Greetings from Nicaragua

Posting during my trip has been a little more difficult than I have anticipated. However, have no fear, I have taken notes and pictures of the foods I have eaten during this adventure. I must admit I am getting a little sick of eggs and beans for breakfast, even if they do stick to my ribs. I am starting to miss my morning staple of cereal with soy milk.

The general schedule has been to eat breakfast, do an activity, than have an afternoon snack, then dinner in the evening. We have been doing ample sampling of the local brews. Some are definitely better than others. Most claim to be lagers but they are the lightest lagers I have ever tasted.

We landed late into Guatemala so there was no sampling of the foods, however, we have had some delicious meals in Honduras and Nicaragua. We have been seeking to the local cuisines when we head to dinner. Also the fresh fruits, in particular, the mangoes and bananas are delicious!

I return to the States on July 4. I will then blog about all my yummy Central American food experiences. I have also been very inspired to experiment in the kitchen as well and will share those adventures with you. Wish me safe travels!

Sweet strawberries

It is strawberry season here in California and I have died and gone to heaven. I absolutely love in-season strawberries. You know, the kind that are red the whole way through. They are tender, juicy, and have barely any white flesh. They melt in your mouth. Any they definitely do not need any additional sugar. They are sweet enough on their own.

Strawberries remind me of the summers' of my youth when school had just let out and softball season was nearly over. My brother and I used to beg my mom to buy strawberries at the local farmer's market and somehow, on the car ride now, half the quart would disappear. With the rest of the berries, I would beg my mom to make strawberry shortcakes. If the weather wasn't unbearably hot, she would turn on the oven and make shortcakes for dessert. She used a simple Bisquick recipe to make the shortcakes. Somehow my mom would pull them right out of the oven just in time for dessert. Then she would send me to the kitchen to prepare the dishes.

When assembling shortcakes, I use a fork to gently split open the cakes in halves. Then I scoop vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt onto the bottom half, stack the top half on the ice cream (or yogurt) and place a generous portion of sliced strawberries on top of it all. It is best to serve this dish in a bowl. The warm shortcakes contrasted with the cold ice cream make for a wonderful taste sensation.

I leave tomorrow for my trip and when I return it will no longer be strawberry season. I figured it was my last chance for my annual strawberry shortcake indulgence. So I whipped up some dessert for our dinner this evening. It was divine! I had to scour the internet for the Bisquick recipe that my mom used. Sadly, it is not longer on their box. I then altered the recipe a bit for my liking, which is below:

Strawberry Shortcakes

2 1/3 cups Bisquick mix
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp of vanilla
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp melted butter
Sliced strawberries
Vanilla yogurt or ice cream


1. Preheat over to 425 degrees
2. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, sugar and butter until a soft dough forms. Drop six, equal spoonfuls of the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Spilt warm shortcakes; fill the center with ice cream or yogurt, replace top and generous top the shortcakes with the sliced strawberries. This time of year there is no need to sweeten the berries.

For all you East Coasters, strawberry season has just kicked in and you can enjoy strawberries with or without shortcake all month!

Latin America, here I come!

Today I am spending the day packing because I leave on Thursday for a month-long trip to Central America (by way of Ithaca, NY for my 5th year college reunion). I will be traveling to Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica over the course of 3 1/2 weeks with a couple of friends. Stop worrying, Mom, I'll be fine! While I have attempted to do some research about the foods of these countries, I have not found too much so it truly will be a culinary adventure. I plan to blog about my food discoveries and experiences while abroad so please keep reading. However, I will probably have to add pictures to the posts upon my return. Until my depature I plan to eat lots of Italian food and drink wine, two things I will be without for the next month!

A food lover's bible

There is one book among my cookbooks that has no recipes, but I use as frequently as my cookbooks. This book is called "The Food Lover's Companion" and it has definitions for 6,000 food, drink, and culinary terms.

The entries are alphabetical and cross-referenced so it is easy to find what you are looking for. The descriptions are just the right length. At longest, the definitions are a page in length. The book also lists all the other names by which items are called and examples of the item. For example, under the "apple" entry, it lists: Baldwin, Braeburn, Cortland, Criterion, Fuji, Gala, etc. For the "baking soda" entry the definition mentions that it is also called, bicarbonate of soda. The entries also have pronunciations. This book has every item on the global menu and every preparation technique that you have seen on a menu but have no idea of what it is. I always come home from restaurants and head straight to this book to get a better understanding of what I just ate (or passed up!).

I bet you do not know:

- What Burgoo is?

- What Gianduja tastes like?

- Another name for paua?

I didn't either until I got this book. It is definitely a great book to have around the kitchen. It also makes a great gift.

I can't live with out my stove top grill

This Reversable Double Griddle is sold by Crate and Barrel. Now that I own one, I cannot live without it. On one side it is a griddle and the other side is a grill. It fits neatly on two gas burners, heats up quickly and evenly, and leaves perfect grill marks. Now, for about $50 any kitchen, no matter how small, can have a grill.

Our outdoor grill is inconvenient to get to at the new place so I find myself using this tool to grill a couple of times a week. Unlike grill pans, this tool has enough surface area for all your grilling needs. The extra liquid pools conveniently in the corners. It is easy to store and best yet, clean up is a snap!

My only tip is to spray some cooking oil on the grill before placing your grillables on the pan. Without a little oil, the food will stick.

Cooking up a storm

This has been quite a weekend for cooking. Yesterday I made brunch for friends. As you can see from Hunter's comment on my previous post that the menu went over well. I even managed not to burn the frittata, though it did get a little dark. The food was quick and simple to make and I bought all ingredients that morning at the local produce bodega. For once, my timing for cooking was great and I got to spend plenty of time with our guests. Here is a peak at the grilled pineapple dish. Very yummy!

Then I made peanut butter cookies from the P.B. Loco White Chocolate Raspberry Peanut Butter that arrived earlier this week. They turned out very well, with just a hint of the white chocolate raspberry lingering on the palate. They have certainly been a big hit with Mike. He is not allowed to eat them all. The cookies are for a BBQ next weekend so I put most of them in the freezer.

Last night for dinner, I went on the light side and made Shrimp and Mango Kebabs from "Cooking with Amy" blog. Mike boiled up some corn on the cob. We opened a nice bottle of Chardonnay and had a nice dinner at home.

This morning Mike convinced me to make "good luck" waffles which I made using Bisquick. I used the recipe on the box but I replace the milk with club soda. It is nice trick that makes the waffles light and fluffly and they have fewer calories (so you can eat more). I also added a teaspoon of vanilla. I served the waffles with fresh, sliced strawberries and maple syrup. With that lumberjack meal, it is a good thing we went for a big hike shortly after breakfast!

A quick and easy brunch menu

This Sunday we are having some dear friends over for brunch. I have been thinking about what to make ever since we invited them to come over. A little neurotic, I know, but I love planning menus! We are planning a day trip on Saturday so that does not leave a lot of time for prep and I will likely do the shopping on Saturday night or Sunday morning. So I can't go overboard and that pretty much rules out any baked goods. I have been dying to make a frittata now that I have the right pans. (The last one I made was a disaster - I burnt the top to a crisp.) We brought some macadamia nuts with us from Hawaii and I have been searching for fun recipes that call for them. Those two factors were my inspiration for this simple brunch menu:

Frittata with asparagus, tomatoes and fontina
Grilled pineapple with Nutella and macadamia nuts
Artisanal bread, toasted, with jams and butter

I think I can whip this up in no time and can focus on spending time with our friends and not in the kitchen.