"HALLOWEEN" in CUENCA....

   The customs of many Latin American countries have sort of been blended with traditions and the American influence....  in Mexico they celebrate "Dia de los Muertos!" ..they are starting to dress in costumes here and give candy to the kids,  but it's not that big....but what is big is their  tradition of eating COLADA MORADA & GUAGUAS DE PAN.....

COLADA MORADA is a rather thick fruit punch,  a dark purple color because of the fruits ....very good...you really need to eat it with a spoon to scoop up the chunks of plums, pineapple,   etc...

GUAGUAS de PAN .... Quechua for "bread children"  -- meaning sweet rolls in the shape of people (kids) ....  Delicious fruit marmalade filled little rolls.....

Last night Susana brought over the warm Colada Morada and a couple of the doll rolls for us to enjoy....she made the Colada Morada and it was delicious!! ....

  Susana Cabrera is our dear neighbor and

precious friend...

 

Today is Geovani's birthday so I made a couple of hot sauces and some humus to take to him.....Bertha invited us to eat almuerzo with them to celebrate....she made tacos and they were delicious!!  Bertha is becoming a very good Mexican cook which makes me feel really good because they hardly knew anything about Mexican food before we moved in....She made ground beef taco meat, refried beans,  & guacamole, and put that all on the table with hot flour tortillas,  sour cream,  shredded lettuce, grated cheese,  tortilla chips, and my hot sauces.....we all chowed down....it was so good to see them enjoying the tacos they each made...

 

The humus I served with carrot sticks and slices of cucumber....they liked that too....

 

***********************

 

Yesterday we met some very nice people who just moved here 2 months ago from St. Louis.....They have been going to Mass at different Catholic Churches here (there are 52 so you can go to a different one each week of the year! )   Now they are going to San Roque where there  is an English Mass every Sunday at 12:30 pm so we will check it out....Months ago they started an English Mass at 9 am so we never went....Noon Mass with lunch after is our typical Sunday.

 

Anyway Patricia and Lyle Rhoades came to our house -- she looking for clothes (found a cute jacket)  ....  really enjoyed meeting them -- they are so much like us... both entrepreneurs, conservative politically, pro life,  & leaving the U.S. to escape all the horrid changes to our country......they seem to be very happy here and are close to having their Residency Visas and Cedulas.....what you call muy buena gente ..--  "good people" ... with a delightful sense of humor,  both of them!!   As soon as they get their Cedulas (national ID) we will help them get enrolled in IESS so they can get into the medical care system here....Lyle told about having an intestinal problem a few months ago in the states where he was hospitalized a couple of days  = $17,000.00 bill   --- compared to my week in the Hospital del Rio where the bill was $1100.00 and we had to pay $56!!!  

 

This weekend are the "Fiestas de Cuenca" where they celebrate their independence from Spain......All kinds of parades,  rodeos,  food fairs,  and vendors selling everything imaginable....   Lots of tourists and traffic -- hopefully we'll get to El Centro to participate....

 

 

 

Hope everyone has a very HAPPY HALLOWEEN and to the children....

LOT'S OF CANDY!!!

 

 

 

 

.... A RELAXING WEEKEND .....

    Saturday morning was just gorgeous and a perfect day to eat casually outside with our neighbors Geovani, Bertha, daughter Dominica Cristina (Titi) and Bertha's father Rogerio -- whom Rick has named "THE CHIEF"....

 I had told Geovani I was craving Chancho from the little place he took us to -- kind of a driveway set up serving only on Saturdays roasted pig with all the trimmings,  Cuenca style....
We arrived about noon worried that she (the owner/cook) might have already sold out,  but we were in luck!   We ordered these plates of chancho for $2.50 ea....

 

We had chancho  (roast pig), mote, yapingachos  (potato cakes) and a little salad on the plates...very generous servings for only $2.50 each...

 

Behind "the Chief" and Geovani you can see up the driveway to the street side "kitchen" which is basically a bar-b-que set up with the roast pig, etc.....She has a lot of TO GO customers with a steady stream loading up on pork and trimmings to take home.

Ricardo asked the name of the place -- it has no name,  it's on a side street outside,  you just kind of have to know where it is and how to get there... a secret no name outdoor cafe with great food.

As we left I ordered a pound of the pork,  4 yapingachos, and some roasted corn = $9 .... delicious treat .....to put in our frig or freezer...


Then we went to the Italian bread & cheese maker who is only open on Saturdays....
 

Geovani was impressed and got some whole wheat bread & cheese with Aji peppers....

We went home to their house and Bertha made coffee so we could taste the bread and cheeses.... most delicious!!!

 

 

SUNDAY was pretty much our usual Sunday with Mass at the beautiful cathedral...

 

 

Lunch afterwards at Don Colon for $4....

And here's Don Colon getting ready to enjoy some of his own food....He's quite a character...always ready with a wise crack and a smile....We chose the chicken soup - yummy!,  the Italian spaghetti with heavy meat sauce,  juice,  and dessert of mixed fruits.....It was all VERY good,  and when you consider it was only $4 each including tax and tip it was a great bargain!!

 

Next a stop at the Mercado de Flores - I can't resist - but I only bought a small pot of pansies for $1.....

 

In the late afternoon I decided to make

 

 CHOCOLATE FUDGE with SEA SALT:

2 CUPS SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS

1 CAN CONDENSED MILK

1 1/2 TEASPOONS VANILLA

1/4 TEASPOON SEA SALT

I added walnuts.....

Just melt together the choc chips and milk, remove from heat and add vanilla...sprinkle sea salt over fudge or add to melted choc mixture...

Line a 8 x8 baking dish with alum foil and put in the choc --- refrigerate for 2 hours, and then enjoy!

 

This is good and different as the sea salt gives a twist to the very sweet fudge.....

 

So that was our relaxing weekend in Cuenca.....

 

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS LINDA, QUERIDA HIJA....

Today is our youngest daughter's birthday.....so this is dedicated to her.....

The difficult thing about being an expat is not always being with family on special occasions...today is one of those days when we wish we could be together,  but Linda and family are coming for Christmas so we will do our celebrating then....

Our beautiful youngest daughter and family were here a year ago.....and we all went to shop for hats......

 

 Linda makes an incredible hat model - here with daughter Olivia ----GORGEOUS!!

 

All the hats looked great on her!!

 

 

 

Linda is married to Scott Bates and has a son Nicolas, 11,  and daughter Olivia, 8......adorable children whom we miss so much.

 

Linda is an attorney, lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.....Linda is fluent in Spanish and French as well as English....She graduated from the University of Oklahoma spending her junior year at the Sorbonne in Paris taking all her classes in French....then home to Omaha to get her law degree from Creighton University....

 

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO "OUR BABY" LINDA.....

 

 

 

The gardener showed up today -- I usually call him and was getting ready to do so....guess he knew it was time to cut the grass....An old man with one of the few mowers in Cuenca...most of them use weed wackers....He did a nice job and I pay him $20...

 

If the seamstress calls this afternoon Susana and I will go pick up our clothes and some tee shirts (polo type with logo) that she ordered....She was quoted $9 ea.  embroidered with logo so I'm anxious to see how they look.

 

It's such a BEAUTIFUL day in Cuenca!!

 

 

.....TACANIJO UPDATE.....MEXICAN HEAVEN!!

  

 .....WOW!!   TACANIJO is no longer a little "hole-in-the wall" restaurant!!!  It's a big and beautiful FIRST CLASS  authentic  Mexican restaurant.....

Last night we went for Mexican food at Tacanijo  -- Marcela had told me they had opened the new area -- a year long project to expand ---  we were so amazed and delighted.....

 

We arrived a little before 6 pm so while we waited we started talking to Shannon and Richard Montenegro.....our now new friends......they joined us at our table in the "new" area which is so bright and cheery,  full of the colors of Mexico....

 All of the tables are covered in darling
Mexican table cloths....the place is a fiesta of light and color....one cute accent
is the bike table  ( the base is an old
bicycle) -- other tables have bases made
from old sewing machine pedestals....etc......

A very large room with lots of tables to
accomodate lots of people!!

  AND  -  PERFECT FOR PARTIES!!

 CONGRATULATIONS TO PAULO & MARCELA!!!!

Rick and I ordered TORTILLA SOUP
which we love, guacamole,   and Molones ( I think)
anyway they are little empanadas of corn tortillas, 6 to a plate,  very yummy....

Shannon and Richard ordered a couple of plates each....they wanted to try new dishes.....

 

 

To get to Taconijo go north on Las Americas---
HUACAS 1-54  y Las Americas......

Wednesday thru Saturday only .. 6 - 10 pm


We had such a nice time with Shannon and Richard but had to hurry off as we had told our taxi driver to return at 7pm......mistake,  too little time.....but we will get together again soon.

It wasn't a late night,  but a MOST ENJOYABLE one!!


SUNDAY MASS today was truly beautiful .... the Cathedral was packed for a special celebration with the Bishop .... they installed a relic of Pope John Paul II above one of the altars.....

Afterwards we had lunch at Don Colon and listened to the music of the Indians:

Image dining al fresco in perfect weather,  listening to live music from the Andes.....delicious lunch....lovely people watching view..... terrific music......

IT DON'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS....

 

As we were leaving we met a darling couple recently moved here  (ll days ago) from Texas...

 

Melody and Jeff Crabb...

 

more new friends with whom we can  enjoy the good life in  Cuenca .....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

....SHOPPING ITALIAN....

  It was another lovely sunny morning in Cuenca when Susana picked us up to go to Filippo's, the Italian cheese, sausage & bread maker....  We found his spot in the courtyard on Augustin Cueva and 12 de Abril.....his long table laden with wonderful fresh crusty breads and home made cheeses from his native Naples & Sorrento, Italy....

Giving samples of cheeses and breads.....

 We sampled it all...

Filippo is an Italian immigrant who is building a terrific business here and educating people at the same time.....Ecuadorians really know nothing about making different types of cheeses.....I got some Guyere cheese  and some I don't know what with nuts,  another with Aji (the local hot red pepper)  some olive bread  (with huge whole ripe olives)  a big round loaf of crusty bread, an apple torte and some pizza.....      In January he plans to offer classes teaching what wines with what cheeses....Right now Filippo only sells on Saturday in the courtyard....his shop will be ready in January so we'll be able to buy anytime then.

Susana's eyes were opened to some good cheeses and breads....he gives very generous samples of whatever you want so it's almost like having lunch of cheese, bread, pizza and torta...

With our bags of Italian delights we drove to Susana's seamstress....
I had several tops/blouses I wanted taken in and Susana needed to pick up a blouse she had made....  The seamstress is Rosa Elena....
 

"CLASE CONFECCIONES"

098 873 6713

281 2799

 

Rosa Elena Yllescas does great work and charges very little...she makes blouses for $7 to $10 depending upon the material and design and she does all kinds of alterations....I'm having 4 tops altered for about $10.

 

 

As soon as we got home we got into the delights of our Italian Shopping experience......Um, um good!!

 

========================================

 

Yesterday Rick spent several hours going to the hospital to pick up my records and taking them to the cardiologist......Bottom line is this heart arrythmia happened within the last year...they say stress so I must learn not to care so much.... hopefully with care my heart and blood pressure will return to normal.

 

I made a cream soup of cauliflower and potatoes which turned out pretty good.  Yolanda and Juan Gabriel like to be here for dinner,  so guess they like my cooking....I always need to have something for them to eat and they really seem to appreciate it.

 

Ricardo has been taking great care of me....he has seperated all the medications and makes sure I get the right ones at the right time....and he makes me a great breakfast every day....this morning it was easy over eggs over 2 lightly toasted corn tortillas with a spicy tomato sauce he made from scratch....it was DELICIOUS!!!  And bacon from Ital Deli which has wonderful meat, and everything.... he takes the bus over to get me bacon from there because it's the best...BUT, he says he's only going to do this for me for the rest of my life,  so.........(a nice sence of humor too)

 

Think we'll go to Tacanijo tonight for some awesome tortilla soup....I made some hot peppers and carrots so we'll see what they think....Marcela (Paulo's wife) called the other day to see how I am & I told her we'd see them this weekend.....

 

 

Life continues to be good in Cuenca...