Stefan and I sort of gave up on the watermelon plants that Eddie planted for us 5 months ago. They sprouted and shriveled enough times that we gave up watering them and let them do their own thing (like get overgrown with weeds…). Lo and behold, a watermelon (sandia) has appeared!
I wonder if it’s because we have more bees pollinating our plants now? Or do watermelons take a while to establish themselves?
The edamame (soy beans) that I planted are doing really well! Lots of pods are hanging off of the little bushes now and they are extremely low maintenance.
Conclusion: Edamame (soy) beans are easy to grow in Puerto Rico!
I am still patiently waiting for the heirloom tomatoes to give us some treats, but they seem healthy and happy.
Just like the Kruses, our watermelon (sandia) plant never really did much and it has finally started to flourish. Today we saw the first tiny little watermelons forming on the vine.
The birds and the bees are enjoying all of our new trees and plants and are busy pollinating for us :). It’s nice to see the animals flocking to our yard since it used to be a big dry dust bowl.
Stefan and I love the show “Top Chef”, so we were excited to hear that the finals were held in Puerto Rico! The four finalist were flown in to Puerto Rico and had to use typical Puerto Rican foods in the final food challenges.
You can watch the 1st part of Top Chef - Puerto Rico, here:
http://video.bravotv.com/player/?id=259465
I’m still looking for the 2nd part…
Now that Stefan is back from Costa Rica, we’ve started cooking up some of the recipes that you guys suggested. Stefan made the stuffed peppers suggested by Cris and this is how they came out:
I don’t eat red meat, so we substituted the ground beef with tofu and it was really, really good (and good for you)!
I made the salads using the spicy mesculin lettuce mix that I grew, which is also very very yummy (and easy to grow here in Puerto Rico).
Thanks for the recipe, Cris!
When I moved to Puerto Rico, I was expecting the food to be similar to Costa Rica, but unfortunately I was wrong. Typical Puerto Rican fare is fried fried fried and then probably fried one more time for good measure. There are also a lot of really unhealthy fast food joints like your typical McDonalds, Burger King, Popeyes, etc. It really is hard to find a good meal around here, but that is something Stefan and I have accepted and perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise because it gives us an excuse to cook at home more. But, oh what I wouldn’t give for a good sushi joint…
Any how, we were in San Juan last week and went to check out Plazas Las Americas (the biggest mall in the Caribbean). We got a bite to eat at the food court and came across “La Vaca Frita” and it made us laugh. For some reason that just doesn’t sound appetizing to me, but then again I’m a weirdo, I guess because plenty of people were eating there.
This sign was posted at The Hot Potato, and it also made me laugh. I had to take a picture:
I’m testing out a new blog toy (a poll plugin), so here is a question for all of you Rincon, PR locals: Who has the best food in Rincon, Puerto Rico? (You can add your favorite restaurant to the poll, if it is not already listed!)
Summer and I are not cooking at home nearly as much as we should and would like to. We are stuck in our routine of heading out of the house when we get hungry in search of some food and drink. There really is no excuse for such consumerism, we both love being in our new home, we love spending time together but we are a little bored of our staple ‘prepared meals’.
With that said, I thought it would be a great idea to have a recipe contest. I don’t know why I am calling this a contest, because we don’t have any prizes to give away (aside from the gift of other peoples recipe submission). We will choose a new recipe weekly (a courageous endeavor) to cook at home. All of the recipes we post will be live for everyone to see, so you can play along at home too! The only rule I am going to create for this (rules discourage participation) is that the recipe can not involve deep frying. There is plenty of that around here already!
To submit your recipe for this contest, simply use the comment form at the bottom of this page. If we get enough recipes, we’ll make a page dedicated to the submitted recipes.
I have decided to give out a secret family recipe in hopes of you guys sharing one of your with us.
MALFATTI | GREEN GNOCCHI
½ LB COOKED CHOPPED SPINACH 1 CUP PARMESAN CHEESE, GRATED 2 TBSP BUTTER FLOUR FOR DUSTING ½ LB RICOTTA CHEESE ¾ CUP OF FLOUR 2 EGGS STEAM SPINACH IN MICRO WAVE TIL DONE. DRAIN AND SAUTE IN BUTTER FOR A FEW MIN. BLEND SPINACH, RICOTTA CHEESE, EGGS AND FLOUR AND PARM CHEESE.. USE FOOD PROCESSOR OR BLENDER TIL WELL MIXED. THE DOUGH WILL BE STICKY. USE FLOUR TO ROLL INTO BALLS. AFTER THIS YOU MAY FREEZE ( PUT ON COOKIE TRAY TIL FROZEN) DROP INTO PLASTIC BAG TIL YOU ARE READY TO USE. IF YOU ARE COOKING IMMEDIATELY, DROP INTO BOILING SALTED WATER. WHEN THEY RISE TO THE TOP, THEY ARE DONE. PUT INTO BUTTERED FRY PAN TIL READY. SERVE WITH TOMATO SAUCE OF YOUR CHOICE OR:
GORGANZOLA SAUCE
3 OZ MILD GOGANZOLA OR 3 OZ DANISH CREAMY BLUE ½ CUP PLUS 2 TBSP LIGHT CREAM 2 OZ MARSCAPONE OR CREAM CHEESE SOFT IN A BOWL CREAM GORGANZOLA WITH 2 TBSP LIGHT CREAM. HEAT BUTTER IN SAUCEPAN ADD ½ CUP OF LIGHT CREAM AND THE CREAM CHEESE GOGANZOLA MIXT. INCORPORATE THE CHEESE MIXTURES BY MASHING TOGETHER. THIS IS VERY RICH. YOU MAY NEED TO ADD A LITTLE MILK TO THIN OUT. SEASON AS YOU WISH.
