muerto de risa

still in new york...

we have one week left in new york and then we journey on to denver.  our stuff is packed up and ready for part 2 of the cross-continent, cross-country move.  now we're just trying to enjoy the city.

today we had a yummy turkish lunch with my cousin but i forgot to take photos.  i guess i was too busy stuffing my mouth with eggplant and baklava.  he inspired me to write more book and maybe some movie reviews so once i have a little more time i will start with these again.

and for those of you who have never heard of kimchi (see previous post) here is a little more information.

fresh kimchi

fresh kimchi and a cold korean beer...

could it get any better?

tio ciro

so...we made it to new york with all of our heavy, heavy luggage.  i haven't started taking photos here yet, so i thoght i'd pop in and share a few more beach photos from ecuador.  one of the trends there that i always found fascinating is how promotions for political candidates are painted directly onto people's homes.  when in thailand a few years ago, i saw coca-cola and sprite ads hanging from homes and chalked it uo to big corporations taking advantage of poor families to promote their brands.  it was a little more surprising to see that loca politicians also pay families to turn their homes into billbboards.  above you can see an ad for the current president, correa.  correa who is against open trade, kicked out some of the big foreign oil companies but probably exchanged a bag of rice and a t-shirt for this huge painting of his name visible to all boats in the port.

the other thing i find interesting about these ads is that some of them are kind of beautiful.  i love the colors and big graphics and handpainted letters.  is it wrong to find the promotions pretty when i am not sure how i feel about the idea of turning apersonal space into an advertisement?  is there something wrong with it or is it just a cultural difference?  i will miss being challenged by such issues every day.

soon to come...new york and new york FOOD.  ahhh...new york food.

200 pounds is not enough

life is a little hectic right now.  fitting two years of life in four 50 pound bags is a challenge.  never before has packing been a mathematical equation for me.  first we pack.  then we weigh.  then we rearrange.  then we pack again.  over and over.  in between we visit with friends for last good-byes.  sad and happy.  exciting and scary.

i am taking a small break to share some beach photos.  we spent a few days in canoa which is a small town in the province of manabi.  it is a lovely place with little to do but sit and relax.  we played scrabble, ate plates of seafood, took walks along the water, and enjoyed nightly happy hours.  a perfect break.

the new couple of weeks will be crazy.  the next post will come from new york.  new york!  yay.

a blooming heart

hello friends!  i hope you enjoyed some guest blogging while i was away.  i'm hoping there will be a couple of more entries, maybe with recipes!!!

the beach was beautiful and thoroughly relaxing.  we had time to reflect on our time here in ecuador and also time to not think at all. :)  now we are back and the packing and organizing is in full effect.  we are feeling a little guilty here in casa risa & jordan, kind of like staring at the above picture makes me feel.

the photo is of two of my boys trying to pose for an in the air photo which didn't quite work.  F. on the left love los yankess de new york and J. on the right is a budding artist.

he drew me this little blooming heart.  i love, love, love the bow in her hair.  i squeel every time i see it.

i can't believe in five days we will be back in the US for good.

i will try and post as much as possible over the next couple of months.  i'll definitely be back to share more about the beach tomorrow or monday.

more on italian cooking...

So as I was previewing my post, the format kept changing and the pictures would not be placed in the correct spot.  Because of this, I have put all of the pictures at the bottom of the post.  I'm sorry about that and I hope the post makes sense.

I cannot begin to discuss the food that we cooked without explaining the environment in which we were learning.  Villa Lucia is a private residence consisting of three large houses, two pools, a grotto, and a variety of beautiful gardens.  The cooking school was held in the main house (shown below), where the kitchen and dining room were on the main level and the nine guests/students stayed on the second. Besides learning to cook, another goal of the trip was to be able to relax.  As you can see, the gardens provided the perfect setting to do just that. 

Below is a picture of our chef Fabio.  Without him, our vacation would not have been a success. He is a wonderful chef (he actually worked as head chef in the states for a few years and had interesting stories about his staff, always referring to them using stereotypes that an American could not get away with) and taught us a lot.  Actually, the most beneficial parts of the cooking lessons were the hands-on experiences that we were encouraged to partake in.  I just graduated from college and will be looking to save as much money as possible, so learning how to prepare the food that I will be cooking was a huge help.  We were taught how to fillet fish, scallop veal that turned into this beautiful creation, and made ravioli and tagliatelle from hand.

What to say?

When Risa originally asked if I would blog about my culinary trip to Italy I was excited and thought it would be fun, but then I realized how difficult it would be.  I have never really blogged before and it occurred to me that it was going to be extremely difficult to decide what I was going to write about.  To give a quick summery: As a graduation present from college my mother took me on a trip to culinary school in Tuscany.  I have always loved to cook and it was the perfect present (thanks mom!).  We went to the Rhodes Culinary Institute at Villa Lucia in a small village named Vorno.  The trip was amazing, I learned to make many delicious dishes, and the village where we stayed was beautiful.  I will get to all of this over the next few days, but while reminisching about my trip I realized I have to begin before the actual cooking took place. 

The first stop on our trip was Pisa.  I obviously cannot discuss this city without mentioning the famous leaning tower.  I have to admit that my only memory of the tower from the last time I saw it (sometime around age 12) was that I didn’t understand what the hype was about; it just didn’t seem to be leaning all that much.  On this visit though, I had the opposite experience.  It was stunning and I could not have found it more impressive.

But this was a cooking trip, so it would not be right if I did not mention one of the most amazing pasta dishes I have ever eaten.  While in Pisa we went to Osteria dei Cavalieri where I ate an incredible plate of tagliatelle with rabbit and asparagus. It was the perfect start to my Italian culinary experience.

southside

now that my job in ecuador has ended i thought i would share the journey i took to the center's new site in the south of quito.  the hour long trip would begin with a ride on the ecovia, the bus that runs on the street directly in front of my apartment building.  then a short walk took me to the trolley, the other main busline in quito.  after the trolley, i would climb into a crowded van or car "taxi" that costs 25 cents to take me a block away from my final destination.  these vehicles were not yellow cabs, but extremely run down vehicles owned by non-professional cabbies.  a minimum of six people need to squeeze into the care before it would go.  in the photo above there are seven of us although only four are visible.

the south of quito looks more like what might imagine an ecuadorian city to look like.  it is poorer and more run down than the north which looks pretty much like any other modern city.

one thing i love about the south are the amazing views of the mountains bordering the city.  i will miss these views.  the photo above is my view while waiting for the first bus i took on my trip home.  below is a view from inside the walls of the center.

jordan and i are going to the beach tomorrow and will be there for a few days.  if my sister has time she will start her guest blogging about her experience cooking in italy.  and when i return more photos of the south.  i can't believe we leave in less than two weeks!

have a great week!

things here are getting really busy so i apologize if i don't respond to your comments as quickly or thoroughly as usual.