Food blogs can be boring. I love reading new recipes, drooling over the photos, and learning new techniques, but more than anything, it’s a writer’s personality and the tiny glimpses into their lives that really make the best blogs come “alive” to me. For this reason, I deem it necessary to share with you a little bit of my life here in Costa Rica.
This weekend, Husband and I were accompanied by his grandparents to a lovely cottage in the backwoods countryside of Puntarenas for a much-needed retreat from city life and the daily buzz.
We lounged at the dining table, playing cards at noon and night, laughing as I lost every single round of 500 rummy, sometimes playing to 700 giving me the chance to catch up, singing love songs to God and reading scripture, laughing and sweating in the hot dry air, and enjoying every breath of the warm breeze wafting through the rickety screen doors.
It was wonderful, peaceful, and exactly the blessing that we’d needed. We went fishing in Puntarenas followed later by fishing at the market, a sure “catch.”
We swam in the evenings, avoiding the raging sun of afternoons, which were spent napping accompanied by a fan’s gentle purr. We ate more typical Tico cuisine than Husband and I have scarfed down in months, much of which was cooked over the wild flames of a homemade wood stove constructed of cement blocks filled with gathered twigs.
We picked marañon and jocotes and enjoyed their sweet juices, roasted the cashew nuts and grilled whole fish. On the last morning, I watched a small herd of cattle clopping down the dirt road led by rugged, leather-skinned vaqueros on horseback and saw the most beautiful blue and green swallow-tailed bird that I’ve ever set eyes on outside the zoo.
I hope you enjoy the photos, and if you’re interested in visiting our lovely country, feel free to contact me for tourist info or Couchsurfing oportunites.
Beautiful photos!
And thanks for the homemade peanut butter tip! I had considered it before and figured it would be pretty simple, but I never got around to checking out the specifics.
It looks pretty close to paradise there!
Hey, I saw your comment on “The Adventures of a Stay and Home Mom” about the limp celery. The foil trick does work, but here’s a tip for already limp celery that also works: cut off the bottoms and put the stalks in a tall glass of water. Then stick the glass in the fridge. You will be surprised to see that your celery will perk up in just a day or so! (The water from the glass just goes right up the stalks.)
I think your cinnamon roll/cheescake recipe sounds delumptious. I’ll have to try my hand at it.