FOTO FRIDAY : SPRINGING IN...

FOTO FRIDAY: I have to admit I saw yellow in Atlanta and knew it would be awaiting me in Little Rock. Sure enough even when yellow is not my favorite color in the garden, this means winter is on its way out and spring is springing in...

Last week's FOTO FRIDAY was ENYUCADO, a world away.

TBT: 7 Years Ago... ISLAMOPHOBIA

 TBT: Racism is still running rampant as folks forget we were all strangers once in this land unless we're indigenous. 

The La Crosse Shoulder to Shoulder group joined others to speak up against Islamophobia since racial slurs had been sprayed on this taxi's garage door now painted over with ' Our community, our family, Hate has no place here.' 2017, My Natureman left front always speaking out against injustice."

tUESDAY tUNES: AN INSTRUMENTAL TODAY AH, SWEET THING

Decided to switch it up today a bit with tUESDAY tUNES and instead of concentrating on the lyrics just hear THE instrumentall rendition of Chaka Khan's Sweet Thing played by Demola... Enjoy. I think this instrumental can bring up the images for you.. Just ry to sit still...

SWEET THING

MONDAY MUSINGS: A LONG, LONG DAY

MONDAY MUSINGS: Saturday was a day of travel. I enjoyed my last panqueque breakfast prepared by my Costa Rican daughter, Marcela. Gallo Pinto, rice dish, is more common for Tico's breakfast.  I have been so spoiled as I haven't cooked a meal in a month.  Will I even remember how to go grocery shopping, much less cook? Wink, wink.

My participation in the program included a home stay, 2 meals per day, $18 round trip bus transportation from San Jose to Quepos,  during my volunteer stint, along with an art class, weekly cooking and salsa dance classes, along with a beautiful pool to do short laps, cool off, and shower at Máximo Nivel...  

In addition the tuition for participating I also paid out of pocket for lunches, laundry, field trips, and my daily $1 roundtrip bus fare to my teaching assignment. Didn't do much shopping, yet my suitcase is expanded as far as it will go. It's what I get for travelling light.

The bus trip was going to be a long one as my supposed 3-hour bus arrived late due to construc-tion, and we would be facing the same construction heading the opposite direction with a bit less traffic. 

I enjoyed the scenery on the return to San Jose as my last trip on this route had been in the dark. 

Beautiful beaches at Jacó have a great surfing reputation, and many a home had surfboards sitting outside ready to go catch a wave...

We had a lunch stop and I grabbed a chicken empanada and a bottle of Tropical peach tea. We still were an hour out from the airport. 

By the time I got to my gate it was 1pm and they changed gates 3x- eventually transporting us to the runway by a small bus.  Departing about SJO @ 5pm  arriving Atlanta at 9pm. A long, long day...

FOTO FRIDAY: ENYUCADO

FOTO FRIDAY: For my last cooking class at Máximo Nivel, we made enyucado with instructor Noylin.

 A new fried dish for me, as it's made from yucca.  It was as good as it looks.

Noylin had already peeled and boiled the yucca until it was fork tender. 

That was a lot of yucca !

Our job was to mash it, removing any tough fibrous centers. 

We then added margarine, 2 eggs, and. a little salt... 

working the mixture until it was puree smooth. ( See video below.)

Croquet like shape

While the shortening was melting in the fry pan,  *we took pinches of dough,                                    * rolling the yucca mixture into flat small discs in        our palms,                                               *adding ~ a tablespoon of mozzarella cheese on        top                                                                      *and folding it over,                                          making sure the shape was sealed.                    

 

In order to ensure a nice browning, the shapes were lightly dusted with a wheat masa.  

Then, fried in the shortening until golden.

YUM...

I definitely will miss our weekly cooking lessons at Máximo Nivel Costa Rica..

then mashed to make a puree-like consistency. 

Margarine is added, as well as shortening, 2 eggs, and salt to taste. 

TBT: WITCH HUNTING (2019 posting)

TBT:  It's definitely time to post this article on witch hunting again as that is exactly what is going on in our country today with our ICE witchhunt...  And the Peter , Paul and Mary lyrics keep playing "When will they ever learn?  When will they ever learn?"

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: RAINMAKER

MIDWEEK MUSINGS is about my last side trip, a half hour from Quepos on Sunday.  

Destination: Privately owned Rainmaker Conservation Park, 1500 acres, a less frequented rainforest reserve where one can walk along suspension bridges, preserving vegetation and wildlife around you.

The day's guide, Kevin, a university student whose English and patience was put to work with a Chicago family of 5: a very active Grandma, her sister, son, daughter-in-law, 5 yo grandson and yours truly. 

The path was challenging as we climbed the paths into the canopy of the rainforest with the use of tire steps, brick stairways, dirt pathways, lots of metal railings and some rickety wooden ones and then suspension bridges to killer views and down to waterfalls and pools where we could cool off.

Thank goodness we were spared snakes, but I did add a colorful poisonous dart frog, helmet lizard and millipede to my rain-forest critter collection.

ants go into this tree at the round dot

and vegetation galore with all types of ferns,  and different types of symbiotic relationships with insect ant hosts/plants

                 Giant philodendrons climbed massive trees seeking light.

It was a terrific last excursion for my last week living the Pura Vida.