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Showing posts with label food and spirits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food and spirits. Show all posts

August 20, 2007

Las patronales de San Gustavo

Desde el jueves Gustavo decidió empezar a brindar por su cumpleaños (yo lo acompañaba con algo comestible naturalmente), aparentmente preocupado que iba a ser demasiado licor para el sábado que era la fiestecilla. Llegó y pasó el jueves, luego el viernes en la misma cosa y afortunadamente no faltó qué ofrecerle a la gente el sábado.

Primer regalo para el cumpleañero (y sus dependientes)


Lovely ladies celebrating with the cumpleañero (cumpleañero already wearing one of his presents, a.k.a. "my new favorite t-shirt")


Munchies hechos con amor para el cumpleañero y nuestros amigos. (Clockwise from top left: Cherry tomatoes stuffed with olive tapenade, Dark chocolate truffles, Stuffed mushrooms -30 more seconds and the picture would have been of an empty plate)


Gracias al clan por celebrar con nosotros, y de nuevo FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS GUSTAVITO (AHORA SÍ)! We love ya!

Un par de fotos más AQUÍ!

August 02, 2007

In a nutshell

...and in no particular oder, this is what I've been up to lately:

Pablo's Soccer Final... Arsenal Campeón!!
The winning team, proudly holding their trophies


First half of the game, he scored a goal, second half he was goalkeeper (not a ball went in !!)


Gabriel's birthday party at Coronado
Choir singing Happy Birthday in at least 76 different languages, conducted by Heidi "Julie Andrews" Arias


Our room at the Coronado Resort, where Gustavo took me to spend that night and get massages the next day!!!!!


Latest Craving Report
I can tell this really was a craving because I usually bake stuff with chocolate somewhere in it and cheesecake has never even been something I picked for dessert when eating out. Well this lemon cheesecake made me a believer and I had no idea it was going to be so easy to make. 200% recommended!


Second mid-year vacation trip to Coronado
The water was PERFECT. It brings a smile to my face just to think how good it felt to be in it (I was doing somersaults in it it was so good!). We go more often during summer when the water's kinda cool so Diego had a blast this time and actually enjoyed a nice dip.

Pablo and Gustavo surfed, of course...

...and two dead animals washed up on the shore.

"The Pelican from Nemo"

Some sort of eel


Rainy season afternoon
This is one of the things I'll miss looking at when we move out of this apartment and into a house.


House projects
I had my mind set on a design for the kids' room (mini flip flops and a surf board) and decided to make my own stencils, grab a brush and see what happened.


Step two


It's back!
Anyone who knows me well knows that 1) I'm not big on television and 2) one thing I AM addicted to is this show. Guess the degree of excitement when I found out about this.


From Germany, with love...
Gustavo is so charming that a couple of his clients had promised to send him some German brot (=bread) flour so his wife (that would be me) baked him some and he could remember his childhood days. Well they actually did send them, 5 different kinds, along with the famous book by Janosch "Oh, wie schön ist Panama"
and it's activity-filled companion for the kids (and me).


Anyway, that's it. So long and goodnight!

July 12, 2007

One more time... in slow motion please!

This is it. The infamous Williams-Sonoma Flourless Chocolate Cake that fell upside down last week mere seconds before it should've entered the 375°F oven. It was reduced to a puddle of brown goo sadly smudged and smeared onto part of my kitchen floor; needless to say, so was I.

Well I just couldn't leave things like that, I needed redemption, revival. So today, since we were having lunch with Juanpa and Kelly and Luis, Penny and Bibi, I decided I'd give it a second shot thinking that if something tragic happened at least I'd have group support.


Small yet mighty, one hell of a moist, rich chocolate treat.

It was so good that when I thought about getting the camera to take pictures of at least one of the wedges, so graciously accompanied by a dollop of whipped cream, it was mostly gone and instead I had to run and get my spoon.

And to further please Kira upon her request of a recent Craving Report, these stuffed tomatoes, along with scrambled eggs with sautéed onions and toast, were part of our breakfast this morning:

Lemony and fresh, with a side of Juanpa and Kelly!

June 09, 2007

Mi hijo prestado nos visita

Este fin de semana conseguimos traernos a la casa al ahijado de Gustavo, Don Carlos Iván Vergara, para adoptarlo temporalmente y celebrar de viernes a sábado su cumpleaños (un poco pasadita la fecha pero ya saben que más vale tarde...).

Gustavo lo recogió con Pablo y Diego y se los llevó a los tres a gastar energías jugando fut mientras yo dejaba todo listo para preparar la cena con los chefs invitados de la noche. Después de mandar a todo el mundo a la ducha antes de que terminaran de entrar por la puerta (hasta Diego olía a chivo!) Carlos y Pablo se encargaron de armar su pizza y me cuentan que les quedó muy rica. Debo quejarme, sin embargo, porque no me dieron ni una migaja para probar y tal vez por eso a Carlos Iván después le dio dolor de barriga. Pero tranquilo Iván, nada que un montón de Coca Cola no pudiera curar! A continuación fotos de la hermosa velada.

"Un peperoni para nosotros, otro para la pizza..."


Comiendo rapidito para que yo no llegara a tiempo a pedir un bite... 'ta bieeen...


Diego bien peinado!


La pizza de los grandes


Gracias a los padres de este muchacho por el préstamo, todavía hoy sábado nos queda algo de tiempo con él, ahorita andan de nuevo por la calle. De hecho supuestamente yo me quedé para hacer almuerzo así es que hasta aquí la dejo.

April 17, 2007

Easy is good

This was lunch today. I got home barely on time and managed to whip it up in under half an hour, as promised by the source (Mexican Lasagna by Rachel Ray). It's a really rich dish, yet throwing some veggies into it removes any guilt.

Impress your friends at your next dinner party! ;)

April 05, 2007

Thai-style welcome

All's been rather quiet on the western front lately with nothing on Gustavo's and my agenda besides work and more work for the past few weeks. I finally had some time off so I thought I'd get into the kitchen and stir things around a bit to celebrate Gustavo's return from five days at the Playa Bonita Resort. We sure missed ya babe!

Anyway, I'd seen this extra-easy, extra-delicious recipe on the food network and just had to give it a try given the very small likelihood of screwing it up. It's a thai-style halibut with coconut-curry broth (I used red snapper and regular curry powder instead of the red curry paste the recipe calls for and it turned out just fine... great in fact!). Enjoy the pics.-

This fish was melt-in-your-mouth good!


To finish off Gustavo I made it with Arroz con Guandú!!

October 27, 2006

Food for thought

Tengo varias maneras de combatir la maldad, varios ases bajo la manga. Creo fervientemente cuando se dice que los padres son para sus hijos unos superhéroes. Todos tenemos una doble vida. En fin, casi siempre, para celebrar lo que tengo, para dar y compartir con los míos, cocino. Es un arma más poderosa de lo que se cree. Es un acto de amor, por donde se le vea es una acto de creación. Y la creación siempre es mejor que la destrucción.

No soy de usar recetas, pero a continuación describo por encima algunos platos recientes que me gustaría compartir.


Lomo redondo al horno

Había visto a mi mamá hacer esto tanto que me tiré al agua a la brava... y nadie murió intoxicado!

Lo puse a marinar en salsa inglesa mientras preparaba algunos ingredientes y luego le abrí un hueco para rellenarlo con cebolla picada, como cinco dientes de ajo (un guabanazo con el cuchillo para abrirlos), pimentón rojo picado, hojas de laurel, italian herbs, hongos picados, sal y pimienta. Lo metí en el horno como media hora destapado hasta que se dorara, como a 350º y luego, con el relleno que me sobró y el jugo que soltó el lomo, hice la salsa.


Acompañado con papas fritas y ensalada... un éxito! Hasta a Pablo le gustó!

Nota: El aderezo lo hago mezclando vinagre balsámico, moztaza dijon, aceite de oliva extra virgen, sal y pimienta y el detalle ganador es mezclarle un poco de cualquier fruit jam que crean que pueda ir bien. Este tenía pineapple jam, pero con raspberry jam también queda super!


My beloved Tiramisu, a glorious pick-me-up experience!


Este es el link de la receta que hice esa vez: "Classic Tiramisu Recipe". No es muy diferente a la que siempre había usado, pero me llamó la atención que aseguraba ser la del "original". Me sorprendió enterarme que este no es uno de los postres tradicionales italianos, sino que es una adición a su repertorio bastante reciente. Para conocer más de la historia del Tiramisu, haz click aquí.


Tiramisu, 20 minutes later...


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Ahora no encuentro la receta por ningún lado así es que si alguien la quiere me avisa...

Para los que tienen hijos es una buena manera de meterles algo de comida saludable. O por lo menos es la excusa que usé hasta que prácticamente me los acabé yo sola.


Esto es lo que pasa cuando te demoras demasiado en tomar una foto!


Pizza de Carole


Esto es algo que he visto varias veces hacer a Carole, mi cuñada de Bordeaux, y después de decidir que estaba adicta lo hice de lo que me acordaba.
Es básicamente una salsa de tomate espesa, bien sazonada y con todos los golpes, a la que agregué cubos de pollo, rodajas de chorizo, queso parmesano desmenuzado y uno que otro vegetal picado. Lo eché todo en un pie crust, lo cubrí con queso mozzarella y parmesano y al horno!

Mi más severo crítico


(Como ven no es difícil combatir la furia de la ciudad. Desde mi casa, mi cuartel, hago cosas que producen sonrisas y de una u otra manera unen a la gente.)

A los que no están cerca físicamente, ojalá podamos reunirnos pronto. A los que sí, ¿Cuándo comemos juntos?!

June 08, 2006

Farewell, Tío Juanpa and Tía Kelly!

We recently enjoyed the company of our family from Bocas del Toro, Juan Pablo and Kelly, who stayed with us at the apartment for a couple of days. We ate lots of pizza, held the first ever Annual Fifa Street Championship and managed to get a babysitter during a weekday so Gustavo and I could go have dinner with them like normal people (a.k.a. grown-ups) during their last night in town.

We decided to try La Posta, a cozy little restaurant near Calle Uruguay in Bella Vista. The first thing I noticed was how crowded it was even though it was the middle of the week. I also liked the decoration, the fact that it brought out so nicely the details of its architecture. When you go in it's like going back a century, everything's white and, although mostly wooden, looks like it should have looked when they first built it. Tropical, sobre and elegant. Great combination.

Juanpa & Kelly Posted by Picasa

Los cholos Posted by Picasa

Las cholas Posted by Picasa

Mr. Waldy Chapman Posted by Picasa

As for the food, I have no complaints. The entrées were just delicious (try the Fried Polenta with Portobello Mushrooms!) and, although Juan Pablo was not quite satisfied with his Passionfruit Jumbo Shrimp, I am very happy I went for the Salmon with Dijon Mustard Crust. Fabulous!

Thanks to Juanpa and Kelly for the great company (also to Waldy who dropped by), and see ya next time at the Pinky Inn!