Free Fun on a Sunday
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| Making Shadows |
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| Watching Statues Laugh (because of the grasshopper on her arm?) |
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| Splashing Like Ducks in Peabody Park |
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| Finding Hidden Trails on the River |
Writer’s Workshop: CocoSolo- Then & Now
Coco Solo circa 1983, already not what it was in it’s splendor
I have been really struggling inside since I saw this video a friend posted on facebook. It is a video of people living in Coco Solo, the town I consider to be my childhood home. I’ll post it last, you’ll understand why in a minute.
Me and My brother with our pups
Growing up we moved quite a bit, and Coco Solo was the longest I’d ever lived anywhere until my adulthood. We lived there from my 2nd grade year until they closed the neighborhood to Americans, when I was going into 7th grade. I graduated from Coco Solo elementary, went to junior high there and returned my senior year to graduate from Cristobal High
(which is in Coco Solo.)
Coco Solo Elementary
It was a magical place to be a kid.
The entire peninsula had been built on coral reefs long ago (in the 1920’s I think) and jutted out into the bay with water so deep you could see schools of tuna swimming by you if you stood on the breaker wall. The flat fields were perfectly manicured.
Wonderful for flying kites and Christmas tree bonfires, and kickball games.
Mango trees and almond trees waited for kids to climb up into.
Parrots flocked to them and ate heartily on the fat juicy fruit.
Wonderful for flying kites and Christmas tree bonfires, and kickball games.
Mango trees and almond trees waited for kids to climb up into.
Parrots flocked to them and ate heartily on the fat juicy fruit.
We lived across the street from the elementary school, the last house before the ocean.
Perfect.
I moved back to Panama my senior year of college. (I was a Latin American studies major in Arkansas and realized how dumb that was since my family was in Latin America.) While finishing college there I saw the changes. All the American neighborhoods that had been Pan Canal Commission had long since been turned over. Only two military bases on the Atlantic side remained. Many people were unemployed and the drug culture/gangs was taking a firm hold on the people. People shunned Atlantic- siders when they would apply for jobs on the Pacific Side, because of their skin color or just because they were from Colón, I don’t know.
It’s been 17 years since I left and obviously things have only gotten worse.
Here is the video.
I want to help.
I don’t know how.
*Reposting this from 11/18/09 for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.
On Being Ma’am-ed
I have been getting a lot of “yes ma’ams” lately. I am not a fan of the “ma’am” and “sir” business. I know, I live in the south but I don’t make my kids say it like most Southerners do. I should be okay with it, and I was until I got ma’am-ed. I suddenly noticed not just young bag boys, waiters, or my kids’ friends doing it. People I thought were close to my age started doing it. Should have been a sign. (Well, I took it as one to re-henna my hair anyway.)
Then, I was counting up fundraising money for the school and saw a name on a check for a fourth grade parent that made me do a double-take. It’s a unique name of a student I had when I taught high school Spanish many years ago. Yes, I’m getting a hint now.
A boy in my daughter’s class came up to me in the hall and said “Mrs. S, you look just like Miss Smith (not her real name but he meant their math teacher) but she’s younger.” I think the fact that all the teachers at my kids’ school seem to be 20 and gorgeous made me feel a little better.
I was reading a Parenting magazine while at the doctor this week and there was the cutest article on being “formerly hot.” It made me laugh out loud. The lady’s blog is hilarious and any of you nearing forty crowd (like myself) or forty-something’s will relate. She even has a checklist of signs to see if you qualify for being “formerly hot.” Too funny.
I am content with my place in life. I think my friends who I’ve seen grow up and evolve are all just more gorgeous to me. They are more at ease in their own bodies and it shows. “Hottie-mamas” as my hubby says.
The dictionary gives the definition of ma’am as:
a short form of madam, a show of respect, especially of royalty. (Not too shabby.)
And the fact that my awesome guy still gets jealous, thinking that the bag boy that just ma’am-ed me is after my bod, makes me feel so good.
Sopa de Limón
This is my quickie version of Sopa de Limón, a yummy chicken soup from the Yucatan peninsula. We had some in Cobá, Mexico while watching Mexico play in the World Cup a few years ago. An awesome family memory and a feel-good kind of soup for what ails ya…
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| Us in Cobá |
Sopa de Limón
- Saute half an onion (chopped) and some garlic cloves til transparent. Throw in some chicken (any parts or amount you want,) salt, pepper and I like a packet of Sazón by Goya to add flavor. Add water to cover chicken by about 2 inches. Add 1 lime that has been cut in two. Boil until chicken is cooked. *I had leftover broth and chicken from when I made the enchiladas which I froze and brought out for this purpose.
- Let cool til you can chop or shred the chicken. Put chicken back in broth and add more water and a few bouillon cubes if you need more broth (I like Knorr vegetable cubes but they are becoming increasingly harder to find here.) I also added some chopped cilantro. Add whatever else you want to now. (I put in some cooked brown rice that I had leftover in the fridge and some chopped zucchini.) Let simmer until you are ready to eat.
- On serving I like to put things in little ramekins to add as people like. A bowl of halved or quartered limes, chopped cilantro, black beans, pico de gallo…
I served it with some homemade quick bread I made using my pizza recipe (1 1/2 times the recipe) plus added a bit more yeast and some fresh oregano.
Enchiladas Verdes
Do you have one of those dishes that people ask you to make?
(They may not be your personal favorites, but everyone else loves them?)
Mine are my enchiladas verdes, pizza, and carrot cake.
This recipe came from one from my grandma that I changed quite a bit. I do still like hers, and that’s the one folks actually expect, but this one is healthier and actually more of a real enchilada. My kids have become pickier (is that even possible?) so I took the rice out of these (which is inside them with Meme’s recipe and also has almonds, which I leave out now for kids.)
Enchiladas Verdes
Filling:
- Shredded Chicken (could use turkey) I boiled, cooled, and shredded breasts, about 3?
- Chopped onions or leeks (I used leeks this time)
- Packet of Sazon for flavoring (or you could just use salt, pepper, cumin, oregano)
- A bit of vinegar (maybe a tablespoon?)
- Broth if needed
- My grandma added cooked rice and chopped roasted almonds to her filling which is tasty for a more casserole type meal.
Saute onions and garlic first til transparent. Then add rest and simmer.
When sauce (below) is done add a little to the filling and stir.
Sauce:
- Sour cream, Greek Yogurt, or blended Cottage Cheese (I used sour cream and blended cottage cheese this time) about 2 cups, maybe a bit more depending on how creamy you like it. *My grandma’s recipe uses cream of chicken soup instead.
- Shredded cheese (Mexican cheeses, cheddar or a mix) I used a Mexican/Cheddar blend from the store. About a cup or so.
- Salsa Verde also known as Tomatillo Salsa. (I use a pre-made salsa, Herdez brand which I like. You could make your own but tomatillos are expensive here and I haven’t braved growing them myself.) Again, as much as you’d like- think I use about a third to half of a jar.
- Broth (I used chicken broth I’d made when I boiled the chicken breasts by adding some veggies to the boiling water.) Add enough to give it the right consistency, about a cup or so?
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| Filling Enchiladas |
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| Rolled Enchiladas |
Spread a little sauce in bottom of 9 x 13″ baking dish. Fill flour tortillas with enough filling to still be able to roll nicely. You can use store-bought tortillas or make your own. Roll and place seam side down in baking dish. You can sprinkle the top with more cheese if you want to.
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| Before Baking |
Bake in a 350 degree oven until they are a little brown on top and heated through.