Traffic stops. More food stuff.
It's often hard to work up the energy to do a full blog post, so I've resolved to do mini-posts (better than doing nothing, right)? So, without much ado...
Circus acts are a frequent occurrence at stoplights here. Here you see guys standing on each shoulders three high, juggling things that are on fire.
They all know exactly how much of their act they can get in before they have to start collecting money. It all fits into one light change. Normally we ignore the circus people, but we were so impressed with these guys that we had to give them some money.
Also, a coconut limeade from Baker's.
This is an awesome substitute when I'm craving ice cream.
Speaking of ice cream, I tried this recipe for an ice cream-like dessert made from bananas (and only bananas). You would never mistake it for ice cream, but it's not a bad dessert. You have to use a food processor or an immersion blender, though - a regular blender isn't powerful enough (at least ours isn't) and just makes a huge mess.
Other culinary adventures:
1. I also tried making the Guinness ice cream a few weeks ago, and it was just a mess. It came out way too strong and way too sweet, and the alcohol content was so high that it didn't freeze properly. On reflection, I probably should have used soy milk instead of rice milk (for the creaminess, and so it would be less sweet), and if I do it again I will also increase the ratio of milk to beer and severely decrease the amount of sugar I use. My neighbor Beth (the ice cream goddess) says I shouldn't throw it out - I should just have one bite of it a day until it's gone (because more than that is just too intense). I haven't seriously tried this approach, but it really is a shame to waste good Guinness, so maybe I'll do that.
2. I made homemade tomato paste to use in my chili recipe. It is awesome. I seriously will probably keep making this even after I can eat canned food again, just because it's so good. I want to make some more this week so I can try it as a spread on my homemade no-knead bread. (The chili was also really awesome - I soaked all the beans myself, and it was much less work than I thought it would be.)
3. Bill wanted to make chicken adobo, so I decided to learn how to make coconut milk. I bought some coconuts and asked our housekeeper how to open them, because I'd tried cracking them on the floor and been unsuccessful. It turns out you have to use a hammer, and hit them hard several times. She makes coconut milk basically the same way this website says to (which is interesting, because she's Colombian and the website's author is Indian), except that she uses hot milk instead of cold. At one point she commented to me that it was a shame that I didn't have a sieve, and I said, "But we have a cheesecloth!" She'd never seen one before, so I told her they're usually used for cheeses and yogurts. She said, "Oh, I'd seen it around, but I thought it was something for the baby." So it was an educational experience for all of us.
When she realized I only needed one cup of the coconut milk for Bill's chicken adobo, she asked if she could have the rest to make coconut rice. (I swear, she will use any excuse to make coconut rice!) Of course I said yes - her coconut rice is delicious. Win/win/win.
My next culinary adventure should be dairy-free croissants. I'm hoping to do them this weekend. Also, Salat Olivier (although, sadly, I will have to do it without the eggs).
Okay, so this turned out to be not such a mini-post, because I got carried away talking about food (surprise!).
Circus acts are a frequent occurrence at stoplights here. Here you see guys standing on each shoulders three high, juggling things that are on fire.
They all know exactly how much of their act they can get in before they have to start collecting money. It all fits into one light change. Normally we ignore the circus people, but we were so impressed with these guys that we had to give them some money.
Also, a coconut limeade from Baker's.
This is an awesome substitute when I'm craving ice cream.
Speaking of ice cream, I tried this recipe for an ice cream-like dessert made from bananas (and only bananas). You would never mistake it for ice cream, but it's not a bad dessert. You have to use a food processor or an immersion blender, though - a regular blender isn't powerful enough (at least ours isn't) and just makes a huge mess.
Other culinary adventures:
1. I also tried making the Guinness ice cream a few weeks ago, and it was just a mess. It came out way too strong and way too sweet, and the alcohol content was so high that it didn't freeze properly. On reflection, I probably should have used soy milk instead of rice milk (for the creaminess, and so it would be less sweet), and if I do it again I will also increase the ratio of milk to beer and severely decrease the amount of sugar I use. My neighbor Beth (the ice cream goddess) says I shouldn't throw it out - I should just have one bite of it a day until it's gone (because more than that is just too intense). I haven't seriously tried this approach, but it really is a shame to waste good Guinness, so maybe I'll do that.
2. I made homemade tomato paste to use in my chili recipe. It is awesome. I seriously will probably keep making this even after I can eat canned food again, just because it's so good. I want to make some more this week so I can try it as a spread on my homemade no-knead bread. (The chili was also really awesome - I soaked all the beans myself, and it was much less work than I thought it would be.)
3. Bill wanted to make chicken adobo, so I decided to learn how to make coconut milk. I bought some coconuts and asked our housekeeper how to open them, because I'd tried cracking them on the floor and been unsuccessful. It turns out you have to use a hammer, and hit them hard several times. She makes coconut milk basically the same way this website says to (which is interesting, because she's Colombian and the website's author is Indian), except that she uses hot milk instead of cold. At one point she commented to me that it was a shame that I didn't have a sieve, and I said, "But we have a cheesecloth!" She'd never seen one before, so I told her they're usually used for cheeses and yogurts. She said, "Oh, I'd seen it around, but I thought it was something for the baby." So it was an educational experience for all of us.
When she realized I only needed one cup of the coconut milk for Bill's chicken adobo, she asked if she could have the rest to make coconut rice. (I swear, she will use any excuse to make coconut rice!) Of course I said yes - her coconut rice is delicious. Win/win/win.
My next culinary adventure should be dairy-free croissants. I'm hoping to do them this weekend. Also, Salat Olivier (although, sadly, I will have to do it without the eggs).
Okay, so this turned out to be not such a mini-post, because I got carried away talking about food (surprise!).