For your home-cooking pleasure!

(keep in mind that I am just estimating on portions)

Arroz Nicaraguense

-1 small sweet green chile, seeds discarded
-1 sweet onion
-1/2 c. oil
-3 c. rice
-5 c. water

Slice the chile and onion thinly. Put the oil over medium heat in a medium size pot and add the chile and onion. Cook until sizzling and fragrant. Meanwhile, rinse the rice by pouring water over it and discarding the water twice. Add to the oil and cook until the oil is absorbed and the rice begins to turn brown on the bottom of the pot. Then add water and set to low until cooked through. If needed, add more water until rice is al dente.


Ensalada de Cebolla, Tomate, y Zanahoria

-1 large carrot or 2 medium
-1 onions
-1 tomato
-juice of 3 small limes
-salt to taste

Peel and cook carrot in water or steam until soft but not falling apart. Set aside to let cool. Slice onion and tomato into thin rings. When cool, cut the carrot into slices. Add to a bowl with the lime juice and salt and toss. Let sit for about 30 min. and serve.


Maduros

-5 very ripe plantains
-soy oil

Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet. Cut off the peels of the plantains. Cut the plantains in two, and then cut each half in three thick parts lengthwise. When oil is hot, add pieces to the pan without over crowding and fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and serve hot.
(Variation: for Tajadas Verdes, use green plantains and slice as thinly as possible, like potato chips. Cover in salt when finished.)


Stewed Pork

-pork tenderloin
-5 pieces garlic
-2 onions, divided
-1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
-salt to taste
-1 small sweet green chile, sliced
-1/4 c. oil

Cut pork into medium size pieces and pound with a tenderizer or rock to soften. Smash the garlic, remove peel, and add to a bowl with the pork. Thinly slice the onions, and add half to the pork. Finally, add vinegar and salt to the pork and let marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Start the oil in medium heat in a saucepan and add the remaining onion and chile. When fragrant, add pork and cook until done. Serve with juices.


Tortillas de Maíz

-2 c. corn flour
-water
-plastic bag cut into a large circle

Add enough water to the flour for a soft dough. Knead 1-2 minutes until it holds the form of your fingers when you pick it up. With your fingers, revolve the dough to flatten it. With damp hands, place the dough piece on the piece of plastic bag and press down with the fingers of one hand, using the other to guide the edges into a circle. Cook in a slightly indented pan on both sides until it has black spots and it poofs up with steam.


Tacos del Pescado

-3 filets of white ocean fish
-5 small sweet green chiles, sliced
-2 sweet onions, sliced
-2 Tbs of mustard
-1/4. salsa verde
-1 Tbs bouillon
-3 pieces garlic
-oil for frying

Cut fish into strips. Add all ingredients but oil. Let marinate 20 min. then fry in a skillet. Serve with fresh, crispy tortillas.


Tiste

-1/2 c. fine ground cornmeal
-1/2 c. fresh cocoa powder
-1 Tbs. cinnamon (1 tsp. if fresh)
-sugar, if desired
-water to taste (4 cups?)
-ice

Combine all ingredients in a large container and stir well. Serve in glasses with more ice and a spoon for stirring (sediment falls to the bottom).


Huevos Rancheros

-1 sliced sweet onion
-1/2 c. tomato sauce
-1/2 c. salsa verde
-chile, for spice
-4 fried eggs
-4 fresh thick corn tortillas

Cook onions in oil over medium heat until soft. Add sauce and salsa and chile and cook until warm. Layer the tortillas, followed by the eggs, and the sauce. Serve hot.


Frijoles Molidos

-cooked black beans (about 2 cups)
-4 pieces garlic, minced
-2 small sweet green chiles, chopped fine
-1 sweet onion, chopped fine
-2 Tbs. minced mint

Mash black beans until fairly smooth. Cook garlic, chiles, and onion in oil until fragrant, then add mashed beans and mint. Serve with tomato & onion salad (above) and rice.


Horchata Especial de Isolina

(portions to your liking)

-cocoa powder
-vanilla
-a handful of white rice
-strawberries
-sugar
-cinnamon
-milk
-ice

Let rice sit in water for 15 minutes, then discard the water. Add all ingredients into a blender and pulse till smooth.


Nacatamales

-Fine corn flour
-vinegar
-black pepper, to taste
-4 pieces garlic, minced
-2 onions, chopped
-2 small sweet green chiles, chopped
-2 tomatoes, chopped
-1/2 c. cooked rice
-1/2 c. cooked pulled pork (made with salsa verde, garlic, and vinegar...recipe above)
-1 potato, chopped and cooked
-minced cilantro, to taste
-raisins, 3 per tamale
-Clean banana leaves, 1 per tamale
-string

(all ingredients more or less as you like it)

Mash 1/2 of the garlic, onions, chiles, and tomatoes into almost a liquid. Combine with corn flour and enough vinegar to make a dough that sticks together. Add the rest of the ingredients except for leaves and string. The dough should be substantial and stick together. Put a handful of dough into each banana leaf. To fold, take the leaf's edges on the lengthwise side of the tamale, and fold accordion-style until it touches the dough. Fold the open ends into middle and wrap with string as you would a Christmas present. As long as it stays together securely you're good. Put wrapped tamales into the bottom of a large pot and cover with water. Heat and cook over medium-low heat for 2 hours, turning halfway through. You should smell the tamales when they are ready. Discard water, unwrap, and enjoy!

And for the finale

After a final, long ride on the chicken busses back to Playa Gigante, I spent my last night and day catching up with the family and saying good-bye to Isolina (while procuring her address and recipes for Nacatamales and chocolate horchata). The morning of our departure, our Nicaraguan brother Maximo came to wake us up before he went to school. It was a little disheartening for me since I felt that I didn't say a proper good-bye, but thankfully we left just after he returned from school later in the afternoon. We spent the morning packing and talking with Anner, and then Maria made us a magnificent lunch (of which I have a picture....I'll post it later). We joked around with the family for a while, and when it came time to leave (our friend Omar was driving us), we took multitude of pictures, Maria gave me a beautiful purple necklace, and Maximo gave me his Popoyo Surf Zone bracelet. It started raining just as we began carrying our things to the car, so goodbyes became a little rushed. But the family was emphatic in their goodbyes, and Rufino's eyes were brimming in tears, it nearly tore my heart apart. Stayed the night in Rivas, and on the bus into Costa Rica for the flight, the woman from Leon named Brenda sitting next to me basically adopted me, feeding me, helping me understand the intercom messages, and showing me pictures of her family. And now just sitting at the hostel, eating oatmeal and drinking tea with rosquillos (little crunchy corn, cheese, and butter rings) that Brenda gave me. The trip is at an end, but I certainly have much to chew over, so now that I'm coming home I'm sure different details will come out in my conversations. My next post should be pictures and recipes collected in the trip, stay tuned!

¡Ven arriba!

Hello dear readers! I am back again from my mountain adventures, the last leg of my trip...so bittersweet.
Monica´s and my last day in Granada was spent going to the Masaya marketplace, the lookout at Catarina, and drinks with conversation in town followed by a lovely dinner of watermelon and coleslaw.
And then I waved good-bye to Granada on a train of long bus rides far North to coffee country. Stop number one is Matagalpa, home to guirilas (tasty, thick, steaming corn tortillas filled with cuajada queso) and some sort of thick corn and cream pudding-thing that comes with them. The city itself is just a nice place to walk, with rolling San Francisco-like hills and a pristinely white castle of a main cathedral. I stopped several times for coffee, some of the best cups I´ve had in a while, and read Alice in Wonderland while sipping my treat. Though it was lovely people-watching with overflowing baskets of produce seeming to seep from the corners, the tours into Cerro Negro and coffee plantations were expensive, so it was time to move on.
And so I moved East to Estelí, home of Hospitaje Luna to which I was highly recommended by travel-buddy Brodie. There, I booked my stay at La Perla in the Miraflor reservation further North and bought lots of goods made by the Women´s Group of Estelí. They make their own fair-trade soap, paper, and jewelry, and the woman I stayed with in La Perla, Maribel, is part of the cooperative. But before leaving, I spent an improv-day with Dan from England who I met in Catarina and Margaret the ESL teacher. We rode (and walked for big hills...) to a waterfall in a nearby reservation, and lolled in the freezing water underneath the mists all morning, then got a big lunch and read all afternoon. I moved onto Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald, but I never seem to be able to get into his books. But I regress, we spent the night searching for Nacatamales and pizza, and had wonderful conversation with a Dutch couple about veganism and McDonald´s.
The next morning I awoke to my singing wristwatch at 5am, at which time I hitched a 10 córdoba cab to the bus station for a rather bumpy and upward (which afforded some of the best views in Nicaragua of bearded trees encased by endless ridges of jungled mountains) ride to Puertas Azules. Maribel, my care-taker, had a daughter who was on the same bus, and we walked together to Posada La Perla. We were greeted with a big pancake breakfast and café con leche from Maribel. Since it was Sunday, everyone was just sitting around and talking with family all day. I don´t think my Spanish has ever been so challenged, but Maribel was a great teacher...she helped correct my awful grammar and fed me the right words when I described them. We sat in the kitchen talking about ourselves, our families, organic farming, Nicaraguan life and American life, and even Nicaraguan government and immigration problems in the US. I made oatmeal-raisin cookies for everyone in the afternoon (massively improved by freshly crushed cinnamon, note) and wrote down the recipe and a banana-bread recipe for the family. I hope they make it and remember me :)
On Monday I witnessed tortilla-making from start to finish. They ground the fresh corn, added some water, ground it again, and patted the dough on plastic into perfect patties. They dropped them on a tortilla pan over a fogon (fire-oven) and took them off when there was little black spots and they puffed up with steam. I got to make a couple, but I definitely slowed down the process so I didn´t do too many. Then I got to help milk a cow (again, I was really slow), which was subsequently transformed into my café con leche (if you never experienced this, you must put it on your bucket list). Then I practiced English the daughter, Joli, and Maribel took me to plant some cucumber and chayote seeds. She mixed ash into the soil and planted three in a plot, then showed me how she made hills in the garden to divert the rain. I expressed to her how sad it was that I was just coming to her now, since our project could certainly use her lifelong expertise, but I suppose that´s what the future is for.
I had to hurry off just before noon for 6 hours of bus rides back to Granada so I could make it back to Playa Gigante for last good-byes. Now I enter my final days in Nicaragua.

I have a confession to make...

...I am still in Granada. Let me explain!
After I last wrote, travel-buddy Jenny and I completed a guide-book-museum-tour of Granada. Our choices were the Tres Mundos art school inside La Casa de Los Liones near the main plaza, the museum of history in La Iglesia San Fransisco, La Fortaleza La Polvora, and the chocolate museum. We also spent much time in el parque central drinking tiste and chicha, and on the street behind la Plaza de la Independencia drinking iced sangría, or back in the park with a local cigar after dinner. We enjoyed much street food, and even viewed the sunset and bell-toller in the cathedral La Merced. The city-center is colonial, with tiled rooftops scooping into central courtyards stretching into a view of Volcánes Mombacho y Concepción, as well as the hilltop city Catarina. Jenny was due for a flight Tuesday, so we went back to Playa Gigante with all our purchases. Turns out, since Erin, Alex,and John were leaving soon they were heading back to Granada with our newest addition (Monica) to see some sights. As Eliot and Russell were leaving for the Corn Islands soon, at the prospect of staying at the project alone I decided to return to Granada. And here I am still!
But I haven´t just been sitting here on the internet. My new travel-buddy Monica and I went ziplining in a canopy in the base of Mombacho (at a local´s price, since I had a misunderstanding about what a canopy-tour is and thought that $28 per person was outragous for a walk around some trees). The first time was terrifying, the others were fantastically fun. Then we spent the rest of the night eyeing street vendors, and talking before John left for the airport. In the morning we all had breakfast together, and while the girls went to Masaya for the market-place I rented an all-day bicycle and rode uphill for two hours to the lookout at Catarina. Toward the end I got off to walk twice because the hills became so steep, and stopped between Catarina and San Juan de Oriente for a passionfruit refresco...but I made it! Again, a place I cannot explain. I will tell you I cried at the top from the sense of accomplishment and the mind-blowing view of la Laguna de Apollo, Granada, and the Lago de Nicaragua. I met a few travellers at the top, had a lunch of tostones, fried cheese, salad, and beef stew at the overlook, then coasted at top speed all the way down to Granada along huge red cliffs, Volcán Mombacho, fíncas, and mango trees. When I returned, Monica and I climbed the belltower of Catedral de Granada to watch the sunset and see the bells toll. From there we got macuá coctails and returned to the hostel to talk late into the night with a sweet woman and her daughter.
Today, we kayaked through Las Isletas. They are gorgeous, verdant water-pastures with a small Spanish fort on the outskirts of the Lago de Nicaragua. The guide was helpful and sweet, giving us a taste of a lemon-tasting fruit that grows in the water and pointing out rocks that landed in the trees after an insect created an explosion (?? I swear that´s what he said because I asked several times, but perhaps my Spanish isn´t that good. I told him he was lying and he swore it was the truth!). He talked about how life in Nicaragua is difficult now, because for the past four years things have grown more and more expensive. Four years ago, Nicaraguans could purchase 15 units of rice for the same amount that 10 units costs now; two shirts then cost the same as one shirt now; and he says that he does not ally with any party, Sandinista or no, because he observes that those in politics keep promising a better life, but they never work for it. So the best political alliance is none, only work pays for the costs of life. He was eager to hear about what we did for our Playa Gigante project and wished us the best of luck with continuing it in the future. Like most Nicaraguans, he was very patient with my broken Spanish and good-natured. Afterward, we grabbed pupusas and kebabs for lunch, discussed life and religion for hours, then explored town in time to hear the students playing instruments in the music academy and watch a spray-paint artist perform for a crowd. We found the heart of the market-place and bought more than enough for our dinner for 23 córdobas, about a dollar. At the hostel we feasted on steamed corn, sweet tamales, avocado, and leftover rice (after an appetizer of pan de leche) and prepared coleslaw salad for tomorrow´s dinner.
Where shall we adventure from here? Hasta luego!

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Hello all! I write this during a brief siesta at the Hostel Oasis in the heart of Granada.
We just arrived here by chicken bus earlier this afternoon, but before I go on about this gorgeous city of Spanish building fronts and colonial churches I must recount these past couple days....
Adventura Dos began (as all our Nicaragua adventures do) in the bus terminal of Rivas, in the heart of the marketplace encased by ceviche stands, street vendors, and miscellenious tiendas. Jenny (my travelling companion) and I wended our way North through a bus to Managua, a relatively expensive taxi to the terminal, another bus for León, and a long walk with a local in love with Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío to the Catedrál in which the aforementioned prodigy is buried. León is Nicaragua´s second largest city, with the third largest church in Latin America--one built, as a gregarious local explained, on the backs of the indigenous of the area during the Spanish colonial period. These indigenous still live near León, but are divided from the city by a street.
The rest of our night in León consisted of tacos, cheese, ice cream, music in the park, galleries of local art, and a couple mojitos at Big Foot hostel. The mojitos were quality; the hostel was not. All things considered, you can´t win all the time.
The following morning we awoke at 5:15 to walk to Quetzaltrekkers, where we threw all our necessities into backpacking packs (mine was rented), hitched a bus to a point on the highway in front of Volcán Tolica, and hiked 6 hours into the sulfuric dust of the crater. There, we set up camp in the grassy knoll beneath the rock fields. Seeing the crater was one of the most awestriking experiences, one that reminds you that you see very little of what goes on in this Earth--especially when you live in the city as I do. We mounted the hill to the crater three times. First, when we arrived and the volcanic pit poured so much smoke that it was impossible to see in the crater or around ourselves. Second, at sunset we could see two more volcanoes as well as a vista of all the farmland stretching to the sea lit up by the gold dusk. The crater itself was clearer, and the circle of its lip and pool of boiling water inside were visible. Third, after dinner when darkness descended, the night was cloudless. Lava churned bright red, lighting up the bottom of the crater. This, dear friends, is indescribable. Pictures and words do not do it justice. But I felt like I was mere feet from the center of the Earth. Afterwards, we all gathered around the fire to roast marshmallows and talk before retiring.
Our guides woke us early to race to the top of the hill overlooking our campsite. I stumbled over rocks steaming with geothermal heat to the precipice containing a vista of a line of volcanoes on the other side of the crater, and stared directly into the rising sun covered by volcanic dust. Afterwards, with a breakfast of toast, guava jam, and oatmeal raisins, we picked up again and descended through farm-fields of maíz y gandules to the highway. All the way up and down the mountain were campesinos and their horses tending to their fíncas. At the bottom was pits of boiling mud, similar in heat and shape to Yellowstone but without the color. We ate at a fantastic Comedor and caught the bus back to León. From there, we exchanged information and said our goodbyes to our travel companions from Germany and LA, and hopped on the busetas (little busses) to Masaya. The one from Managua to Masaya was so packed that I had to hold dearly to the front seat on which my sitting pad was attached, my knees pressed against locals sitting in front of me and my hands falling asleep from exertion. But no matter, I didn´t have to sit that long.
Masaya was simple to navigate, and with a quesillo (corn tortilla with thin cheese, sauteed onions and chiles, and tons of salt and sour cream) in my hand I was immediately endeared to the city. The hosted in the guidebook was unmanned, so we found our own, and washed ourselves thoroughly (by that point we smelled of sweat, sulfur, mildew, and all other manners of odors we may have picked up on the way). I will tell you now, as that was my first backpacking experience, the first night back you sleep better than you ever have before. Our room was quite dark and had a fan, which made it that much better.
The morning consisted of gallo pinto, plantains, queso frito, and café con leche in the central park, then we ventured to the markets. We spent twenty minutes or so perusing the stalls of the gringo market without purchases. So we left and walked five blocks or so to the more local, more tightly packed market...which was wonderland for me! We bought all our kitsch and presents, then sat for tiste and people watching. Lunch was street food--fried yucca, flour donut, and a rice empanada with cabbage salad--before we had to check out of our hotel and catch the next bus to Granada. And here we are, back at the beginning. There is not much to this adventure in Granada besides free coffee and internet (and reading of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, so good!), but more is to come. Hasta!

Las días de nuestros vidas...

Since I last wrote, our little garden had two community work days! A group of about five Playa Gigante residents came over to see the property, bring home materials for composting at home, and help plant some tamarind and citrus trees on the plot. Otherwise, things on the finca have slowed down quite a bit. Our companion John is still working hard on creating the foundation of his community center, waking up before sunrise to get out and dig out the plot. When he finishes leveling the land the plan is to lay out old tires and fill them with dirt to serve as a sturdy base for a building. For the rest of the garden, the rain is quite plentiful at this time of the year (it's winter here), so no effort needed just yet. In the meantime, our padre de Nicaragua Ruffino took us on an expedition through the jungle behind our homestead to a remote beach. On top of the Pie de Gigante, surrounded by saguaro-like cacti, jungle vines, and butterflies our group could clearly see all the way to Punta Arenas, Costa Rica. From there, Ruffino took us down a creek that leads to an enclave West of the surfing beaches. There, the boys scraped concha snails from the rocks and speared crabs with Ruffino while Jenny and I watched and searched for rocks and shells. When he tired of prying shells with his machete, Ruffino stood on the rock furthest into the sea, in just galoshes and jean shorts, to fish with a kite string and crab legs. He pulled three wonderful, toothy, leopard-spotted and black fish from the water, the last one causing him to loose his balance and drop his watch. When we could not locate it, he let it go with a laugh, remarking that life is more important than any item. Later that day, mi madre de Nicaragua Maria helped me toast and shell cacao seeds, which I ground in a hand-crank and added to homemade chocolate pudding for the family (Maria's favorite!).
The next day, Jenny helped me learn a bit more about past tense in Spanish, and for dinner Russell cooked up a huge batch of pancakes. The family usually doesn't sit at the table with us while we eat our meals, so it was an incredibly special meal. The pancakes took a while to cook (especially since we were flipping them with a spoon), but that gave us a long time to joke with the family about how much John eats or Eliot marrying Ruffino when he tried on his ring. Even though most of the time there is a language barrier between us and the family, we barely felt it that night. We all went to bed remarking on how it was one of the best days we've had at our little homestead by the jungle.
And then today (it's been so long since the last post because electricity was out from here to Rivas for a day...apparently there are two Nicaraguan electricity companies--del Norte y del Sur...thankfully we have solar :P) I awoke at 5:30am to ride our road bike down the path (more like the rocks, puddles, and creeks) to Hotel Brio to help make breakfast with the chef, Isolina. Of course, it was a bit early for the Brio crowd, so we spent most of our time eating her pork tamale (handmade by her mother) and my oatmeal (from a bag), drinking coffee, talking about life, and listening to Mexican music videos. Past that, it was just another day in the life...cooking with Maria, reading, making jewelry out of shells and rocks, then a lovely meal at el Pie de Gigante of bruscetta and hummus...then internet, as a good gringa. Lovely place, lovely people, lovely pastimes; there is nothing bad to say about our Playa Gigante but the mosquito bites which consistently ring my ankles.

The things you do in Ometepe

Climb volcanoes, drink fantastic coffee, eat amazing Italian food, ride bikes, and swim in a lake as warm as a bathtub.
Isla Ometepe is one of those places which I would put on my top ten must-see lists. It is gorgeous, two volcanoes like a postcard of Mt. Fuji (without the bullet train), sweet and helpful people, fantastic food growing in Volcanic soil. Except for the bus system, there was nothing to dislike about Ometepe.
What made it fantastic was the company. Jenny and Heather from my group who accompanied me, of course, but also the people we met in the hostels Finca Magdelena and Finca Ecologica Zopilote. Magdelena was all about the coffee, while Zopilote was-- get this--a huge version of our little Playa Gigante project. It's run by an Italian man named Christiano who makes the best homemade bread, condiments, jewelry, flavored liquors, and pizza. We got to sit down and pick his brain on multiple occasions...plus he was just a kick to talk to! Got a lot of Spanish practice in while I was there. Also, when we went back to Rivas, I had a ball running around the outdoor market striking up conversations in Spanish about Ometepe with the vendors, getting nessesities for the campsite, and buying street food like sweet tamales, ceviche, tamarind refrescos, pupusas, and plantain chips. I love love love Nicaragua.