Batidos - yet another way to love a shake!

I recently returned from a trip to Panama.

We stayed at Tranquillo Bay," an eco adventure lodge," on an island on the Caribbean side of the country off of Bocas Del Toro. Two American families built and own the place and take care of you every second of the day. They have intelligent, friendly and very enjoyable guides (biologists doing something with their time in the turtle off season) that take you on excursions to explore the surroundings. I have included some pics so that you can get a feel for my time in the jungle!

The food that we had at the resort was for the most part familiar, Salads, curry and chicken rice, salsa and chips, doritos, cookies etc... We were busy in the sun all day and only ate when breakfast lunch or dinner was served. Because of this every meal felt very fortifying. I really felt like I was eating because I needed to it refuel, replenish. We did have a few things that really gave a nod to where we were. We had an appetizer made of plantains, cuban rum and one night we had fish that was from the pacific side of the country. We learned from our host that this is because the Panamanian fishermen on the Caribbean side don't ice their fish but the fishermen on the Pacific side do.

The best thing for me was the Batidos! I had one every morning that I was there. Basically it is a fruit shake (so, no surprise that it was my favorite thing). Fresh fruit is blended with ice, milk, and a sprinkle of sugar and that's it! I had watermelon on most days but they also had cantaloupe, pineapple and banana to choose from. This could be done with any fruits - Mangos, papayas, strawberries. Anything.

I am pretty sure that I have never looked forward to watermelon season more than right now.
The summer of Batidos? Time will tell...

Who doesn't love a dog?

So, we'd heard about it, read about it, dreamed about it, pressured strangers for information about it. KK even tried to find it once.

Finally on Monday the cafe was being renovated (!) and KK and I had to go to a restaurant auction place. Lunch time was coming and since we were already in the car...we went in search of the

SPEED'S HOT DOG WAGON!!!!!

KK bought us dogs and we brought one back for CVW (below).

Here are some of the features of this incredible Half-Pound Hot Dog!:

-soaked in some sort of apple cider situation
-nestled in a hot grilled bun
-grilled to order and split down the middle
-topped with condiments all made especially for this dog at this stand
homemade sweet fruit relish
beanless chili
onions
mustard
-wrapped well to travel and stayed hot.
-it costs $7 - but this was a hefty meal.
-it sits in front of the Katsiroubas Warehouse at 42 New Market Square in Roxbury.
-Cash only.
-they go down faster than you'd think


GO! (it looks like there is coupon on the website but it needs to be updated. ) NOW!

Catching up starting from when I carved it up!

I have been out of the habit of writing, things have been moving so fast!

I hosted my first Thanksgiving and then got caught up in life and fell of the blogging wagon.

My sisters came the night before and we had a fine time relaxing, setting the table, planning our quince theme thanksgiving - turkey basted with quince, butter and white wine; quince stuffing recipe we invented; quince cranberry tart from the cafe!

Family came later in the day with new recipes and old classics!

I think it was in general one of the least stressful holidays for everyone involved in a long time!





Here is a slice of the day and the first time I carved a turkey.




For the past two months I have been-
discovering new ways to be connected on the internet.
Visiting new and old cafe's.
Figuring out how to eat the best food on a more conservative budget.
taking a writing class.
growing at work.
working on recipes.
reorganizing...everything.


I am going to try to jump in again!