Living High in Costa Rica

Pork Chops in Mushroom Gravy, Veggie Medley with Homefried Potatoes and Butternut Squash

2011-04-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

Dinner tonight was delicious. I started with the vegetable medley. Half a can of corn. Half of a small onion, carrot and red bell pepper rough chopped. A handful of green beans from my parents farm chopped to match in size. Cooked altogether until tender. For the homefries, I left the skin on the potatoes, chopped them into chucks. Peeled the squash and chopped it into similar sized chunks to the potatoes. Boiled them in water until soft, but still firm. I drained the water to the side added a little vegetable oil and S&P, then fried the combo up. I made Pork chops which I cooked in cream of mushroom soup made from dried soup mix and the water from the potatoes and squash. Yum!

My Passion for Cooking has Returned!

2011-04-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

I love cooking! Just for fun, I've begun taking and sharing pictures of my creations on facebook. I spend so much time keeping up with work, the hotel's blog and various other writing, that I've neglected to update this blog in ages. I can always make time for food, so I think this blog will be more about my food adventures, than my life. Maybe it will be a combination of the two. Stay posted!

Sticker Shock on a Sandwich?

2011-01-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

Just had to share this, last week we stopped at a Burger King here in CR, mostly because we needed to use the restroom. Having skipped breakfast, we were also a bit hungry and decided to grab a sandwich to go. My Chicken Tender Crisp sandwich was $4.64, oh my god! This wasn't a combo, just the sandwich. It was delicious, but my fastfood days are over! I'm priced out :-(

Spiders, Bugs, Three Stooges

2011-01-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

1/3/11
Just got home, forgot my flashlight, so the guard walked me home with his. I turned on my living room light to discover a spider on the wall. Guessing he's about 2 inches in diameter including his legs. Although I don't like the idea that he might crawl on me or something as I sleep, I rest assured that spiders don't normally bite anything that they can't consume unless as a defense mechanism. The advantage on not running for the bug spray or the closest smooshing device is that he eats alot of other bugs that I like even less. I'm thinking of naming his cousins, which live in my shower, after the three stooges to make them seem a little more cuddly. Moving further into the house, I reached my kitchen where I found a very healthy roach hanging out by my can of bug spray, he must have been on a suicide mission, the bug spray did an excellent job. Note to self: fix screen in kitchen window, spiders that can eat a large roach might be a bit too much for me to co-habitate with. Oh the fun of moving into a house that has been empty. I did a lot today. Made a poster and advertisements for an upcoming art show here at the hotel. Also started entering the menu data into the computer so that I can redesign and update the layout. Tomorrow I'm off to Grecia to find the local copy shop where I'm told I can have the posters printed. Yippee!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T13:01:00.000-08:00

1/2/11
Happy New Year everyone! I'm here at the resort now. We packed all that would fit in my parents rodeo and my dad drove me up here last Wednesday. I'm living bare bones here in this little green house. It's approprietly titled "la casa verde" aka the green house. The stove, refrigerator and the rest of my belongings should arrive in a week. Until then, I'm eating at the restaurant which is part of the hotel. Also waiting on internet to be hooked up to the house so I spend most days at various wi-fi hot spots on the property. Things are coming together and I really enjoy this place. I'm looking out of my front window and I have a view of the lights from the capital city, San Jose. It is a little lonely here as I really don't know anyone just yet, I'm definitly out of my comfort zone. Everything comes with time, so I'm on this wild ride and I look forward to the new friends, adventures and challenges that may come my way.

Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad!

2010-12-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

12/25/10
It's Christmas morning, it feels like any other morning. I woke up and tackled the dishes leftover from preparing food for the employee Christmas party last night. The party was fun, we had scalloped potatoes, baked beans, arroz con pollo, arroz con leche, ribs, brisket, banana bread and chips with salsa. I wonder what my brother who is back in the states is doing for the holiday, perhaps he'll go to a friends house for dinner. He works long hours, six days a week, so it's a sure bet that he's sleeping in. Our big Christmas celebration today consisted of me making breakfast. Now that we're done with that, Mom and I are going to try and make the wi-fi work so that we can both be on the internet at the same time. I had planned to go down into town and do laundry, but it has turned out to be a cold rainy day, not a good laundry day, most of it would get wet during the ride home. Phil is working on his latest house project. Some sort of coat rack near the back door where he has his mud room full of boots, shoes and other mud covered items. He has already constructed a shelving unit to organize the footwear and I guess now it's time to create a place for the wet jackets and raincoats to be stored and dry out. Now he's off to tinker in his workshop. I'll be headed to my new job soon, I guess this coming week, I'll share the details with you as things are agreed upon and confirmed.

The Cow Slaughter!

2010-12-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

12/22/10
My first full day here in Costa Rica was eventful! We slaughtered a young bull today with a crew of our employees. It was messy, bloody and nothing I ever imagined myself participating in. I always knew that we would eat our cows, but I thought we would take them to the butcher and someone else would deal with the messy aspect. After the guys killed the it and cut it into managable chunks, my Mom filleted the meat into identifiable pieces. I don't like to touch raw meat, so my job was to label the bags. I gotta say that I was pretty much useless, more of a spectator than anything else. Now it's over and most of the meat is in the chest freezer with some being kept aside for our employee Christmas party on the 24th. It looks like leftovers tonight, I think I'll stick to the sidedishes, I've had enough exposure to meat for the day.

I'm Home!

2010-12-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

12/21/10
9pm here in La Esperanza de Turrialba. It's gently raining outside and I'm sitting in my PJ's, curled up in blankets at my parent's house here. The temperature is dropping and I'm tired. It's been a long day, traveling went well and I actually managed to sleep on the airplane and bus. My parents picked me up at the bus stop and we did some food shopping before heading to the farm. I had a homemade tamale for lunch during our shopping and my Mom made one of my favorite dishes for dinner, pork chops with potatoes and carrots in mushroom gravy. It's good to be back, yet somehow I feel as if I'm in the twighlight zone. I was gone too long, life went on without me, my Spanish is rusty and once again, I feel really out of place. This is truly where I want to be, so I'll have to get up to speed on what I've missed, catch up with friends, get in the flow again and I'm sure the Spanish will come back to me with a bit of practice. I'm up for the challenge, bring it!

Last Night in Florida

2010-12-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

Well folks, it's 10:35pm here, I'm all packed and ready to go. I'm going to get a quick nap and a shower before heading to the airport around 3:30am. I'm excited about my new adventures in Costa Rica, but not thrilled about the actual traveling. Airports are a mad house around the holidays and I'm dragging plenty of stuff with me. I'm off to nap, next time I post, I'll be in the beautiful CR. Pura Vida!

Getting there!

2010-12-08T03:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, the boxes we are shipping are packed and ready to go. Just waiting on the shipping agent to call me and arrange a drop off time. Another task accomplished in my quest to return to CR. There are not enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Almost time to go!

2010-12-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

I previously lived in Costa Rica after visiting my parents there and deciding to stay. I learned Spanish, made friends and fell in love with my beautiful surroundings. I returned to the States to sell my property and collect my belongings so that I could live in Costa Rica permanently. My one month trip turned into a little over a year. Now it's time to go and I'm really excited about the future. I have a great job lined up and will be living in a different area of Costa Rica, it will be a whole new adventure.

Testing Layout

2010-12-02T13:33:00.001-08:00

testing the layout of the blog

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