Riddle of the week—

If you bought a package of Planet Pop microwave Chicharrones that was right next to the microwave popcorn, what do you think you would be getting?  Silly me—I thought it was going to be some good salty sweet snack, with a little grease,  like those long skinny doughnuts they make at the state fair. Well, they were greasy and puffy all right.  Chicharrones  are pork rinds!!  Microwaveable pork rinds!! Can you believe it?!?   That qualifies of nasty surprise of the day.  (I did not eat them).

So, here it is 2 days after Christmas. We had a merry unchristmas.  It was a picture perfect day—blue skies and balmy winds and moderate surf.  In between cleaning a rental house and prepping several others to receive guests, we met our friends Maribel and Joe here for lunch and a swim. They came over from Isla Cristobal a half hour away and we hung out at Punta Lava, the beach restaurant. Maribel, who is from Costa Rica, brought some of her favorite Christmas treats—homemade eggnog and a delicious almond shortbread, on a beautiful red ceramic dish (now a lovely soap dish in the bathroom). I prevailed upon her to send me the recipe and here it is—I think you can figure it out.   I found her version to be quite charming!

Maribel’s almond cookies

1/2 cup almonds, quarter-cup sugar, half-cup melted butter, half-spoon almond extract, half-spoon vanilla, one cup 2/3 flour, half-spoon salt.---

how to cook ... smash almonds, add sugar, little butter--very little, mix. add almond extract, add vanilla with flour and salt...mix...to make the mixture...put in plastic bag, put in fridge for 30 minutes...put oven at 350 f, put in cookie maker with butter on base, make into balls and put in, bake for 15-20 minutes until gold color/.

Here is her eggnog recipe:

Heat 2 quarts of whole milk in a saucepan with a cinnamon stick and a little sugar. When almost boiling, remove from heat. Beat two 2 egg yolks in a large bowl and very slowly add the hot milk, while stirring furiously to prevent the egg from cooking in shreds. Put in the refrigerator until cooled, add rum to taste and serve over ice (add a little grated nutmeg if you want).   YUMMY!! Like liquid ice cream.  

Tons of people vacation during the holidays. They pay big bucks to go to resorts and they may even expect it to be perfect and, you guessed it, it isn’t, especially here!!  This is the wild west and if you want perfect go to a 5 star something in Maui or Cancun or somewhere plastic where no one makes mistakes, the weather is the same all of the time, and there is a mono culture of people who are super- organized robots. (Now, that’s a little sarcastic or maybe even defensive, would you say)?!  Anyway, it has been a trying few days and will get more so over the coming week as we totally fill up. We are finding the flaws in our systems—every  single one (and there are more than a few). AND we are learning from each one. (I am learning that I am not cut out to be a resort owner unless I can stay behind the scenes). We are very over stimulated at the moment, so I think it’s time to have a glass of wine and chill out, as they say. OR maybe I’ll try my hand at the eggnog and double the rum!

Happy New Year everyone!!

 



Clarissa, Fany and Malena at the employee Christmas party at Kayukos last Saturday.
We had a DJ and it was loud and crazy.



Ginger plant creating a root structure on the middle of the plant