Last weekend we had the opportunity to visit a beautiful orchid "forest" in the neighborhood of Cocaleca in nearby Palmares. The national orchid, Guaria Morada, was in full bloom throughout the gardens with some other beautiful orchids such as the Lluvia de Oro (Rain of Gold) and the vanilla bean orchid.
We have had multiple projects going on at our home as well. We decided to expand our driveway, which was the best idea ever since anytime we had more than one vehicle at our home it was a challenge maneuvering in and out of the lot. We are also remodeling our "man cave" into a spare bedroom for my dad. The other project that we had done and are glad we invested in is a sprinkler system. The dry months and wind can be brutal on our beautiful plants.
The runoff election for the new president of Costa Rica took an unusual and unexpected turn last week when one of the two candidates, Johnny Araya, withdrew from the election. From what I understand, he cannot legally drop out of the election, but he can stop campaigning. The election will still take place on April 6th so it should be interesting to see how the process materializes.
One of the products I miss for cooking is Rotel Tomatoes, which are a staple in cooking in South Texas for casseroles, beans, queso, and other yummy recipes. Since tomatoes are so cheap here and jalapenos are readily available, I have decided to try to learn to make a copycat version of Rotel by canning some tomatoes. My dad has a lot of experience canning, but I am a novice so I am going to enlist his help and see if we can replicate the item. I was able to find canning jars today at our local upscale grocer, the Automercado.
I am really enjoying learning to be resourceful and innovative with cooking. The lack of processed foods and spare time allow me to research great recipes on the Internet and then experiment in the kitchen. With the abundance of fresh veggies and fruits, it is easy not to miss all the foods of our former life.
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