May 8, 2010 | Panameña, Recipes
My Abuelita and Fidelia Hernandez (Panamá)
Chicas are homemade drinks in Panama. In Mexico they call them “aguas frescas” I think, every country has their own versions and names for these yummy beverages.
Arroz con piña is my favorite. It is a frothy, yummy, sweet, drink that instantly brings back memories of shopping on Avenida Central with my mom and Meme (mi abuelita.) They would have big jugs of this for sale in little stores and it tasted so good when you were hot and sweaty from shopping with two shopaholics all morning! I learned how to make this by watching one of our babysitters, Delia. She was a wonderful cook and an even better person!
Recipe for Chicha de Arroz y Piña
1. First cut top and bottom off of pineapple (piña.)
2. Continue by cutting rind off. (Do not throw away!)
3. Cut into quarters. Then cut down edge to get rid of center core. (SAVE.)
4. This is what you will have. A bowl of the cut up fruit, a top piece (to plant,) and a pot with all the end pieces, core, seedy pieces etc.
5. Cover the scraps in the pot with water. Add about 1-2 cups of rice, cinnamon to taste (or cinnamon sticks,) a little dash of cloves, sugar to taste (I like raw or turbinado about a cup,) and boil until the rinds are soft and rice is done. You can substitute the sugar with a can of condensed milk at the end if you like that taste, but I was trying to keep it lower calorie and this tastes as good. When it’s done take out scraps and toss them in your compost. Put what’s left in the blender and puree. Then pour into a pitcher over some ice to cool. To serve I like to get a glass of ice, pour glass about half full of milk, then the rest with the chicha.
Sprinkle with cinnamon.
You can add vanilla if you like and more pineapple juice if you like.
(Also, if you didn’t add sugar you can add the condensed milk to the pitcher and add a bit more water.)
May 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
Yesterday was a tough day for mom’s in this house. (Oh wait, that’s me!)
I won’t go deep into details, but they do include a broken nose (mine again) and broken drinking glasses. (Both of these were kid inflicted and had to do with enforcing rules which said stubborn kids did not wish to follow- sounds worse than it actually is for dramatic effect.)
Days like yesterday make me wonder if my kids do love me or if I’m just the worst mom in the world…
Which brings us to today’s fitting writing prompt…
I know my kids really love me because:
- Even though they like their school they still ask me weekly to homeschool them next year which makes me think they do want to still be near me.
- They acknowledged my presence when I got in last night from a meeting (kid speak for “Wow! I missed you!” in case you didn’t know.)
- Oldest kid waved goodbye today and gave me morning hugs (even after fussing about getting up and getting out the door.)
- My youngest had to go on for twenty minutes at bedtime with… “Mommy, I love you google-billion-towsand-millions. That is a lot, right mommy? I love you more than that.”
- Middle kid still can’t go to sleep without me snuggling him for awhile.
- I find syrup on the table, toothpaste on the sink, clothes on the floor, which I know must be secret code for “Love ya mom, didn’t want you to be bored today!”
- My oldest two ask me to take them to lunch, and maybe partly because they want to talk to me and not just because they don’t want school food.
Join in the fun over at Mama Kat’s!
Today’s Prompts:
1.) Open letter to new moms.
(inspired by Tiffany from The Secret Is In The Sauce).
2.) In honor of teacher appreciation week write a poem to a teacher you remember or currently know.
(inspired by Julie from My 5 Monkeys)
3.) I know my kids really love me because…
(inspired by Sarah from Lit And Laundry)
4.) Memories of mom.
5.) Describe a home cooked meal that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
May 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
Green Spring
Green Promises
Green Peas Grow (on a babygate we found!)
Green house (on our fence)
Green Swing
May 4, 2010 | Uncategorized
We had middle school field day on Thursday, then a 4 day weekend and I tried to make the best of it (despite our crazy Arkansas Spring weather.) Max’s 8th birthday party at the park was canceled on Saturday due to tornado sirens and hail. We had drained our fishpond to redo it, and it’s now completely full. Hope it doesn’t rain this Saturday for the party do-over.
Some of the many cupcakes we made (and had to eat- darn it!)
Monday the kids were out of school and the sun was out, so we decided to go to what they call “Crawdad Park.” (As you probably guessed, not it’s real name.) How fun to walk through the creek, get muddy, collect specimens, and skip some rocks!
Wet feet
Salamander (before his capture)
Crawdad (after his release)
Twisty Tree (Wisteria vine had dug into it over time)
We followed a trail of mulberries that were floating down the creek to the tree they were falling from. This started a discussion about what was edible and what wasn’t. They listed dandelions, crawdads, mulberries, blackberries (not ripe yet,) and clover.
Then we went home and ate more Lego cupcakes.
My Abuelita and Fidelia Hernandez (Panamá)
1. First cut top and bottom off of pineapple (piña.)
2. Continue by cutting rind off. (Do not throw away!)
3. Cut into quarters. Then cut down edge to get rid of center core. (SAVE.)
4. This is what you will have. A bowl of the cut up fruit, a top piece (to plant,) and a pot with all the end pieces, core, seedy pieces etc. 
5. Cover the scraps in the pot with water. Add about 1-2 cups of rice, cinnamon to taste (or cinnamon sticks,) a little dash of cloves, sugar to taste (I like raw or turbinado about a cup,) and boil until the rinds are soft and rice is done. You can substitute the sugar with a can of condensed milk at the end if you like that taste, but I was trying to keep it lower calorie and this tastes as good. When it’s done take out scraps and toss them in your compost. Put what’s left in the blender and puree. Then pour into a pitcher over some ice to cool. To serve I like to get a glass of ice, pour glass about half full of milk, then the rest with the chicha.
