Saturday was our anniversary (26 married and 30 together)..yikes! As we were passing Mario's, we saw him talking to the fish truck guys. We knew that the fish truck had lobster, so we stopped and asked Mario to buy two and fix them for us for dinner. He as delighted, so we went there with our bottle of champagne, and he put flowers on our table and served us a sort of lobster thermidor. We were sitting outside, and the temperature was perfect with no wind. We could hear the live music at the beer hall "Imperial" in the distance so it wasn't too intrusive. Off in the distance we could also hear fireworks (what in the world was happening in El Valle with all this activity?)
The last time we had lobster was in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua on our trip from California to Panama. Mario's lobster was every bit as good! What a special evening!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Cement Workshop, September 2008
Franco is an artist who works in many media. He is currently using cement to make sculptures, which are magnificent and too expensive (rightly so)for my pocketbook. He was very receptive to teaching his techniques, so I organized a two-day workshop. In order to get us started quickly, Franco had cut and bent the initial armatures so that we all started off with the same shape. And then we went to work, each of the six of us creating something original and completely different from all the others. We mixed and applied cement for hours, with Franco helping each of us as needed. We were so thrilled with our creations; mine is a bust of (perhaps) a lady but it could be an American Indian. And it is heavier than shit!
Because of the success of the first workshop, others wanted to learn so I organized a second workshop. I just went to look at their creations: all of theirs are different from each other and from ours! This medium is incredible!
I need to finish my big stained glass commission (hopefully by the end of September) and then I want to try a larger, more delicate piece. Cross your fingers!
Because of the success of the first workshop, others wanted to learn so I organized a second workshop. I just went to look at their creations: all of theirs are different from each other and from ours! This medium is incredible!
I need to finish my big stained glass commission (hopefully by the end of September) and then I want to try a larger, more delicate piece. Cross your fingers!
Organic Coffee, El Valle
We have a special treat here in El Valle: a small tostaderia (coffee roaster) which specializes in organic coffee. The tostaderia is owned and run by Francoise and Jose, a Canadian/Panamanian couple. They make excursions throughout the country to source their coffee beans. Each batch of beans has an interesting journey; for example, the last bag I bought made this trek: Jose called someone in a small village in the Ngobe Bugle comarca (way west and north from here...towards Costa Rica), where they had previously visited and approved the coffee. The phone answerer took a message and a couple of days later, the "chefe" called Jose, who ordered four five-hundred pound sacks of coffee. Once the coffee beans had been picked and bagged, the sacks were loaded onto donkeys who make the trek through the jungle until reaching a road where there was a 4-wheel drive jeep. The sacks were taken, by the jeep, down to the Pan American Highway, where they were transferred to one of the buses which run up and down the highway. The bus got the coffee beans as far as the turn up to El Valle (28 km down the mountain), where Jose was waiting with his car to transport the beans up the mountain to El Valle.
It is not often you get to hear about your food origins! And it is yummy coffee, too!
It is not often you get to hear about your food origins! And it is yummy coffee, too!
Travis and Morgan, August 2008
Most of you know that Travis (11) and Morgan (8) are my beloved grandchildren. I was fortunate to have five days with them when we were in the States in August. These kids have so much, and there is no way that I can compete with that so I prefer to spend time with them, creating memories and events with which they can identify me. And we usually have a lot of fun, too.
The day I arrived, we walked downtown and had sushi for lunch. On the way back, we stopped into a make-your-own-art and the two of them created art pieces. Then we stopped for decaf mocha frappachinos for the kids; Travis was amazed that there are no Starbucks in Panama. This kid needs to get out of California!
Later that week, Travis decided to have a lemonade stand. San Carlos has a farmers market every Thursday in August; he reckoned that lots of people going to the market would have to walk by the house. We ran around, collecting supplies and decorations; Travis and Morgan made signs which were pasted on the street corners and the big sign on the front of the shop window. We opened promptly at 4, and had customers right away. People in cars stopped when they saw the big sign, parked and came over to buy the lemonade. The kids worked straight through til 8, when the market ended. They made over $25!, all at 50 cents a glass! And no fighting at all...another wonder!
On Friday, we went up to the Tahoe house, primarily because Chris and Kerry wanted to continue re-roofing the house. The kids and I were sent to the creek with a picnic lunch, but before we got to eating, Travis decided we needed to building a raft. So, with Travis as engineer and project director, we build the raft, and re-built the raft, and re-built the raft...five times worth. We used materials we found in the creek: old planks, a log, and weeds which we tied together to make string. Five re-builds and five hours later, we had a raft which floated with a kid on it! What a riot! We had so much fun, we didn't realize that it had gotten so late until Kerry came to fetch us. It was great!
The day I arrived, we walked downtown and had sushi for lunch. On the way back, we stopped into a make-your-own-art and the two of them created art pieces. Then we stopped for decaf mocha frappachinos for the kids; Travis was amazed that there are no Starbucks in Panama. This kid needs to get out of California!
Later that week, Travis decided to have a lemonade stand. San Carlos has a farmers market every Thursday in August; he reckoned that lots of people going to the market would have to walk by the house. We ran around, collecting supplies and decorations; Travis and Morgan made signs which were pasted on the street corners and the big sign on the front of the shop window. We opened promptly at 4, and had customers right away. People in cars stopped when they saw the big sign, parked and came over to buy the lemonade. The kids worked straight through til 8, when the market ended. They made over $25!, all at 50 cents a glass! And no fighting at all...another wonder!
On Friday, we went up to the Tahoe house, primarily because Chris and Kerry wanted to continue re-roofing the house. The kids and I were sent to the creek with a picnic lunch, but before we got to eating, Travis decided we needed to building a raft. So, with Travis as engineer and project director, we build the raft, and re-built the raft, and re-built the raft...five times worth. We used materials we found in the creek: old planks, a log, and weeds which we tied together to make string. Five re-builds and five hours later, we had a raft which floated with a kid on it! What a riot! We had so much fun, we didn't realize that it had gotten so late until Kerry came to fetch us. It was great!
Birthday Parties
Before I get to my birthday party, let me tell you about a couple of others held here in El Valle. Rene, our friend from Portugal, decided to hostess a birthday party for the August babies: Adele (6th), Marilyn and me (the 7th), and Christine (the 12th). Rene is the definition of "the hostess with the mostest". There were 14 of us for a sit-down dinner, served by staff, and prior to that, a cocktail party with a bar tender. Marilyn brought tiaras and boas for all the birthday girls, and we found ourselves posing for lots of photos. Marilyn and JD also came dressed in fancy clothes: he in a tux and spats, and she in a party dress her mom had made for her 40 years ago...imagine! I couldn't get one arm in a dress from 40 years ago!
A week earlier, we had a surprise birthday party for Rene, here at our house. Tommy and I had originally thought we would have a small, intimate dinner for Rene, Tom and another couple. But Rene's cookbook group wanted to honor her as well so we changed course, the menu and decided to make a surprise out of the big group. The cookbook group is five gals who are writing a cookbook, the proceeds of which will go to charity. The group is currently in its "recipe testing" phase so each member brought two dishes (whose recipes they were testing) to the surprise party. What an easy way to have a party! Anyway, Rene was surprised, the dinner was delicious, we all had a lot of fun, and she got lots of presents. Our present to her was a New Zealand leg of lamb, which sounds like a very weird present but, in fact, she and I have been moaning about the non-availability of the New Zealand lamb and I had just found them at Riba Smith (new item).
On to my birthday party in the States: several months ago Cynthia had declared that my 60th birthday needed to be celebrated. She's probably sorry she brought it up because I realized what I wanted most was to have a "Big Chill Weekend" with my US pals and the best place for that was her house in Sierra Madre, California. She graciously agreed to be the hostess. Linda Shipman did the organizing, and almost all my pals were there. There were even a couple of surprises: Linda and Wilson, and Nancy, each of whom had said that they couldn't attend. And I really was surprised! Gosh, but it was a fabulous time, and exactly what I wanted with all of us cooking and shopping together, meeting in the kitchen to get the day started, taking walks, talking, going off to special lunch places, visiting bead stores, and just generally hanging out. For the party, Cynthia had hired a band and all the gals danced with Skip; what a good sport he is! It was a perfect time,and I'll enjoy those memories forever!
A week earlier, we had a surprise birthday party for Rene, here at our house. Tommy and I had originally thought we would have a small, intimate dinner for Rene, Tom and another couple. But Rene's cookbook group wanted to honor her as well so we changed course, the menu and decided to make a surprise out of the big group. The cookbook group is five gals who are writing a cookbook, the proceeds of which will go to charity. The group is currently in its "recipe testing" phase so each member brought two dishes (whose recipes they were testing) to the surprise party. What an easy way to have a party! Anyway, Rene was surprised, the dinner was delicious, we all had a lot of fun, and she got lots of presents. Our present to her was a New Zealand leg of lamb, which sounds like a very weird present but, in fact, she and I have been moaning about the non-availability of the New Zealand lamb and I had just found them at Riba Smith (new item).
On to my birthday party in the States: several months ago Cynthia had declared that my 60th birthday needed to be celebrated. She's probably sorry she brought it up because I realized what I wanted most was to have a "Big Chill Weekend" with my US pals and the best place for that was her house in Sierra Madre, California. She graciously agreed to be the hostess. Linda Shipman did the organizing, and almost all my pals were there. There were even a couple of surprises: Linda and Wilson, and Nancy, each of whom had said that they couldn't attend. And I really was surprised! Gosh, but it was a fabulous time, and exactly what I wanted with all of us cooking and shopping together, meeting in the kitchen to get the day started, taking walks, talking, going off to special lunch places, visiting bead stores, and just generally hanging out. For the party, Cynthia had hired a band and all the gals danced with Skip; what a good sport he is! It was a perfect time,and I'll enjoy those memories forever!
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