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The baby aspirin years

~ Ms. Boice falls in love, travels and eats her way through life in the post-40 years.

The baby aspirin years

Tag Archives: Food

See, taste and experience Otavalo Market

17 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by Ms. Boice in Uncategorized

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Cotacachi, Ecuador, Food, Otavalo Market, panama hats, photography, Quito, textiles, travel, vacation

Mom and baby at Otavalo

Though our trip to Ecuador was all about birding, every guide book (yes, I still read those) and online resource indicated that the Otavalo Market in the indigenous town of Otavalo was a must-see. So after two weeks of chasing birds it was time to relax (birding is exhausting!) and just take in some of the culture. And do some shopping (natch). It’s only a two-hour drive from Quito and if you drive 15 minutes further you can also visit the town of Cotacachi, which is famous for its leather goods.

What you will see

You will see Panama hats. “What?” you ask. “In Ecuador?” Yep. In fact, they are made in Ecuador, not Panama. So now that you know, this little piece of knowledge could potentially make you the smartest person at a dinner party should the subject of Panama hats come up. (Oh, and by the way, Cuenca, I hear is the best place to find the finest made. More bonus points for dinner party conversation.)

IMG_3330

They’re made in Ecuador. Now you know.

You will see electric colors all around you. Expect happy, happy colors on all of the tables. How can you not be happy? They are woven in the wool cloth, strung as beads and painted as smiling masks all laid out on a table as though a crowd of jesters are laughing along with you. If you have the time, make sure you do a quick walk-through of the tables first before you begin buying/negotiating. There is a lot to see and happening upon all that color is a lot to take in at first. You might miss something the first time around.

Alone, each might be a little scary, but all together it's like a friendly choir. Almost.

Alone, each might be a little scary, but all together it’s like a friendly choir. Almost.

I'll take one of each, please.

I’ll take one of each, please.

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The indigenous women of Otavalo wear these beads–one for every child they have. Young girls wear the tiny beads you see in the back.

What the Otavalo people are known for: their beautiful, bright woven woolen fabric.

What the Otavalo people are known for: their beautiful, bright woven woolen fabric.

What you can taste

You should eat. Really. Because there’s a lot of food. If you’re not in the mood to buy a Panama hat or buy something colorful you definitely should try the food. You can either hand-pick fruits and vegetables from the tables for purchase or buy a quick meal.

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Panella, a type of brown sugar (In Asia it’s also known as jagery)

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Penino dulce, which is a sweet cucumber

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Achotillo or Lychee

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I also had never seen so many grains and flours before.

You will likely run into my all-time favorite tomato on the planet. My favorite is the Tomates del arbol, also known as sweet tomatoes. It’s what we had as juice on our first morning in Ecuador, served as a salsa over chicken at a restaurant and when we were Tandayapa Lodge, the cook served it as dessert–baked with a sugar sauce. I think I’ve dreamed every night of that dessert since I’ve been back.

DSC_0371

Tomates del arbol–one of my favorite discoveries in Ecuador

You will be able to try a traditional Ecuadorian dish. Best of all, is the Hornado and Llapingachos, a traditional Ecuadorian dish in this region. The aroma of this dish is what makes the market so wonderful. I didn’t get dizzy from all the colors, but from the food.

The meat the lady has in her hands in the hornado (roasted pork). The small yellow balls are mashed potatoes that are the Llapingachos.

The meat the lady has in her hands in the hornado (roasted pork). The small yellow balls are mashed potatoes that are the Llapingachos.

If you don’t believe me that this dish is important, here’s proof. In a nearby town there’s a monument in honor of the dish.

A monument celebrating food. I tell ya, there's not enough of them.

A monument celebrating food. I tell ya, there’s not enough of them.

What you will experience

Yes, there’s colorful things to buy. Yes, there’s loads of food to taste. But even if you do none of those (buy, eat), go to Otavalo market just for the experience and for the people watching.

You can practice your negotiation skills. Steve, who was being a great husband by coming along (did he have a choice?) hates shopping and browsing. Plus, too much stimuli makes him dizzy, but he was a trooper and even though he swore he wasn’t going to buy anything, an enterprising man with leather belts was persistent with Steve. Enterprising man won and Steve walked away with a new belt. (Can a man have too many belts? I say no. It’s my same argument with shoes.)

DSC_0388

I think Steve is trying to get him down to $8.

You can also join a local game of…I don’t know what. We happened to see a group of men huddled over and yelling and cheering. I got a look at what they were doing and a man said, “Casino! Want to play?” I thanked him kindly for his offer. I so would lose my shirt.

Casino!

Casino!

A tip you should know

When I had booked our Andes birding adventure with Tropical Birding I asked them if they could also arrange for us a guide for Otavalo Market, and they hooked us up with the most delightful woman, Desiree, from their office who was full of so much history and knowledge about the area. Most people don’t think to ask the tour company to arrange other activities for them, but you should.  Of course, you can easily get to Otavalo on your own. Even though it’s only a two-hour drive from Quito, we like private guides who give us so much more information about the area. Besides, Desiree was so completely wonderful and engaging I can’t imagine having done the trip without her.

Tropical Birding not only helped us arrange our guide, Desiree, but also arranged a private guide for us when we had a day in Quito and also helped us book our week at Sacha Lodge. It was so much easier working with boots-on-the-ground people in the country who know much more about who to contact and how to make the arrangements, because my Spanish is crummy and if I tried to do it myself I’m certain we’d end up in some other country.

Otavalo Market

I have not been paid or compensated for anything on this trip. My gushing is authentic and genuine and on my own dime.

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The Tree Tomato Welcomed Me to Ecuador

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Ms. Boice in Trips

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Ecuador, ecuadorians, Food, international food, Quito, tomato juice, travel, tree tomato

I’m in love with the tree tomato.  Really in love with it. It was my first greeting from Ecuador, as it was the first thing I tasted that was new to me. It told me that I had arrived in a foreign country.

We were at breakfast at the Turi Quindi Guest House in the Los Chillos Valley, just southeast of Quito and about 40 minutes from the new Quito Airport. Since we had to go back to the airport in the morning to catch our flight to Coca (see earlier post about our travel to Sacha Lodge), it didn’t make sense to make the long and arduous journey into Quito. The new airport had only been open a month, but there are no hotels nearby nor is the new main highway to the airport anywhere near completion.

Needless to say, not just visitors, but Ecuadorians are also peeved about it.

Yet, I’m not sure I would have gotten a lovely breakfast like I did at the the Turi Quindi Guest house had we gone into Quito. This family-run guest house has beautiful grounds and a wonderful breakfast. The grandmother makes breakfast and serves your eggs any way you’d like. I didn’t know Spanish for “scrambled,” but a simple wacky hand gesture of crazy whipping in circles got the point across.

But it was the juice that caught my attention. Steve and I couldn’t figure out what it was. We were guessing and then popped in one of the sons, Jose Andres, who pointed out that it was tree tomato, or Tamarillo.

It was like a tomato juice but sweeter.

Juan-Andres holds up a tree tomato, also known as a Tamarillo

Jose-Andres holds up a tree tomato, also known as a Tamarillo

Tree Tomato Juice

Tree Tomato Juice

Later on during our trip, I would have tree tomato juice again (at Sacha Lodge), have it as a dessert (Tandayapa Lodge) where the cook had baked it in cinnamon and some sugary syrup (sigh), and as a salsa on top of baked chicken at a hotel in Quito.

Oh tree tomato, I love you.

And I miss you terribly.

Tree Tomatoes at Otavalo Market

Tree Tomatoes at Otavalo Market

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Tales from Oahu: Follow that van!

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Ms. Boice in Trips

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Coconut, Food, Haleiewa, Hawaii, Laie, North Shore, Oahu, Peanut Butter, travel, vacation

While driving around the North Shore of Oahu we were making our way back to Laie when all of a sudden this guy merges in front of us:

Did you read that? Yes, on the back of that van it says, Coconut Peanut Butter! To my mom who was driving, I hollered, “Follow that van!”

There are two things I love in this world: Peanut butter and coconut and at this moment I thought either the Rapture occurred and I was swept up into heaven or the tropical trade winds were messing with my head and I was hallucinating. The really good kind of hallucinating. Either way, I didn’t care. Follow that van!

Well, we lost track of the van. He turned right and we went straight because we were in search of a bathroom. Seems I have to pee a lot in Hawaii. Not sure why. So the bladder took precedence. (If we had followed the van, wetting my pants would have certainly taken the joy out of the whole thing. Maybe it was a dream, so bathroom won out.)

Mom took us to a little shopping strip mall kind of thing in Haleiewa. Bladder relief, check! And then my mom in all her brilliance asked a kind lady in a Hawaiian tchotchke shop (Hawaiin and Yiddish–I just cracked myself up writing that) if she knew where we could find this mysterious Coconut Peanut Butter.

Please, oh, please let it not be part of my imagination.

It wasn’t! The lady said, “They have it next door, but it’s a little expensive.” I didn’t care if I had to take out a small loan for it. She started to explain how it’s even good just eating it out of the jar with a spoon.

“You think I haven’t already plotted that out?” I thought.

I don’t even think I let her finish talking about it. I was already out her door and into the shop next door. Here’s what the most heavenly thing on earth looks like:

Oh, and by the way, only TWO ingredients: Peanuts and coconuts. No sugar added! I also discovered that if you slather it on a banana it’s really crazy awesome.

Think I’m gonna share? Nope. Go find your own.

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Eggnog French Toast

14 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by Ms. Boice in Recipes

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

breakfast, brunch, Christmas, cooking, egg nog, eggnog, Food, french toast, holiday, recipe

When Steve and I were dating I made Eggnog French Toast and a frittata on Christmas morning. No, I wasn’t feeding an army. I was just dying to seduce impress Steve with my culinary prowess. Never mind that we ate this and the frittata for an entire week, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was so bummed that we eventually ate it all. Here’s how you do it:

1-lb loaf French bread
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups eggnog
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
8 eggs
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cut the French bread into 1/2 inch thick slices and spread cream cheese on 1/2 of the slices and place a sliced bread on top of each (like you’re making sandwiches). Place the “sandwiches” in the baking dish, arranging them so you can fit in as many as possible into the baking dish. Combine eggnog and eggs in bowl and beat until well blended.  Make sure the melted butter has been cooled enough and add to the eggnog/egg mixture (if you add the melted butter while still hot it will start to “scramble” your eggs).  Pour mixture over the bread in the baking dish. Take a spatula and gently press the bread into the dish so that the mixture can cover the top of all of the bread. Sprinkle nutmeg on top.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for 8 hours. Bake at 325° for 35 minutes or until center is set and edges are lightly browned.

Cut into squares and serve with maple syrup.

Did my plot to impress work? Does eggnog have a gazillion calories and fat in it? You betcha.

And it has been all worth it!

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The art of juicing and then screwing it up later.

10 Thursday May 2012

Posted by Ms. Boice in Recipes, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Breville, carrot, drink, Food, ginger, healthy, juicer, juicing, kale

A quick post about juicing.

Yes, we got a juicer. Steve bought it for me for our wedding anniversary last month.

Breville Juicer

So far, this is my favorite drink.

Green drink

Kale, cucumber, green apple, celery and ginger. Steve makes it for me in the morning before work and when I come downstairs it smells like he’s mowed the lawn in the kitchen. (I love that smell.)

And this is my second-favorite drink (a close runner up):

Carrot, orange and ginger (with 1/2 lemon).

Am I healthier? I’m ashamed to say, “not really.” Somehow I’ve got to quit the habit of buying Pop Tarts from the vending machine at work around 2:00.

I kind of feel like those people I’ve seen smoking outside the gym after a workout. I’m just like them.

Oh, for Pete’s sake. (sigh)

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Sherry and Mushroom Chicken Scaloppine

29 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by Ms. Boice in Recipes

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

chicken, cooking, Food, low calorie, low sodium, mushrooms, recipes, scaloppine, Sunday dinners

Sherry and Mushroom Chicken Scaloppine

As I’m writing this post my mouth is watering. This dish for the elitist in you was found from the pages of Sunset magazine and is perfect for this time of year and my husband devoured it when I made it.  The sauce is like putting on exquisite jewelry with the little black dress you’ve been bored with. Voila! A new you!

Same here with this chicken. Just when you were tiring of the same ol’ same ol’ this lovely girl will change your mind and make you wish you could eat this every day.  But don’t do it. Save it for Sunday dinners or special occasions. Sure she’s easy to make, but she’s not one of those loose girls you gossiped about in high school. She’s really more high brow than that and she’s just been misunderstood all this time.

Or that’s what she wants you to think. (wink)

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 20 minutes

MAKES: 4 servings

Basic chicken scaloppine (you can find it here)

2 tsp. olive oil

6 oz. portobello mushrooms or similar

2 Tbs. minced shallots

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 cup dry sherry

1/4 cup fat-skimmed chicken broth (I use no-added-sodium chicken broth)

2 Tbs. whipping cream

1 Tbs. chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

  1. Keep basic chicken scaloppine warm in a 200-degree oven.
  2. Add olive oil, mushrooms, shallots, and thyme to pan used to cook chicken (don’t wash the pan) and stir often over high heat until mushrooms are browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Spoon over chicken.
  3. Add sherry, chicken broth, and cream to pain; stir until mixture is boiling. Boil, stirring occasionally, until juices are slightly reduced, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Per serving: 349 calories; 28% (99 cal) from fat; 39 G protein, 11 G fat (2.8 G sat); 16 G carbs (1.1 G fiber); 105 MG sodium; 91 MG cholesterol

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