More about colors...

In considering of the colors of some of the other rooms, I like the greens of the kitchen and other living areas. They seem to be a more 'olive' based green. I need to see the pasta tiles next to the wall colors as I'm not sure if the wall color will work. Plus in the kitchen there will be granite counters and one of those bell shaped exhaust units over the stove, both will be contrasting colors.
I also like the pale yellows of the downstairs bedroom. If Roger had used any more yellow I think I would have to change the name of my house from  Casa del gato azul to Casa Del Sol!

Some other colors of the Rainbow...are in my house!

In some of the other photos that Arturo sent we could see other rooms that were painted other colors. I never wrote down any of the colors that were chosen last October when we did the marathon day of paint choosing. I should have because I don't remember them. 

My bedroom is painted green... I thought I had chosen a light gold which is what my bathroom is painted. (my bedroom in St Louis is painted almost this color)  Do I like the green? Not sure. In the photos it looks a little too 'minty' for me. Carlos mentioned that he thought the green of the bedroom was a very cooling color translating into "If I can keep her cooler, I won't spend as much on air conditioning". However I will reserve judgement until I see it in person. 

The sun is shining in the Yucatan!

I was really surprised when Arturo called me via Skype this afternoon. He has been so busy with a wonderful new venture called " Real Life in Merida" Check it out, he has some great videos as well as photography all about his hometown of Merida!
Shortly after our conversation he sent me some new photos. Wow, I have the color of sunshine permeating my walls! Color really makes a big difference. I will be excited to see the other colors as they go up, especially the contrasting colors. I can't wait to see light and shadow play with the colors... in the meantime here is what it is looking like!

Upstairs terrace

Upstairs promenade

Bodega (storage room)

1/2 Bath

Downstairs promenade

Arroz Con Pollo or Puerto Rican Cookery in the Yucatan

I never thought I would be posting recipes but the house is creeping along and I hate not to blog for weeks on end.... I miss it. I hope someone likes my recipes! The following recipe is my favorite 'company' dinner. I have been making it for almost the 35+ years CQ and I have been married. It is the most requested dish when we need to bring a dish to an event and even CQ's relatives love it. You can play with it and add other things like peas or corn, but I usually make it just like below. So try it and let me know how it turns out for you! Buen Provencho!

Arroz Con Pollo

2-3 cups uncooked rice (wash and drain your rice)
1 lb chicken parts – I prefer to use chicken legs only, you may want to marinade the chicken in Mojo Criollo overnight, if not available use garlic, oil and adobo seasoning.
1  small Spanish style Chorizo, sliced
1 small can tomatoes with jalapeños
2 tablespoons of whole Spanish Olives, with red pimento
1 teaspoon alcaparras (capers)
½ cup sofrito or about 4 cubes if you’ve used my previous recipe
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 – 2 envelopes of sazon a Puerto Rican seasoning. (this has the achiote which is what colors the rice the traditional yellow color)
½ cup vegetable oil
4-5 cups of chicken broth (I prefer low salt)

In a large caldero (this is an aluminum pot with top, the most traditional pot used in the Hispanic kitchen) brown the chicken parts in the oil, 5 minutes each side. Add the slices of chorizos as well as the sofrito cubes, sazon and black pepper.

Add rice to the pot and stir. Add the Spanish olives and the capers; also add the can of tomatoes with jalapeños.
Add the chicken broth until the water is about 1 inch above the rice, stir once only.
Boil uncovered, over high heat, until liquid is absorbed.
Once the broth is absorbed gently stir from bottom to top, just a couple of turns only.
Cover and continue to cook over LOW heat for another 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.

A typical caldero

Hints . . .

Resist the temptation to stir. Too much stirring causes the rice to become "amogollao" or sticky.
It is traditional to cook the chicken with bones and all. People will just pull the meat off the bones with their fork.
If you have cilantro and more pimento add some to the top of the pot once it is done, for a garnish.
Don't let your rice get smoked from cooking at too high temperature.
For great pegao* just cook a bit longer keeping an eye on it.
For a lot of pegao use a larger caldero (it will just be half empty).


*pegao: Any rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot is called "pegao" and is crispy and tasty and a favorite of all true Puerto Ricans. (it carries all the flavors of a dish) However, not everyone is skilled is making pegao - it is an art….And any honored guests of the table are offered the 'pegao' first!

I spoke too soon...

Just after I posted the recipe I received some new photos from Arturo. The rainy season has arrived and work has slowed down a little. Many of the parts and pieces, like the iron work and the windows are made, but they haven't been installed yet. They have been putting the final coating on the walls before the paint goes on... I'm excited about this because I do not remember the colors that were chosen. We are arriving August 20th and we need to get a few furnishings because when we come down for the month of December we will be having Carlos' sister and husband and their two kids, as well as our friend from Denmark. It's crazy thinking that we are finally at the point where I can go shopping!

They have been working on the front wall and gates

Master bath shower is coming along!

2nd bath as well as powder room is being finished

Lamb Shanks Salsa Verde!

I haven't received any new photos of the house in a couple of weeks and I miss posting something. I have scheduled our two trip to Merida, the first being August 20-28 and the second December 1-Jan 4th.  We plan on staying in the house. Let's hope it's better than camping!
So I thought I would give you another recipe. CQ loves lamb. I don't, actually I won't even eat it. But I will cook it and this is a favorite for those who love lamb. It's both spicy and savory and for the lamb lovers... well, they rave about it!

Lamb Shanks Salsa Verde

1 small can/jar salsa verde
2-4 lamb shanks
2 cups chicken broth
3-4 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 large onion, cut into quarters
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar or a juicy lime
Black Pepper
Rosemary (I use fresh from my garden or in the winter what I have dried)
Adobo Seasoning
Cilantro or 2 cubes Sofrito

Night before: put lamb shanks in bag or container and cover in spices, 2 tsp olive oil, some balsamic vinegar or the squeeze the juice from the lime.  (about 3-5 tblsp) I sometimes use mojo, a Puerto Rican marinade.

When you are ready to start cooking, chop onion and add contents of bag (lamb shanks and all spices including the cilantro/sofrito) to pressure cooker. Braise until the onions and spices start to caramelize. Add chicken broth and small can of Salsa Verde. Put lid on pressure cooker and wait for steam to build up. Cook about 25 minutes. Release steam and check meat. Turn shanks over. It should be getting very tender. Add more broth if needed, as well as several whole peeled potatoes  and baby carrots. Replace top on pressure cooker and cook again for about  5-7 min or until tender.  When served, you will need to spoon some of the juice over the shank and veggies.

Enjoy!

You can't cook Puerto Rican without Sofrito!

Having been married to Carlos for more than 35 years I have learned to cook mostly Puerto Rican style. The basis of almost all Puerto Rican dishes is sofrito. Sofrito is a versatile and aromatic mixture of herbs and vegetables used as the foundation for many Puerto Rican and Caribbean dishes. The commercial jarred or frozen sofrito are not very tasty so I make my own.
It’s easy to make and can be used in many recipes. It keeps well when you freeze it. I use it in beans as well as soup and stews. It makes my shredded pork, chicken or beef very tasty.

Puerto Rican Sofrito

3 bunches of cilantro
1 package of culantro (if available, also known as chaden beni)
2 large onions
2 green bell peppers
olive oil
black pepper to taste
Diced garlic

In a food processor put in 1 and ½ of the cilantro bunch and ½ of the culantro package. Add about ½ cup olive oil, 1 green pepper cut in strips and one large onion cut in pieces. Add about 3 heaping tablespoons of garlic and ½ tsp of black pepper. Turn on food processor and let mix until it is a thick liquid. If it is not blending well try adding more olive oil. This should be a rich green paste. I spoon my mixture into ice cube trays and freeze overnight. Repeat the process for the second batch. The next day I put in freezer bags, label and date it. For a typical pot of beans I use 3 cubes, for arroz con pollo I use 4-5 cubes.

Want to be bored some more?

I can't blog about being an expat, because I'm not, at least not yet. I can't blog about things in Merida. I haven't spent a lot of time in Merida for two years. All I can blog about is the construction of our house. That's all I know about and even most of that is second hand through the wonderful Arturo. I plan on spending the month of December in our new house and I will be pretty busy living with  the minimum of 'stuff'. However for those who actually look at this blog, like my sisters and a few friends... let me bore you with some more photos of all the changes of the past week!

Still installing tile!

Looking from the family room into the kitchen area 

Master shower with ticul tile and 5 shower heads

Stairs are finished

And the beat goes on.....

 I'm not sure how many catchy titles that I can think of for my posts. I just want to post a few of the photos I received late last night from Arturo. It seems like the work is really on a roll and we are making great strides in the finishing work. Carlos is now booked up for his business travel through the month of June. (going to LA, Phoenix, San Francisco and Miami) I'm still trying to find some reasonably priced air tickets to get us to Mexico, but the best I'm finding is for the end of August or the beginning of September. As we plan to spend the month of December in our "new" house, maybe I will just wait.... though it's really hard!
Here's some of the progress...

The doors for Carlos' study are in!

Other progress includes all the ceiling pot lights as well as some of the plumbing and electrical work. I see that the interrupt outlets well as some of the plumbing for the showers that I carried down are installed in the bathrooms.

And of course the tiling continues!