assam tea

Assam is a north-eastern state of India surrounded by 6 sister states also bordering Bangledesh and Bhutan. The area is known for it's gorgeous geography, preserved wildlife such as the one horned Indian Rhinoceros, Assam silk and Assam tea. Of course that's not all it's known for but, those are a few big ones. I am just chomping at the bit to visit or possibly live in the culturally rich area.

Assam tea is a black tea clearly named for it being produced in Assam. It is a tea that is known for its robustness and strong bright colour. This is the world's largest tea producing area. It seems to be of the perfect land lying between two significant rivers, the perfect altitude, with the perfect amount of rainfall which is heavy in the monsoon season and the perfect temperature! It's this combination of elements that gives Assam tea such a strong unique flavour for a black tea.

I know it's my favourite black tea!!

frijoles frescos!

                               
I haven't figured out exactly what type of beans these are but, I sure am enjoying them! They are gorgeous and so much fun to work with. We've started drying and collecting our favouritest ones. My boyfriend said the sweetest thing; he says, "One day we won't live in Guatemala and have access to these beans and you'll be so happy to have a dried little collection of them.", darn tootin' sweet boyfriend!

Growing up in the South in a truly 'Southern' family, I was always around bushels of fresh beans and peas. I loved sitting around the backyard in the shade tree shelling them with  my Granny and aunts. We usually 'put them up' (canned) and I am sure I ate plenty of fresh peas and beans but, I don't recall any kind of fresh beans like these at all.

Beans have to be one of my fondest foods. They are beyond healthful and combining them with grains such as rice offers such a complete meal. I recently made sure we ate beans and grains everyday for 2 weeks just to see if we'd feel different and we absolutely did! We noticed that overall we felt way more satisfied in the hungry & craving departments. I'm just going to colour us lucky that we love beans so much!!

colourful corn

It doesn't take much to amaze me and put a wonderous smile on my face! That's exactly what happened when I 'shucked' this corn. I've never seen corn like the corn I see here. And even more so, I have never tasted corn like the corn here. Truth be told, I wasn't all that much of a corn eater before I moved here. Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike corn, I ate it and I liked it whether it was corn on the cob, creamed corn, corn pudding, corn bread, or hello popcorn! But. But, I didn't exactly think corn was offering me all that much. I didn't choose it as a side when cooking or use it as an ingredient much. But, here the corn is exciting and delicious. My favourite way to eat it is boiled then roasted on a grill, topped with lime & salt. This scrumptous treat is served on the street in corn husks. There is nothing like natural packaging!

guinea pig fever!

                    

Earlier this year I got my 1st guinea pig, Esme. I'd been pining for one ever since we saw some in Antigua the first month we moved to Guatemala. They had them at my favourite little pet supply shop there with a sign calling them Raton de India! That really cracked me up and was the ultimate kickstart to my love for guinea pigs. Now, I mostly refer to them by their Spanish name: cuyos.

Enid & Esme hiding out on their 1st day in their new home.

Upon bringing Esme home I started reading all about cuyos online. Maybe that's the reverse order that I was supposed to do those two things but, that's how it happened. Pretty soon into my reading I found out that they aren't meant to live alone. In Sweden, by law you have to buy two at a time. So of course there I was back at the market that day to get another one.  I chose another girl from the another bunch of pups that were a few weeks older. I was happy to have 2 sweet as pie girl guinea pigs!

                                   

                                         Esme & Enid. Their 2nd day together.

It didn't take very long for me to realize that Enid was not a girl but, a BOY! This discovery was much to my delight as I secretly wanted to have a cuyo family. I couldn't be happier to have gotten a boy & a girl. <3.

Grown up Enid. A very handsome Papa cuyo!

 In a couple of months Esme was with child, ok, pup. Her pregnancy suited her just fine, she became serene and sweeter than ever. She got huge, I charted her pregnancy on the calendar and she was overdue by 2-3 weeks. She was so big and I just couldn't imagine how many pups she was going to have. Online sources say that the average littler is 5-7 pups! But, alas on June 26th she delivered! Another surprise!! She only have one, not so small, pup. She had him all by herself on a bed of dried corn husks in a house fashioned out of a tipico basket (handles cut off, turned upside down, a little arched door-way cut out and then sunk in the dirt a couple of inches). It was the most dear and darling event to happen in our little backyard courtyard.

 1st litter. One pup. Pup-e. 'Baby' 1 day old.

While Esme was in her final month of her pregnancy we separated her from Enid. They were only separated by a chicken wire divide so that they could still keep each other company. Esme could have cared less but, Enid was a little bummed. In the natural Guinea Pig world the females surround the birthing mother and don't let any males near her for a while after she gives birth. Male pigs want to mate the minute the female pig has given birth and it's very unhealthy for the lady pig's body to get pregnant again that fast.

Esme & her 1st pup, Baby, nursing. So sweet.

Baby & Esme munching on some greens.

As soon as it was safe for Esme to be back with Enid we allowed the little family to be together. It was fun and interesting to watch them mingle. Baby hangs with his mom sometimes and with his dad other times.
We knew that it was only a matter of time before Esme & Enid would get some buns in the oven. And we decided to let this happen in high hopes for a little girl cuyo so we could split them up into two groups. Esme is such a docile darling mama pig. Her 2nd pregnancy was shorter and she was larger by a mile. I knew that she had more than one pup in her belly this time. She gave birth in a rainstorm early on the morning of September 18th to 3 little pups; 2 boys and 1 girl on a bed of shredded carrots.

 2nd litter. 3 pups. The only girl, she's the smallest.

Rosebud, the little girl.

Esme & her one-day old 2nd litter of 3 pups. One is hidden under her.

Cuyo pups are cool. They are born with all their hair, whiskers, teeth and nails. They can eat solid food from the start and can run the first day they are alive! And if you've never had the pleasure of being friends with a guinea pig you are missing out on some of the coolest animal noises ever! They whistle and squeak and eek...it's too cute! We now have 6 pigs whistling at us! Yay!

oat milk.

Finally I will no longer be dependent on buying processed Soy Milk*. I mean, I've felt lucky enough as is, just being able to find organic soy milk here! I can't believe I've waited this long to try making my own non-dairy milk.
So, naturally, ever since I decided that I wanted to make my own milk I've been reading every recipe I can find on it. I've considered making rice milk and soy milk but, then I found the simplest recipe ever for oat milk. Oat milk! I hadn't even thought of it! Sounds good, right? I made it and it's delicious!!! We are enjoying it in our tea and coffee and with granola cereal.

Here's what you do:

soak 1 cup of rolled oats in 5 cups of water for 24 hours

blend & strain

>>Shake well before each use<<

THAT'S IT!!! Oh, and keep it in the fridge.

On top of oat milk being easy to make and tasting great...it's on the cheap, big time. What would have cost me over $2 in purchased soy milk, I spent about 25 cents making my own oat milk = happy me.

*We buy very few processed/packaged items here in Guatemala and we love it. The two main things that we are dependent upon that are not only packaged but, are processed and imported to add insult to injury are: olive oil and soy  milk.

It's so nice to eliminate at least one of those. I don't see us not buying or using olive oil any time soon. At least not until I own that olive grove of my dreams! Do they have olive groves in Spain? South America any where?

growing my own spices

There's nothing like have herbs and spices to cook with! And there's nothing like not having herbs and spices to cook with. While there are many wonderful ingredients to be found in the markets here in Xela....there are a few things that I have grown accustom to cooking with that are not to be found! My solution? Grow them! Mustard seeds are something I incorporated into my cooking while living in Portland, Oregon some years back. I was going to traditional Indian food-themed pot lucks. I discovered a couple of dishes that influenced my cooking still to this day and probably for my ever. One of the dishes I made that had a huge impact on me was Bombay Potatoes. You start the dish by frying a bunch of spices...YUM!

Harvesting mustard seeds is fun but, a wee bit tedious. Thank goodness I've found a huge bag of mustard seeds (the dark ones) in the market...at a pet food stall. They are fed to birds. Who knew? Not me!!! Out of all the plants we had room to grow we only got about 2 tablespoons of mustard. It was a fun project and I've never regretted growing anything!

Mike even loved the plants and helped out, of course he did, he's a very good boy!

fresh herbs....nothing like em.

There are so very many things that are fresh and amazing about Guatemala; fresh herbs being one of them!

Mind you it's really hard to find fresh Basil and that's a bummer but, this bunch of fresh Cilantro is what you get for Q1 (which is about 1/7 of a dollar). ...you can not beat that!

Fresh herbs are so healthful to eat and now I can easily eat them up with every meal! It's a good thing as you know who would say. Oh! And they are grown organically......sweet!

lovey plants from the market

I ran into these little dears for sale by an even more enchantingly dear lady from Chajul. She dug these plants up out of her garden, nestled them in a leaf secured with another plant fiber and brought them all the way to Xela. I of course could not resist purchasing one of each from her. The grassy plant I'm told will have beautifuly scented white flowers! And I'm a total sucker for succulents. I have to say I love love love the packaging. The cheese I buy at the market comes wrapped in leaves as do a few other things, I think it's rad!


Here's a map (below) showing where Chajul is in realtion to Xela (Quetzaltenango). It's a hellva chicken bus ride, a beautiful one no doubt but, it's a haul! Bless her dear darling heart.

I've never been in love with a peoples or place like I am with the lands and folks in Guatemala...I have immense love for Mayans of their ways and attitudes of life...it's a beautiful thing.

homemade natural deodorant

Living in Guatemala has changed me in many ways. And I wasn't about to let these changes (such as not having access to the lovely Weleda products I've been using for years) make me stink so, I had to find a solution and quick! Just kidding about the quickness part but, I am super stoked to have found a super simple solution. I have used and love Weleda Sage spray deodorant for a while now. It's light and airy and effective. I love that it's a simple refreshing herbal spray and I didn't want to compromise by using something un-natural. I won't even talk about stick deodorants...gross!

Well, after a tiny bit of research and thought, Rosemary is really the only fresh herb I could easily find here that I wanted to use. All I did was stuff in a bunch of fresh clean Rosemary in my empty deodorant bottles& fill with quality Vodka. They have been sitting in the dark for a week; I shake them everyday & they already smell really great!!!!

***UPDATE***
I should have removed the Rosemary at about 10 days in or less. It smelt great and was a very effective deodorant. I left the Rosemary in too long and it turned on me. Maybe it's because I used fresh Rosemary instead of dried. Nothing like learning things the hard way!!!!

pickling peppers

One of the things I miss the absolute most of my home country is simple pepper sauces and Louisiana style hot sauces. I have, after a year, decided to try my hand at making my own. I started with the simple one first. After buying 3 types of varying heated peppers at the market, I consulted my Southern Momma and she gave me the simplest of instructions:
wash peppers
put in jar
boil vinegar
add a little sugar
pour over peppers & cover in jar
put on lid
let sit for 2 weeks & enjoy!!

I can't wait two weeks!!! Wahhhh! They look delicious!

**UPDATE**

The pepper sauce tastes good at 1 week, tastes a million times better after 2 weeks and tastes freaking glorious after 3+ weeks! Tastes exactly like my grandmothers! Woohoo!

ovenless/stoveless and happy!

Moving into the warehouse spurred us to come up with our very own kitchen. I don't have a stove and didn't choose to have one. My kitchen consists of a large stainless steel sink that drains into a bucket (we water our garden with the water), an electric kettle, an electric wok, an electric grill and a crock pot. This was mostly the set up that just happened and we are super content and happy with it. The wok especially! The funny thing is thinking about standing in the thrift store and inspecting these kitchen 'appliances' and really asking ourselves if we should splurge the six bucks for a wok or a grill. We just love both of them. Every night we steam greens in the wok and almost every day we make our tortillas on the grill. Perfecto!

I rinse our veggies outside and let the water run directly into our garden.

It is so nice to do kitchen tasks outside!

Mike is a fantastic helper!

Huge leaves of Mong Toi.

Lovin' it!

a great summer snack!

Pineapples are so affordable right now! And they are so refreshing on these super hot Florida days!! We've been buying them whole, last time we were at the bodega they were 2 for $3!! Zach cut them up for us today. We squeezed fresh lime and liberally sprinkled hot red pepper flakes all over the chunks! So sweet and delicious!! Yum!

We took it in the car today for a snack on the way to the thrift store.

Hay Bale Garden Part 4

There's lots of action in the garden this week! We lost most of our lettuce because we had to leave them while they were way too young for a few days and it's been Africa hot here.

We have baby tomatoes, little collards, tiny lettuces leaves, a mini squash,a happy pineapple plant,

Mike and me in the garden this week!!

Here is a spicy lettuce.

AND...here is our mystery plant revealing itself! Summer Squash!!! Yum!

Collards!!! My personal favourite vegetable!

Mike, almighty garden protector!

Happy little baby tomatoes!

Mike & I enjoying the sunshine and our garden!

Hay Bale Garden WE HAVE SPROUTS Part 3

I was greeted with sprouts yesterday morning!!

Everything but, the Chinese Celery has sprouted.

The California Spicy Lettuces are in the lead!

Look!!

Hay Bale Garden Part 2

The bales have been officially 'seasoned' and seeds have been sown!

And the first plant has been planted in a bale. We picked this plant up from our local organic gardening supply, Worm's Way and we aren't sure what kind of a plant it is. Here are the possiblities as we see it: squash of some kind? watermelon? I really think it's a squash.

We still have 3 bales unplanted. Going in one will be Swiss Chard and Cherry Tomatoes in another. The third might be for herbs....we're not sure yet. Oh yeah!! The third bale is for our Hot Peppers: Anaheim, Cayenne, Jalapeno, Santa Fe Grande & Serrano!!

Ha Cha Cha!!

Starting a hay bale garden.

I did the research and decided on making a hay bale garden instead of building a raised bed garden or do a container garden here at the warehouse.

Zach's family gave us 6 bales to start with!! Yay, for awesome familia!!

We are using organic bone meal to speed up the breaking down of the bales which is the first step to creating a hay bale garden.

We'll be ready to plant the seedlings and sow the seeds this weekend!

Mike will accompany us every step of the way! He loves his new job guarding the warehouse and fenced in lot. He's an official lot dog. You can see our little composting sections behind and to the right of the bales. We started those when we first moved in, it's great they had a head start on the garden. It isn't suggested anywhere but, we are going to experiment by having squash and other creepy crawler vegetables grow out of the side of the bales, especially the ends! We'll see how it goes. We are pretty excited about the whole garden.

Here's what we are planting:

Tomatoes

Hot Peppers

Chinese Broccoli

Chinese Celery

Celery

Arugula/Mizuna/Red Mustard/Curly Endive

Collards

Squash

Lettuces

Rape

Swiss Chard

Cherry Tomatoes

Behind the bale garden on the chain link fence we plan on having beans run amock!!! We have our fingers crossed that they'll provide a nice privacy fence for us this summer. We are going to grow these in containers.