“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.” Anthony Bourdain
As I mentioned last week, we lost power overnight due to a thunderstorm that tripped the main switch off. What I forgot to mention was that half my 2 kilos of shrimp partially defrosted. So when life gives you shrimp you make “camarones enchilados” a Cuban dish that has nothing to do with enchiladas. The shrimp are cooked in a rich tomato sauce accentuated by garlic, onions, sweet red bell peppers, and plenty of pimienta.
We invited two of our friends over to help us put a dent into the food. David is not a fan of leftovers, so I need to be creative and reimagine dishes. So during the rest of the week, we had: shrimp Po’Boys, Shrimp and Pasta, shrimp and scrambled eggs. Poor guy – he does not want to see shrimps for a while and I still have two pounds left in the freezer.
On Sunday David baked a lemon cake. Due to the fact that we are at an altitude of 5,000 feet baking takes on a whole new meaning. All Sunday morning he was acting like a mad math professor, with his calculations adjusting the recipe for high altitude baking – reduce eggs, add sugar, less liquid, more of this less of that. Needless to say, I stayed out of his way. After all his trials, tribulations, and calculations the result was a beautiful looking and extremely tasty lemon cake.
We were going to add Tai Chi to our repertoire this week, but Friday morning stormed, and since we walk everywhere it was not feasible. We continue with our yoga and chair aerobic classes throughout the week.
On Friday we were invited to join friends for lunch at a recently opened southern style restaurant or what was a very loose interpretation. It was our first total disappointment in Lakeside dining and had a touch of Montezuma’s revenge.
Our cable went out earlier in the week and I had to deal with the Mexican cable guy, a very close relative to the US cable guy, but at least it only took one quick visit.
David picked his first papaya from our friend, Bev’s front patio. Looking at the size of it I see a few papaya smoothies in our future.
Some US food items like pickles are two to four times what they cost at home. So David started making his own. Let me tell you for a person who does not like anything pickled, these are GREAT. Just the right amount of acidity and crunch. I think he should sell them at the Tuesday market, they are that good.
Decided to rent a car for the next 2 weeks, so we’ll be exploring new areas ….and the adventures continue.
