but now that J's out driving the taxi, he's not home as much to supervise the boys. And you know, almost teenage boys just don't clean the house as well as a paid housekeeper. ;) And while I'm a BIG stickler for teaching kids responsibility around the house, I also think they need to have some free time for playing football and PS2.

So - hopefully one more month, and I'll be able to look for a housekeeper. Live in? Maybe! That would sure be awesome. I always wanted a butler, like in Arthur - somebody to follow me around all the time and keep in line, pick up my dirty clothes and make sure my pants were zipped up. Hey - a girl can dream, can't she?

CouchSurfing, Take 2!

2009-10-25T01:39:00.004-05:00

Image by SuperFantastic via Flickr

We now have 2 couples here at the house. Antti and Satu are here visiting from Finland, and Tammy and Lane have just arrived from Albuquerque.

It's really been a lot of fun having people here and getting to know them. I'm looking forward to having a lot more!

CouchSurfing!

2009-10-21T00:43:00.004-05:00

Image by Mini D via Flickr

I recently signed up with a great organization, CouchSurfing.org. If you aren't aware of them, it's an international website that hooks up travelers who need a place to sleep with people who have a couch (or bed, or floor) to share. I've been signed up for less than a week, and already have 2 people coming to stay with us in the next week. And others have contacted me for in the future.

It's a super awesome thing, I'm really looking forward to meeting people from around the world - the folks coming to stay so far are from Albuquerque, NM and from a small town in Finland. I've also talked to a lady from Turkey is hoping to come to Peru early next year, and is checking things out ahead of time.

So - anyone coming to Peru, look me up on CouchSurfing! If I don't have a bed available, you're welcome to share the couch!

Keeping things cold in Lima

2009-10-20T17:05:00.006-05:00

Yes, I know I've complained about the cold in Lima for the last 4 months or so. And the other day, i was complaining about the cold in my nose. But this, my friends, is a different type of cold. Actually - it's the lack of cold. I know it's hard to believe when the thermometer has been hovering at 61 degrees for days upon day. But this is a kind of cold that doesn't come from outside, it comes from within.

Within the refrigerator, that is.

More specifically, the cold that was NOT coming from within my fridge. My little LG has been on the fritz for months, and between having other things to spend the cash on and being lazy (i confess!), we just hadn't got around to having it fixed. It was something screwy with the automatic defrost jiggermabob, and instead of automatically defrosting, it would keep frosting and frosting until the freezer froze up and no cold air passed to the fridge part. I had to manually defrost it about every week to 10 days (a serious waste of energy, y'all). I finally lost my cool (haha!) this week when half the stuff in the fridge went bad after it froze up really quickly and unexpectedly. Moldy cheese! Smelly rice! I think I found cures for several diseases with all the mold, but before I could submit them for my Nobel prize, they got up and walked out on their own. (I hear "The Funky Fungi" are playing in a little club down in Barranco now, and doing quite well. )

Anyway - before I get so far off on a ridiculous tangent that i can't get back - We called a repairman today. He's fixing it. I'm happy. Things will be a lot cooler around here now.

Pizza Loaf

2009-10-17T17:21:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I've been sick, and not feeling up to cooking the last few days. Stupid headcold! But I had some ground beef thawed out and it was getting to the point where I had to use it, or I was gonna lose it.

So, I decided to make a meat loaf. Now, usually, I make 'souper' meatloaf with Lipton Onion soup mix, but I have run out and won't have anymore until January when Mom comes back. I had switched to using Good Season's Italian seasoning mix, but that's all run out too. So, I looked around in the cupboard and fridge, and took stock of what I had on hand, and this is what I came up with.

Pizza Loaf!

1 kg (2lbs) ground beef
1 tbsp Nature's Seasonings
1 packet of saltines, pulverized to powder
1/2 small can of tomato sauce (I used roasted garlic flavor) - save other half for later
1 tsp garlic powder
1 egg
As much mozzarella cheese as you like.

I put all those ingredients except for the cheese together in a bowl and mixed until it was all incorporated.
Transfer half of the mixture to a casserole or baking dish and flatten it out.
Spoon a little of the remaining tomato sauce on and spread it around, like on a pizza dough.
Next, add a layer of mozzarella cheese. I used thin slices, because grating it just seemed like too much work today.
Spread the remainder of the meat mixture on top, flatten it out and press the seams together. This part was a little tricky, the sauce wanted to squirt out the sides. But I was prepared for that, and had made a little 'lip' around the edge of the bottom layer of meat, and flattened out the top layer as much as possible before laying it on top.

Cook it in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes covered, then take the top off for the last 5 minutes. (I covered it with tin foil at the start, because I used a 9x13 pan instead of my regular casserole) Serve topped with the rest of the tomato sauce.

*Note - picture is NOT my pizza loaf - just a generic meatloaf I found on Wiki. We ate ours up faster than I could find the camera!

The Battle of Angamos

2009-10-08T21:58:00.005-05:00

Today is a holiday in Peru - it's the anniversary of the Battle of Angamos. This was a naval battle that took place during the War of the Pacific in which one of Peru's greatest heroes, Adm. Miguel Grau, was killed. He was known as the Cabellero de los Mares - the Gentleman of the Seas - by his enemies for the way he always acted with honor during battle. He warned crewmen to leave ships before attacking, and rescued survivors from the seas. The Chileans were nearly as distraught at his death as the Peruvians.

The loss at Angamos - and the loss of Sr. Grau and his ship, the Huascar - was a turning point in the war of the Pacific. Without Grau to protect the coast, the Chileans had complete control of the seas, and the Chilean army was free to move up the coast.

So, today, let's raise a glass of Pisco for the man whose passing caused his enemies to mourn his loss. Viva el Cabellero de los Mares!

New Car!!!

2009-10-06T20:49:00.003-05:00

So, we took the money from the new house and used it to buy a car. Yay! Here's some pictures.

It's a Toyota Corona. So Pretty!

Root Canal! NOooooooo!

2009-10-03T11:51:00.003-05:00

I've had this filling in my tooth for about 20 years. About 8 years ago, my dentist told me it had a crack in it, and should be re-done.

Fiddle-dee-dee, said I... I worry not about such things!

Fast forward to today, and me sitting in a dentist chair with what felt like 4 hands and 42 drills, nozzles and tubes stuck in my mouth, and a long drill penetrating down to my jawbone... and I realize I probably should have listened back then.

'We might be able to save this tooth' says the dentist. 'We'll do a root canal, and see how it goes. If it still hurts, we'll just take it out'.

Great.

So the root canal is done, we'll see how long it takes for the anesthesia to wear off, and let me know if this thing is gonna stay or gonna go.

The House is Sold!

2009-09-30T10:48:00.007-05:00

Only a week after posting the ad in El Comercio, our little house has been sold to a lovely young couple. And we are out of credit card debt, just like that.

But more exciting, we get to buy a car! A car that my husband can use as a taxi! He's very excited about having an opportunity to really make some money. He loves the drywall business, but it's just not a sustainable career here in Peru. There isn't enough demand and there's far too much supply - so when he does get a job, he rarely makes more than S/.60 (60 soles) a day - that's about $20. Not good for the household budget - if he worked every day, he'd barely make enough to feed us and pay for his own transportation. And unfortunately, he doesn't work every day - we're lucky if he has work for half the month.

So - we're doing what it seems that most Limeños with a car do... they start driving a taxi. My nephew has been driving a taxi for about 4 months now, and is making more than double in a day what my husband was making in drywall. Even when you factor in gas and insurance, it comes out to very decent money, by Peruvian standards.

So - advice to anyone who wants to move to Peru: Yes, the cost of living in Lima, Peru is very low. But the wages in Peru are very low in comparison to the cost of living - one of the lowest rations of income to cost of living in S. America. It's important that you have money from somewhere else - for instance, I have my house rental in the US - in order to make it. Or, be ready to invest in a business and work hard! I've seen a lot of people come to Peru thinking they'll teach English and live large... well, teaching English isn't as easy in Peru as you might think it is. Although it can be enough to live on, it takes a lot of work, long hours and putting up with a lot of crap.

But don't let that throw you off of choosing Peru! It IS possible to have a decent life here on the cheap - I do! I just want to make sure that people understand it's not going to be easy if you don't have a backup income.

Next post, I promise to talk about more food!

No More KFC!

2009-09-27T10:46:00.003-05:00

Image by viZZZual.com via Flickr

Well, not delivery, anyway.

I know, we shouldn't be eating Kentucky Fried Chicken at all - it's bad for your health and of course there are signs that they aren't very nice to the chickens - I mean, even before they bread and deep fry them. We don't eat it all that much, I usually cook - but sometimes, we just want something a little more... fattening? Crispy? Whatever it is that its got, we want it.

But last night, I called and ordered an 8 piece chicken dinner, with cole slaw, french fries etc. When they brought it to the house,I looked in the box, and there were three legs, three wings, one breast and one piece that looked like it might have been part of the back! So we called them up and raised hell. I expect an 8 piece chicken dinner to have 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings and 2 breasts... the whole chicken, right? I don't think that's out of line! Imagine going to Roky's and ordering a whole pollo a la brasa and getting home to find a bunch of legs in the bag!

So... 20 minutes later, the delivery guy shows up with a new box of chicken. We go to exchange it, and my husband tells me to check it out before the guy leaves. SAME PARTS OF CHICKEN - except in place of one wing, there's now another one of these little pieces that looks like the chicken's back. Seriously, it was like one bite of chicken on that thing. I put them on a plate and showed the delivery guy... do you see this? What chicken has 3 legs? This is not what the order is supposed to be! So - he says... um, well, just keep it all, we'd just have to throw it out anyway.

Moral of the story - Don't order KFC delivery - to paraphrase Joe Pesci, 'they screw ya in the delivery'. Also, if you aren't happy with your order - COMPLAIN. Peruvians get nervous when gringos complain. Maybe it's my bad Spanish and they just want to shut me up? :D But seriously - don't take bad service lying down. Make your complaints known!

And for KFC... I've already quit McDonald's and Burger King... Maybe KFC will be next.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Peru...

2009-09-24T14:22:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

But didn't know where to ask...!

the Ultimate Peru List is the place to go.

Completely written and maintained by my friend Sharon de Hinojosa, the UPL is the best place I know of to go when you need any information about Peru. She has page after page of anything you could think of needing to know - from immigration issues to settling in to what to do in your free time.

I really recommend it to anyone that is planning on living in Peru, or even if you just plan a long term visit. I bet you'll find something to help you out, and plenty of things you never would have thought to ask.

Learn Spanish! Click Here!

Could it be??

2009-09-23T16:37:00.002-05:00

Is the little house really going to be sold this easily? It's almost impossible to believe, but we had over 40 calls the first day the ad was in the newspaper! Today is the last day we'll be showing it, (fingers x'd) because it seems there's a gentleman who is ready to buy it and eager to give us his money.

What does this mean for the Borda family? Well, besides celebration (whoo hoo! , just like Kool and the Gang), it means we can finally buy a car, which will give us some steady income. We'll be able to pay off all our credit card debt, which will considerably lower out monthly expenditures. And we'll all be able to go to the dentist and get our eyes checked! Yay.. new glasses for me! And I know JUST the one's I want!

Now, I know I shouldn't be counting the chickies before the eggs have hatched... but really, I think I hear them peeping and pecking in there.. it's just a matter of time before they fight their way out!

Scalloped Potatoes ROCK the House

2009-09-20T21:22:00.003-05:00

Image by tofutti break via Flickr

I roasted a chicken today, which always gets rave reviews. Unfortunately, I used my last envelope of onion soup mix, so next time I'm going to have to find a new way to season it. But the real jewel of the meal today was the scalloped potatoes. I made them once, a LONG time ago... back when we still lived in the casita, so at least 4 years past. I'm not sure why I waited so long to make them again. The Peruvian papas rosada (pink potato) are perfect - they cook well, and have a soft, creamy texture that goes well with the sauce. Here's how I made it.

5-6 large potatoes - enough to fill a 2 liter (2 quart) casserole
1 small onion
50 grams (about 3 tbsp) butter
30 grams (1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
350 ml (about 1-1/2 cups) chicken broth
30 ml (about 2 tbsp) mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Peel and slice the potatoes in very thin slices - helps if you have a mandolin slicer. Cut the onion in half, peel and also cut in very thin slices - as thin as you can get them.

Grease your casserole dish and layer the potato and onion slices with salt and pepper. Don't be shy with the salt and pepper.

In a saucepan, melt the butter.

Add the flour, and stir until it's a smooth paste.

Add the broth, and whisk, whisk, whisk!!! You want it smooth with no lumps.

Add the mayonnaise, and keep whisking until it gets thick and just starts to bubble.

Pour the mixture over the potatoes. Cover, and put it all in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. (175 Celsius) Let it cook for about 1-1/2 hours.

This is SO good. I'm a dolt for not taking a picture, to show you how delicious this looked. I sprinkled some paprika on top. You might try adding some chives, or maybe some chopped ham layered in with the potatoes and onions. Or sprinkle some cheddar in there.

I bet it wouldn't be hard to make this vegan, either.

This is easy and really filling. Give it a try, your family will love you.

Selling the Little House, Take 2

2009-09-19T14:06:00.008-05:00

I figured, hey! I've got this blog, why not post pics of the house here? Sometimes I'm just a little slow on the uptake, folks. ;)

The house is just a smidge under 30m2, with unfinished concrete flooring. It has a living/dining area, a bedroom, and a kitchen with a very small bathroom. The bathroom has a shower, no tub - but it does have a decent electric on-demand therma - not a widow-maker.

This first shot is standing in the kitchen, looking towards the bathroom. The shelving and cabinet will stay in the house. The pipe up by the roof is something I put in for hanging clothes to dry - up nice and high, out of the way, in the warmest part of the house.

This is in the bedroom, looking towards the door from the living room.

Second shot in bedroom, looking towards the door into the kitchen.

A better look at the ceiling in the bedroom - it's made of finished drywall, and that is a window in the top. It is hinged for opening and closing to let in fresh air or keep out dampness.

In the living room, looking towards the door into the bedroom. Bicycle not included. ;)

This is in the living room, looking towards the front of the house, with window and entrance. Ceiling here, as in the rest of the house is finished drywall.

View Larger Map

Here's a map of the area - In the middle of the map, you'll see the Parque Paul Harris - the street running down the west side of the park is San Pedro. The casita is located right about where the 'P' is in Pedro.

Getting some work done

2009-09-14T17:32:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

It was a busy day around the house here. We've been having some problems with black mold in the bathrooms. Our upstairs neighbor (not the good neighbor, the other one!) left a pipe leaking while she was out of town a few months back, and it flooded her place. And soaked through the floor. Which is the ceiling of both our bathrooms and the boy's room. Just another reason why I don't think I'll ever buy this house. (Sorry, good neighbor - you rock and I like having you upstairs!)

So, we spent most of this afternoon scraping the paint off, bleaching the mold, and then re-painting with a fungicide paint. I didn't even know such a thing existed, but it's on my bathroom ceilings now. Looks much better than it did before, I'll tell you that much.

We also got the drying room (that's the room where I hang clothes to dry) painted and the outside wall of the garden room painted with fungicide paint too.

It's always nice to get work done. And bills paid! I paid all the credit card and telephone bills. So (she said, wiping the dust off her hands), nothing left to do but wash the dishes and do some writing.

Sorry I don't have anything to tell y'all about cooking today - We got take out from the criollo restaurant down the street. Grilled chicken, fried potatoes, rice, salad, and soup. Yum.

Bye-bye, Bougainvillea

2009-09-11T17:34:00.005-05:00

Image by pablo_caceres_c via Flickr

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, it's been a stressful one.

My mom Betty and my nephew Nick left after a 3 month visit. The house is very quiet without them, and we all miss them a lot. My mom has been a huge help around the house, and it's taken me a bit to get back on a schedule where I'm having to do all the housecleaning myself again.

Then, Thursday, we had a gardening crew come to 'trim' the bougainvillea in our back yard. A little background - we have a 2-story wall around our yard, and the bougainvillea grows up the very back wall. This plant had been growing untethered for several years, and was gorgeous, but out of control at a good 30 feet high (10 meters). It was also growing well forward of the wall, and was in danger of falling forward onto the house. The only recourse was to have it cut way back.

The bad news is that the plant was just full of bird nests, mostly doves. It really broke my heart to drive all these birds out of their home, but it just couldn't be helped. And I can't stand to think of how many little eggs may have been destroyed. Fortunately, it's early enough in the spring that I don't think there were too many actual fledglings, although I'm sure there were a few. There were doves flying all over my back yard yesterday, cooing and crying, in a panic, looking for their nests and offspring. I shed quite a few tears.

The good news is that these birds are resilient. I'm amazed to see them out here today, searching the yard for sticks and twigs, looking for materials to start all over again. I can already see one completed nest, down in the lower branches of the bougainvillea. I've also seen quite a few of them up on the upper branches, doing what it is that birds do to make baby birds. It's a good lesson for us humans. To see these birds that have lost everything - their home, their families, everything - bounce back; to get up the next day and just do what needs to be done to succeed, to thrive. They aren't quitters, they don't give up. They aren't looking for revenge, they aren't looking for someone to blame, and they didn't sit around waiting for a handout. They just got a good night's sleep and got up and started over.

And I think that's a good lesson for all of us, especially on this day.

Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T12:03:00.002-05:00

Wishing a Happy Labor Day to all my American readers. If you're looking for a yummy, fun beverage for your cookout, you can't go wrong with sparkling sangria, click here for the recipe!

I miss being in the US for some holidays, especially the long weekends and the cook-outs. But we did get a little unexpected holiday spirit last night. A lot of Lima's July Independence Day festivities had been postponed because of the swine flu. Yesterday, they had the rescheduled parade and party in Miraflores, and when it got dark, we were treated to fireworks. They were easy to see at the end of my street, and almost took my mind off the cold, damp weather of late. It was a real unexpected treat.

Selling the Little House

2009-09-05T12:33:00.002-05:00

When I first came to Peru five years ago, my husband was the proud owner of a tiny little house. How tiny? Just under 30 square meters tiny. It had bare concrete floors, woven rattan roofing, and sheets of cardboard stapled to the beams for a ceiling. No hot water. One bunk bed, that we shared with our two sons.

Since we moved out, we've been renting it, but the renters aren't really dependable - sometimes they pay late, other times they don't pay at all. And we were renting it for $90/month. The income just wasn't worth the hassle.

So, we've got it up for sale. It's the only house my husband ever lived in before he met me, and it's breaking his heart just a little to let it go. We put quite a bit of work into it - a pretty ceiling made of drywall, hot water, fixed up the walls and painted, and it's a cute little place now... but it's still little. But there are so many memories there! It's hard to let it go, but we're going to use the money to buy a car. We've been spending about $300 a month on transportation, so in the long run, it works out for us to trade the money pit in for something that can save us a little cash.

Chau, mi casita!

Spring is in the Air

2009-09-02T11:32:00.004-05:00

Image by ginnerobot via Flickr

This week has been lovely - the first signs of spring in the air. The sun has been out for a few hours every midday, which is a welcome change from the constant grey skies that are typical of Lima winters. The birds have been going crazy out in the huge bougainvillea behind my house - it's full of all kinds of little flying things. Lots of flowers blooming, too - my hibiscus has the prettiest triple yellow blooms.

Still cool in the evenings, though, so I'm still cooking food that's comforting and warming. Last night, I made a pork/broccoli/cauliflower stir fry. I started with the biggest stock pot I have, and the water on to boil because I was going to be cooking a pound and a half of spaghetti. I put about 2 tbsps of salt in the water, and a glug of oil. I'm not going to get into the discussion of whether salt or oil is necessary when boiling pasta... but I use both. ;)

While I waited for the water to boil, I took my pork tenderloin out and started cutting it up into very small cubes - no bigger than 1". Then, same thing for a half a head of broccoli and a half a head of cauliflower - small, bite-sized florets.

By the time I got all that good stuff chopped up, my water was boiling and I added my spaghetti. I took out my big old saute pan, added some oil, and started searing the pork. I sprinkled some Aji-no-Moto on - that's MSG - and a little bit of salt. Once the pork was seared, I dropped in the cauliflower. About 2 minutes later, I added the broccoli. I sprinkled on some powdered ginger - about a teaspoon. Then I added about a cup of soy sauce and a tablespoon of white vinegar, stirred it all up, turned off the heat and covered.

Now, the spaghetti was done, so I drained it in the colander. Then, last step! I dumped all that pasta on top of the meat and veggies and stirred it all together with a bamboo spoon. Taste it and adjust what you think needs adjusting - a little more soy sauce? salt? ginger? Maybe a little chinese five-spice, or some red pepper if you like it spicier. It's all up to you.

Dogs and Boys

2009-08-30T21:36:00.006-05:00

As I mentioned on my earlier post, we have 3 dogs now. The first two, Reina and Bisou are both females. Female dogs - in general - have a tendency to be more of a one person dog, and that has really been the case with my two girls. They play fetch with the boys, and like to wrestle around some with them, but generally, you'll find them by my side.

Now, my mom has brought Chance the Sheltie down to stay with us. He's just awesome, and has fallen in love with my oldest son David. I'm so happy about it. Chance is a bit of an old man, going on 8 years now. I bought him with my grandfather, back in the days long ago when I lived with my grandfolks. Grandpa Bill and Chance (or Champ, as he was called back then) were a pair, and my grandmother and Chance were both devastated when Grandpa died 3 years ago. Grandma and Chance couldn't stay alone, so they both went off to live with my dad. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very happy time for Chance - they had a bunch of other dogs that treated him mean, and some of the people living there didn't treat him too well either.

Well, it was only about a year and a half later that my grandmother followed my grandfather, and poor old Chance was left alone in a family of strangers. My mom caught one look of him when we all came down for my grandmother's funeral, and it just about broke her heart - his hair had been cut down to about 1 inch long, he was very overweight, and covered with flea bite dermatitis. So, my mom told my dad, 'Gee, you've got so many dogs... would you like me to take him off your hands for you?' She took him back to Gainesville (Florida) with her, and that's where he's spent the last two years. She renamed him, from Champ to Chance - a new start, and a new opportunity at a good life.

This past June, she came down with my nephew, Nick, to stay for a few months, and decided to bring Chance down to stay with me. It's taken most of the 3 months for the 2 brats (Reina and Bisou, not the boys!!) to accept having this new dog in the house, but things are going pretty well now. And the best part is, he and my 12 year old David have taken to each other the way a boy and a dog should. Chance follows him around, plays chase in the yard, and sleeps at the foot of his bed at night. David is so thrilled to have a dog that loves him.

Win win and win for everybody.

Being Poor Sucks. Discuss Amongst Yourselves.

2009-08-28T23:17:00.007-05:00

I'm really tired of being poor. We're trying everything we can to dig out of it, though! I'm publishing more articles all the time, and Johnny's doing everything he can to get more work. Things won't be so bad once I get my house rental back on track. I've gone almost 2 years without making anything on it - every time one thing gets paid off, something else comes up. The only thing left to go wrong is the roof, but I think that's still got a few years left on it. Knock on wood!

Anyone with more advice on making money on the internet, I'm all ears. I'm trying to get more people reading this blog, and reading my articles, and I've also done some freelance writing that helped some. I know I need to get a real blog on my own site started, Blogger's great, but it's not really enough for what I want to do. I'd like to have a site where I can do a lot more travel Peru type articles, and sell some Peruvian jewelry. Maybe put some affiliate ads on there, and try to get some money rolling in! The kids need to eat, y'all.

Speaking of eating, we had grilled chorizos, rice and black eyed peas today. Super yummy.

Black eyed peas -

Chop up an onion, very fine. Get your stock pot out and put enough oil in the bottom to start sauteing your onions. As they cook, drop in a bay leaf, some basil(tsp) and garlic(another tspof the powder, or a minced clove). Let it all simmer together a couple minutes, then drop in two Maggi Bacon bouillon cubes. (Chicken or beef will do if you don't have bacon, but tsk, tsk) Add a couple tablespoons of water, and stir it all together with a wooden spoon until it's all dissolved. Dump in 500 gms of black-eyed peas and 3 liters of water (16 ozs of beans, 3 quarts of water). Cover and bring to a boil, then cut it down to simmer... Let it cook about 3 hours, checking that the water doesn't get too low - add a little more if you need to. THEN - add a couple tablespoons of tomato paste, stir it in and THEN taste - maybe you'll need more salt. And some black pepper.

Vegetarians can use vegetable bouillon cubes in place of meaty ones.

Serve with alongside meat and rice, and optionally top it with some chopped raw onion or Louisiana hot sauce. Or if you're my mom... ketchup. Anyway you like, it's good - Eat it up!

Seco de Pollo - Peruvian Chicken Stew

2009-08-25T21:36:00.003-05:00

Image by AIBakker via Flickr

Like a lot of people, we've been having to pull our belts tight lately. And eating cheap means eating a lot of chicken. I mentioned in the last post that I can usually get three meals out of one chicken. The first meal is usually something that uses chicken parts - typically the legs and thighs. Today, I cooked one of those meals, a delicious Peruvian dish called seco de pollo. "Seco" literally means 'dry', and signifies a stew, as opposed to 'aguadito' (meaning watery) for soup (that's aguadito in the picture).

I start with a whole chicken, which I wash thoroughly, pat dry with paper towels, then cut up into parts. I cut up into quarters, then separate the legs from the thighs, and use those 4 pieces for this meal. Finely chop up an onion. Take a bunch of fresh cilantro and stick it in the blender with enough chicken broth to make it paste-y, maybe 1/4 to a half a cup. Clean the cilantro first - make sure it doesn't have any large stems or icky pieces in it. I don't know if it's available in the US, but here in Peru you can buy cilantro in a jar, already pureed. If you can find it - maybe try a Latin market? - that takes some of the work and clean up out of the recipe.

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a little oil, then drop the chicken in to brown. You don't want to cook it through, just lightly brown it on both sides. While the chicken is browning, I get my peas ready - a large handful of pods. By the time I'm done cutting up the carrots, the chicken should be done browning. Take the chicken out, set it to the side, and put the onion in the pot. Add in a couple or three cloves worth of minced garlic, and if you want, some aji amarillo, and saute it all together for a couple minutes. Aji amarillo is a Peruvian chili pepper, which you should be able to find at the Latin market - if not, use a little finely minced jalepeno or similar pepper.

When the onions start to turn translucent, add in the cilantro mix and about 4 cups of chicken stock. Add in the peas and carrots. Peel 4 medium to large potatoes, cut into quarters and add them to the stew. Put the chicken parts back in, and cover and let it cook until all the vegetables are soft and the chicken is cooked through.

Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a big pile of white rice.

Sit back and enjoy the compliments. ;)

Making Chicken Soup

2009-08-21T11:02:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Last night, I made chicken soup for dinner. When it's just the four of us, I can get 3 meals out of a good sized chicken. The first night, I'll use the legs (for the boys) and thighs (for the grownups!) in something that calls for parts - fried, or in Peruvian chicken stew. Or, I'll roast the whole thing and just eat the leg quarters the first night. Moving on, I separate the wings from the breast, leaving a good amount of meat at the joint of the wing. I'll use the breast for something that calls for cut up or shredded chicken. Aji de gallina or maybe a stir-fry. Finally, I'll use the wings, feet, neck and liver to make soup.

Yeah, you heard me. Feet.

Don't you judge me!

So - long intro later, with my mom and Nicky visiting, I can only get 2 nights out of a chicken. We had fried chicken Wednesday night, and last night I made chicken soup. This is how I did it.

I had a half breast and a wing left over from frying, plus the feet and neck. I put all of that in my stock pot with a whole onion and a whole carrot and a 4 finger pinch of salt. (That's where you use your thumb and and three fingers to grab salt out of the bag - it's about a tablespoon in my case) Covered it with water, and brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for about an hour.

Once the chicken was done, I ran it through a strainer into my OTHER stock pot. You can use a large bowl or whatever you've got - the point is to get the stock clear and clean. I don't like little bits of unknown chicken parts and skin and stuff floating in my soup. Toss out the onion, cut up the carrot. Put your broth back on the stove. Now at this part, I do what some people might consider cheating - I toss in a couple of bouillon cubes. I like my soup really chicken-y. I also added about a teaspoon of poultry seasoning(I used a spicy one), 2 minced garlic cloves and a bay leaf.

This is when I added another chopped up raw carrot to the broth and let it start cooking. Save the already cooked carrot to drop in at the end - you don't want it over cooked. I also cut up a couple potatoes in bite size pieces and put that in. While the veggies are cooking, I worked on getting all the meat off the chicken carcass. I set the feet aside -- if you cook them too long, they start falling apart, and I know not everyone wants pieces of chicken feet in their soup. But my boys love them, so I saved it aside for them. Dump the meat into the soup. Let the veggies cook for about 20 minutes, and then add the other cooked carrot from earlier AND about 150 grams of spaghetti. Well, that's what I usually add - last night I used up a pack of alphabet noodles that I had hanging around. Let it cook until the noodles are soft, then give it a taste. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Yum.

2009-08-19T11:49:00.005-05:00

Since my mom's here, we've started taking the dogs for a walk every day when the boy's leave for school. Now that we're living in this nice new neighborhood, I can take them out without being threatened by a bunch of strays. So, here we are, me with Reina and Bisou, and my mom walking Chance. Oh, the stares we get! Poor Reina.. no one pays much attention to her - but people are nuts about Bisou and Chance. Bisou of course, just so tiny and dainty; and then Chance, with his gorgeous coat and the elegant way of walking. People yell out 'Lassie! Es Lassie!!' when we pass. He really does look like a very short Lassie.

In other news, I've been publishing as fast as I can on AC, and doing some work for Expat Peru. I suddenly went from having no job, to having more work than I can do in a day! But all this writing is good for me.. and it brought me back to my blog, right?

If you get the time, check out my newest post on AC - it's about the newest items available in Pet Society - the big craze on Facebook.
Facebook Pet Society - New Items

A Recent Article

2009-08-18T00:29:00.002-05:00

I've started doing some writing over at Associated Content, and thought it might be a groovy idea to link my articles there with my shtuff over here on the blog. I know! There hasn't been anything new on the blog in months - I'm a very bad person, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if no one was paying attention anymore. But I'm really going to work on changing that, so I hope maybe one or two of you have stuck around to call back the rest. ;)

Desperate to Lose Weight? Don't Try This!
Tips for Step Parents: One Stepmom's Advice

And I'm Back!

2009-01-30T17:32:00.007-05:00

Sorry about the looooong absence. I had family visiting from the US, as I said below. Then - my keyboard stopped working. I can't begin to tell you how annoying it was to not have a U, I, O or P on the computer. Nearly impossible to type, unless 1 wanted everyth1ng t0 l00k l1ke th1s. (that's ones and zeroes thrown in - and there's NOTHING that substitutes for P!) So anyway... On with the eats!

I haven't been cooking much lately, as the boys aren't spending a lot of time here at home during summer. But I have gone back over my small amount of archives, and been reminded of a few things I wanted to talk about. So today - let's talk about plantains.

Plantains are called platanos in Spanish, and that's how I'll be referring to them here. There are many different types of platano available in Peru from the small, silky bizcocho to the larger, orange-fleshed platano isla. Here, the typical American style of banana is called a platano de seda - silk plaintain. My favorite cooking platano is the platano isla - it's very sweet when ripe, and has a firm flesh that holds together well when frying.

There are many different cooking styles for plantains - boiling, frying, baking. If you've had fried plantains in a Cuban or Puerto Rican style restaurant, you probably had tostones which are green platanos sliced in rounds, and fried, then flattened and fried again and sprinkled with salt. What is more popular here in Peru is a style called platanos maduros which is a sweet dish made of very mature plantains. You can see them in my earlier post on Arroz a la cubana.

So... the how do you cook them? Well, nothing could be simpler! All it takes is a large skillet, oil and very ripe platanos. The riper, the better - some people let them get completely black-skinned. I prefer them at the stage where they're starting to get some large black spots - I find it makes them easier to handle while frying. I use soybean oil for most of my cooking, but I'd love to try peanut or sunflower oil for this sometime.

First, peel the platanos, and cut them length-wise in planks. If the fruit is very ripe, I'll just cut it once, in half. If it's a little firmer, I'll cut it in quarters. Add enough oil to your skillet to come halfway up the slices of platano. Get the oil very hot, but not smoking and carefully put your sliced platano in. When it starts to get a little brown around the edges, flip it over - I find it easiest to do with a fork. When both sides are brown and caramalized, take them out of the pan and drain on a paper towel.

That's it! They're delicious as a side dish, especially alongside rice. But I've also found they make a delicious desert, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some manjar*.

Tip - If your fruit is very long, you may want to cut the planks in half, so you have shorter pieces to work with - makes it easier to flip while cooking.

*What is manjar? It's a thick sauce made of cream and sugar - like a very cooked down version of sweetened condensed milk - with a slightly caramel flavor.

And that's what we're eating. :)

Hiatus

2009-01-02T11:38:00.002-05:00

I'm on a short break (in case anyone missed me ;) for the next week as I have family visiting from the US. We have been ON THE GO! with absolutely no time to blog about all the delicious food we've been eating. But I'm taking notes and I'll be back soon!

Beets Are Awesome!

2008-12-27T17:41:00.006-05:00

Day after Christmas, we had... you guessed it, Christmas Leftovers. Yum! My mother-in-law left quite a bit of turkey and salad here, so I cooked up a pot of rice and we made a meal of it. The turkey had been roasted, plus re-heated in the oven here, and I was worried about it being a little dry if I stuck it in the oven again. So instead, I followed an old trick taught to me by my dear old grandma that also stretches your leftovers a little. I took all the meat off the bone and cut it into small bite-size pieces, then put it in a large sauce-pan. I had about a half cup of leftover 'juice' - drippings from the roasting pan - and I added that to the pan also. While that warmed up, I got down a handy packet of 'instant' turkey gravy mix and whisked it with a cup of cold water (following the directions on the packet). When the stuff in the saucepan was nice and hot, I dumped the gravy mixture in, and stirred just until it came to a simmer, then cut it off and let it sit while I finished up the salad. It was great over the rice, and very filling.

I mentioned the salad - we call it Ensalada Rusa, or Russian Salad. Russian salad is generally any salad made of a mixture of cut up veggies, and sometimes meat, bound with a mayonnaise dressing. Here's the low down on the Peruvian version of it, which ALWAYS contains beets:

4 medium sized beets
4 medium sized carrots
4 medium-small potatoes (around the same size as the beets)

You need to roast or boil all the veggies until soft, but not mushy. I do the potatoes and beets in the microwave and the carrots on the stove. You can peel and cut up the carrots before cooking, then it's easier to test the texture and how done they are.

Beets - trim the tops down to about 1", then put them in an inch of water in a 2 quart casserole and stick in the microwave. It takes me about 25 minutes in my microwave. I cook ten minutes, then roll the beets over. Once they're tender (you can stick a fork in easily and the skin should be loose) put them into cold water to cool down. Once they're cool to the touch, you'll find that the tops/skins slide right off.

Cook the potatoes the same way - unpeeled. They cook much faster, of course, cook them 5 minutes at a time and check. Poke a few holes in the skin with a fork or knife before cooking, so they don't 'explode'. Once they're cooked, again, the skin will peel off very easily.

Once all your veggies are cooked, you want them all cut up into small, bite-sized pieces.

Put your cut up veggies in a large bowl, and mix with your favorite dressing. Typically, mayonnaise is used for this. I like to make ranch dressing and use, others like with Miracle Whip (which I find disgusting!). The quantity of dressing is pretty much a matter of taste, feel free to play around with it. Just start with about a cup, and if that's not enough, add a little at a time.

This is another one of those things you don't want to stir real vigorously, or you'll end up smashing your potatoes and it just won't be as pretty. The juice from the beets mixes with the dressing and gives this a lovely color that perks up a plate in winter when served on a lettuce leaf.

My mother in law adds chopped up, tender-crisp green beans to hers, and a lot of people throw in a couple handfuls of peas.

(Yukon golds are good potatoes for this, as they don't get mushy - you can also use new red potatoes, if they're very small, use a few extra. You want basically equal amounts of the three veggies)

What a great Christmas Day

2008-12-25T21:00:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Probably the best since I was a kid myself.

We had Peruvian style Christmas, which means roast turkey and fixin's at midnight - fairly simple this year, roasted potatoes and ensalada rusa. Of course, in true Peruvian fashion, we also had some thinly sliced red onion to go with it.

Afterwards, we drank hot chocolate and watched TV while the kids opened presents. The radio-control cars were a big hit with everyone, as was walking down to the end of the street and lighting some firecrackers. We finally got to bed around 3am, after going through a bit of 'some assembly required'.

This morning, we woke up and had paneton and hot chocolate for breakfast - around 11am. The boys woke up at 7 (!!!!) eager to play with their new toys again. Paneton (also spelled panettone) is a bread that originated in Italy. It's a sweet bread, the good one's are moist, that has dried fruit and raisins - like fruit cake. Most everyone picks out the fruit, of course, but the bread itself is awesome.

After we relaxed and got fully awake, we got dressed and everything together to go to the park. We bought a rotisserie chicken with fried potatoes, some ceviche (a Peruvian staple I'll discuss some other time) and some snacks and had a lovely picnic in a park that was once an olive orchard. Huge, old olive trees in rows (in fruit!!), a lovely fountain and kids with new toys made it the perfect place to be today. The weather was perfect, as Christmas here always seems to be, and it was just amazing, laying in the shade under the trees.

The olive trees, as I said, were heavily laden with fruit, and the ground was covered. We laid our blanket down, and it wasn't long before olive oil started seeping through! It smelled so good. Unfortunately, all the branches low enough to reach had been picked clean. The doves and pigeons seemed to have made pretty quick work of all that hit the ground. I would have loved to have been able to get a couple dozen of those olives to take home and use!

We stayed at the park for about 3 hours, until the sun went down enough that it started to feel a little cool. None of us wanted the day to be over though, and we walked slowly through the side streets, looking at the lovely old houses, and daydreaming about one day being able to buy one.

I hope everyone had a Christmas as perfect as ours, filled with peace and love.

Candy for Christmas

2008-12-23T16:40:00.004-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Money's tight in the Borda household this Christmas, as I'm sure it is in many households this year. So, I'm going the home made route with some of our gifts. My favorite candy to make is a 'no cook' fudge that tastes nearly as good as something you'd slave over for hours, but all it needs is a few minutes in the microwave.

Basic Recipe -
2 Cups chocolate chips (milk chocolate, semi-sweet - whatever you like)
1 can condensed milk (and again, make sure you've got condensed milk, not evaporated milk!)
1 tsp Vanilla (this can be left out if you don't have it, and still be just as good)

Line a 8x8 cake pan with wax paper.

Put the chocolate chips in a 2 qt glass casserole, and put it in the microwave. Time will depend on your oven, but stir it every 30 secs or so, until they're 'mostly' melted. Add the can of condensed milk and the vanilla, stir thoroughly. Microwave again, no more than 30 seconds at a time, stirring until everything is smooth and well blended.

And that's the recipe, basically!

Now comes the fun part - what do you like in your fudge? Here are some ideas:
Crushed pecans or walnuts
Peanuts 0r a Tbsp of Peanut Butter
Mini-marshmallows
Tiny M&M's
Crushed pretzels

Any combination of these!

The quantity depends on you - 1 cup is a good starting point, depending on what combination you use - if you like it chunkier, use more.

Use your imagination - there are so many directions you can go with it. Some other ideas - try peppermint instead of vanilla. Substitute Butterscotch, white chocolate, or peanut butter chips for 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips.

If you go with mini marshmallows, the heat of the mixture may melt them when you stir them in. If you like it that way, great! If not, let it cool just slightly before you add them.

Anyway - once you have all your add-ins, um, added in, turn the mixture out into your lined cake pan, and put the whole shebang into the refrigerator. In a couple of hours, your fudge will be ready. Take it out of the pan, peel the wax paper off, and cut or break into pieces. Packaged in a pretty little bag or box, you've got a great gift for the mother-in-law or landlady.

Or.. eat it all yourself!

Arroz a la Cubana

2008-12-23T16:11:00.007-05:00

What is it? It translates to 'Cuban-style Rice' and it's my kids' favorite meal. I could cook it 3 or 4 times a week, and they'd never get tired of it.

It consists of a healthy-sized serving of rice, eggs fried over easy, and fried plantains. That's it! It's great for when we've got a lot of leftover rice. Plantains are plentiful here, so that's never a problem.

It's a very popular dish in Spain, from what I understand, although they serve it with tomato sauce over the rice.

Add a small fried steak to it, and it suddenly becomes 'Bistek a la Pobre' - 'poor man's steak'.

I use a rice cooker to make my rice. Before I moved to Peru, I never really made regular rice - I always bought Minute Rice. But the Peruvian diet consists of massive amounts of white rice, so it was necessary for me to be able to cook large quantities. I got a 4 qt rice cooker, and after a lot of experimenting, I got the 'Peruvian style' down pretty well.

I usually cook 1 kg of rice at a time. Put the rice in a strainer, and wash it under running water until the water runs clear (or mostly clear). Let as much water as you can run out of it, then put it in the rice cooker.

Next, I add about 2 tbsp of oil - a little extra won't hurt. I use soy oil, but you can use whatever you want. You may want to leave the oil out - it won't hurt the flavor. However, I find that the grains don't clump and stick with the oil.

Next, add in your seasonings. For Peruvian style rice, it's important to add salt and garlic. I add 3 large pinches (maybe 1 tbsp or a little less) and about 1/2 tbsp garlic powder. HOWEVER - I found a new product from Maggi made just for seasoning rice, called 'SazonArroz' in Spanish, and I use that now. You can also put in about 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion.

Finally, the water. In the rice cooker, I find equal parts rice and water work fine - so 1 Kilo of rice = 1 Liter of water. But, if you're cooking a smaller amounts of rice, sometimes all the water evaporates before the rice is fully cooked - so, i usually add a couple tbsps extra of water. Dump the water in, and mix it with a wooden or plastic spoon, so as not to scratch up your non-stick coating.

Turn on the rice cooker, and let it run through it's cycle. I've got a simple one, with just a on/off switch, that pops up like a toaster when it's done. When the cooking cycle finishes, I use my wooden spoon to 'fluff' up the rice some, stir it around a little. Don't stir too vigorously, or you'll get broken rice that clumps and sticks. Just enough to scrape the bottom and move it around a little. Put the top back on, and leave it about 5-10 minutes. After that, it's ready to serve.

Tomorrow, I'll talk about cooking plantains.

Apologies

2008-12-23T01:56:00.002-05:00

I must apologize (only to myself, most likely) for the lack of posts in the last week. We had a death in the family and so I had other things on my mind. I'll be back up to speed tomorrow, with some Christmas cooking.

Nothing to see here, Move along. ;p

2008-12-14T19:09:00.002-05:00

We had leftovers yesterday. I cooked up a pot of rice, fried up some more sausage, and served that with the remains of the lentils from the day before.

Today, we had eggs and toast. And mango, grenadilla (passion fruit) and oranges. We're having Chinese take-out (which they call chifa here) for dinner tonight. It's been sort of a catch-as-catch-can weekend, as far as food goes.

More home cooking tomorrow, though - I think we're going to have arroz a la cubana. What is it? Do you know? Find out tomorrow!

Peeling Tomatoes

2008-12-12T18:16:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I live in Peru, and a lot of things I took for granted when cooking are either not available or are so expensive they just aren't always worth buying. One of those things is canned tomatoes. They're here, but they're too expensive to use as a regular ingredient. So, I started using regular ripe tomatoes a lot more often, and it's actually so easy, I've come to prefer using them over the canned for most things. Here, then, is my way of preparing my tomatoes.

I start with a glass casserole dish (2 quart). Add water to nearly fill, then put the top on and stick it in the microwave long enough to get the water just to boiling. CAREFULLY remove it from the micro! While the water nukes, take your tomatoes and cut a X-shaped slice in the bottom of each one. (Of course, you can always do this on the stove top in a saucepan- I prefer the microwave because I have a super tiny stove, and am usually cooking other things while I do this)

Again, very carefully, using a spoon, lower the tomatoes into the water and leave them for about 30 seconds or so. Doesn't matter if you leave them longer, since usually you'll be cooking them later anyway. Take them out, run them under cool water so you can touch them, and then peel the skin off, starting at your little X-slice. You'll find the skin will slip right off.

Once you've got your tomatoes peeled, it's a simple matter to just crush them by hand and clean the seeds out of them. If you want, once you have the seeds out, use a knife to cut up the bigger pieces.

And there you go, fresh tomatoes, peeled and deseeded and crushed, ready to add to your recipe. You can add this to soup recipes in place of canned tomatoes. Just remember that you'll need to adjust seasonings, because this won't have any of the salt or other seasoning that canned tomatoes often have.