Fish Dishes

Essential Ingredients for a classic ceviche.

Champagne sauce and sole fillet.

Crab causa, the yellow stuff is cold potato!!!

Chita a la sal. Cooked in a kilo of salt and tastes delicious.

Related to the Piranha family.

Hot but happy it's nearly over.

Graduates ready to celebrate.

Partner in crime.

Hats off, it's all over until the next round.

Congratulations & Jubilations

Gaggle of giggling godmothers.

Could we be any prouder of our girl.

School colours out in bloom.

Sneaking a peak at the family who are out in force to support her today.

Serene, beautiful and relieved exams are done. Thinking of what comes next?????

Santa Monica

Saint Monica the Patron Saint of those in difficult marriages, victims of verbal abuse, unfaithfulness and adultery. So this is an apt name for the Women's Prison situated on the outskirts of town. After my first visit there I can only surmise that most of the inmates were victims of some type of abuse in a partnership that lead them down the wrong road. I know we all have choices and that old slogan of the 80's told us " Just Say No" but we need willpower. Let's be honest here, we all succumb to temptation at some time or another. For some of us more than others, we know when to apply sense and use our moral compass.


There are many who judge that those incarcerated for their crimes, deserve what they get. Is it so hard to believe some may be innocent or were coerced, taken advantage of, even forced?

All I know is that guilty or not we all need a touch of human kindness and we all have room to grow and change our ways.

I hope that all of the inmates when they leave will find a new and better path to follow. I doubt it but I hope so.

Fun with Fish

So after much prevaricating I did it, I finally went back to cooking school. This time it is fish or to give it it's full title Pescados y Mariscos. Transalted Fish and Seafood.

The down side of it ( and there is always one) is that it starts at the ungodly hour of 7.45 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday. For someone such as myself who is rarely up with the lark this is showing the purest form of dedication I have given in a long while.

I probably live closer to the school than anyone else and yet I always skid in as the clock strikes and throw myself into my uniform. The pre-class discussion sessions with the chef are paramount to success in the kitchen. The recipes we have in our books work on the assumption we already know the basics. Wouldn't be so tough if I had more than basic Spanish. I have to research each recipe before class to make sure I grasp all the terminology.

It is quite exciting and challenging to be discovering techniques on how to handle fish (dead or alive) but scary too as I am sure I will be the one who loses a digit to an angry crab!

Sunday mornings as we slice and dice; saute & simmer, the bells of the local church ring out and the sun comes creeping out. Feels rightous and good until the waft of fishy viscera ascends!

Intend to post photos of various fish dishes made.

Telluride

Our first visit to Telluride and let me tell you it does not disappoint.

I had not skied in two years and was not in the least bit excited about this outing with verbal back up from my 3 chicas who were even less enthusiastic than me.

The proviso for attending this trip was "it has to be deluxe". No more lugging boots, bags and booty out of the apartment, down the stairs, up the street, on the bus, and up the slopes. So for the first time in our families history of skiing we went "posh." Do you get the feel of just how big a deal this was for me? I would have minions to collect all my heavy gear, I could ski to the door and alight from cumbersome boots knowing my soft apres ski boots would be handed to me by a smiling youth. Add to that the urns full of coffee and sweet cocoa and you have one happy ski mama.

The Mountain Village where we stayed was cute, well planned and thought out, full of goodies to eat and shops to shop in and all that without having to go in the gondola down to town for more shopping and eating.

The spa in the resort provided luxurious treatments as well as the basic pool ( indoor/outdoor), steam room, sauna, jacuzzi, water slide and loungers. Swimming under the stars with the snow gently falling and the steam rising off the water made me feel all nordic and healthy.

Then to retire to view the olympics in the great room by the fire with the snow capped mountains (more than Vancouver had!) added a sublime feeling to the end of the day.


The fact we did not ski an entire week helped too. We did not reach the point of exhausation and frustration that we normally do. In this instance less was certainly more.
We all came away feeling healthy and not overly taxed by the exertion.

Who knows we may return.

Bunko

So is it Bunko or Bunco and does it even matter?

All you need are 12 willing and able bodied women, it can get a little rough when there are prizes on offer. So you need to come with filed down nails and a killer instinct!

There are a variety of rules but we stick with the basics. Mainly because each time we play we have at least 3 or 4 new recruits and it gets too complicated and time consuming to explain all the permutations and sequences possible.

My first sortie into Bunkolandia was many moons ago in Texas. I approached the first game with trepidation expecting a cerebral equivalent to Bridge. How would I know how to count and what to lay and in what order? I need not have worried Bunko is more about grabbing and gabbing than a knowledge of digits. It's all about the socializing as you move between tables. There is even a prize for the loser so there is no need to despair about lack of points as there is every chance you will get the Losers goodie bag.

Two common traits I have witnessed are the reluctance of new comers and the zeal of the newly converted. Everyone gets excited and leaves vowing they can't wait to play again.


So back amongst my old Texas gal pals I reverted to true form and came away a winner. In Lima I am slowly converting others.

It may not be that taxing on the brain but at the end of the day it's all about the winning and the loot, not expanding the old grey matter.


My rep as a player and a winner is legendary ( who am I kidding), some exclaim or laugh about my Bunko mojo. Because at the end of the day that is all it is, just luck. Still it has been noted and commented upon that I have more than my fair share of luck. Winning a prize every game is something people don't forget in a hurry. Now if I could only convert that luck to winning the lottery....

Tis the Season

December descended with invitations and events on the calendar morning noon and night, which brings me to the same thoughts I have every year. When do we start and when do we stop "Celebrating the Season".

I am presently what is considered a "lady of leisure". A woman no longer gainfully employed yet I seem to work endless volunteer hours. Most of these are with the aim of raising money to provide a gift for those with very little to be thankful or grateful for.



When I were a lass.... we put the tree up as close to Christmas as possible. Tradition dictates it should be Christmas Eve and taken down on Twelfth Night. Nowadays it's up the first day of December and we have had enough of it by Boxing Day. We often travel between Christmas and New Year and I can't abide having to come back to a stack of laundry and the un-decoration( is that even a word ?). It all seems so sad once the gifts are gone.



This year there was very little beneath our tree as our gift was a trip to the Galapagos Islands, which meant all family gifts were distributed earlier in the year and the chicas would be getting a once in a lifetime experience instead of presents. Certainly makes for a less stressful Christmas. Only stockings and a few gift bags to fill. Did it feel less atmospheric because of this? I would say not. To quote that old Carroll "All is calm all is bright" ( well some days sunny, some days foggy) We had all the usual activities to get us in the mood. Carol service, pantomime and a variety of Christmas parties.


Being involved in parties and gift giving for those less fortunate than ourselves has helped to give me a true sense of the phrase " it is better to give than to receive". Sounds like a cliche but the events that I have helped at this season have been very humbling. Wrapping gifts does add to the excitement and sense of the season.
It only takes one gift to make these kids happy.


Shopping for gifts is usually a year long project for me as I always like a head start and rarely trust the postal services. I prefer to drop them into the hand of the recipient even if that means July when I am on my summer visit home. This causes much hilarity and rolling of eyes amongst friends and family. They are a spilt crowd, either exclaiming at my organisation skills or my craziness at handing out shiny be-ribboned gifts 6 months before the Feast of Good King Wencelas!

Doubt I will ever change.