My Dog Might Be Really Stupid

There is a five-gallon bucket in our yard full of granite and marble remnants that Neal intends to use to make wine stoppers. It's been there since before the snow melted (she says after watching snow fall THIS VERY MORNING). Izzy was really interested in it ever since it was placed there - presumably she liked to eat snow and drink water out of it. That's all well and good, but it's bone-dry in there now. And she just spent about ten minutes nosing around in the bucket. I sincerely hope she realizes that rocks aren't edible.

Honduras Day 2 - Exhaustion Takes Over

Once we landed at the airport in San Pedro Sula, we go through the customs line and then to claim our baggage. Last year some bags didn't make it, but this year they all did. Thank goodness, because I doubt the airline would have gotten a cab to drive the bags five hours into the mountains again! Once you get your bag, you go through a security checkpoint, then pass by the car rental agencies and through to the main terminal. There are dozens and dozens of people waiting for family and such right past the doors, so making your way through the throng to the wide open end of the terminal is very refreshing. Two people stayed behind to rent the cars - one busito (a minivan), and an SUV. The rental agency didn't have the busito, which we had reserved weeks ago. Okay, fine, we got that through another agency. Then they had the SUV, but no battery. They ordered the battery from San Pedro Sula proper. Welcome to Honduras! The battery actually arrived on time, continuing our streak of good luck, and then it was installed. Meanwhile, the rest of us either exchanged our money with the money exchange guys that wander around the airport, or got cash out of the ATM. About an hour and a half after we got there, we were off to Lepaera, leaving the airport behind!


The trip to Lepaera involves skirting around San Pedro Sula proper, since it can be a dangerous city, especially for a bunch of gringos. Then off to the mountains. We pass around the outskirts of Santa Rosa de Copan, as well as through any number of smaller villages. Stopping for gas once, we finally arrive, in the dark, hungry and tired.

The incredibly generous family that hosts us had dinner already prepared. First we feasted, then we figured out sleeping arrangements while enjoying a few Salva Vidas. Salva Vida is my favorite Honduran beer, a slightly (very slightly) dark, hoppy lager. Also, the name means "life saver," so that amuses me to no end.

Here is a delicious batch of beans. The beans there are cooked with onions and garlic, and probably some spices that have yet to be divulged to me. They are pureed and fairly liquidy, much more so than typical refried beans. They are absolutely amazing. I made a batch of beans yesterday that is my closest attempt, so far, at replicating them.

You can top your beans with chismol, which is in the container at the top of the picture. It is basically a pico de gallo. Fresh tomatoes, onions, and cilantro living in harmony. The lower container has a crumbly, salty cow's milk cheese that is pretty close to cotija.


Honduran corn tortillas are smaller and thicker than the corn tortillas we see in the States. They are about 4-5 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick. I like to make little tacos, with a tortilla, some beans, cheese, and chismol. Then I sop up any leftover beans with more tortillas! Some families make tortillas at home, but our host family just purchases them freshly made from the market, which is understandable, since making tortillas is a daunting task, especially if you're feeding a baker's dozen gringos!

Lastly, there was carne asada for the meat eaters in the group. Carne asada isn't included in the plato tipico that you might order in a restaurant or be served on an average day in a Honduran home. It's generally served more for special occasions. I hear tell it's delicious!
For reference, a plato tipico is the basic meal. It includes tortillas, beans, and various other things such as avocado, tajadas, plantains, crema (mantequilla), fried egg, cheese, chicken, rice, and so on.

Feeling Tarty?

Today I made the Foolproof Lemon Tart from Baking Bites. I used Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons. While making it, I realized that a) this was my first time making pastry that was not pie crust (way to jump straight to the big leagues, ACE. yeesh.), and b) I had no pie weights or cheap dried beans to blind bake. So I went ahead and blind baked the crust with my Rancho Gordo Yellow Indian Woman beans, which as you can see aren't even on the website right now. Sigh. Well, I refuse to concede the beans as a loss, so I'm soaking them anyway and will probably cook them before bed. I WILL devour these beans! Also, they're $5.50 per 1 pound bag, so I was loath to waste the cash too.

The crust got a little browner than I would have liked, and there was a little more, um... shrinkage than I would prefer as well. But all in all, it came out and I had a by and large tart-shaped crust ready to go. So I made the filling, which the Meyer lemons I had were just barely enough for, and baked the whole shebang for about fifteen minutes. Booya - tart and delicious! The filling is lemony and sweet, but not excessively so. A really voluptuous texture. Just awesome. It really is foolproof, and I will make this again, no question! I'm dreaming of all kinds of citrus tarts...

Neal and his brother of course started comparing it to lemon bars. Don't get me wrong, I love a good lemon bar, but this was so much more effort than a lemon bar! Sigh.

I will post a picture once I find my stupid camera cord. Assuming, of course, that Izzy didn't eat it.

One last note: if anyone can explain to me why the hell Scrabulous won't consider "zen" to be a word, I would desperately like to know.

Honduras Day 1/2 - The Journey

I got to the airport at about 11am. Of course, several of us congregated in the bar, because airports really do lend themselves to drinking. On the other hand, a mediocre beer for 8 bucks makes me feel a little stabby. Once you're on the plane, though, the Horizon Air flight serves free drinks. I had a glass of wine from some Californian winery that donates to service dog funds for every bottle sold. It wasn't half bad, either!

In Portland, there is a decent little Mexican joint where I had tortilla soup and a margarita. Most of us had a bite to eat there before getting on the plane to LA. Oh yes, the trip was only a tiny bit over. Nothing like 30 straight hours of travel! In LA, we didn't get as lost as last year (huzzah!), nor did we have to take the skeery little carts all over the tarmac. Hint to LAX drivers: little bus and big plane enter. One guess which man leaves. Ah, the familiar Chili's at LAX. A long wait for a table, and then the bill got all screwed up, since of course there were 13 of us!

Finally we landed in Miami, in the middle of a big rain and after a scare where me may have had to land in Orlando, which would just have REALLY sucked. I watched August Rush on the way from LAX to Miami. It's not half bad, but I probably should have slept instead. We got into Miami about 5am, then waited around for an hour or so. Four of us took a cab to Miami Beach, which definitely hit the spot. First stop was News Cafe for breakfast.



I had Eggs Florentine, which were good, though the cream cheese sauce was more interesting than delicious. I would have preferred Hollandaise, but I was starving, it was still pretty damn good, and I would have devoured pretty much anything. More to the point, we weren't in an AIRPORT. We saw Gianni Versace's house, though I was the only one to know it on sight. We wandered along the beach once the rain died down. It was gorgeous, just starting to get warm, and there were tons of birds out getting whatever food they could find on the beach before the people started pouring in. I don't know how much tourist traffic there is in Miami Beach in the spring, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a fair amount. It was getting warm, and I know a movie (Marley and Me, I think?) was filming there either that week or the week before. After rinsing the sand out of our shoes, it was high time to take a cab back to the airport and get in a nap before boarding our final plane into San Pedro Sula.